TAKU
Ta-ku
This village is situated at the mouth of the Pei-ho, on the southern bank of the river about 36 miles from Tientsin by water. The surrounding country is so flat and uninteresting that it is difficult for a stranger to detect the entrance to the river. Beyond the mouth of the river a large mud bank, clearly visible at low tide, stretches out to sea for some miles. It is through this bank and about 4 miles from the real mouth of the river that the bar extends with a width of 150 feet.
There are no clearly defined anchorages but steamers arriving off the bar at low tide must anchor outside the bar while steamers from Tientsin proceeding to sea may anchor anywhere in the river clear of the shipping channel.
The village of Taku is of inconsiderable size and contains few shops and no buildings of interest. About a mile below the village in a direct line lie the Old Southern and Central Fort, while on the northern bank of the river lies the Northern Fort, All are completely demolished and now present the appearance of mounds of earth, though periodical whitewashing of the surface facing seaward makes them serve a useful modern purpose-an aid to navigation. The only foreign residents are the employees of the Customs, the Taku Tug and Lighter Co., and The Pilot Corporation, situated a short distance below Taku. The railway from the neighbouring town of Tangku, on the Northern Bank of the river, to Tientsin was completed in 1888.
Between the signal-station and Messrs. Butterfield & Swire wharf on the northern bank is situated "Cockle Village" so called because of the comparatively large industry for the boiling and drying of shellfish such as cockles, crabs, clams, etc., that is carried on there. When dried, these shellfish are exported by steamer to Shanghai and Canton principally, whence they are sent inland for consumption. This is Taku's greatest asset, as the country round about for some distance is covered with salt-pans and salt heaps, which render the country unfit for cultivation.
The lights and aids to navigation are under the control of the Maritime Customs, and the tide-gauges are under the control of the Hai Ho Conservancy. An up-to-date signal station was completed in 1920 to use 8' symbols by day and electric light by night whereby depths in the bar-channel are recorded from 8 feet up to 25 feet. A new suction-dredger and hopper, self-contained, is constantly being employed on the Bar Channel. Until the floods occurred steamers drawing 20 feet of water were able to negotiate Bar Channel, and projects were on foot for still further increasing the depth. This channel has been much improved during the last few years, but, as it will never be entirely successful owing to the set of the current, a scheme is in the making for opening a new channel in the south-westerly direction.
Taku is memorable on account of the engagements that have taken place between its forts and the British and French naval forces. The first attack was made on the 20th May, 1858, by the British squadron under Sir Michael Seymour, when the forts were passed and Lord Elgin proceeded to Tientsin, where on the 26th June he signed the famous Treaty of Tientsin. The second attack, which was fatally unsuccessful, was made by the British forces in June, 1859. The third took place on the 21st August, 1860, when the forts were attacked from the land side and captured, the booms placed across the river destroyed, and the British ships sailed triumphantly up to Tientsin.
Taku and Tongku as naval bases have been very prominent in the history of China. In May, 1900, as the Boxer sedition came to a head, the European Powers assembled at Taku Bar, the greatest naval armament ever seen in the Eastern hemisphere. Sir Edward Seymour, K.C.B., as Senior Naval Officer, was in command. The Admirals were called upon to protect the Legations in Peking and the foreign Settlements of Tientsin, and in the second week of June naval landing parties were sent ashore by the six European Powers, the United States and Japan. Russia, however, sent to Port Arthur for troops and landed very few sailors.