1861 Pofulam (Poke-Felum)

Title: The Village of Poke-Felum. Near Hong Kong 

Year:  1861

Type: Woodblock

Colour: Contemporary Hand Coloured

Area Shown: Hong Kong

Engraved Area: 7.375 x 5  inches  /18.7 x 12.7 cm

From the original description:  Our engraving represents one of those Chinese villages which serve to show the nature of the country with which we have just concluded such terms as we are justified in believing will exercise an enormous influence on eastern civilisation.  The place is only about four miles from Hong Kong and is about to be connected with the town itself by a government road which will extend to a village beyond where spacious docks are already in course of construciont, if one is not already completed.  Poke-Felum is likely to become a summer residence for Europeans, since it is cooler on that side of the island, and our recent demand of the peninsula of Kowloon will largely increase the British settlement.  By the fourth article of the treaty Tien-Tsin becomes an open mart for trade, bringing us into direct communication with Pekin, while Kowloon, which forms the northern shore of the harbour of Hong Kong, and is directly opposite the island, will soon cease to be what it now is - a refuge for pirates, cutthroats and the worst of the Kong Kong population, and doubtless be used as a healthy station for our troops and a useful addition to our commercial facilities.