Robert Kennaway Douglas

“ During the period from 1856 to 1864 the trade of Shanghai increased by leaps and by bounds, and its prosperity culminated between 1860 and 1864, when, in addition to the ordinary commerce, the influx of Chinese into the foreign settlement in consequence of the advance eastward of the T'ai-p'ing rebels added enormously to the value of land and to the profits of the leaseholders. Both in 1860 and again in 1861 the rebels advanced to the walls of Shanghai, and on both occasions were driven back in confusion by the British troops and volunteers, aided by the naval forces of England and France. ”

“ The commercial town extends along the water face for a distance of a mile and a half, while behind it stands the citadel, which encloses within its walls the palace, the treasury, the court of justice, the royal pagoda, the prison, the barracks, public offices, and official residences. Embroidery and mother-of-pearl work are the principal industries of Hanoi, which never has been and probably never will be a great commercial centre. ”

“ Shanghai is now connected with Peking by a telegraph, which will doubtless before long be supplemented by a railway. Some years ago a short railway was laid down between Shanghai and Woosung by some foreigners who wished to force the pace at which China was progressing. But the time had not come when such a step would be adopted by the Chinese, and after a few weeks' existence the plant was bought by the native authorities and shipped to Formosa, where it has since been allowed to rust and rot. The climate of Shanghai is essentially unhealthy. ”

“ The number of priests and nuns in Canton is not exactly known, but they probably exceed 2000, nine-tenths of whom are Buddhists. The temples are gloomy-looking edifices. The areas in front of them are usually occupied by hucksters, beggars, and idlers, who are occasionally driven off to make room for the mat-sheds, in which the theatrical performances got up by the wealthy inhabitants are acted. The principal hall, where the idol sits enshrined, is lighted only in front, and the inner apartments are inhabited by a class of men almost as senseless as the idols they serve. ”

“ Being situated nearer to China, we should undoubtedly absorb much of her trade. . . . In time of war it would be still more easy to stop all commerce between China and any hostile nation. . . . From such a coign of vantage it would be easy to interfere with the designs which the English evi dently have of extending their frontier more to the east."
The embassy resulted in a treaty with Gia Long, by which the French king engaged to restore that monarch to his throne on condition that he accepted the virtual protectorship of France over Annam. ”

“ The business between foreigners and natives at Canton is generally transacted in a jargon known as “Pigeon English,” the Chinese being extremely ready in acquiring a sufficient smattering of English words to render themselves intelligible.
The intercourse between China and Europe by the way of the Cape of Good Hope began in 1517, when Emmanuel, king of Portugal, sent an ambassador, accompanied by a fleet of eight ships, to Peking, on which occasion the sanction of the emperor to establish a trade at Canton was obtained. ”

“ The residence of the commander-in-chief is in the old city, and is said to be one of the best houses in Canton. There are four prisons in the city, all large edifices. For the space of four or five miles opposite Canton boats and vessels are ranged parallel to each other in such close order that it resembles a floating city; and these marine dwellings are occupied by numerous families, who reside almost constantly on the water. In the middle of the river lie the Chinese junks, some of them of from 600 to 1000 tons burden, which trade to the north and to the Strait Settlements. ”

“ The appearance of Garnier's work on his expedition up the Mekong aroused again an interest in Tong-king, and the reported wealth of the country added the powerful motive of self-interest to the yearnings of patriotism. Already M. Dupuis, a trader who in the pursuit of his calling had penetrated into Yun-nan, and had thus discovered that the higher waters of the Song-koi were navigable, had visited Hanoi with a small force of desperadoes, and was attempting to negotiate for the passage up the river of himself and a cargo of military stores for the Chinese authorities in Yun-nan. ”

“ The streets, amounting in all to upwards of 600, are long, straight, and very narrow. They are mostly paved and are not as dirty as those of some of the other cities in the empire; in fact, considering the habits of the people and the inattention of Government to these matters, Canton may be said to be a well-governed and comparatively cleanly city. ”

“ The number of foreigners, other than English, who took up their abode in the English settlement at Shanghai made it soon necessary to adopt some more catholic form of government than that supplied by an English consul who had control only over British subjects, and by common agreement a committee of residents, consisting of a chairman and six members, was elected by the renters of land for the purposes of general municipal administration. ”

“ Few large cities are more generally healthy than Canton, and epidemics rarely prevail there.
Provisions and refreshments of all sorts are abundant, and in general are excellent in quality and moderate in price. It is a singular fact, that the Chinese make no use of milk, either in its natural state, or in the form of butter or cheese. Among the delicacies of a Chinese market are to be seen horse-flesh, dogs, cats, hawks, owls, and edible birds'-nests. ”

“ From 1833 to 1839 eleven missionaries were put to death, and thousands, it is said, of the native Christians suffered martyrdom. Neither change of sovereign nor varying circumstances brought any relief to the persecuted Christians, until in 1859 the French Government determined to intervene on their behalf. In that year Admiral Rigault de Genouilly took Saigon by assault, and was attempting to open negotiations with the king of Annam, when the outbreak of the China war compelled him to satisfy him self with holding the captured town. ”

“ The various guilds and associations among the people and the merchants from other provinces have public halls each for its own particular use. The number of these buildings is not less than 150. Canton was long the only seat of British trade with China, and was no doubt fixed upon by the Chinese Government for the European trade, as being the most distant from the capital Peking.
Formerly only a limited number of merchants, called the hong or security merchants, were allowed to trade with foreigners. ”

“ Facing the city on the opposite side of the river is the suburb and island of Honan. The part of Canton enclosed by walls is about six miles in circumference, and has a partition wall, running east and west, and dividing the city into two unequal parts. The northern and larger division is called the old, and the southern the new city. Including the suburbs, the city has a circuit of nearly ten miles. The houses stretch along the river for four miles, and the banks are almost entirely concealed by boats and rafts. ”

“ The population of Tong-king is estimated at about 12,000,000, and consists of Tong-kingese, Chinese, and an admixture of Lao from beyond the western frontier. The Tong-kingese belong to the Indo-Chinese stock. They are taller and a finer people than the Annamese, and they are more frivolous and excitable than their northern neighbours, the Chinese. Their intelligence is, generally speaking, of a very low order; they are dirty in their habits ”

“ At that time a Chinese general, Chaou T o, who had established a principality consisting of the two modern provinces of Kwang-tung and Kwang-se, with his capital at Canton, invaded Tong-king, but was defeated and driven out of the country by the ruler, An-yang, whose victories were achieved mainly by the help of a foreign "divine mechanic." This man, whoever he may have been, seems to have been thrown aside after serving his immediate purpose ”

“ The British consulate occupies six lots, with an area of 75,870 square feet in the centre of the site, overlooking the river, and is enclosed with a substantial wall. A ground-rent of 15,000 cash (about £3) per mow (a third of an acre) is annually paid by the owners of lots to the Chinese Government.
The Sha-mien settlement possesses many advantages. It is close to the western suburb of Canton, where reside all the wholesale dealers as well as the principal merchants and brokers ”

“ As traders they show little enterprise, and are quite unable to compete with the Chinese, into whose hands the commerce had, before the arrival of the French, entirely fallen. Their spoken language is allied to the Cambodian, while Chinese forms the medium of literary communication.
The Chinese records carry the history of Tong-king as far back as the 22d century B.C., but, as the data are neither well authenticated nor particularly interesting, we need not dwell upon them. ”

“ Spanish and other silver coins are current, and are estimated by their weight, every merchant carrying scales and weights with him. All the dollars that pass through the hands of the hong merchants bear their stamp; and when they lose their weight in the course of circulation they are cut in pieces for small change. ”

“ At first merchants appeared disinclined to take advantage of the opportunities offered them at Shanghai. “ At the end of the first year of its history as an open port Shanghai could count only 23 foreign residents and families, 1 consular flag, 11 merchants' houses, and 2 Protestant missionaries. Only forty-four foreign vessels had arrived during the same period.” [1] By degrees, however, the manifold advantages as a port of trade possessed by Shanghai attracted merchants of all nationalities ”

“ They were commonly men of large property, and were famed for integrity in their transactions. All foreign cargoes passed through the hands of these merchants, and by them also the return cargoes were furnished. They became security for the payment of customs duties, and it was criminal for any other merchant to engage in the trade with foreigners.
Accounts are kept at Canton, in common with the rest of China, in taels, mace, candarines, and cash,—ten cash being one candarine, ten candarines one mace, ten mace one tael, which last is converted into English money at about 6s. ”

“ Of these 79 per cent, were shipped to Hong-Kong, 16 per cent, went to Saigon, and the remaining 5 per cent, were distributed among the coast ports.
The mineral wealth of the country is doubtless considerable, though so little has been done in the direction of working it that it is impossible to form any idea of its richness. According to Major-General Mesny, there are flourishing gold-fields in seventeen districts, while silver and copper mining occupies a great deal of native and Chinese labour. ”

“ Having thus secured his position, he sent to Saigon for reinforcements, and meanwhile sent small detachments against the five other important fortresses in the delta (Hung-yen, Phu-ly, Hai-Dzuong, Ninh-Binh, and NamDinh) , and captured them all. The Tong-kingese now called in the help of Liu Yung-fu, the leader of the "Black Flags," who at once marched with a large force to the scene of action. Within a few days he recaptured several villages near Hanoi, and so threatening did his attitude appear that Gamier, who had hurried back after capturing Nam-Dinh, made a sortie from the citadel. ”

“ The next fourteen centuries furnish a perpetual record of wars and rumours of wars, the disconnected narrative of which is generally uninteresting and sometimes unintelligible. In 1427 Li Loi acquired the throne, as so many of his predecessors had done, by violent means, but, unlike them, he established some degree of peace and order in the land. ”

“ The court thus constituted not only exercises jurisdiction over the British subjects at Shanghai but acts as a court of appeal from all British consular courts in China and Japan. All charges against Chinamen within the settlement are tried before a mixed court, which sits daily, presided over by a Chinese official and an officer of the consular service. ”

“ With the disappearance of the T'ai-p'ings the refugees who had sought safety in the foreign settlements returned to their homes, leaving whole streets and quarters deserted and empty. The loss thus inflicted on the municipality was very considerable, and was intensified by a commercial crisis in the markets of cotton and tea, in both of which articles there had been a great deal of over-speculation. ”

“ From the delta northward and westward rise plateau districts, while westward of 103 E. long, there stretches a forest region about which very little is known, but which is said by the natives to be inhabited only by savages and wild beasts.
Politically the country is divided into sixteen provinces, of which the following seven are in the delta mentioned: Bac-ninh, Sontay, Hanoi, Hai-Dzuong, Hung-yen, NamDinh, and Ninh-Binh. Five provinces constitute the upland districts, viz., Cao-Banh, Lang-son, Thai-Nguyen, Tuyen-Kwan, and Kwang-yen; while the forests form the province of Hung-hoa. ”

“ In ordinary years the winter minimum is about 42°, and the maximum in summer 96°. From May to October the hot season is considered to last; during the rest of the year the weather is cool. In shallow vessels ice sometimes forms at Canton ”

“ The serious nature of the opposition experienced in these expeditions induced the French commanders to await reinforcements before again taking the field. Meanwhile, on the determination to attack Sontay becoming known in Paris, the Chinese ambassador warned the ministry that, since Chinese troops formed part of the garrison, he should consider it as tanta mount to a declaration of war. ”