Chap. XV. 
CLIMATE OF CHUSAN. 
245 
" Cameronians/' who were encamped on a green hill 
which overlooked the city, and which certainly appeared 
to be the most healthy spot which could have been 
selected for the purpose. That place still bears the 
name of the " Cameronian Hill/' and is now thickly 
strewed with the graves of our countrymen. 
It soon became evident that this great mortality pro- 
ceeded from other causes than the paddy-fields which 
surrounded the city of Tinghae. Invalids from Hong- 
kong and Amoy were sent here to recover their health ; 
and the difference in the appearance of the troops sta- 
tioned in Chusan from those in Hong-kong was most 
marked. Dr. Maxwell of the Madras army, who was a 
most excellent judge in such matters, has often expressed 
his opinion, that, with good medical skill and ordinary 
care, this beautiful island might have been rendered one 
of the most healthy stations for our troops in the East. 
Indeed, every one now seemed to regret that we had not 
secured Chusan as a part of the British dominions for 
the protection of our trade in China, instead of the 
barren and unhealthy island of Hong-kong ; and some 
even went so far as to recommend that means should 
still be taken by our government to accomplish this 
desirable end. The time, however, for doing this had 
gone by, and I believe that every right-thinking person 
would have seen with regret any power exercised by a 
great and exalted nation like England to infringe a 
solemn treaty which had been entered into with a nation 
so utterly powerless as the Chinese ; and most assuredly 
nothing less than this — no negotiations or promises — 
would have induced the Chinese to give up an island 
