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Description

"The First Ever Bilingual Map of its Kind" (Ng) -- Useful For Tracking Pirates

Rare map of Hong Kong, drawn by Monsignor Simeone Volonteri, during his 10 year residency in Hong Kong as a Missionary.

The Italian missionary Monsignor Simeone Volonteri (1831-1904) joined the Mission of the Propaganda in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong in 1860. He remained in Hong Kong until February 1870, leaving shortly after his appointment as Bishop of Honan.  Volonteri is credited with two highly important maps, his Map of the San-On District . . . (discussed below) and the present map, Carte Topographique de l'ile de Hong Kong . . ., which appears to be a more advanced map of just Hong Kong and environs, with additional detail and some new information, published with its own geographical text in 1874.

Volonteri worked in Hong Kong for ten years. He started the mission in Sai Kung, with plans to expand further into the mainland. With his health failing, he was advised to do more exercise and spent the next four years traveling the district, during which time he made a topographical survey and gathered geographical information, culminating in his map of the San-On District.  In theory, his work was illegal.  At the time, Jesuits were only allowed to conduct technical mapping with the approval of the emperor.  Volonteri had illegally engaged in 19th century style European exploration on his own. His work would have been considered espionage if known to the Qing officials.

Volonteri's Maps of the San-on District and Hong Kong

The present map finds is roots in Volunteri's first map, entitled Map of the San-On District, (Kwangtung Province) : drawn from actual observations made by an Italian Missionary of the Propaganda in the course of his professional labors during a period of four years : being the first and only map hitherto published, May 1866 = Xin'an Xian quan tu . . .  http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-231220841/view

Volonteri's work was a towering landmark of inland exploration and synthesis, which would prove to be the most important geographical work of the region for the next 35 years, until the Survey of Hong Kong and the New Territories in 1901.  Ng notes:

 Considering the difficulties presented by the rugged terrain and the unsettled times under which the observations were made, the map has a remarkable degree of accuracy and contains a  wealth of information. Although it cannot be ascertained whether  Mgr. Volonteri had received any cartographic training, either  before or after he entered the priesthood, the map displays no  sign of amateurism and, indeed, it won several enviable awards  in various European exhibitions, including the Milan Cartographic Exhibition of 1894,in the years immediately following its appearance. Other things apart, the fact that it is probably the first ever bilingual map of its kind must place it in a class of its own. . . . 

* * * 

. . . the greatest contribution of Fr. Volonteri's effort lies in making available a wide range of  information on the settlement pattern in San On. In no way had  the Catholic priest allowed his religious belief to influence the features he selected for recording on the map. Apart from the obvious inclusion of the Roman Catholic Chapels, of which there
 were only five in the multitude of settlements, he also truthfully recorded the locations of 'pagodas (temples) of some consideration'. Amongst the settlements he noted, he made a clear distinction between their sizes and importance, ranging from Mandarin Residences, large and small market towns of his day to villages, some of which could not have contained more than ten families in the 1860's. He also indicated all the important tracks and mountain passes, vital for communication between the major towns and village groups.

 Considering that the mapping was done during his brief sojourn in the District, in the little time which he could devote to perform this immense task of recording over 900 settlements spreading over an area of some 750 square miles under personal and environmental conditions which were far from congenial, Fr. Volonteri deserves the admiration of all those who have recourse to the document. It is worth noting that the number of 368 villages and market towns shown in that part of San On which became British 30 years later is fairly consistent with the official figure of 416 for 1898. The information on the settlement pattern was certainly derived from his personal knowledge and the Chinese script was probably provided by his local collaborator, Don Andrea Maria Liang, who accompanied him on practically all his journeys in San On. 

Once published, the map was a tremendous success.  An editorial in The China Mail on May 17, 1866, noted that the map would supply important information "for tracing pirates from the bays and creeks on the coast to their piratical villages, which are frequently situated inland and which are at present terra incognita to the crews of our gunboats."

Published in an edition of 200 copies in Leipzig in English in 1866, the map was of great importance.  The Hong Kong Government immediately saw the value of this map, and  publicized it by way of a notice in the Government Gazette on May 26, 1866). 

In the Gazette notice, Fr Volonteri explained the difficulties under which he had labored. 

 The Map is the result of four years' labour and is made entirely from the personal observations of the author. The dangers, the difficulties, and the hardships which the work has involved have been very great. The District is excessively mountainous, and, as ocular demonstration had exclusively in all cases to be relied on, by reason of the worthlessness of native information, the fatigue attending travel has been no light matter. The villagers entertain the idea that their mountains contain auriferous deposits, and are very jealous of foreigners examining them. The consequence is that there is much difficulty in procuring the services of guides and still more difficulty in obtaining correct information on any point.

The map was so detailed, it was used by the British authorities as a primary geographical reference until after their lease of the New Territories and the Survey work on 1901.  The map shows place names in both Roman and Chinese scripts. The boundary of the British colony of Hong Kong is shown in Kowloon. This peninsula had been added to the colony of Hong Kong in 1860. 

Volonteri's Map of Hong Kong

Little is known about Volonteri's second map.  Published several years after Volonteri left Hong Kong, it was printed in Milan by Stab. Fratelli Tensi in January 1874, for the Society for the Propogation of the Faith, in Volume 6 of Les Missions Catholiques, accompanying an article on the geography of Hong Kong written by Volonteri, who by that time had risen to become the Bishop of Honan.  

There are clearly differences between the two maps. The existence of the map was apparently unknown to scholars until the 1973 article "Another Volontieri Map?" published in the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, with the author noting "This map appears to be an individual production additional to the map of the San-On. . . "

While we have not conducted an exhaustive comparison of the two maps, we note the following differences:

  • Significantly more place names and buildings are added in the Victoria area.
  • The Church / Eglise de S. Francois is added in the northernmost center of the map.
  • The Prison Anglais (English Prison) is shown on Ngong-shun-chau island, west of Kowloon.

Rarity

The map is extremely rare.  We note no examples on the market in the past 30 years.   

Reference
Ronald C.Y. Ng., The San On Map of Mgr. Volonteri: On the Centenary of the Copy in the R.G.S. Collection. Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 9 (1969), pp.
141-148);
Another Volontieri Map? Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 13 (1973), pp.146-147;
Louis Ha Keloon The Foundation of the Catholic Mission in Hong Kong, 1841-1894.