The summary manner in which our war-steamer, the _Saginaw_, was ordered out of the harbor of Hong Kong, created some indignant feeling among the loyal American residents; as it was a well-known fact at the time, that, in her disabled condition, had a storm occurred during her short voyage to the Macao Roads, her safety must have been endangered. I was at Whampoa the May following, when Captain Watkins, who was sent from California to take charge of the _Saginaw_, brought her into that port for repairs, and heard that officer allude, with some spirit, to the unhandsome and ungenerous management of that affair; while, at the same time, he expressed the hope that our naval depot would finally be removed from Hong Kong to one of the ports farther up the coast. The winter having been unusually cool and bracing, all the human exotics from the West were rejoicing under its recuperating influences, the invigorating effects of which would supply them with renewed strength for the long tropical summer that was to follow. There had not been such cold weather for many years; and the sudden transition from the fierce heat of the torrid zone to a climate of such comparatively low temperature, not only made the warmest of garments acceptable, but inclined one to seek the friendly warmth of cheerful coal fires. The island of Hong Kong is separated from the mainland by a strait from one and a half to five miles in width. The peninsula of Kowlung forms the opposite shore; and on its extreme point, which directly commands the entrance to the English town, there formerly stood two Chinese forts. The bay affords ample room to float a large fleet, and has both deep water and a good anchorage for vessels. Mariners have always been attracted to the island on account of the facilities for procuring a ready supply of the purest water, which is seen falling from the tops of the _Leong-teong_, or “two summits,” in a series of cascades, the last of which glides with a graceful fall into a rocky basin on the beach. It is from this fountain, called the _Hiang-kiang_,--the “fragrant stream,”--or the _Hoang-kiang_,--the “red, or bright torrent,”--that the island is supposed to have derived its name. It was ceded to England in 1849. Its trap-rock mountains are conical, very precipitous, and sterile, but the valleys are sheltered and fertile. There is a large exportation of granite from the island. In its geological structure the trap-rock has the highest position, and the granite is found in immense blocks all over the island.