CAB11-57-2 — Page 83

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7.

I recommend that, as soon as the territory has been taken over, a notice be issued informing the inhabitants that all claims to land must be filed in the Land Office within a period of six months, and that all lands not claimed within that period will revert to Government.

Wherever a claim is lodged, an inquiry into the title of the claimant should be held, and, if that is satisfactory, a survey of the land in question should be made.

To facilitate a speedy settlement of the land question, a large staff of surveyors should be engaged for the first year or two.

ISLANDS.

There are thirty-three islands within the leased territory. Some of these are unin- habited, and most of them are very small and of little or no importance.

The total area of the islands is 90 square miles, and the estimated population

13.720.

The small islands, if inhabited, contain a few fishermen only, and are not cultivated. The six chief islands are:—

Ts'ing I Ma Wan* Lantaot Ping Chau

Ch'eung Chaut Lamma...

Population.

400

400

6,860

600

5,000

460

The island of Lantao is about 15 miles long and 51⁄2 miles wide, being considerably larger than the island of Hong Kong, which is about 9 miles long and from 2 to 5 miles broad. Along the west coast are several towns and some cultivated land up to the base of the hills. These hills, which are really a continuation of the southern range of the mountain system of the San On district, present a most imposing appearance, and con- tain lofty peaks, the highest of which rises to an elevation of 3,050 feet. The two most flourishing towns in Lantao are Tung Chung, containing nine villages, the inhabitants of which are engaged in agriculture and fishing; and Tai Ŏ, the busiest town on the island, with a population of 3,000. The latter is a great fishing centre, and owing to the large number of fishing junks and other vessels that visit it, the shopkeepers seem to do a flourishing business. The only representatives of the Chinese Government on the island are two military officers, one, a captain, stationed at Tung Chung, the other, a lieutenant stationed at Tai O, subject to the colonel commanding stationed at Taipang on the mainland. The island of Lantao contains magnificent building sites, and, as it is only five miles from Hong Kong, and open to the south-west monsoon during the hot months, it is not unlikely that the residents of Hong Kong may during the summer make use of this island, the fine white sandy beaches of which afford excellent sea-bathing.

The island of Cheung Chau is a busy place, at which many of the steamers, launches, and junks plying between Hong Kong and Macao call. There is a station of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs on this island, as there is also on the island of Ma Wan, commonly known as the Kap Shui Mun Station (see Map XI.).

The deep anchorage at Cheung Chau affords good shelter, especially during an easterly gale.

The island of Lamma, called by the Chinese Pok Liu, is four miles long and two miles wide. Near its centre it is so narrow that it is only a quarter of a mile across. The chief bay is Picnic Bay, on the east side, which affords secure anchorage for a vessel in about 6 fathoms of water. This island has four villages, the largest of which has a population of about 250.

The island of Waglan, situated to the south-east of Hong Kong, has a lighthouse on it, which is at present under the control of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs, and which will, I presume, in future be placed under the Harbour Master of Hong Kong.

Admiralty Chart No. 1180 (Map V.) gives clearly the size and position of all the islands within the new extension.

POPULATION.

There are no reliable statistics possessed by the Chinese Government of the present population of the San On District. No census appears to have been taken for many

* See Photographs, Album II., No. 8.

""

""

III., II.,

22

"

29

25, 27. 9, 11.

III.,

27

24, 28.

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