[VOL I] HARBOUR OF HONG-KONG

HARBOUR OF HONG-KONG

Cover Image: Harbour of Hong Kong / HongKong China / Drawn by Unknown Engraved by B.Bradshaw – ALAMY Image ID:2X2927N

*During the early days of Hong Kong’s establishment, it refers to the period starting from the cession of Hong Kong to the British in the 1840s during the Qing Dynasty and extending until the lease of the New Territories in 1898. At that time, British Hong Kong transformed from a small fishing village with limited natural resources into a free port and entrepôt, replacing Macau’s position in Guangdong’s foreign trade. Simultaneously, Guangdong was frequently plagued by wars and unrest, leading many residents to seek refuge in Hong Kong, and wealthy merchants shifted their capital to the relatively stable Hong Kong.

Hail, little isle! and Hong’s fair haven, hail!
First-fruits of China to the ocean-queen!
New orient realms, new navies’ embryo sail
Glass’d in thy shifting horoscope are seen.
May British virtue shine, in thee confess;
And in her colony be Britain blest!

C.J.C.

THERE is an archipelago of rocky islets in the estuary of the Canton river, long known, but only lately visited by Europeans. Of these, Hong-kong, one of the most easterly, and only forty miles distant from Macao, possesses a harbour so sheltered, commodious, and secure, that during the repudiation of our trade from Canton by commissioner Lin, it became the favourite rendezvous of British merchantmen. Hither mariners have been attracted by the facility of procuring a supply of the purest water, which is seen falling from the cliffs of the Leong-teong, or two summits, in a series of cascades, the last which glides in one grand and graceful lapse into a rocky basin on the beach, whence the waters rebounding are widely scattered in their unrestricted progress towards the open sea. It is from this fountain, Heang-keang, the fragrant-stream, or Hoong-keang, the cool or bright torrent, that the island is supposed to derive its name; and it is little less probable, that this very name is the grateful memento of some thirsty mariners who, ages ago, obtained here a seasonable supply in time of need. The maximum length of the isle is about eight miles, its breadth seldom exceeding five; its mountains of trap-rock, are conical, precipitous, and sterile in aspect, but the valleys that intervene are sheltered and fertile, and the genial climate that prevails gives luxuriance and productivity to every spot, which, by its natural position, is susceptible of agricultural improvement. The aboriginal inhabitants, about four thousand in number, are poor, but contented and industrious, and, whoever has experienced the insolence of office, in the treatment of the mandarins at Canton to British subjects, is alone competent to appreciate the innate gentleness, and disinterested hospitality, of the farmers and the fishermen of Hong-Kong. On the south, the sheltered shore of the island, are several hamlets, (*Wang-nei-chung, Heong-keong, Shek-pei-wan, Soo-koon-poo, and others.) and the town of Chek-choo, the little capital, where a mandarin and his myrmidons usually resided. Within the last half century these industrious islanders have seen their picturesque harbour twice occupied by large fleets of European vessels riding securely at anchor; in 1816, the expedition under the conduct of Lord Amherst visited their shores for the purpose of watering, and of receiving interpreters; and, at the commencement of the recent Chinese quarrel, this was for many months the chief opium mart. The opium brought from Hindōstān was here transferred to the Hercules and Lintin storehips, respectively representing the interests of Great Britain and of America, and reshipped on board vessels destined for Chinese ports. By an arrangement entered into between the British superintendent and commissioner Keshen, during a cessation of hostilities in the Chinese war, the Island of Hong-Kong was ceded to the Queen of England, (*Mr. Johnston, (the son of the Right Honourable Sir Alexander Johnston,) Her Majesty’s Deputy Superintendent in China, was appointed Acting Governor, with an establishment consisting of a magistrate, a harbour-master, and a land-surveyor.)and, in a few months after, the population of the new settlement of “Queen’s Town” was estimated at eight thousand souls, and the grand total of the island at fifteen. This cession received a final confirmation by the treaty of the 29th August, 1842, when the British army, at the gates of Nanking, dictated terms of peace to the Celestial Empire.

As a commercial entrepôt, as a safe asylum for our shipping in the Oriental seas, as commanding the estuary of the Canton river, and as a military station, Hong-Kong possesses the utmost value; but, it never became a port for the direct and immediate communication between the mountainous and inhospitable character of the main island, and the productive provinces of the empire, completely intercepting communication. The harbour, however, the subject of the accompanying view, is one of the noblest roadsteads in the east; († “In all points, both of facility of egress and ingress, and in its perfectly land-locked situation, this harbour can hardly have a superior in the world.”—Report of Lord Amherst’s Voyage, &c.)situated between the north-west extremity of the island and the main land, it may be entered southward through Lamma Channel,—westward by the Cap-sing-mun passage, and from the east by vessels sailing close under the peninsula of Kow-lung. When Captain Elliott’s proclamation declared Hong-Kong to be a part and parcel of the British dominions, he marked out the site of Queen’s-Town on the southern shore, and here, around the standard of freedom, whole streets started into existence as if raised by the wand of the enchanter. A broad hard road now extends from the city of Ty-tam, around which marine villas are in progress of erection, commanding the grand spectacle of Hong harbour, and enjoying the refreshing breezes that blow from the unbounded sea. At the base of the lofty mountain-chain that margins the Chinese coast for many a league, is the Cow-loon (kow-lung, the winding dragon) peninsula, which, like the isthmus at Gibraltar, was to have been considered neutral ground, but the enemy having violated the treaty, it was seized by the British, who garrisoned the fort and named it Victoria, in honour of her Britannic majesty.

Besides the usual products of Chinese soil, climate, and industry, which are very prominently and meritoriously raised in this pleasant islet, there is a valuable export of granite, and a large proportion of the natives have long sustained themselves by the profits of hewing this primitive stone. In the structure of the district, the trap-rocks hold the higher position, while the granite is found in huge debris scattered over the level and the lower regions. As there is no necessity for blasting or quarrying, the masses being detached and accessible on every side, it only remains for the labourer to hew or split each boulder into blocks easy of transport to the shore. This process is performed by the maul, chisel, and wedges, in a manner long practised by the granite hewers on the shores of Dublin bay, and in the mountains that rise at a little distance from them. With the maul and chisel, shallow holes, at equal intervals, are sunk in a right line along the surface of the rock, into which iron wedges are subsequently driven, which rend the mass with an extraordinary regularity. The rent blocks of course present a rugged surface, but the inequality is soon reduced to sufficient smoothness by the application of keener-edged tools.

In every sheltered nook along the coast a lonely cottage makes its appearance, close to the margin of the water, and before the door stands a piece of machinery consisting of a bench, raised a few feet from the ground, with foot and back board, to give the occupant complete control over his movements, besides two upright posts connected by a windlass with a wheel at each extremity. This construction is a regular accompaniment of every fisherman’s hut, and completely characteristic of Hong-Kong scenery. The elevated stage forms part of an apparatus for fishing which none but Chinese could ever have contrived, and none else have continued to use, after they had witnessed the more simple means employed by foreigners, to obtain the same conclusion. The radii of the wheels, attached to the extremities of the reel or windlass, are so many levers, which, by the operator pressing with his hands and feet, coil up or release a set of ropes tied to stakes stuck into the muddy bottom of the shallow sea. Between these stakes a net is suspended, so nicely adjusted that its weight depresses their heads below the surface whenever the ropes are relaxed. The net being immersed, the partners in the operation, who are provided with a boat, row to the seaward of it, and, by striking the gong, by vociferating, and by beating the surface of the water with their oars, affright the fish, and drive them into the space immediately over the secret snare. The person stationed at the windlass paying the most vigilant attention to these proceedings, and feeling the vibration produced in the meshes by the efforts of the fish to descend, slowly turns his levers until his net is brought near the surface, where the boatmen are waiting to secure the draught. Two principles in philosophy seem to have been fully understood by these children of nature, one is the extraordinary power of conveying sound which is possessed by water; the other, that fish, prompted by instinct, always endeavour to escape from danger by diving down into deeper water, but never rise to the surface for that object. The supply so procured is not sent to the market of Queen’s-Town for sale, the quantity sought and obtained being seldom more than sufficient for the wants of the fisherman’s family; and, it is by means of this wholesome fare, together with the whitest and firmest rice in the Chinese empire, that the inhabitants of this sea-girt isle succeed in presenting an appearance of rude and never-failing health, that visitors universally remark.