rge of Mr. CHARLES FORD, the latter presented me with an
address of welcome at a festive meeting in the City Hall, specially
arranged for the purpose and numerously attended by the principal
men of the town. The meeting was opened by the Chairman, Mr.
KESWICK, with a speech of welcome, after which Mr. J.B. COUGHTRIE
read and presented the address, bound in red silk and beautifully
illuminated in black; gold, and red, with 414 signatures, among
which many were by Chinese. The address ended with a hearty
congratulation to us all and a promise of a memorial of our visit to
Hong Kong which should indicate the way in which the _Vega_
expedition was appreciated there. Some time after our return home
Palander and I received from members of the community of Hong Kong a
splendid silver vase each.

I here embraced with great interest the opportunity, which my coming
in contact with the principal men of the place afforded, of getting
a glance into the political relations which prevailed in this
vigorous and promising colony. At first sight they appeared to be by
no means satisfactory. Peace and unanimity evidently did not
prevail; for dissatisfaction with the Governor was loudly expressed
by many of the Europeans settled in Hong Kong. He favoured, they
said, the Chinese in an exceedingly partial way, and mitigated their
punishments to such a degree that Hong Kong would soon become a
place of refuge for all the robbers and thieves of Canton. At the
time of our visit an instructive parliamentary debate on a small
scale was proceeding in the Legislative Council of the city. The
controversy was carried on with a certain bitterness, but with a
proper observance of the parliamentary procedure customary in the
mother country. The eloquent leader of the opposition had evidently,
as is usual in such cases, the general feeling of the Europeans on
his side. For they appeared to be pretty well agreed that the only
means of protecting themselves against the evil-doers from the great
heavenly empire would be to punish them in an inhuman way when they
were taken in the act.

To an outsider it appeared, however, that the Governor not only had
humanity and justice on his side, but also acted with a true insight
into the future. When he came to the colony the corporal punishments
to which the Chinese were condemned were exceeding barbarous,
although mild in comparison with those common in China--a state of
things which the opposition brought for