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HISTORY
In the face of public hostility, particularly in Canton, to Ke- shen's proposal to cede Hong Kong to the British, the Emperor declined further negotiation, and war was resumed. But Pottinger had not been on the China coast for more than a few months before he realized that, whatever the London view might be, Elliot's decision to accept the cession of Hong Kong was a wise one: and when, in August 1842, British troops were on the point of assaulting Nanking and the Emperor at last sued for peace, Pottinger made it an article of the Treaty which was then promptly concluded that Hong Kong should be ceded to the British Crown 'to be governed by such laws as Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain etc. may see fit to direct". In June 1843 the new Colony was officially named Hong Kong, and the name 'Victoria' was conferred upon the settlement growing up on the northern side of the island.
Like Singapore before it, Hong Kong was from the start declared a free port; and its subsequent growth and greatness as a commercial city have been due to this fundamental policy, which welcomes anyone who comes in peace, obeys the laws, and pays a few moderate taxes.
The history of Hong Kong is in some ways no more than a chronicle of rising and falling trends of trade and population, fluctuating chiefly because of events taking place outside Hong Kong itself, particularly in China. Internally, the history is one of gradual material and social improvement, the expansion of the city by cutting into rock and by reclamation of land from the sea, the building of more reservoirs to provide for an expanding population, and the provision of schools, hospitals and other forms of public service.
Hong Kong's first years as a Colony were almost chaotic. In 1841 alone the new Chinese market quarter was burnt down twice, and nearly every roof on the island came off twice in typhoons. A mysterious disease, known as the Hong Kong fever but now believed to be malaria, decimated the population; and in 1843 the health situation was so bad that the Governor and everyone who could afford to do so took temporary refuge in Macau.
Confidence in the Colony's future prosperity took some time to show itself. At the first census the population of the island did not exceed 3,650 villagers and fishermen, living in some
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