A FRIEND ABROAD.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume XXIV, Issue 2065, 26 June 1896, Page 2

A FRIEND ABROAD.

Dr. Bolger wrote to Mr Hargreaves frooo Hong Korvg as follows, and we are glertOf (he oppoitnnity of publishing thif pleasar-t reewd of our old friend* travels :—

I have had splendid weather -since T let Akaroa. 1 don't believe 1 have ex-

po'ienceri one wet day. I had'a pleasant timo at RoforuQ. I saw 'your-sii-'tir end; brother in-law in Auckland, they were exceedingly kind to fnei The worst nnd; mnpt difttgreeable trip I had was over to Sydney in the Wmhorn, which w»«, muoh over-crowrfed. so much that ; although there were four in each cabin.'which was suitable for one, about foity people had to accept shake downs in ihe saloon, rausio halls &o - . nnd about twenty first-class passengers had (he choice of getting a bei'th in the or not going af all. On my arrival in Bydnpy I found the next China boat* full up, which wouid have necessitated my staying about three weeks for another ; fortunately at the last moment Cooks managed ti get me a berth "n her owing to someone changing hie mind ! about going. There was some mit-tike about g'"t ing a snrgeon, so I did the doty, for which I gotiihe usual payment with a I fine large cabin to myself. The China hoalß are very email but exceedingly eoinfortnble, A small boat is. I believe bft'er for this trip as (hey are cruising inpidethe barrier resf mos«t of the pipage where the eea ia usually very calm indeed. They have. bigger cabins than bo3t I hive feon, and each cabin has only-two berths. They keep o very decent table, which in conjunction with the attendance given by the Chinese t-tewards, makes travelling a pleasure. We had about twenty-five, passengers, mostly English, with a eprinbof Australians. AMr Harris, en oldish Jew from Cbristcburch, who ie on his honeymoon trip, end myself were the only New Zsa'aoders. We had an unusually pleieatit trip up from Sydney with weather that would take a good deal of beating.

Wβ anchored off Moreton Bay, and con&eqtient'y did not Und at'Briabjine. "The same thing happened fll ; we hud only a glimpse of tie town from the distance. Thursday I-iland wa* the 6rst place where we pot our feet on terra fir ma. and giving you an idea how coincidences wilt occur, almoel the first roan I met there I found-I bad been at school wirh •boat fifteen yesre ego, und hddrili seen

him since

He owns n fl et of pear!

fishing boats and appears to be doing well birt it is a God foresaken place. Our nex

cull, Por{ Darwin, wae even worse, aa

seerred to contain only Australian bleeps and Chinese coolies. All the .vay inside the reef we ire in eight of land, and the scenery at some plncee where the land on both sides converges Jβ »er-y fine jrrdeed;' It is Dot ftUogether cafe navigation I: as it is vety bard to localise the reefs except in dayHjjht, which fact made the Csptuin anchor for three successive night*, procerding again et daybreak. I had a splendid Chinese servant-ontboard. I should, like to have him ont in New Z'ulftrid, he would be woith balf-B-dczen of ihe eorl wo Bee there, and -the poor brufe only gets a

pound a month, out of which he h»s to .&eep himself in food and olothep. ; Hong Keg is a wohdfrfully picture*qne place

and most interesting. 1 - It rises cheer out of the wetT.to a peak nbont eighteen hundred fe.et h<gh, clr*thed wiih the greene>t of vprdrire. are some very fine buildings in the English quarter, which ri«e up from the water's edge, terrace upon terrace,to a , most the top of the bill. AH orer the inland there are splendid asphalt ronds, even "to the top of the peak. F*r,cy en Apphalt road np to and one to the different bays on the Peninculs J It ie on account of the labour being ho cheap that this work iH done. Them are no vehicle in the Kfeets. 'the only traffic being zickehawe drawn by Chinese coolies, who will run along these empfth rcada fit the rfi'e of nearly ten tni'es en hour.' For the hills there are conveyances resembling Sedan chairs with n long shaft on either file, the front ones renting on a coclie's shoulders, the J aft the same, with you between. The motion is exceedingly pleasant but neceseerily e'ow. I have oft=<n pit'ed (he poor beaet* lugging me up a hill like the Lighthouse Road with a temperature of about ninety in the shade. They charge very litile.; I can have a runn who-c»n trot nearly twelve miles an-hour in.a-z'ck-ehaw for an hour for a shilling, or you can hire him by the day for two ftrillingp.. The Chinese element is vety strong here. There ii a tram drawn by cable straight up the hill, the rt epesf I have-ever travelled on.. The miliiary force ia very Htrong in Hong Kong, there being about four thousand soldiers. The police are el' Hindooe.

and on Ihe hills thpy carry loaded nine

kits as the Chinese nre pon.nt"mefl troublepome. The hnrbour of Hong Kong is very fine, and crowded with boats. The ■i'Miage coming through ie on'y beaten by two or three ports in the world. There is always a puare here about tbe plague. At present it isn't very bad as thpy are only dying at the rate of abont eight to ten a day wi'h it. About this time two years they were carried off at the rate of one hundred to one hundred and twenty per day. Forfunt.t<ly it is rarely that Europeans catch the infection without directly exposing tliemselMfle, ac the poldiem did about t>wp yeare *bgo cleanr ing out the hoimee, nod The is-" generally confined to the Otrinep'e qnarte- . At Sydney I booked through witti Cook tv London. I shall be leaving in a few d«y« for Yokohama, and from tWe I, expect lo go in the Coptic to Fn«co. Fancy travelling in thip na?t ot the world in a Nrw host! The let'er concludes with a desire to be. remembered to al] Akaroa friend?.