1. What are the geographical features and geological characters of your distriot?

The ports with which I am most acquainted are, Hong-Kong, Chusan, and Ningpo.

Hong-Kong and the adjacent district of Singan consists of red earth mixed up with gravel and disintegrated granite, interspersed with large masses of granite. The fertile parts are formed by deposits of alluvial soil in the valleys, of which there are many on the shore opposite Hong-Kong, between ridges of mountains stretching along the whole coast.—Chusan has a loamy soil, the hills being covered nearly to the top with black earth, and is with very few exceptions productive. Sandstone is found in the north-western parts of the island, but not in any large quantity. The writer has never seen any volcanic remains, as some English residents on the spot are said to have found, thereby suggesting the idea that this group is a continuation of the Japan Islands.—The soil around Ningpo is still more fertile than that of Chusan, the environs forming a very extensive valley, with mountains at a considerable distance. The. whole is well watered, both by nature and art, and it presents the most delightful views, and one aspect of teeming fertility.