Chap. I. 
HONG-KONG. 
13 
know whence tliey came or whither they went. Such 
attacks are fortunately now of rare occurrence. In all 
my wanderings on the island, and also on the main land 
hereabouts, I found the inhabitants harmless and civil. 
I have visited their glens and their mountains, their 
villages and small towns, and from all the intercourse I 
have had with them I am bound to give them this cha- 
racter. But perhaps the secret of all was, that I had 
nothing for them to take, for I was always most careful 
not to have anything valuable about me, and my clothes, 
after scrambling amongst the rocks and brushwood, were 
not very tempting even to a Chinaman. 
Since the island of Hong-kong has been ceded to 
England, the foreign population in it has been much 
changed. In former days there were only a few mer- 
cantile establishments, all known to each other, and 
generally most upright and honourable men. Now 
people from all countries, from England to Sydney, flock 
to the Celestial country, and form a very motley group. 
Viewed as a place of trade, I fear Hong-kong will be 
a failure. The great export and import trade of Southern 
China must necessarily be carried on at Canton, as here- 
tofore, there being, at present at least, no inducement 
to bring that trade to Hong-kong. It will, neverthe- 
less, be a place of great importance to many of the mer- 
chants, more particularly to those engaged in the opium 
trade ; and will, in fact, be the head-quarters of all houses 
who have business on the coast, from the facilities of 
gaining early information regarding the state of the Eng- 
lish a,nd Indian markets, now that steam communica- 
tion has been established between this country and the 
