4 



TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. 



Chap. L 



covered with houses. Our merchant- princes had 

 built themselves houses not inferior to those in the 

 far-famed " City of Palaces ;" and the barracks for 

 the troops were equally handsome and expensive, 

 although unfortunately not equally healthy. And, 

 last of all, a pretty English church was rising slowly 

 on the hill side. 



An interest in gardening and planting had sprung 

 up which promises to lead to most satisfactory results. 

 When I was formerly in Hong-kong every one com- 

 plained of the barren appearance of the island, and of 

 the intense heat and glare of the sun. Officers in 

 the army, and others who had been many years in 

 the hotter parts of India, all agreed that there was a 

 fierceness and oppressiveness in the sun's rays here 

 which they had never experienced in any other part 

 of the world. From 1843 to 1845 the mortality was 

 very great ; whole regiments were nearly swept away, 

 and many of the Government officers and merchants 

 shared the same fate. Various opinions were ex- 

 pressed regarding the cause which produced these 

 great disasters ; some said one thing and some ano- 

 ther ; almost all seemed to think that imperfect 

 drainage had something to do with it, and a hue and 

 cry was set up to have the island properly drained. 

 But the island is a chain of mountains ; there is very 

 little flat ground anywhere upon it, and hence the 

 water which flows from the sides of the hills gushes 

 rapidly down towards the sea. Imperfect drainage, 

 therefore, could have very little to do with its un- 

 healthiness. 



