The Nemesis was deployed in the Second Battle of Chuenpi in early 1841, leading to a decisive British victory. This triumph, along with his other naval achievements, earned the captain the nickname “Nemesis Hall,” and he was promoted to the rank of Captain at the end of the war in 1842, when Hong Kong was ceded to Britain. Hall meticulously documented his experiences in China, and these notes were later used by Oxford graduate William Dallas Bernard to write an account of the war, titled Narrative of the Voyages and Services of the Nemesis from 1840 to 1843 (1844). The present map appears in the second edition of Bernard’s book, published in 1845. Engraved by a little-known craftsman named Isaac Purdy, the map is based on earlier surveys by Captains Horsburgh, Ross, and Belcher of the British Admiralty, and updated with information from Hall’s journals. It depicts Hong Kong Island, Lantau, Macao, and numerous other islands, forts, and settlements along what was then known as the Canton River, now commonly referred to as the Pearl River. The map also identifies the anchorages used by British ships in the nineteenth century, and the detailed inset shows the position of Her Majesty’s squadron off the coast of Hainan Island in 1841.
