798 HONG KONG HONITON 8 o'clock in the evening, but no restrictions are placed on the foreign population. The streets are guarded at night by a strong police force of Indian sepoys, and life and property are now secure. The government has paid con- siderable attention to education, and native schools have been established in Victoria and in other parts of the island. The village schools are purely Chinese, and use Chinese text books alone ; but, owing to the extreme poverty of the people, only a fraction of the children at- tend them. The administration of the colony is in the hands of a governor, aided by an ex- ecutive council composed of the colonial secre- tary, the officer commanding the troops, and the attorney, general. There is also a legisla- tive council, over which the governor presides, composed of the chief justice, the colonial secretary, the attorney general, the treasurer, the auditor general, the surveyor general, and four unofficial members nominated by the crown on the recommendation of the governor. Hong Kong is mainly a factory for British commerce with China and the headquarters for the British military and naval forces in China and Japan. It is a free port, and no dues are levied on goods or ships entering, dis- charging, or loading. The revenue is derived from land rents, licenses to sell opium and spirits, postage, taxes, fines, fees of office, &c., which generally more than cover the expenses of the administration. Since 1855 the colony has generally had a surplus above its expendi- tures. It pays at present 20,000 annually to the British government as a military contribu- tion. Its total revenue in 1870 was 190,673, Hong Kong. and the expenditure 183,595. In 1871 the revenue was 175,920, of which 36,000 was derived from lands and rents, 40,000 from taxes, and 23,000 from the opium monopoly; expenditure, 186,273, of which a large por- tion was devoted to the maintenance of the police force. Hong Kong has now no public debt. Its commerce is chiefly with Great Britain, the United States, and Germany, the first absorbing about one half of the exports and imports. There are no official returns of values, but according to mercantile estimates, the imports average about 4,000,000 and the exports about 2,000,000. The principal im- ports are textile fabrics, mainly cotton goods, and the exports are mostly teas. The weights and measures both of China and of Great Brit- ain are in general use. The money in circu- lation is the Mexican dollar, and the silver dollar coined at Hong Kong, with the effigy of the British sovereign on one side and its name and value in Chinese characters on the reverse; and for smaller sums the usual Chinese coins. The new American dollar has been recently introduced, and meets with much favor. Hong Kong was occupied by the British in 1841, and confirmed to them by the treaty of Nankin in 1842. The peninsula of Kooloon, which commands the N. side of Victoria har- bor, was ceded in 1861. The population be- fore the cession was only about 2,000, a poor and ignorant race, subsisting partly by fishing and partly by the cutting of building stone. HONITON, a town of Devonshire, England, pleasantly situated on the left bank of the river Otter, 16 m. N. E. of Exeter, and 142 m. W. S. W. of London; pop. in 1871, 3,470. It is neatly built, and contains many good houses
