78 Mr. R. Svvinhoe on the Ornithology of Hainan. 



months and a half. Apart from the investigations on behalf 

 of the Government, I gained the Minister's permission to de- 

 vote my leisure time during the trip to the study of the natural 

 productions of the new country. Admiral Keppel detached the 

 gunboat ' Algerine/ Lieutenant and Comman(Jer Domvile^ for 

 the duty; and Captain Holroyd, of H.M.'s 73rd regiment, ac- 

 companying us as the guest of the Commander, made a third to 

 our party. In all our pleasure-trips on shore, Commander 

 Domvile and Captain Holroyd always carried guns, and thus 

 aided me considerably in procuring specimens of birds ; and to 

 them I owe my best thanks in the cause of science. The Ad- 

 miral insisted upon our associating the pursuit of pirates with 

 our more peaceful occupation of hunting for information ; and 

 this, though sometimes producing serious drawbacks to getting 

 quiet conversation with the natives, yet afforded a diversion to 

 the monotony of a sea voyage. 



From any tolerable map of China my readers may learn 

 where Hainan is situated, if they turn their eyes westward from 

 Hongkong along the coast of the province of Kwangtung to 

 where a peninsula runs southwards, dividing the China Sea 

 from the Gulf of Tonquin. This is the peninsula of Luichow ; 

 and directly south of this, across a strait fifteen miles in width, 

 stretches the large island of Hainan, covering two degrees of 

 latitude (20° 8' to 17° 52' N), and over two and a half degrees 

 of longitude (108° 32' to 111° 15' E). The island is of a 

 somewhat oval shape, extends from north-east to south-west (its 

 greatest length) about 160 miles, and has an average breadth 

 of nearly 90 miles. Its area is about 1200 square miles, rather 

 larger than the island of Formosa, and about two-thirds the size 

 of Sicily. About a third of its north-eastern portion, together 

 with broad tracts on its north-western and south-western sides, 

 ai*e flat, or gently undulating, with only a few eminences, the 

 soil being composed of marine deposit, and poor in quality. 

 The rest of the country consists of jungle-covered mountains, 

 with rich valleys between them. The north-easterly portion is 

 exposed to the influence of the winter monsoon, and enjoys cool 

 weather during the China cold season, while the mountains of 

 the interior, rising to an altitude of 7000 feet, debar the south 



