Morning journal and courier., 1884-02-09
NN. SATURDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 9. 1884.

| cattle, whole droves of sheep, and hundreds of chickens, ducks. geese, pheasants, pigeons, l rabbits, and other animals, all being trans- ported alive. What merciful provision of nature it is that these Justify growing roosters and beautiful birds have no suspicion of the 1 fearful slaughter that is to follow during the l voyage through the tropics. As the geese I arrogsntly arch their beautiful necks and trim their soft plumage, this thought enables me l to overlook the arrogance that accompanies l the act; and when the ducks insist upon making a pond for themselves out Of the water basin from which the thirsty geese are 1 trying to drink, reflect how little difference l these annoysnces will make to the proud quackers one month hence.
 On shipboard we have case of the French and the Chinese living amicably together, | though it must be confessed that this harmo- ny is due largely to the fact that the French have their heel upon the neck of the lowiy apostle of the pigtail. There are but few Chinese on board all the sailors and most of the cooks being French; but those who are employed in various capacities on board know what Longfellow meant when he sang about suffering and being strong"
 On beautiful Saturday morning the steam CT slackens speed, and aims apparently straight at the land. I am interested in this rather novel procedure, and taking book, go up on the very prov of the boat, there to read and at the same time maintain & watch 1u1 bupeTluS6Qu6uC6 over hALL6IS. BuG tG6 scene is such an interesting one that my book remains unopened. am deeply absorbed in solving the problem as to how four thousand ton steamer is going to blow her way through land. But now an inlet becomes visible. Moreover the water is dotted with skiffs, sampans, fishing smacks, and sailing vessels, which bear English numbers on their sides, as for instance 1241. An! now a winding pas sage comes into view, and after all, we are really not going to force our way through the granite rocks What can it all mean? We are not due in Hong Kong til about Sunday noon, and 1 know of no important English settlement on the way Suddenly we round point, and on the left discover huge ten story factory, the first establishment which have yet seen in the Orient of such exten- sive proportions. I turn interrogatively to one of the officers of the ship who can speak little English, and he makes reply: ''Ihat IS the Hong Kong sugar refinery. The city IS situated six miles further down. "But surely, protest, Git is not time for us to reach Hong Kong. The tine-card says Sun day." 'sAh, but We have had most favorable passage. The monsoon has helped us wonderfully" I resign myself easily to the agreeable surprise and busy myself in watch ing the Chinese at work in the quarries on either side of the channel Here 1t is con sidered almost indecent for a person with Caucasian features to do a stroke of work.
 
 l horde of Chinese laborers. Even the wealthy Parsees, Hindoos and Malaysians here, whose ] swarthy complexions might brand them else l where as outcasts, order these Chinese about h way that is amusing to the stranger. Now we round another curve, and the city Of Hong kong-or Victoria, to speak more accurately, though very few employ ths latter term-looms at once iuto full view, looking like city of palaces. This effect is brought about by the fact that the town is built upon 8 very steep hillside, so terraced that every building is visible in its entirety. Everybody Is rich here, and the blocks mostly three | or four story structures. built of stone throughout, with deep stone balconies in | front toward the water for catching the | breeze in summer. The upper stories of the business blocks are reserved for cool and ele- gant homes.
 Behind the city rises Victoria's Peak full | 1,700 feet above the sea. The name Hong Kong signifies "Beautiful Harbor;" and 1 am ready to testify that 1t Is not 0 nlisnomer. | While the harbor itself may not be superior 1 to quite number of other harbors iu the l world, it is the most picturesque that I have ever seen. Land locked like that of Nagasaki, it is hedged in by hills twics as high and | abrupt.
 1 The city stretches for three miles along i the water, and is supplied with all the modern | improvements that I witnessed ut Shang- hai, with the exception of the electric light. It cannot be doubted that Shanghai has a | brighter prospect than Hong Kong and is stealing a large share of the lUtter's trade | away; but 8 central point Hong Kong has geographically the advantages; and here diverge and must always diverge, the steam CT lines to Java, the Phillipine Islands, Aus tralia, New Zealand, the Sandwich Islands, and the Chinese city of Canton. Beyond the town on the left is the English cemetery. q most delightful spot, embowered in tropical foliage, located in what is known es the Happy Valley" Formerly Hong Kong did not enjoy very enviable reputation as health resort, and consequently this city of the dead is well populated.