een two years in our possession; and already
its magnificent harbour is crowded with the ships of England, America,
and other nations, while its warehouses on shore are filled with the
manufactures of those countries, brought here direct from the places
where they are produced, to be distributed to the different Chinese
ports recently opened to the commerce of the world by the arms of Great
Britain. Hundreds, nay, thousands of Chinese boatmen, fishermen,
porters, bricklayers, carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, tailors,
bakers, shopkeepers, &c., are already earning their bread here. Since
the ratification of Sir Henry Pottinger's Treaty, and the confirmation
of the cession of the Island as part and parcel of the dominions of
Queen Victoria, many wealthy Chinese merchants have been making
arrangements for the establishment of branch-houses here; and more than
one of them had, previously to my departure last March, chartered
British ships, and despatched them to the northern ports, loaded with
British goods. As a _depot_ for goods intended for the Chinese market, I
conceive the situation of Hong Kong to be unrivalled, and, in this
single point of view, of great importance. On the arrival of a ship from
London, Liverpool, or Glasgow, with a general cargo of British goods,
the consignees unload them, and send the ship home again with tea or
such other produce as they may have ready for her, storing and holding
the goods in readiness for any opening that may present itself: such
portion of them as may be suited for markets in the immediate vicinity,
are either sold on the spot, or sent to Canton, while the rest is
shipped off in fast-sailing vessels, kept for the purpose of making sure
of their voyage against the monsoon, to Amoy, Chusan, and other ports to
the northward.

Great complaints used to be made at Canton and Macao, because goods
could not be landed, unless they were sold, or the consignees chose to
advance the duty, and let the articles lie till an opportunity of
disposing of them occurred: in other words, the want of a bonding system
was universally felt and complained of. The establishment of Hong Kong
completely obviates this inconvenience, and enables the ship from Great
Britain or elsewhere to dispose of her cargo in a few days after her
arrival, and proceed home again, thus saving time, expense, and trouble
to an incalculable extent.

A decisive proof of the eligibility of Hong Kong as a place of trade,
a