HONGKONG.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5343, 13 May 1878, Page 2

HONGKONG.

(EROH OTJB OWN:CORRESPONDENT). ( Continued.) The other notable places of interest are the gardens and the ascent of Mount Victoria, the top of which is gained by ..a circuitous path. The usual way of gelting up for short-winded persona is by means of sedan chairs, with two or four coolies, according to the weight of the person. The charge is 1. dol. for-two coolies, and 1J dols. for four, and half that amount is the, return fare. A grand view of the harbor and surrounding country is to be had ■ from this elevation (1825 ft.) on a clear day. The gardens are situated immediately behind and contiguous to Government House, ; which I need scarcely add is about, the finest residence in the colony. It commands a splendid and uninterrupted view of the harbor overlooks the man-of-war station, and is evidently a luxurious and'pleasant place' of abode, judging from its surroundings. The gardens are reached. by means of two or three very pretty walks winding up the hill and in among a number- of private houses and gardens. The principal entrances are on - either side of Government House. 1 1 The gardens are laid out in a kind of terraces, each terrace, being reached by a flight:of granite stepsthe width of the paths;'with winding walks on either side. ' All the walks are cemented,’ and, like ' the cemetery, not a stray loaf is to bo seen about.

In the centra o£ the first’terrace is a very large ' - and handsomefouptain, with gold and silver 0 fish swimming iboiit in the basin. Around and along the promenade < where the fountain is situated are placed comfortable iron seats and lounges for promenaders. This is a favorite resort for nursemaids and their charges. The nursemaids are all Chinese women, and generally well up in years. There was a goodly number of them in the gardens the afternoon we were there. On the next terrace above the fountain is situated the band rotunda, in which the bands of the regiments stationed at Hongkong contribute to the enjoyment of the inhabitants on one or two evenings during the week, and on Saturday afternoons. The flora comprises all or very nearly all the tropical plants, trees, &c. Very many of the trees and plants are supplied by Japan. J- oelieve there are no trees or flowers oi any i wo indigenous to the colony ; so it is dependent on other places, for its supply. there is not the great variety that is to pa found in the gardens of the Australian colo* nies However, what they have has been made the mo.tof, both in tastefully laying out and the neat and trim appearance of everything animate and inanimate. It is a delightful retreat in summer, and is fully appreciated by the residents, who are remarkably proud of their gardens, which ii pardonable, as it is really a delightful spot cither for a walk or a -lounge. ' ■ The harbor, as I mentioned before, is large, —and good anchorage i* to bo found In any part of it. There are only about four wharves, which are uml principally by the Canton and Macao.steamers. Skips and steamers anchor wherever they can get a good berth, but they - must not encroach on the man-of-war station, which is at the east or Wanchai end, and im--1 mediately opposite Government House, and close to the military and naval stores barracks. Further east is the principal anchorage for coal-laden ships, j There' are generally about ten British and three or four foreign men-of-war vessels stationed here, and the average number of steamers in harbor every day is between 40 and 50, and of sailing vessels between 80 and 100. Add to this nearly 3500 Chinese boats o! all kinds, about 50 steam-launches, besides a host of boats belonging to private firms and ships, and your readers can perhaps imagine the busy appearance the harbor has from daylight to dark. There are six docks and three patent-slips, i The largest, I believe, are the Cosmopolitan Docks, the proprietors -' of which are W, B. Spratt and Co., and whose active manager is an old Auckland mao, who did good service for. New Zealand during the Maori war. The length of the dock is 500 ft.; beam, 92ft.; depth of; water, 24ft. 6in. The largest ship taken np was the steamer City of Pekin, which is some 6000 tons register. The following statistics, culled from the latest Government records, which a gentleman in the Registrar-General's office kindly supplied me with, will perhaps he interesting as showing the number of persons and places that are crowded into an area somewhat less than that of Wellington:— .European and American population .. 1 .. 2767 - Chinese population .. ■ .. 84,425 i ; in Tillages and kowloons - .. -.-. 15,230 • - .boat population .. - , .. i; ■ .. .. 22,745 „ in employ of English . . ■ . ; .. €516 “ ' ~ police . j .v .. . .. ■ 309 • European „ .. .. .. .115 • Indian ~ ' 184 British military .. -■ .. .. 1288 naval ; -:,.v;.v -- .. - 2573 Indian military .. ** .. 71 Licensed chairs .. 700 „ sampans, cargo boats, jnnlts, *c. .. 3468 Public and private buildings, including military and naval barracks ■ .. .. 8287 Besides the licensed chairs, there are, a .large htimber ‘of 'private ' ones ; ; every mercantile house has three or four, and I believe nearly every private house possesses at least one, so that the total number of chairs will not be far short of 1000. Looking at the Chinese boat population, and the number of boats, it will be seen that there is an average of nearlyfij persons to each boat. ’ I noticed as'many as three generations in one boat ;:but this is not at all surprising, as the Chinese marry very young. The only'surprising thing about it is how they all get a living, seeing that there are such a largo number of them, and the remuneration exceedingly'small. For 10 cents a sampan will take.you toanypart of the harbor ; the fare is double at night; and one can be had for the whole day for 75 cents. They seldom leave their boats,: except it be to purchase .their scanty fare,, which can be got by crossing the praya 'along which they are moored ; the boat to them being both a place of residence: and; subsistence. The women do the hardest portion of the work; and it is a common thing to see a woman pnli an oar and steer at the same time, having an infant strapped on her hack.. .The youngster seems; quite contented and' happy in its position, and it is a rare thing to hear one cry; and yet they get pretty well shaken while the woman is rowing. I have also seen them asleep while-':their little heads would be jerked backwards : and forwards at the imminent risk of bavingAheir necks broken. The woman is generally the best “ man ” in the boat, and does: all the pidgin or business; and like her European sisters, does most of the talking as well. 1 ' ;l - There are two daily newspapers, the China ■Mail, 'published in the evening, and th oHontjTconr/ Press in the morning. Both are wellwritten and conducted. Tfieir remarks at present, especially on public affairs generally, and the education question in particular, are studied by the European population with great inte-, rest. The Governor and the Catholic bishop came in for some hard knocks from them, especially on the education question. Mr. Pope Hennessy has only been Governor of. Hong- ■ kong for about nine months, and during that period has succeeded-in making himself so.oh-, noxious that the people are' seriously thinking ' of ‘petitioning the Home Government ■ for his recall.. There are also itwo : Chinese papers, : issued respectively .by the proprietors of the ttwq English journals mentioned, and which are' ' edited and published by Chinese. In fact, both the i Maili and Press' compositors ! and press - hands, with the exception of a few Portuguese ..compositors, are Chinese, and their “proofs” are generally pretty clean. Their “picking- ■ up" is necessarily very slow, especially when '“setting” from' manuscript: copy., > Reprint .they ‘‘set” very fairly.. >.The beat Chinese 1 hands get about 15 dole; Jier- month, which is good pay for Johto' 3 capital bookbinders and,!, rulers,/and conse-,-qnently.. are- very handy about - a newspaper, office. During our, stay in port live, wit-; nessed the Chinese New Year festival, which commenced on the afternoon of ] st February. At night commenced the season when the sons ofHam'employ all their energies in exploding f crackers and- eating- pork, - and. although we were lying fully a-mile from Hongkong,’the; ;din -made continuous dispharge of: j crackers was . plainly audible. The Chinese neiv year is also, the grand settling day for the twelve' months—a time'when rates of interest ;aro high, pawnlrrokers in great request, rob||g heries frequent, and struggling tradesmen come suddenly to grief. ;,For a week or more before thopew year the ships and steamers in harbor ate crowded with" hawkers of ivory, Japan- , ware,-curios, clothes, hoots—in fact, all de- • script-'oas of trade,-eager to sell af almost ahy 1 figure, so long as they get the dollar. John 'will come np to you and sayy 'f Me makee welly cheapbargin, China new year.” If you ask him how ranch for a certain article, he will pro- ■ bably ask you three times as much as he very . often! gets/ . If he fails in driving a bargain he will-likely ask you, “ You gotee sovlin, me , makee ebangee.” Gold seems to have a great fascination for them, for' if you show one they will hang on and haggle with yon until a purchase ia made and the sovereign is transferred to their purse,.when he will sigh and say, “ Me makee lose 30 cents, or some other amount. John Is a good diacemer of, character, and acts .on it. I have seen one man buy an article frr naif the amount paid a short time belore by another for a similar article. - ~(°WN COttKESPONDENT PBESB AGENCY.) ■ . , Hongkong, 27th March. -Business is fairly active. Homeward .freights are low. More tonnage is not wanted at present, as there is no demand from China ports or Japan. „ Legislative Ccunoil have passed a Steamship Survey an d Regulation Ordinance, which was much, wanted to prevent such catastrophes ■ as recently i occurred on board the steamship Yesso,. The question of obliging Wfjqualifiedengineera has been often mooted, Ana ban latterly. a serious aspect. A steamer. has been known to enter this port with over; 600 passengers, the engineers of which were all Chinese, not skffied men, and working for little more than Coolie hire, , • The Council voted 10,000 dollars in aid of the sufferers of the northern Chinese famine. Bek in G a Cette contains 1 the decree owmissiDg: ■ from the public- service, under peatence of perpetual exclusion, the two offiwho were in . charge of the refuge yard where some 2000 people were burnt to death at Tientsin, Hice Is, how much cheaper, hut the unsettled weather is causing uneasiness amongst agriculturists; . -, , Kashgar was taken by the Chinese by a coup and the whole district is now .in the power of the Chinese. ( The Ameer escaped r®!®, the carnage; which; ptas fearliil, and he

has arrived at Ferghana. on Russian territory, and asks for Russian support. , , „ , The steamer Charlton leaves early for Fort Darwin with a large number of Chinese. . Mendicancy is prevalenti in Canton and Hongkong. Ihe nurnber o beggars is greater than it has been for y • • This is owing to the badness of the crops ami the damage caused by inundations Tlie German barque Ceres, 421 tons, was lost at Cbefoo in drifting ice. The cre 'V[ ere saved, but the ship and cargo were a total loss.