Hongkong, on the S. E. Coast of China and not far off the mouth of the Chukiang or Canton River, was first taken possession of by the British in January 1841; in the year following it was formally ceded by the treaty of Nankin which was duly ratified in 1843.
Before its occupation by the British, the Island was but thinly inhabited by a few fishermen and their families, while piratical hordes infested the bay and its approaches, spreading terror amoungst the well disposed oand levying blackmail from traders in the very teeth of the Chinese Gunboats.
The active exertions, and preponderating powers of the Rulers of the Seas brought with them confidence in the security of life and property, and the Town of Victoria was formed around a nucleus of British enterprise.
Our view gives the Central portion of the Town and Harbour with East Point on the right; the hills of the mainland an British Kowloon are in the distance.