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HISTORY

allowed free access to the island for purposes of trade. Indeed, British policy of welcoming all-comers to the Colony and of not seeking any exclusive commercial privileges accorded with the Colony's economic interests.

The early years of the infant Colony were marked by a series of misfortunes. In 1841 it was struck by two typhoons and the Chinese market area was burnt down twice. Virulent fever, prob- ably malaria, decimated the Europeans and at one point troops were withdrawn to the safety of ships in the harbour, while build- ings in Happy Valley had to be abandoned. An early estimate put the local Chinese population at some 4,000, with a further 2,000 living afloat. The first report on population in June 1845 gave the total as 23,817, of whom 595 were Europeans and 362 Indians.

At first the Colony did not fulfil the sanguine hopes that had been formed and instead of becoming a great emporium, as had been predicted, trade developed between Britain and the new Treaty Ports direct, particularly Shanghai which was commercially more advantageously situated than Hong Kong. In 1847 a Parlia- mentary committee of enquiry into the China trade went so far as to express doubts that Hong Kong would ever develop into an important commercial centre and recommended economies in its administration.

Shortly after Hong Kong's foundation a great wave of Chinese emigration took place, mainly to South-East Asia and the countries bordering the Pacific. In 1849, when gold was discovered in California, there was a rush of Chinese to Kam Shan (Golden Mountains) which has remained the vernacular name for San Francisco. In 1851 there was a similar rush to Australia and San Kam Shan (New Golden Mountains) has remained the Chinese name for Sydney. In addition there was emigration of labour under contract to the sugar plantations of Central and Southern America. To check the many abuses connected with this migration the British Government passed the Chinese Passengers Act of 1852, prescribing reasonable standards of food, space and medical atten- tion. This tended to drive the coolie trade to other ports, but Hong Kong prospered as the centre of an important passenger traffic.

The Tai Ping Rebellion, which began in 1850 and spread over South China, created unsettled conditions on the mainland resulting