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roaring down into the sea, which they often discolour for a quarter of 

 a mile from the shore ; terrific thunderstorms reverberate amongst the 

 hills, which are hidden in a dense veil of cloud and mist ; and such 

 is the excessive humidity of the atmosphere, that articles of wood or 

 Kussia leather, or the covers of books, even if washed over with alco- 

 hol or a solution of some essential oil, become, in the course of a 

 night, covered with a thick, blue mould. The rain will then cease 

 for a few days ; the heavens remain unclouded, though always more 

 or less hazy, and lit up in the evenings by almost unintermitting 

 flashes of sheet lightning ; not a breath wdll agitate the air, tremulous 

 with the heat radiated from the ground ; and the silence is alone 

 broken by the unceasing, loud, and monotonous chirping of the Cica- 

 dge hidden in the grass. At this period, vegetation is at its height, 

 and is developed with wonderful rapidity : a few days suflBce to per- 

 fect the blossoming of the richest flowers, which, again, fade as 

 quickly ; so that to an occasional explorer the face of Nature is sin- 

 gularly protean, and impresses him with a high idea of its luxuriance. 

 About the beginning of September, the rain becomes much less fre- 

 quent, though the heat is still excessive, and, as a natural conse- 

 quence, the Flora assumes a more sober and less attractive habit. 

 This period may be considered equivalent to our autumn. It is now 

 that the island is occasionally visited by typhoons, those terrible cir- 

 cular storms which traverse the Indian Ocean and China Sea, and, 

 when they meet with the land in their course, unroof houses, tear off" 

 and carry away doors and Venetians, drive vessels from their anchor- 

 ages, prostrate trees, blight and destroy nearly all vegetation, and 

 cause wreck and devastation wherever they pass. Finally, the tem- 

 perature decreases, the rains cease, and the vegetable world remains 

 dormant, seeking repose after its late activity, and recruiting strength 

 for that of the succeeding year : winter has again returned, and the 

 cycle of the seasons is completed. 



To a stranger landing, or regarding the island from the sea, the 

 aspect of Hongkong is very unpromising, conveying the idea of 

 almost absolute sterility. The hills are covered by a mantle of 

 coarse grass, amidst which rise masses of bare, blackened rock; while 

 the monotonous scene seems varied only by a few bushes or a solitary 

 tree studded here and there, and by scattered groves of the Pinus 

 sinensis clothing some of the declivities. As remarked by Meyen, 

 there is no doubt that this tree was at one time far more common, 

 and originally formed dense woods on the flanks of the hills of all the 

 islands hereabouts ; but it is used very extensively by the Chinese 



