Page 13
CHAPTER I.
Page 13
10
The fleet of China may for the present be neglected; but if allied with France or Russia, her twenty torpedo-boats at Whampoa, not all effective however, might be available against British ships, and a nucleus of European troops might make a Chinese army formidable in an attack on the Colony from the land side.
Great Britain has now pushed her frontier-line some 13 miles to the north, acquiring the greater portion of the district of Sin-On, and the Islands of Lantau and Lamma, with adjacent islets around the coast of Hong Kong, an area of about 200 square miles. The territory on the mainland lies between the estuary of the Canton River on the west and the many-armed Mirs Bay on the east. The boundary-line, 11 miles long, will now be drawn between its northern arm, Starling Inlet, and the shallow indentation called Deep Bay on the west.
This accession of territory can hardly be said to bear on the Scheme of Defence, as, with the small garrison now or likely to be allotted to Hong Kong, it would be unwise to push our line of defence northward of the narrow Peninsula of Kowloon as at present held, except, indeed, to construct a defensive work on the Devil's Peak, opposite Lyemun.* Now as before, it is only by her sea power that England can prevent an enemy from using Mirs Bay and the Lantau roads; but it is not likely that an enemy of the force contemplated in this Scheme would waste the time at its disposal in raiding Chinese villages and hovels near these waterways.
It will be seen from the above considerations that Hong Kong might possibly be menaced by a very powerful attack from Japan, or by a serious attack from French Indo-China, with the possible assistance of Russia's naval forces in the Far East. An attack of this nature on a large scale cannot, however, be delivered so long as Her Majesty's navy maintains sea supremacy; and the Admiralty have accepted the responsibility of protecting all British territory abroad against organized invasion from
the sea.
Her Majesty's ships, however, while engaged in hunting out and destroying the squadrons of an enemy, may not be in a position to prevent the predatory raids of hostile cruisers on British ports; but it is in the highest degree improbable that such a raid would be made by more than a few ships, nor could it have any permanent effect unless troops could be landed. Moreover, the available landing parties of a few cruisers, in constant expectation of having to oppose Her Majesty's ships, would not be a formidable body in point of numbers.
It is mainly to meet raids of this nature that Hong Kong has been fortified and garrisoned, and the present Defence Scheme drawn up.
General Character of Hong Kong.
A glance at the chart will show better than any verbal description the peculiar position of Hong Kong, lying at the southern end of an indented peninsula, between which and the island itself are the famed harbour and roads.
The southern shores of the island are deeply penetrated by arms of the sea, and the eastern entrance to the harbour between the Devil's Peak and Lyemun is only half-a-mile wide, while the western entrance between Belchers Point and Stonecutters Island is some 3,500 yards across. A mimic mountain range with peaks rising from 1,400 to 1,800 feet follows the western, northern, and eastern shores, while spurs and steep outlying hills break up the whole surface south of the main ridge.
Eight gaps offer convenient passage across this ridge, which in several instances is effected by good roads. Beginning from the west, they are--
Mount Davis Gap, the only one crossed by a carriage road, about 500 feet
above sea level.
Victoria Gap, 1,250 feet. Magazine Gap, 787 feet. Wanchai Gap, 700 feet. Middle Gap, 900 feet.
(A steep and difficult track leads over this pass.)
Wong-nei-Cheong Gap, 685 feet. Quarry Bay Gap, 980 feet.
Sai-ki-Wan Gap, 700 feet.
* Plans for these works and for a new one on Sywan Hill are in course of preparation.
Page 13
Page 13
Page 13
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.