children, with bag and baggage, were hurried through the streets of Macao amidst a terrible excitement of the whole population, expecting every moment a massacre by the Chinese soldiery. The refugees assembled on the Praya in the presence of Governor Pinto who had the whole of the Portuguese troops (some 400 Indian lascars and 500 Caffre slaves) under arms, and embarked hurriedly on board British ships, lorchas, schooners and boats of all descriptions, which immediately set sail for Hongkong harbour, a mournful procession, to seek refuge on board the ships at Hongkong.
One might well suppose that now at last the time had come for the establishment of a British Colony on the island of Hongkong, but no such thought was entertained yet. Driven out from Canton, bowed out of Macao, forced to retreat to the ships anchored in the harbour of Hongkong, the British merchants looked back with regret to the flesh pots of Macao. The appearance of affairs at Hongkong was indeed depressing. On one side of the harbour there was a well-nigh barren rock, unable to supply provisions for the two thousand British subjects now crowded together on shipboard in a starving condition, and on the other side they beheld a large Chinese camp in process of construction on Kowloon peninsula, with two shore batteries on Tsimshatsui, one at the present Craig Millar and the other near the site of the present Military Barracks, commanding the best portions of the anchorage. These were not encouraging sights. Provisions were obtainable with great difficulty from Chinese junks and bum-boats, but prices were very high. No wonder that fresh negotiations now commenced with Governor Pinto. Captain Elliot, established on board the ship Fort William, which subsequently for many years graced the harbour of Hongkong as a receiving hulk, wrote to Governor Pinto (September 1, 1839), offering to send all the British subjects back to Macao, and to place at the Governor's disposal H.M.S. Volage which had just arrived, and a force of 800 to 1000 men for the defence of the Portuguese settlement. Elliot remarked at the same time, with reference to certain Chinese
