香江遺珍(The Charter Legacy)：維多利亞城/約1856(Victoria from East to West/c. 1856)

放大圖片

畫家佚名；文生•布魯克 (Vincent Brooks,1814-1885)

石版畫(Lithograph)

　19世紀中期的維多利亞城，已經是個頗具規模的商港，由銅鑼灣至西環一帶的建築物林立。海上帆檣如林，除了中式船艇，更有許多三桅帆船往來其間。它們很多是在香港設行的外商的貨船，主要代理英國、美國、歐洲及印度產品，其中鴉片走私的貿易非常活躍。1883年，蘇格蘭企業家杜格拉斯．立僻成立杜格拉斯輪船公司，經營船隻往來中國各通商口岸，海上貿易更為蓬勃。

　Victoria City was quite a sizeable trading port in the mid 19th century. Buildings lined the shore from Causeway Bay to Western District, while the harbour had a steady traffic of junks and schooners. Most of the latter belonged to foreign merchants in Hong Kong. They were mostly agents of British, American, European and Indian products. Opium smuggling was particularly rampant. In 1883, Scottish entrepreneur Douglas Lapraik established Douglas Lapraik & Co. which offered shipping services to major trading ports along the China coast. Sea-borne trade boomed as a result. 資料:香港藝術館提供