passengers came noisily from the Saloon.
Slowly, reluctantly, as if he could not bear to let her go, Lord Sheldon took his arms from Azalea until, as the passengers reached them, he released her.
They separated to stand back on either side of the passage as the people passed them, looking curiously at Lord Sheldon as they did so.
There must have been over a dozen of them and by the time they had filed by, the women lifting the trains of their long skirts, the men with their hands in their trouser pockets, Azalea had vanished!
Lord Sheldon caught one last glimpse of her gown as she ran up the stairs which led to the First Class deck, and although he started to walk quickly down the passage after her, he knew it was too late.
The Orissa sailed into Victoria Harbour early in the morning, and for the first time Azalea saw Hong Kong.
She had learnt all she could about it from Mrs. Chang, from a history book she had found in the ship’s Library and the answers her uncle had condescended to give to her questions earlier.
She knew Hong Kong was first occupied by the British in 1841 and legally ceded to them in perpetuity by the Emperor of China two years later.
Lord Palmerston, who was Foreign Secretary at the time, had considered the occupation “utterly premature”. In fact he dismissed Hong Kong as “a barren island with hardly a house on it.”
Queen Victoria, however, thought it a joke and wrote to her uncle, King Leopold of the Belgians, saying,
“Albert is so much amused at my having got the island of Hong Kong, and we think Victoria ought to be called Princess Hong Kong in addition to Princess Royal! ”
The history of the eighteen-year Opium War with China made complex and dry reading with its references to the difficulties of British Administration in curbing the traffic in and addiction to drugs.
But nothing Azalea had read, heard or expected prepared her for the beauty of the island which she had heard the General call disparagingly “a pimple on the backside of China!”
The Orissa moved slowly to the anchorage and she saw why the name Hong Kong meant ‘Fragrant Harbour.’
On the sparkling gold sea there were innumerable Chinese junks of every size, their brown sails ribbed like bats’ wings. There were also dhows, ferries, fishing boats and trading ships from all over the world.
The water-front buildings were vaguely Italian in the style common to all European settlements in China.
Pale sienna in colour, they seemed almost to be drawn in pencil, like the slab of the Peak towering above them which was tawny and brown, while lower down there was a riot of colour which made Azalea draw in her breath.
She knew from Mrs. Chang’s description that she was seeing the frangipani trees with their creamy, waxen, temple-flower blossoms and beneath them the crimson, purple and gold of azaleas.
A military launch was sent to the Orissa as soon as she anchored to convey Lady Osmund and her party ashore. An Aide-de-Camp, resplendent in his white uniform, introduced himself and escorted them with much respectful pomp to the launch.
They were rowed ashore under the envious eyes of the less fortunate passengers lining the decks.
“The General deeply regrets, my Lady, that he is unable to welcome you himself,” the Aide-de-Camp said respectfully, “but as you will understand, he has been excessively busy since he arrived.”
“I imagined that he would be,” Lady Osmund said graciously. “Where is Sir Frederick at this moment?”
“I believe he is with the Governor, Sir John Pope-Hennessy,” the Aide-de-Camp replied. “They are having a series of meetings which start early and go on late.”
“I am sure that my husband has a great deal to discuss with Sir John,” Lady Osmund said.
On the quayside itself there were the picturesque Chinese Azalea had wanted to see in their large coolie hats, and below, rocking a little in the waves caused by the launch, there were innumerable small sampans in which
Slowly, reluctantly, as if he could not bear to let her go, Lord Sheldon took his arms from Azalea until, as the passengers reached them, he released her.
They separated to stand back on either side of the passage as the people passed them, looking curiously at Lord Sheldon as they did so.
There must have been over a dozen of them and by the time they had filed by, the women lifting the trains of their long skirts, the men with their hands in their trouser pockets, Azalea had vanished!
Lord Sheldon caught one last glimpse of her gown as she ran up the stairs which led to the First Class deck, and although he started to walk quickly down the passage after her, he knew it was too late.
The Orissa sailed into Victoria Harbour early in the morning, and for the first time Azalea saw Hong Kong.
She had learnt all she could about it from Mrs. Chang, from a history book she had found in the ship’s Library and the answers her uncle had condescended to give to her questions earlier.
She knew Hong Kong was first occupied by the British in 1841 and legally ceded to them in perpetuity by the Emperor of China two years later.
Lord Palmerston, who was Foreign Secretary at the time, had considered the occupation “utterly premature”. In fact he dismissed Hong Kong as “a barren island with hardly a house on it.”
Queen Victoria, however, thought it a joke and wrote to her uncle, King Leopold of the Belgians, saying,
“Albert is so much amused at my having got the island of Hong Kong, and we think Victoria ought to be called Princess Hong Kong in addition to Princess Royal! ”
The history of the eighteen-year Opium War with China made complex and dry reading with its references to the difficulties of British Administration in curbing the traffic in and addiction to drugs.
But nothing Azalea had read, heard or expected prepared her for the beauty of the island which she had heard the General call disparagingly “a pimple on the backside of China!”
The Orissa moved slowly to the anchorage and she saw why the name Hong Kong meant ‘Fragrant Harbour.’
On the sparkling gold sea there were innumerable Chinese junks of every size, their brown sails ribbed like bats’ wings. There were also dhows, ferries, fishing boats and trading ships from all over the world.
The water-front buildings were vaguely Italian in the style common to all European settlements in China.
Pale sienna in colour, they seemed almost to be drawn in pencil, like the slab of the Peak towering above them which was tawny and brown, while lower down there was a riot of colour which made Azalea draw in her breath.
She knew from Mrs. Chang’s description that she was seeing the frangipani trees with their creamy, waxen, temple-flower blossoms and beneath them the crimson, purple and gold of azaleas.
A military launch was sent to the Orissa as soon as she anchored to convey Lady Osmund and her party ashore. An Aide-de-Camp, resplendent in his white uniform, introduced himself and escorted them with much respectful pomp to the launch.
They were rowed ashore under the envious eyes of the less fortunate passengers lining the decks.
“The General deeply regrets, my Lady, that he is unable to welcome you himself,” the Aide-de-Camp said respectfully, “but as you will understand, he has been excessively busy since he arrived.”
“I imagined that he would be,” Lady Osmund said graciously. “Where is Sir Frederick at this moment?”
“I believe he is with the Governor, Sir John Pope-Hennessy,” the Aide-de-Camp replied. “They are having a series of meetings which start early and go on late.”
“I am sure that my husband has a great deal to discuss with Sir John,” Lady Osmund said.
On the quayside itself there were the picturesque Chinese Azalea had wanted to see in their large coolie hats, and below, rocking a little in the waves caused by the launch, there were innumerable small sampans in which
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