Large rocks have been cut through to
afford communication, and the quantity of rivulets running down from the
mountains, have rendered it necessary to build innumerable bridges.
There were but few good horses on the island; but I managed to procure a
tolerable one, and in the evening would ride out by "Happy Valley," and
return by dark, the only exercise which the heat of the climate would
permit, and which was necessary to restore me to health. Society is in a
queer state here, as may be imagined when I state, that the shipowner
won't associate with the small merchant, and the latter will not deign
to acknowledge a man who keeps a store. Under these circumstances, the
army and navy keep aloof, and associate with no class. There were very
few ladies at Hong Kong at this time, and of what class they were
composed of may be imagined, when I state that a shopkeeper's sister was
the belle of the place, and received all the homage of the marriageable
men of Hong Kong. Hospitality to strangers is as yet unknown, and a
letter of introduction is only good for one tiffin, or more rarely one
dinner. I made several excursions in the country, but did not find any
thing worth narrating, or describing with the pencil.

[Illustration: TANKA BOAT WOMEN.]

It is here worthy of remark, that there is every prospect of all the
enormous expense which has been bestowed upon this island being totally
thrown away, and that those who have speculated will lose all their
money; in fact, that in a few years Hong Kong will be totally deserted,
and all the money expended upon it will be lost. To explain this I must
mention a few facts, not probably known to my readers.

When, many years ago, the trade with foreigners was first permitted by
the Chinese government, Canton was selected as the port from which it
should be carried on. The Chinese government had two reasons for making
this selection: their first was, their dislike and jealousy of
foreigners induced them to select a port at the very confines of the
empire where the communication with them should take place, so that by
no chance the foreigners should obtain any thing like a footing in or
knowledge of their country; the second reason was, that by so doing they
obtained, at the expence of the foreigners, a very considerable inland
revenue from the tea trade. Canton is situated at least 500 miles from
those provinces in which the tea is grown, and the transit to Canton is
over a very mountai