They are said to be of a peculiar race, and never intermarry
with the real Chinese, who look down upon them with contempt.

The scenery round Macao is striking, and some of the views are
particularly so: that from the hill immediately behind the town, is
perhaps the best. From this spot you have a bird's-eye view of the whole
town, the beach, with its hundreds of large and small Chinese boats, on
your left; further on, in the same direction, Macao Roads with the
foreign shipping; while, beyond these, the islands of Lingting, Lantow,
and numerous others of smaller size, are seen in the distance: to the
right, you catch an occasional glimpse of the numerous rivers and arms
of the sea, with numbers of picturesque Chinese boats gliding about,
literally among the hills and dales; and, here and there, a Chinese
village is seen, with its little patch of cultivation, its herds of
buffaloes and pigs, and countless groupes of little Celestials. Casting
your eye along this view from north to south, you come to the harbour
called "_Typa_" in which there are generally some thirty or forty
vessels at anchor, and which, though an arm of the sea, looks here like
an inland lake. This view, on a clear day, would delight the painter,
though it has one great deficiency, namely, the entire absence of trees.
The hills in the neighbourhood, far and near, are completely bare. Such
is Macao, a miserable, dirty, crowded town, rendered important for a
while by its locality, but now fast sinking back into its native
insignificance, owing to the gross stupidity of the Portuguese
Authorities, more than to any other cause. Proceed we now to the new
British settlement of Hong Kong.

CHAPTER XVI.

CHINA.

ADVANTAGEOUS POSITION OF HONG KONG--THE OPIUM
TRADE--IMPORTANCE OF THE STATION IN THE EVENT OF
A FRESH WAR--CHUSAN--HOW TO RAISE A REVENUE--
CAUSES OF ALLEGED INSALUBRITY--RAPID PROGRESS
OF THE SETTLEMENT--PORTUGUESE PENURY--
MARKETS--SANATORY HINTS.

Having spent twelve months in Hong Kong, I will now endeavour to give an
impartial sketch of its situation as to trade, its importance in the
event of another Chinese war, and of its climate, general appearance,
and commercial progress.

Situated as this island is at the mouth of the Canton river, and in the
immediate neighbourhood of an immense trade, one can hardly question the
prudence of the choice that fixed upon it for a British settlement. It
has not yet (July 1844) b