Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Medical and sanitary report / Hong Kong. Source: Wellcome Collection.
![-MS- Tit a Climate . 5. Situated just witliiii t1ie iioi'tlieni limits of the tropies and occupying an insular position irmnedi'ately south of the great land mass of China, Hong Koiige climiate is very materially influenced by the direction of tlie ])revailing wind's. Tlie North East IMonsoon blows from November until April and during this ])oriod the weather is dry and cool and invigorating. From May until ()ctol)er, the seast)n of the South West Monsoon, the air is highly cha]-ged with moisture and the climate is hot, muggy and enervating, duly, August, and September are marked by atmospheric disturbances which now and then culminate in typhoons or cyclones accompanied by blinding sheets of rain. 0. The mean annual temperature is 72°F. During tlie sum¬ mer months the average temperature is <S7°F, and there is little variation throughout the twenty-four hours. Situated on the north side of the Island the City of Victoria gets all the heat and moisture of the South West Monsoon but not the lireeze, which is 'Cut oh by the mountains behind the town. During the winter months the range of temperature is from 70°F. to 45°F. with an average 66°F. necessitating for comfort the wearing of warm clothes and the provision of lires in the houses. Frost is prac- ticallv unknown. 7. The average vcarlv I’ainfall is 85.72 inches. As o t ♦ expected most of the rain falls in the summer months might oe Population and its distribution. 8. Hong Kong, which de])ends for its jirosperity on its trade with China, has three-fourths of its pojuiiation concentrated in the cities of Victoria and Kowloon which face each other across ^hctoria Harbour, a stretch of water almost a mile wide at the narrowest point. 9. With regard to numbers, exce])t in census years, there are no accurate statistical figures, tlie great movement to and fro,m the Colonv and the facilitv with which the border is crossed » I preventing accurate checking. Hong Kong being the principal entrejiot for South China and its harbour one of tlie busiest in the world, every day on an a^'erage 0,000 to 7,000 individuals pass to and from C'hina by river steamer or by rail and there are others who arrive and de])art by junks or smaller v^essels. During times of ])olitical unrest in China many thousands from the maiiilaiKl sojourn in the Colony, some of whom return to their homes when conditions are more settled, others remaining attracted by the opportunities offered for employment. 10. The total civil population of the Colony is estimated to exceed 900,000, of which some 400,000 reside in the City of Victoria, 800,000 in the town of Kowloon, over 100,000 on boats in the waters of the Colony and the remainder in villages.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b31405915_0010.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
