severe nature, which too frequently prove fatal.

But of all parts of China, HongKong is the most unhealthy, and the fever prevalent there, known as the Hong-Kong fever, is as fatal as cholera morbus. The temperate and intemperate becoine alike the victims of this dreadful fever, which generally commences with slight headache, and gradually increases until the whole head is so sore, that no part can bear its own weight or pressure on the pillow. The body becomes so weak and enervated, that the patient is forced to assume a recumbent posture, and fever rages in the veins to an incredible degree. The eye-balls are in such excessive pain, that light can be ill endured, and yet the closing of the eye-lids is intolerable. The symptoms increase hourly; but it seldom lasts longer than five days. The fever has this peculiar feature, that the patient frequently becomes much better, and rallies so much previously to death, that instances have (constantly occurred of his sitting up in bed, or, if allowed, of rising from it, when he suddenly becomes delirious, and often violently so. If opposed injudiciously by force, the violence of the patient increases, and he expires from exhaustion. In other cases, the patient, after rallying, is seized with frightful convulsions-the features are distorted, fixed and rigid, and after some hours of painful suffering, he ceases to breathe. If blood be taken from the arm, in the commencement of the fever, the case is generally sure to terminate fatally; indeed it seems to have baffled all medical skill. No treatment, however successful in one case, has proved ef fectual in another. In this fearful disease, medical men allow that medicine is of little avail. All they can do is to administer aperients and febrifuges, and apply cooling lotions constantly to the head. Local bleeding is also adopted, by the application of leeches to the head. The patient is kept in a horizontal position, with the head depressed. Light nutriment should be constantly given, and the utmost kindness and most soothing manner used, when delirium appears. A medical man can therefore do but little, and the only chance of recovery, humanly speaking, is from constant, careful, judicious, and tender nursing, which men rarely receive in Hong-Kong, being left to

Of

servants, or male friends unaccustomed to act the part of nurses. the value of a good nurse, I can speak from sad experience, having had myself a most fearful attack of fever, from which, under Providence, I recovered, owing principally to the tender and anxious nursing bestowed upon me, day and night, by one of that sex, whose peculiar characteristic it is, "when pain and sickness wring the brow," to act the part of ministering angels. During recovery from fever, the great danger to be apprehended arises from the extreme debility and dysentery which follow, in the few cases which have not terminated fatally. The ravages upon the constitution are most trying, the debility and weakness of limbs fearful, and the joints feel the effects for years. The general system is shattered, and febrile attacks frequently recur. Hong-Kong is as insalubrious to the Chinese as to Europeans; but few of the former die in Hong-Kong. The moment illness appears, they immediately quit the island. The Chinese, generally speaking, are not a healthy race; they are subject to scrofula, ophthalmia, leprosy, and cutaneous diseases.

Some who expended much capital in improvements upon the island, naturally endeavoured to increase the number of colonists. Hence the local press, under their influence, never recorded half the deaths which occurred. A gentleman, who had large property in houses, expressed great alarm to me at the illness of the chief justice, lest a panic should be produced in case of his death from fever, his daughter having then recently sunk under that direful disease. "The death," said he, "of the chief justice must become necessarily known at home. It would give the colony a bad name, deter others from settling here, and it would ultimately be the ruin of us all."

In common justice, however, let the truth be told, and afford those who may be lured to reside there, the opportunity of doing so with their eyes open. Hong-Kong itself is not only the most unhealthy spot in China, sparing neither age nor sex, but the site selected for Victoria, the principal town and seat of government, is the most unhealthy locality of the whole

island, situate as it is on the side of an arid rock, which reflects the rays of a burning sun in a most fearful manner.

Chuck-Choo, although by no means salubrious, is not quite so destructive to health. The Chinese themselves consider the island so unhealthy, that they always hesitate to reside there; and nothing will induce them to bring their wives and daughters. Those who live there for a time constantly leave it, on the slightest symptom of illness. The greatest inconvenience is daily experienced by the sudden departure of servants, when seized by the most trifling indisposition. The returns to the army medical department, will show the fearful ravages from disease amongst our troops in Hong-Kong. The mortality is fivefold greater than in any part of India. Men who spent the best part of their lives in India, have told me that they never witnessed so much disease in any part of the Company's possessions as they had seen in Hong-Kong; and others, who had stood the ravages of an Indian climate for many years, with unimpaired health, have there sunk before my eyes. Horses imported there are frequently ill, and no living thing seems to thrive. Vermin alone, of all descriptions, defy the climate, to the ruin of every sort of property. No birds soar through the sultry air; their tuneful notes, except as imprisoned pets, are never heard. To beguile the time, and make our habitation look as much like home as possible, I attempted to keep some of the feathered tribe around me, and to cultivate a few plants. Notwithstanding the greatest care and attention, the birds died one by one, and the flowers faded away.

The

climate is very fatal to English dogs. A great favourite, and a very valuable creature, which was brought from England, died, after great agony, in my house, exhibiting all the symptoms of Hong-Kong fever. I have heard of many other dogs that were carried off by the same disorder.

I do not deny that from roads and drainage, costly originally, but rendered doubly so from having been constructed on too small a scale, by reason of which they were demolished by the rapid torrents of the first rains, much may have been done to render Victoria more healthy, but no part of Hong

Kong ever can be salubrious. I am quite aware that every overland mail brings men from China, who speak in glowing terms of the increasing salubrity of the colony, which their own emaciated appearance contradicts, although benefited by the passage home. Then ask these men for friend after friend, and learn that one is dead, another come to Europe to re-establish his impaired health, a third was suffering from fever when they quitted HongKong, and a fourth had undertaken a voyage to the north for change of air!!

It is only necessary to visit China, to be fully convinced of the fact, that no satisfactory result can accrue, either in our diplomatic or political intercourse with the Chinese, without the exhibition on our part of the utmost FIRMNESS; yet in our diplomatic relations and colonial government, we are wholly deficient in this essential characteristic. One instance will illustrate the general character of the colonial government of Hong-Kong. An ordinance was passed in October, 1844, enacting that a general registry should be made of the inhabitants, and a poll-tax should be levied on all those who were of Chinese origin, which was to come into operation on the 1st November following. The whole of the mercantile community of the colony represented the evils which would inevitably attend the passing of such an enactment. The result proved the correctness of their representations. Meetings of the Chinese inhabitants were held, all business stopped, the shops shut, and the markets forsaken. Threatening language was used, and political placards were exposed, written in the Chinese language. The government, backed by a majorgeneral, his staff, and a large garrison, and supported by the men-of-war lying in the harbour, yielded to this demonstration of Chinese resistance, the very point they had previously refused to the remonstrances of all the mercantile body; and the ordinance was repealed.

Such weakness and vacillation was not calculated to produce, in the minds of the Chinese, respect for the British nation, her laws or government. The most disastrous consequences to trade, and the prosperity of the island, followed this measure. Many of the richest shopkeepers not only closed

their shops, but left the island. It was the object of British merchants to induce old and wealthy Chinese merchants, if not to reside in the colony, to form establishments there, and occasionally visit Hong-Kong for the purpose of traffic. One of the richest and most respectable in Canton had arranged to do so at this period, but he informed a friend of mine, a British merchant, that he must now abandon the idea, fearing that the introduction of such a system of taxation might cause all his dollars to be "squeezed out" of him. The governor on most occasions is at variance with the merchants, and constant attempts are made to load the infant colony with taxes. Hong-Kong, in all probability, after the sacrifice of so many thousand British lives, and the expenditure of an enormous British capital, will not only not pay the colonial expenses, but will become a burthen upon the nation. Our merchants will probably abandon it for Macao, which the Portuguese authorities have had at length the good sense to make a free port, where they will find a more agreeable and healthy place of abode. An ordinance of the same year formed the subject of much bitter feeling, and no small amusement to many, for a long period. Robberies and housebreaking being of frequent occurrence, it became necessary for merchants and private individuals to employ watchmen, who, according to custom, struck together two hollow pieces of bamboo, to show they were on the alert, as they walked round the premises. During the temporary absence of the governor, who went to visit the ports, the major-general assumed the reins of government, as lieutenant-governor, and caused an ordinance to be passed and promulgated, prohibiting, under certain pains and penalties, the striking of these hollow pieces of bamboo between the hours of eight o'clock in the evening and five o'clock in the morning. This gallant officer was the only person who complained of this usage; he alone declared that his health was sacrificed -his slumbers disturbed-and he alone had no occasion for a watchman, having a military guard. His edict was universally complained of, as those who employed watchmen had a right to require an audible proof of their vigilance. It was considered too good a

joke, that because an old soldier who ought to have been accustomed to war's alarms could not sleep, merchants and private individuals were to be suddenly deprived of the protection for which they paid, without the substitution of a better. In spite of much squabbling, the grumbling of the major-general, and his personal visits, attended by the police, the watchmen of the merchants continued to beat the bamboo; and many a laugh was raised by this "bamboo question" during the progress of the strife. The slumbers of the major-general, it must be owned, were very easily disturbed. He could not sleep if a goose cackled; an American trader who lived opposite to him was therefore requested to kill or remove all his geese, as their cackling caused the major-general to awake at too early an hour in the morning!!! There is a member of the colonial government who, in the general estimation, is one of the few in authority perfectly qualified, in every respect, to govern, command, and enforce respect-possessing that suavity of manner, and hospitality of disposition, which has obtained for him the universal esteem of the mercantile body, and of all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance. Experience has taught him the true character of the Chinese. His unflinching firmness, and his just and impartial conduct on the bench, produced such an effect upon them, that one word from him is sufficient to secure their respect and attention. Those who know China will have anticipated the name of Major William Caine, the chief-magistrate of Hong-Kong. When I first anchored in Victoria Harbour, I was much struck with the estimation in which this gentleman was held. Not being understood by some Chinese who came on board, when I asked "Who is the governor here?" I changed the form of the inquiry, and asked "Who is the great man?" The immediate reply was, "Major Caine." knew nothing of Sir Henry Pottinger, nor of Sir John, then Mr. Davis. On many occasions, I have tried various Chinamen, and questioned them about the Governor, or No. 1, Mandarin, but they knew nothing of Sir John Davis! -while I have invariably found the name of Major Caine sufficient to deter them from extortion or insolence.

They

It has invariably been, and no doubt

still is, the policy of the Chinese rulers to confine our trade to the port of Canton. The object of this policy is evidently two-fold-first, in consequence of national prejudices, to prevent, as much as possible, all intercourse with foreigners; and, secondly, to preserve the inland transit duties, from which the Emperor derives a considerable revenue. The policy of Great Britain, on the contrary, is to force the trade into the North, into Shang-Hai, the great emporium of teas, silks, and dyes, which last are of unrivalled beauty, in order to obtain these articles at first cost, without paying the additional charge for transit, and transit-duty. Our trade with Shang-Hai has increased considerably; but with British energy, supported by sound policy, it might be materially augmented.

It being our object to increase and force our trade into the North, it is also incumbent upon us to protect the trade, by establishing a colony as near to Shang-Hai as possible.

By the possession of Hong-Kong, we are only able to afford immediate protection to our merchants and traders in Canton. Chu-san having been now given up, the northern ports are entirely unprotected, owing to the mistaken policy of withdrawing the "British government-cruisers" from these

parts. With the fastest ships and the most favourable wind, it is from ten to fourteen days' sail from Hong-Kong to Shang-Hai. Under other circumstances the voyage occupies three weeks.

Some notice must be taken of the Court of Justice, in the construction of which many difficulties, as all who know anything of the routine of business in legal offices are aware, must arise in a new colony. These difficulties have all been overcome by the exertions of the highest judicial officer in the service of the Crown. A most happy selection was made of a gentleman, and a lawyer of great ability, in the person of Mr. Hulmne to fill the office of First Chief Justice in the island. Nothing can exceed the masterly manner in which, unaided, he has prepared a body of general rules and orders for the regulation of the Supreme Court. The urbanity of his demeanour, the soundness of his judgment, and the impartiality of his conduct upon the bench, have secured for him, in a short time, the respect and esteem of all upright men. Nor are these legal attributes and attainments his only title to admiration.

With a liberality the most unusual, the chief-justice has placed a most valuable law library in the court-house, for the use of practitioners and suitors.

THE lower order of the Chinese are below the middle stature; although there are to be found amongst them some well-grown men, whose muscles are finely developed. The wealthy classes, however, appear to be much better grown; this very probably arises from better food-as many of the lower orders may very fairly be described as an omnivorous species, eating all kinds of filth and offal. Poverty compels the use of food, which, under more prosperous circumstances, would be rejected with loathing. But rice, it must be remembered, is their staple article of nutriment.

The clothing of the lower class of men consists of very wide loose trowsers and a jacket made of highlyglazed calico, of native manufacture. The very poor, and the coolees, have only trowsers; and mendicants may be seen with a piece of matting tied

round their waist, scarcely sufficient to cover their nakedness. The middle and lower classes wear stockings, made of calico; and shoes, the uppers of which are made of black silk, and the soles of felt, three inches thick, with turned-up toes. The coolees and poor go barefooted. The lower orders wear straw and bamboo hats, the brims of which are about eighteen inches broad; these are used to protect them from the sun, and give them a very extraordinary appearance. In the rainy season, the boatmen and coolees clothe themselves in cloaks and trowsers made of reeds, which are very grotesque, making them resemble a new species of porcupine; but, however grotesque this dress may be, it is one well adapted to the season, as it is impervious to rain, the water running off the points of the reeds, as from so many miniature water-spouts.

In win

In cold weather, the middle classes wear a black satin cap, somewhat like a skull-cap, and a wadded jacket, reaching below the knees, and one or more shorter ones, according to the weather; together with a sort of leggings, covering over their trowsers. The wealthy classes, and mandarins, wear long silken robes, reaching to their feet (those of the mandarins more or less embroidered, according to their rank), silk trowsers and black satin boots, with felt soles three inches thick, and pointed, turned-up toes. ter, they wear half-a-dozen garments of various denominations, all wadded; robes, spencers, and velvet tippets, thickly wadded with cotton, and lined with fur, and a velvet stock round their necks, about two inches high. In summer, the mandarins wear conical cap of exceedingly fine white straw, ornamented with a flowing tassel of ruby-coloured silk, or very long fine hair of some animal, which is dyed a similar colour, and surmounted with a button denoting their rank. The throat is uncovered. In winter, they wear a black satin cap, with a turned-up brim of three inches wide, but totally dissimilar to that worn by the middle classes. This is also ornamented with ruby-coloured silk, and surmounted by the button, peculiar to the rank of the wearer.

a

So much importance is attached to trifles, that neither the summer nor winter clothing can be used until the emperor issues an order in the Pekin Gazette, which is sent round to the governors of each province, notifying the day on which he will robe himself in either dress. On that day, all the mandarins simultaneously change their clothing. The Chinese wear no pockets, but round their waist, and beneath their robes or jackets, is a girdle of more or less costly materials, according to the wealth of the individual; to which is attached a purse, a silk handkerchief, and a watch, or sometimes two watches, as they have a great fancy for pairs of everything expensive.

The dresses of the mandarins, worn on state occasions and at festivals, are the most splendid that can well be conceived, the back and fronts being covered with the richest embroidery, as are the sleeves, as far as the elbows. The sleeves are made much longer than the arms, and pulled up in wrin

kles; the upper portion is made much longer than the lower, so as to cover the hand, which it is considered etiquette to conceal as much as practicable. I have heard of these dresses costing two thousand dollars.

The fan and umbrella are in constant use in China during the summer. The umbrella used by the middle and lower classes is made of bamboo, covered with thick paper, blackened, oiled, and varnished over, having a cane handle; and this common article, the cost of which is a quarter dollar, is the most useful against the rays of the sun, which can never pierce through, although it is not a-sixteenth of an inch thick. At Ching-Choo, they manufacture very beautiful umbrellas, flowered and figured, which are transparent, but not nearly so good for the purpose as the common black one. Those used by the mandarins and wealthy persons, are made of silk, of very large size, figured and ornamented according to their station; the mandarins having an imitation button on the top, to denote their rank. These are held over their heads by an attendant, when they go out without a sedanchair.

The use of the fan in China in summer, is universal and constant. If your tailor comes for orders, he raises his leg and pulls out his fan, not from a case, but from his stocking, and commences fanning himself with great composure. Should your compredore appear before you to receive your commands, he finds the atmosphere of your room too hot for him, and he either opens his fan, which he has in his hand, or pulls it from his stocking, and uses it with equal nonchalance. Your servants waiting on you at dinner, will hand you a plate with one hand, and fan themselves with the other. The fan is similar in shape to that usually adopted by our ladies, and is to be seen with all, except the lowest coolees.

The men of all classes have their faces smooth, and the whole front, and part of the back of the head, leaving a circular spot on the top, where the hair is allowed to grow to a great length. This hair is very black and coarse, and is platted into a tail, which hangs down their backs, nearly to their heels. first I was much surprised at the length of their hair; but, upon close inspection, I found nearly half of the

At