{"product_id":"chinese-islands-hugh-lindsay-hong-kong-a-very-eligible-spot-for-a-colony-1840-p-6-111264","title":"Chinese Islands—Hugh Lindsay— Hong Kong \"a very eligible spot\" for a colony 1840","description":"\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003eChinese Islands—No. 1 [Includes description of Hong Kong]\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn extract from the journal of Hugh Hamilton Lindsay, published in The Nautical Magazine during the First Opium War, just a year before Great Britain took possession of Hong Kong Island, assessing the suitability of various Chinese islands as candidate sites for a trading port or colony. Lindsay observes that “if ever a settlement is to be founded in this corner, Hong Kong holds, perhaps, the first place for this purpose in the Archipelago” (p.301), while concluding that “Chusan [Zhoushan] [is] the island best fitted for a commercial mart. In the south, Hong Kong and Mamao are well adapted for that purpose” (p.303). Lindsay, a Scottish merchant and Superintendent of Trade in China, played a significant role in shaping British commercial policy. Before and during the war he travelled extensively along the Chinese coast, including clandestine reconnaisance voyages evaluating harbour quality, defensibility, commercial viability, and suitability for British occupation—assessments that informed the debates culminating in Britain’s acquisition of Hong Kong a year later.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Antiquemapsandprints.com","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52504282169691,"sku":"P-6-111264","price":1000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0923\/9583\/1643\/files\/P-6-111264a.jpg?v=1772563628","url":"https:\/\/www.antiquemapsandprints.com\/fr\/products\/chinese-islands-hugh-lindsay-hong-kong-a-very-eligible-spot-for-a-colony-1840-p-6-111264","provider":"Antiquemapsandprints.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}