By Zhao Xu (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-03 09:16

In fact, the largest tombs were erected by officers and crew of the British Navy, often for fellow shipmates and soldiers who died during the war.

One example is the HMS "Cornwallis". Words inscribed on the north face of this tomb states that it is dedicated to the officers of the ship and "marine officers of the Expedition".

"'Cornwallis' was the flagship of the British Navy during the First Opium War," says Ting. "It had participated in some of the fiercest battles in the late stages of the war. And it was on this ship that The Treaty of Nanjing was signed."

However, according to Ting, most people in the British Navy and garrison forces lost their lives not to the battle, but to Hong Kong's tropical weather and the raging epidemics.

A group tomb, for those who died of fever between June and September in 1848, testifies to this. It carries 96 names but the actual number was probably much higher.

Not surprisingly, at that time doctors were held in extremely high regard - a status reflected in the size of their tombs. One of them was the colonial surgeon Aurelius Harland. The epitaph states that he was "admired for his skills and physiology".

Harland died on Sept 12, 1858, aged 39. Only a few steps from his tomb lies the one in memory of his predecessor, Dr William Morrison, who died five years earlier at the age of 41.

Not far from the cemetery's main entrance on Wong Nei Chong Road stands one of the island's oldest fountains - a cherub pouring water from a jar. The child is protected by a giant West Indies mahogany - one of the many imported plant species that today colonize this part of the island.

In some cases, nature has "rewritten" the epitaphs on the tombstones. Occasionally, one finds a tombstone overrun by weeds, or half-buried in the ground; a crucifix out of place or a tomb streaked with muddy rain trails.

But the place is never short of stories. Often, one can tell a person's religion and nationality by the shape of the grave. Interspersed among the ubiquitous Christian monuments are tombs for members of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as those who belonged to the clandestine Freemasons, from which the Mormon Church evolved.

   1 2 3   

   1 2 3