Industries.—Beyond the cultivation of vegetable gardens there is practically no agricultural industry in the colony. But although only 400 acres are cultivated on Hong-Kong island, and the same number of acres in Kowloon, there are 90,000 acres under cultivation in the new territory, of which over 7000 acres were in 1900 planted with sugar-cane. Granite quarries are worked. The chief industries are sugar-refining, the manufacture of cement, paper, bamboo and rattan ware, carving in wood and ivory, working in copper and iron, gold-beating and the production of gold, silver and sandal-wood ware, furniture making, umbrella and jinricksha making, and industries connected with kerosene oil and matches. The manufacture of cotton has been introduced. Ship and boat building, together with subsidiary industries, such as rope and sail making, appear less subject to periods of depression than other industries.
Trade.—Hong-Kong being a free port, there are no official figures as to the amount of trade; but the value of the exports and imports is estimated as about £50,000,000 in the year. Among the principal goods dealt with are tea, silk, opium, sugar, flax, salt, earthenware, oil, amber, cotton and cotton goods, sandal-wood, ivory, betel, vegetables, live stock and granite. There is an extensive Chinese passenger trade. The following are the figures of ships cleared and entered:—
| Year. | Tonnage. | British. |
| 1880 | 8,359,994 | 3,758,160 |
| 1890 | 13,676,293 | 6,994,919 |
| 1898 | 17,265,780 | 8,705,648 |
| 1902 | 19,709,451 | 8,945,976 |
The Chinese ships rank next to British ships in the amount of trade. German and Japanese ships follow next.
Finance.—The revenue and expenditure are given below:—
| Year. | Revenue. | Expenditure. |
| 1880 | $1,069,948 | $ 948,014 |
| 1890 | 1,995,220 | 1,915,350 |
| 1898 | 2,918,159 | 2,841,805 |
| 1902 | 4,901,073 | 4,752,444 |
The main sources of revenue are licences, rent of government property, the post-office and land sales. The light dues were reduced in 1898 from 212 cents to 1 cent per ton. There is a public debt of about £340,000, borrowed for public works, which is being paid off by a sinking fund. The only legal tender is the Mexican dollar, and the British and Hong-Kong dollar, or other silver dollars of equivalent value duly authorized by the governor. There are small silver and copper coins, which are legal tenders for amounts not exceeding two dollars and one dollar respectively. There is also a large paper currency in the form of notes issued by the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, the Hong-Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and the National Bank of China, Limited. The foundation of new law courts was laid in 1900.
Administration.—Formerly an integral part of China, the island of Hong-Kong was first ceded to Great Britain in 1841, and the cession was confirmed by the treaty of Nanking in 1842, the charter bearing the date 5th of April 1843. The colony is administered by a governor, executive council and legislative council. The executive council consists of the holders of certain offices and of such other members as the crown may nominate. In 1890 there were nine members. The legislative council consists of the same officials and of six unofficial members. Of these, three are appointed by the governor (of whom one must be, and two at present are, members of the Chinese community); one is elected from the chamber of commerce, and one from the justices of the peace.
Authorities.—Sir G. W. des Vœux, Report on Blue-book of 1888; A Handbook to Hong-Kong (Hong-Kong, 1893); The China Sea Directory (vol. iii., 3rd ed., 1894); Henry Norman, The Peoples and Politics of the Far East (London, 1895); Sir E. Hertslet, Treaties between Great Britain and China and China and Foreign Powers (London, 1896); A. R. Colquhoun, China in Transformation (London, 1898); Colonial Possessions Report, No. 84; and other Colonial Annual Reports.
HONITON, a market town and municipal borough in the
Honiton parliamentary division of Devonshire, England,
pleasantly situated on rising ground on the left bank of the Otter,
1612 m. E.N.E. of Exeter by the London & South-Western
railway. Pop. (1901) 3271. The town consists of one wide
street, down which a stream of water runs, extending for about
1 m., and crossed at right angles by a lesser street. The restored
church of St Michael, formerly a parish church, but standing
on a hill about 12 m. from the town, was built by Courtenay,
bishop of Exeter, about 1482. It retains a curiously carved
screen, and the black marble tomb of Queen Elizabeth’s physician,
Marwood, who attained the age of 105. Allhallows Grammar
School, founded in 1614, was enlarged in 1893; St Margaret’s
hospital, founded as a lazar-house in the 14th century, is converted
into almshouses. Honiton is famous for its lace industry,
established by refugees from Flanders under Queen Elizabeth.
The delicate fabric made by hand on the pillow was long in
demand; its sale was, however, greatly diminished by the
competition of cheaper machine-made goods, and a school of
lace-making was opened to promote its recovery. The town
possesses breweries, tanneries, malthouses, flour-mills, saw-mills,
brick and tile works, potteries and an iron foundry; its trade in
butter is considerable. It is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen
and 18 councillors. Area, 3134 acres.
Honiton (Honetona, Huneton) is situated on the British Icknield Street, and was probably the site of an early settlement, but it does not appear in history before the Domesday Survey, when it was a considerable manor, held by Drew (Drogo) under the count of Mortain, who had succeeded Elmer the Saxon, with a subject population of 33, a flock of 80 sheep, a mill and 2 salt-workers. The borough was founded before 1217 by William de Vernon, earl of Devon, whose ancestor Richard de Redvers had received the manor from Henry I. In the 14th century it passed to the Courtenays, and in 1698 Sir William Courtenay was confirmed in the right of holding court leet, view of frank-pledge and the nomination of a portreeve, these privileges having been surrendered to James II. The borough was represented by two members in parliament in 1300 and 1311, and then not again till 1640, from which date it returned two members until disfranchised by the act of 1868, the returning officer being the portreeve, who was also the chief magistrate of the borough until its incorporation by charter of 1846. In 1221 Falkes de Breauté, then custodian of the borough, rendered a palfrey for holding a three days’ fair at the feast of All Saints, transferred in 1247 to the feast of St Margaret, and still held under that grant. A great market for corn and other produce is still held on Saturday by prescription. The wool manufacture flourished at Honiton in the reign of Henry VII., and it is said to have been the first town at which serges were made, but the industry entirely declined during the 19th century. The lace manufacture was introduced by Flemish refugees, and was flourishing in the reign of Charles I.
See Victoria County History, Devonshire; A. Farquharson, History of Honiton (Exeter, 1868).
HONNEF, a town and climatic health resort of Germany, beautifully situated on the right bank of the Rhine, at the foot of the Siebengebirge, 8 m. above Bonn by the railway Cologne-Königswinter-Horchheim. Pop. (1905) 6183. It has an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church, a sanatorium for consumptives, and does a considerable trade in wine. The town is surrounded by vineyards and orchards, and has annually a large number of visitors. A mineral spring called the Drachenquelle is used both for drinking and bathing.
HONOLULU, a city, port of entry, and the capital of Hawaii, situated in the “city and county of Honolulu,” on the S. coast of the island of Oahu, at the mouth of Nuuanu Valley, 2100 m. S.W. of San Francisco. Pop. (1890) 22,907; (1900) 39,306, of whom 24,746 were males, 14,560 were females; about 10,000 were Hawaiians, 15,000 Asiatics, and 5000 Portuguese; (1910) 52,183. Honolulu is served by the Oahu railway, by electric lines to the principal suburbs, and by steamship lines to San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Manila, Salina Cruz (Mexico), Victoria, Sydney, and Chinese and Japanese ports. The business section and the older residence quarters occupy low ground, but many of the newer residences are built on the sides of neighbouring hills and mountains, of which there are several from 500 to 2000 ft. in height. The Punch Bowl (behind the city), a hill rising about 500 ft. above the sea, Diamond Head, a crater about 760 ft. in height, 4 m. to the S.E., and the Nuuanu Pali, a lofty and picturesque precipice 6 m. up the valley, are especially known for their commanding views. In front of the city is the small harbour, well protected from all winds except those from the S.; in and after 1892 the Hawaiian government
