The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-15 00:00:00

THE !SLAM) OF HONG.KONG.

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Dr. Clarke Abel, in his Narrative of a Journey to
China, gives the following account of this island :—Sail-
ing with the Amherst Embassy in 1816, the squadron,
on the evening of the 12th of June, weighed, and stood
for Hong Kong, which is one of the Lidrone Islands,
cisteat from the great Lemma 16 miles in a N.E.
direction.

Looking from the deck of the Alceste curly on the
following morning, I found that we were in a sound
formed by some small islands, by which it was land-
locked in every direction, and of which :Hong-kong is
the principal. As seen from the ship teis island was
chiefly remarkable for its high conical mountains, rising
in the centre, and for a beautiful cascade, which rolled
over a fine blue rock into the sea. I took advantage of
the first watering-beat to visit the shore, and made one
of these mountains And the waterfall the principal ob-
jects of my visit.
This mountain, the highest on the island, is, ac-
cording to Captain Ross, who has measured it,
about fifteen hundred feet above the level of the
sea, and is eettrinsed of trap, approaching to basalt
in the teattipactness of its structure. In ascend.
ins it, I followed the course of a delightful stream,
which rises near its summit, and found by its side a
number of interesting plants; The general surface
of the mountain; and indeed every part of the island
of Hong-kent, that I was able to visit, is remarkably
barren) although in the distance it appears fertile.
Wa's unable to reach the summit of the mountain,
in consequence of the excessive heat, which, at
eight o'clock in the morning, raised the thermo-
meter in the shade to 83 degrees, whilst tile sun's
rays, to which I necessarily exposed myself, darted
through an unclouded atmosphere with an almost
intolerable effect, and raised the quicksilver to
120 degrees. I ascended about 1,000 feet,
and returned by a path which passed over
a small hill, or rather mound, differing in structure
from all the rocks in its neighbourhood, being com-
posed of a very friable stone of reddish white colour
much resembling disintegrated felspar.
Its scenery is composed of barren rocks, deep ravines,
and mountain torrents, but presents few characters of
a very picturesque description. Of its inhabitants,
none were seen but some poor and weather-beaten
fishermen, spreading their nets, and drying the produce
cf their toils on the rocks which supported their miser-
able mud huts. Its cultivation corresponded with the
apparent state and number of its population. Patches
of rice, small plantations of yams, and a little buck-
wheat, were all their visible means of vegetable support.
The typhoons, which sweep over the island et this
season, are sometimes tremendous.

The height of the barometer varied very little
during our stay at Hong• Kong, but the thermometer
and hygrometer ur derwent frequent changes.
The most ancient Spanish geographers speak meanly
of Hong-kong, in common with the other islands of the
cluster. It produces, however, they allow, fruits, salad,
and a variety of wholesome herbs, in fair quantity ;
but that it has no beasts, and of birds only one kind.
The inhabitants were few and miserable ; but they ap-
peared, if their original stock may be guessed at, to be
of the same stock as the Philippines.

(By the Author of " The Chinese as they Arc."
The island of Hong-kong is about ten miles in
length, and nearly that distance in its greatest breadth.
It is of an irregular shape, and withdraws into two or
three half sheltered harbours on the southern side. But
that which is, by way of emphasis, the Harbour of
Kong, is formed by this island as it stretches in length
from east to west, and the main land of China. This
is a magnificent harbour in extent and diversity of out-
line, securely sheltered by lofty bills, and well deserves
that distinction which has been given to it. The ships
usually anchor in about ten fathoms water, but there
is a deep bight in the mainland, receding about two
miles and a half towards the north, which is about a
mile and a half, or somewhat more, in breadth, where
the depth of water varies from three to five fathoms.
As this inner harbour, as we may call it for the sake of
clearness and perspicuity, is completely landlocked, it
resembles a beautiful lake, surrounded by many a ridgy
height and some towering peaks of steep and rugged as-
cent. At the top of this inner harbour stands the vil-
lage of Coroloon, which recently gained some celebrity
by a skirmish between Captain Elliot and the Chinese'
cruisers, but which has been long known to naval men
by the great civility and kindness of its inhabitants to-
wards the foreigner. From the harbour of Hong-kong
there is a passage to the eastward about half a mile in
breadth, where in some places there is twenty-five
fathoms water; but as this course is rather intricate,
and requires a variety of winds to make it an easy
one, ships proceeding to the north prefer a sweep
round the island of Hong-kong, and dropping down the
Lama channel to steer southward and eastward till
they emerge into the China sea. The harbour of
Hong-kong is famed among foreign residents in China
for its extreme healthiness ; and many a sojourner at
Macao, after trying what medicine and exercise could
do for him there, has at length repaired to Hong-kung
and found what he had so long sought for in vain. The
writer of these remarks, while at the place last men-
tioned in the spring of 1838, made full proof of physic,
diet, rest, and light excursions, but discovered that be
was growing weaker, instead of improving, under this
treatment. Just at the time when slope began to give
place to despair, an American Captain invited him to
take a trip to Hong-kong ; the invitation was ac-
cepted, and after a lapse of a fortnight he was so in-
vigorated by the breez:s of that delectable place, that
he went to Canton and worked through a summer of
unusual sultriness. Thus much may be said in re-
ference to the healthiness of this piece of newly-acquired
territory.
The island of Hong-kong may be described as a huge
pile of ragged hills, which here and there start up into
precipitous peaks. It is barren and intractable in its
aspect, especially when compared with those rich scenes
which meet the eye in the Straits of Sunda. But this
barrenness is relative, for the slopes are covered with a
hardy kind of grass, except in spots where the soil has
been sifted by an avalanche or the rock broken into an
escarpment by volcanic action. The naked and unpro-
ductive character of the hills in the southera parts of
China the writer had been led to ascribe to the meagre
and hungry nature of the soil, as the rock from which
it is produced is a hard sort of granite, yielding but
little clay as a material for • the sub-soil ; when,
however, he visited Hong-kong, and found it mainly
composed of trap, in which clay is abundant, he began
to feel it necessary to modify the opinion which he had
formerly entertained. The barren aspect assumed by
the projecting points and angles of Hong-kong, or rather
the want of trees to clothe and decorate them, must
be ascribed to the north-east wind, which blows with
such a keen and biting edge, that few trees, save the
Pinus Linens's, which resembles our Scotch fir, can en-
dure it. This pine, though very abundant upon
many parts of Heang Shaw, the island of which the
peninsula of Macao forms a part, is not plentiful
in all parts of Hong-kong, and seams to shun the
shelving sides of that island. If, however, those
parts which first offer themselves to the ken of the sea-
faring man from afar, are uninviting because the wind
is adverse to vegetation, we ought to look for something
better in quarters defended from its influence ; and
in this expectation we shall not be disappointed, for the
valleys exhibit a beautiful contrast to the hills. If we
land, for example, at the cascade on the southern side
of the island, after climbing up about sixty feet over
ledges of trap, covered with a curious white crust and
spit into a diversity of configurations, we find ourselves
in a luxuriant and romantic vale, sometimes walled in
with steep sides, at others expanding into little plains
for the cultivation of rice and vegetables. In one of
these vales, about. two miles from the waterfag, we meet
with a small village, where the inhabitants are poor in
their appearance, which is no great marvel, since it is
commerce, and not agriculture, unless aided by com-
merce, which makes a people rich.
'rho author of these remarks hurried by this village
with the best speed he was master of, that he might
have time to trace the stream of water to its sources,
and get a view of the other side of the island from the
summit of the ridge. This stream separated into two
branches, each of which ran towards a high peak. His
haste did not allow him to form a proper estimate of
the number of inhabitants who called this village their
home, as he was afterwards surprised to tea a large
group of females descending from the hills, whither
they had been either to cut grass or to till some fa-
voured spot amid the varieties of hill and dale.. Few
Europeans would prefer a residence in this valley, but
it would form a most delightful place for an excursion.
If a boat started from Hong-kong harbour early in the
morning, it would reacts this valley in time to allow
the passengers six or even eight hours for a pic-nic
upan the shore, and then return by the time the sun
had descended below the verge of the western horizon.
In a withdrawing nook, in what we may call, in the
landsman's phrase, the further corner of the harbour of
Hongkong, there is a small delta and a very charming
valley, in which the former terminates. On this delta,
fairly " embosomed in tufted trees," stands a small
village, inhabited by persons who arc not wealthy, but
not so poor but that some had delicacies which had
been brought from Macao, and to which they bade the
writer a most hearty welcome. Several of them could
read, and a man, to whom a copy of the New Testament
was given, seemed to be a person of intelligence, though
his daily cares were parted berween his fishery and his
farm. This shelter is nearly an equilateral triangle,
each side being about one-fourth of a mile in length.