g
Kong, I saw them at work on the roads in irons. Their
apprehension caused a complete cessation of robberies for the
time being, the sight of the noted chiefs on the roads having
terrified their followers.]

The general appearance of Hong Kong, from the sea, is picturesque and
curious. That part of the Island on which the town is situated, is
hilly, and, with the exception of the few paddy-fields already
mentioned, presents no level space on which to build. The hills stretch
completely down to the sea; and Queen's Road has been formed by cutting
away their projecting spurs, throwing the earth into the sea in front,
filling up the gaps on each side the spur, and thus forming a long strip
of level. Above the level of Queen's Road, many terraces have been cut
in the hills, upon which private dwellings have been perched; and to a
person sailing into the harbour, these look suspended on the hill side,
and inaccessible. To speak the truth, the approaches to them are not the
most practicable; particularly in rainy weather, when, from the clayey
nature of the soil, they become extremely slippery. Several
water-courses descend from these hills, forming miniature ravines and a
few water-falls, which have a pretty effect after a day's rain. They
occasionally wash away an ill-built house; but this is the fault of the
clumsy and foolish builders.

Many of these hills are covered with a hard, tough, useless sort of
whinstone, which adds considerably to the expense of building on them.
Others are well stocked with granite, which the Chinese masons split
very neatly into any shape, by driving innumerable wedges into the
blocks. The adroitness with which they do this, is quite surprising. The
China pine (or fir) grows all over Hong Kong; but the young trees no
sooner attain the height of two or three feet, than they are cut down by
the natives, and carried off in bundles to clean the bottoms of the
countless boats that ply about the harbour. Thus, with one or two
exceptions, these hills are quite bare, and, in winter more
particularly, exhibit any thing but a lively spectacle. In summer, their
green covering of coarse grass improves their appearance.

The only thing that reconciles one to the site chosen for building the
town of Victoria, is its beautiful harbour: in every other respect, the
choice was decidedly bad. A more awkward place on which to erect a town,
could not have been fixed upon; and its northern aspec