The last point to which I think it necessary to allude is the mutual surrender of criminals, so that English offenders who may take refuge in China may be given up to our consular officers by the Chinese authorities, and Chinese offenders who may take refuge at Hong-Kong, or on board our ships, may be given up to the Chinese officers. This stipulation has already been acted upon at Hong-Kong, where a party of pirates who were chased ashore by the Chinese government cruisers were instantly seized by the police, and handed over to the proper Chinese officers. In fact, the more we reflect upon the position in which we now stand in presence of the Chinese government, and in the actual possession of an island upon its frontiers, the more we must become impressed with the vast responsibility which attaches to all our proceedings, and the great necessity which exists for the utmost caution, prudence, judgment, and firmness on the part of every public officer employed in our service in that country. I have reserved all mention of the terrific storms to which Hong-Kong is occasionally exposed during the summer season. Our squadron, after its return from Canton, was exposed to the full fury of one of these hurricanes, while it lay in the harbour previously to our advance upon Amoy. The Chinese, although ignorant of the use of the barometer, acquire from experience a tolerably accurate knowledge of the indications which determine the approach of these dreaded typhoons. Unfortunately, Victoria Bay, although completely land-locked, lies fully exposed to the whole fury of the tempest from its beginning to its end; there is no shelter whatever on that side of the island. It is a curious and novel sight to watch the preparations which the Chinese make for the approaching storm; the mixture of superstitious observance and prudent precaution which they adopt, either in the hope of averting the threatening tempest, or of securing themselves against its immediate effects. The sultry, oppressive feeling of the atmosphere, the deep black clouds, and other indications, warn them to be prepared; and, from the noise and excitement which soon take place among the Chinese, one would rather imagine they were celebrating some festival of rejoicing than deprecating the fury of the gods. Many of their houses, on these occasions, are decorated with lanterns stuck upon long poles twenty or thirty feet high, huge grotesque-looking figures, and various devices. The beating of gongs, the firing of crackers, and explosion of little bamboo petards, from one end of the town to the other, and in all the boats along the shore, create such a din and confusion, that a stranger cannot help feeling that there must be danger at hand, of some kind or other, besides that of a storm.