The weather begins to grow warm in China (I speak of Hong Kong, Macao, and Canton) about the middle of April; in June, it is oppressively hot; and during the following three months, which are the most unhealthy, the thermometer in the shade ranges from 85° to 90°. This is a degree of heat that ought not to be much felt by experienced Indians; and in Java, or in the Straits of Malacca, I should not complain of it; but there is a peculiarity, an oppressiveness, in the heat of China, that makes even respiration difficult, and excites such copious perspiration as to weaken the frame. In October, the weather becomes cooler, and, for the next five months, is sufficiently cold to render fires a comfort morning and evening; and occasionally during the whole day. Were it not for their winter, I know not what would become of the European residents in China: this season braces them up for the coming summer, and, in short, saves their lives.
The progress made in Hong Kong since its occupation as a British Colony, is astonishing, and perhaps unsurpassed in the history of civilization. Owing to the peculiar features of the locality in which Victoria stands, that town has been extended along the beach, till it is now upward of four miles long, with three short streets extending a little way up the hills about its centre. The Queen's road extends along the beach the whole of this length, and has been cut with great labour and expense. The lots between this road and low-water mark are considered as the best for mercantile purposes, and are nearly all in the possession of mercantile men, who have built, in most cases, handsome warehouses with dwelling-houses above. There are, however, some exceptions, a portion of the ground being occupied by Chinese shopkeepers, who inhabit low ill-built houses, which, as ground with water-frontage becomes more valuable, will have to give way to better buildings, raised by a higher class, who will buy out the present occupants. The lots on the south side of Queen's Road are not so valuable as those opposite; nevertheless, they are nearly all in the possession of monied men, who will before long find it to their advantage to level the many wretched buildings that now disfigure the road, and to erect houses worthy of a town bearing the royal name.
On my departure from the Island, building was going forward in all directions, notwithstanding the somewhat illiberal terms on which alone lots were obtainable; and I have no doubt that, by this time, many smiling cottages adorn the hills in and near the town, while more stately buildings rear their prouder elevation on the level below.
House-rent, as might be expected, is very high, and will probably continue so for ten years to come. It took that time to reduce the rents in Singapore; and as I expect that Hong Kong will become a place of still greater trade, and attract a larger European population than the Straits' settlement, I see no reason that the owner of property in houses there should not look for a handsome return for his outlay for ten years, and for a fair remunerating price at the expiration of that time. Something like a hundred per cent. per annum has been got for the small houses occupied by Chinese shopkeepers, while twenty-five, thirty, and even forty per cent. is a common return for substantially-built warehouses.
Some idea of the rapid progress which this settlement has made, may be formed by the reader, when I state, that one firm had laid out upwards of 40,000l. sterling in building, and was still laying out more, when I quitted it. This is, certainly, by far the largest expenditure that has been made by any single establishment: but many others have spent from 6000l. to 10,000l. in a similar way; and the outlay by individuals on speculation, is by no means inconsiderable.
The Chinese population of Victoria and the neighbourhood amounted, last January, to ten thousand souls; certainly not the choicest collection that could be wished, as the number of robberies that take place in and about the town sufficiently testify. This evil the magistrates were, however, doing their best to remedy; and some scores of idle vagabonds had been sent across the Channel dividing the Island from the main land of China. Some of the chiefs of the robber-gangs had been apprehended and set to work on the roads, in irons; a proceeding that alarmed their confederates not a little.[24]
The general appearance of Hong Kong, from the sea, is picturesque and curious. That part of the Island on which the town is situated, is hilly, and, with the exception of the few paddy-fields already mentioned, presents no level space on which to build. The hills stretch completely down to the sea; and Queen's Road has been formed by cutting away their projecting spurs, throwing the earth into the sea in front, filling up the gaps on each side the spur, and thus forming a long strip of level. Above the level of Queen's Road, many terraces have been cut in the hills, upon which private dwellings have been perched; and to a person sailing into the harbour, these look suspended on the hill side, and inaccessible. To speak the truth, the approaches to them are not the most practicable; particularly in rainy weather, when, from the clayey nature of the soil, they become extremely slippery. Several water-courses descend from these hills, forming miniature ravines and a few water-falls, which have a pretty effect after a day's rain. They occasionally wash away an ill-built house; but this is the fault of the clumsy and foolish builders.
Many of these hills are covered with a hard, tough, useless sort of whinstone, which adds considerably to the expense of building on them. Others are well stocked with granite, which the Chinese masons split very neatly into any shape, by driving innumerable wedges into the blocks. The adroitness with which they do this, is quite surprising. The China pine (or fir) grows all over Hong Kong; but the young trees no sooner attain the height of two or three feet, than they are cut down by the natives, and carried off in bundles to clean the bottoms of the countless boats that ply about the harbour. Thus, with one or two exceptions, these hills are quite bare, and, in winter more particularly, exhibit any thing but a lively spectacle. In summer, their green covering of coarse grass improves their appearance.
The only thing that reconciles one to the site chosen for building the town of Victoria, is its beautiful harbour: in every other respect, the choice was decidedly bad. A more awkward place on which to erect a town, could not have been fixed upon; and its northern aspect adds, I suspect, to the unhealthiness of the place, as it exposes the town to the cold winds of winter, and completely shuts out the southerly breezes of summer, which are so much wanted to refresh the worn-out colonist There are situations in the Island much more eligible for a town, but their harbours are exposed, so that, when we consider how well the shipping are protected in Victoria bay, we feel disposed to allow that a better choice could not have been made under all the circumstances.
The market of Hong Kong is well supplied with fish, flesh, and fowl, vegetables, fruit, and game; and those who choose to take the trouble of seeing to it themselves, may obtain supplies on reasonable terms: those who leave these matters to their servants, are of course robbed, and are apt, without making any inquiry, to come to the conclusion, that every thing here is dear. The retail price of every sort of provisions is pasted up on the market-gate, once a week, by authority of the magistrates, in Chinese and English characters; so that the exorbitant rates charged by compradores may be easily detected and put a stop to. Chinese boats of all descriptions, sizes, and sorts may be hired at every wharf, at any hour from daylight till eight at night: their moving about after that hour, is prohibited by the Authorities, who had strong reason to suspect their being connected with the gangs of robbers that occasionally land from the opposite shore, commit some daring robbery, and disappear again before daylight.