A military sanatorium was proposed and established by Governor Hercules Robinson (1859-1865). A path was cut in December 1859 from what is now Robinson Road to the top of Victoria Peak, and the sanatorium was opened in the spring of 1862. It was well-built on the plateau below the flag-staff and 17 patients were sent there. However, the patients, like those in the rest of Hong Kong that year, did not improve and the military abandoned the site.