'Near Aberdeen. Hong Kong.' [China]

No. 3 of 51 (PAJ2051 - PAJ2101): inscribed by the artist on the foot of the drawing, and dated and signed with monogram initials '6/67/ JHB', in the lower left. Aberdeen is a village on the south side of Hong Kong island. Its local name Heung Kong Tsai or Hong Kong Tsai (Little Hong Kong) is thought to be the origin of the name 'Hong Kong' ('fragrant harbour') for the whole island, owing to misunderstanding by Westerners who first landed there and applied it to the whole. Its English name dates to 1845, after Lord Aberdeen, then British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. This view is probably of the area now called Waterfall Bay Park, just north-west of Aberdeen Harbour and Ap Lei Chau island, looking up to the Peak of Hong Kong Island in the distance. One of the early attractions of Hong Kong for Western ships was the easy accessibility of fresh water on the coast from falls like this.

Object Details

ID: PAJ2053
Type: Drawing
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Butt, James Henry
Places: Hong Kong
Date made: June 1867
People: Butt, James Henry
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Sheet: 247 x 170 mm
Parts: Album of topographical views, mainly on the coasts of Japan, China and Formosa (Taiwan) (Album)
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