961 x 249 mm. A panoramic view, looking north, of the Portuguese Colony of Macau (also spelt Macao), at the mouth of the Pearl River delta, by an unknown photographer. By the mid-1700s Macau had become the main European trading post on the southern China coast; a position it held until the British took Hong Kong in 1841. During the second half of the nineteenth century it declined as Hong Kong expanded and larger ships favoured the deeper water harbours off Hong Kong. The photograph shows evidence of recent land reclamation to the right of the peninsula at the head of the bay, and was therefore probably taken during the first decade of the twentieth century (c. 1900-1910). To the left of the peninsula numerous boats are moored up in the Inner Harbour, some appear to be drying fishing nets. Most are sailing vessels; only one ship has a funnel, though another larger vessel, possibly a ferry, may be seen in the distance, to the top left of the peninsula.