Page:Illustrations of China and Its People vol. I. 2ed edition.pdf/16



HONG-KONG HARBOUR.

N this view, taken when H. R. H. the Duke of Edinburgh visited Hong-kong, in 1869, H. M. S. "Galatea" is seen at anchor off Peddar's Wharf. Those familiar with the place will readily recognize the well-known range of hills that shelters the harbour on the Kowloon side; and few who were present when the Duke was landing will forget the scene that was then presented in the harbour. Ships of all nations vied in the splendour of their decorations; long lines of merchant boats guarded the approach to the wharf; and on a thousand native crafts, adorned with flags and shreds of gaudy cloth, appeared the dusky multitudes of the floating population, swarming over the decks, or clinging to the rigging of their vessels. The wharves too, and landing stages, were covered with a sea of yellow faces, all eager to catch a glimpse of the great English prince. Nor can I forget the regret expressed by some at finding that he was only a man after all, attired in the simple uniform of a captain, with no display of purple and fine linen, and with none of the mystic emblems of royalty to hedge his dignity around. A very different being this, surely, from the offspring of their own great Emperor, who is brother of the sun, and kinsman to the moon, on whose radiant countenance no common mortal can look and live.

The harbour, although sheltered by the hills of the mainland and Hong-kong, as well as by the islands round about, often suffers from the violence of the typhoons which are common during winter to the China seas.

During the typhoon months, the floating population, which numbers about 30,000 souls, carefully study the indications of the weather, and can calculate with great shrewdness the near approach of a storm. They usually, however, verify their own observations by ascertaining the barometrical changes from the foreign ship-captains in port. When they have settled in their own minds that a storm is coming on, the boats and fishing population cross the harbour "en masse," and shelter in the bays of Kowloon until the fury of the hurricane is spent. Round the harbour the scenery is remarkably picturesque, and picnic parties during the cold season find many a pleasant retreat among the islands, particularly Green Island and Wong-chuen-chow, or amid the woody hills and fertile valleys which diversify the mainland of Kowloon.