THE GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING
are raised. Intricate terracing brings the maximum of land under cultivation and the Chinese farmers, though ready to adopt any modern methods which are suited to local conditions and whose value has been demon- strated to them by practical tests, find in fact that there are few directions in which their traditional methods can be improved.
The New Territories include 75 adjacent islands many of which are waterless & uninhabited. Produc- tive land is even scarcer than on the mainland and the island population includes many fisherfolk living aboard their boats. Lantao, the largest island, is well watered, but the gradients are such that there is little cultivation. Wild boar and barking deer abound among the well- wooded ravines and scrub-covered spurs of this lonely island. The rest of the islands are much smaller, and range in character from the thickly-populated Cheung Chau with its large fishing community, soy factory and junk-building yards, to an island only 8 acres large (Ngai Ying Chau) until recently occupied by a single family.
Geology
Hong Kong Island and the New Territories are characterized by numerous rugged and irregular islands with deeply dissected peninsulas. A general picture of the area is that of an upland terrain which has been invaded by the sea.
The uplands and mountains are eroded remnants of rock formations, in which relative resistance of rock and structure through differential erosion is clearly recorded. As the region lies within the northern limits
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