From Pole to Pole: A Book for Young People

by Sven Anders Hedin

MAP SHOWING VOYAGE FROM BOMBAY TO HONG KONG (pp. 152-160).

A large part of Further India is occupied by the kingdom of Siam, which lies between the lower courses of the Mekong and the Salwin, both of which rise in eastern Tibet. Siam is about two-thirds the size of French Indo-China, but has only 9 million inhabitants of various races—Siamese, Chinese, Malays, and Laos. Bangkok, the capital of the King of Siam, contains half a million inhabitants, and is intersected by numerous canals, on which a large proportion of the people live in floating houses. There are many fine and famous pagodas, or temples, with statues of Buddha. Some of them are of gold. In Siam the Buddhist religion has been preserved pure and uncorrupted. The white elephant is considered sacred, and the flag of Siam exhibits a white elephant on a red field. The Siamese are of Mongolian origin, of medium, sturdy build, with a yellowish-brown complexion, but are not highly gifted. They are addicted to song, music, and games, and among their curious customs is that of colouring the teeth black.

PLATE XVI. ON THE CANTON RIVER.

On the morning of October 29 we steam past a fringe of islets, the beautiful and charming entrance to Hong Kong. The north-east monsoon is blowing freshly, and the salt foam hisses round the bow of the Delhi and falls on the deck in fine spray lighted by the sun. There is little sea, for we are in among the islands which check and subdue the violence of the waves. At noon we glide in between a small holm and the island into the excellent and roomy harbour of Hong Kong, well sheltered on all sides from wind and waves. A flotilla of steam launches comes out to meet us as we glide slowly among innumerable vessels to our anchorage and buoys. Here flutter in the wind the flags of all commercial nations; the English, Chinese, Japanese, American, and German colours fly side by side. The water in the harbour basin is so shallow that the turn of the propeller stirs up the greyish-brown mud from the bottom.

Victoria is the chief town of Hong Kong, and contains nearly the half of the population, which amounts to 440,000 souls, most of them Chinese.

There are five important points on the sea-route to the Far East—Gibraltar, Aden, Colombo, Singapore, and Hong Kong—and all of them are in the hands of England.

Hong Kong has been a British Crown Colony since 1842, and it is now an extraordinarily important port. Vessels with an aggregate tonnage of nearly 20 millions pass through Hong Kong annually, and the little island surpasses in this respect even London, Hamburg, and New York. Regular lines of steamers connect Hong Kong with countless ports in Asia, America, Europe, and Australia, and the trade of the port is immense. It is also a station for the east Asiatic squadron of the Royal Navy—with fine docks and berths, a coal depôt, arsenal, and barracks.

Ninety miles north-west of Hong Kong lies the second city of China, Canton (Plate XVI.). It stands near the mouths of two rivers which give access to the interior of the country, and Canton is therefore an important commercial town, surpassed only by Shanghai. The famous Chinese silk is exported from Canton in larger quantities than from any other town, and the industries of silk-weaving, porcelain, and other manufactures are flourishing. Canton is one of the thirty-seven Chinese "treaty ports"—that is, those which are open to foreign commerce. It has 900,000 inhabitants, and is the capital of the southernmost of the eighteen provinces of China proper and the residence of a viceroy. Its streets are so narrow that no wheeled vehicle can pass through them. A large part of the inhabitants live on boats moored to posts on the river. A railway 1200 miles long connects Canton with the capital of the empire, Peking.