ENG-1946 — Page 146

PART III.

Chapter 1.

GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE.

Hong Kong ("Fragrant Harbour") lies just within the tropics, south of the mainland of the Kwangtung Province of China, and east of the Pearl River estuary. The Colony includes the territories of Hong Kong Island (32 square miles), on which is situated the capital city of Victoria, the southern tip of the mainland peninsula of Kowloon (3 square miles) and Stonecutters Island (4 square mile), as well as the New Territories which consist of an area of the hinterland together with numerous islands (355 square miles). The New Territories, which were leased on 1st July, 1898, for 99 years, extend north to the Shum Chun River and include the seabeds of Deep Bay to the west and Mirs Bay to the east. The total area of the Colony is thus about 390 square miles, most of which is steep and unproductive hillside.

Hong Kong Island is eleven miles long from east to west and varies in width from two to five miles. It rises steeply from the northern shore to a range of treeless hills of volcanic rock of which the highest point is Victoria Peak (1,823 feet) at the western end. Between these hills and the island's northern waterfront, stretching east and west for over four miles and facing north across the harbour towards Kowloon, lies the city of Victoria. Most of the urban area

area is flat reclaimed land though streets and houses have straggled some way up the steep foothills away from the harbour.

The island is separated from the mainland by an almost landlocked natural harbour, varying in width from one to three miles, entered from the east by a deep water channel through Lyemoon Pass, a quarter of a mile wide, and protected from the west by a group of islands through which a shallower channel gives access for coastal vessels. This harbour has become the gateway to South China, lying midway between the main ports of Haiphong in Indo-China and Shanghai at the mouth of the Yangtse River.

The Kowloon Peninsula which is fairly flat and has been extended in area by various reclamations has developed exten- sively as a residential suburb, and contains also the main industrial area of the Colony; wharves for ocean-going ships occupy its western shore, and the terminus of the Kowloon- Canton Railway, which connects at Canton with the network of the Chinese railways, is at the extreme southern tip of the peninsula. The Unicorn range of hills, similar to those on the island, forms a barrier between Kowloon and the New Territories to the north.

The greater part of the New Territories, both islands and mainland, is steep and barren, the highest point being the mountain called Taimoshan which lies seven miles north-west