Page:Illustrations of China and Its People vol. I. 2ed edition.pdf/21



THE CLOCK-TOWER, HONG-KONG.

HE clock-tower, designed by Mr. Rawlings in 1861, is a great ornament to the city, the clock too, when regulated properly, is of no inconsiderable service. It has, however, been a victim to the climate, and is liable to fits of indisposition, resting from its duties at the most inconvenient seasons, as if unable to contend against the heat. The tower is seen to advantage from the harbour, and the lighted dial of the clock forms a good landmark to guide the benighted steersman to the landing steps at Pedders Wharf. In the street which conducts to the clock-tower from the wharf stand several of the oldest buildings in the Colony. On the right of this picture we see the residence lately occupied by Messrs. Hunt and Co.

In the foreground, to the left, is shown a part of the west wing of the palatial-looking building erected by Messrs. Dent, when commerce was most flourishing in the settlement; this edifice is now tenanted by three separate mercantile houses. On the left, and nearest to the tower, stands the Hong-Kong Hotel, constructed after the model of the large hotels in London. It has not proved to the shareholders a very profitable undertaking, being on a scale too vast for the requirements of the place. At present it is rented and conducted by a Chinaman, and none but Chinese cooks and waiters are employed. The management is good, and the hotel comfortable. To a visitor the large dining hall presents an animated and interesting scene, and he finds on further experience that the arrangements are perfect and the fare unexceptionable. The native waiters are remarkable no less for promptitude and politeness, than for the spotless purity of their light silk or linen robes, and for the fluency of "Pidgin" English, in which they converse; this is, however, a jargon intelligible only to the residents. The younger boy-servitors pronounce with a pure English accent; they can also read, write, and reckon in our language with facility, having most of them been trained at the Government School.

The turbaned figure on the right is an Indian policeman, of whom there were at one time about 300 in the force. They are now being gradually drafted off to India, and replaced by Europeans and West-Indian negroes. These tall Indian members of the constabulary were admitted on all hands to be highly ornamental, but proved comparatively useless for the maintenance of order among the Chinese, as, with one or two notable exceptions, they could neither converse in English nor in the language of China. One or two of the chair coolies are seen waiting for a fare; and as these men perform very important services for the native and foreign community, I propose to furnish the reader with a more detailed account of them on another page.