940
ΡΑΚΗΟΙ
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Extending to the south and east is a plain which is level for many miles, although the country gradually rises towards the north. Attempts at cultivation have been made upon this plain immediately to the south of the town, but with varying success. Very rough cart roads intersect the country in the vicinity of the port and are utilized for bringing in some of the produce from the surrounding district. The carts in use for this purpose are heavy, unwieldy vehicles of an almost pre-historic type. They are drawn largely by oxen and have huge solid wooden wheels of the most primitive pattern, by which, needless to say, the roads are badly cut up in wet weather. During the past two years an extensive road building programme has been carried out and there is now a motor service between Pakhoi and Limchow (H), Limehow and Shekhong ( ), and Limehow and Paksha (Ě). Another service connects Pakhoi with the large trade inart of Nanhong (). A bridge has finally been erected across the Paksha River which connects Pakhoi by motor road with Kwangchowwan, a distance of 180 miles. Sportsmen will find the following game in the vicinity of Pakhoi: quails, snipe, partridges, wild pigeons, wild ducks, and some woodcocks and pheasants. Tigers can still be found in the hills, some 25 miles to the N.E. of Limchow. Good cross-country riding is obtainable. The Pakhoi-Limchow motor-road is being kept in an excellent condition, and the pleasure of cycling and motor-cycling is afforded. The climate of the port during at least six months of the year is a trying one for Europeans, though the nights are, for the tropics, com- paratively cool. It is satisfactory to be able to state that the question of sanitation is receiving increasing attention as the modernisation of the town progresses. Accurate figures for the population of the town, as elsewhere in China, are difficult to obtain, but the number of inhabitants may perhaps be put at some 35,000. Fishing is one of the most important of the local industries, and a large number of vessels are employed in it. The manganese ore mines in the district of Ch'inchow (Yamchow H have developed a great deal of late years, and the export of this mineral through Pakhoi increases from year to year. The past year has seen many improve- ments in the municipality. The narrow lanes that served as thoroughfares have now been widened and paved. These streets and the new fronts to the shops give the impression of a new and modern city. New schools have gone up and the Middle School, housed in new buildings, has an attendance of over 400.
No railway construction has yet been commenced in the district, and there seems to be little likelihood of any of the projected undertakings assuming shape in the 'immediate future.
TRADE IN 1931
No political changes took place at Pakhoi during the first four months of the year, but in May the province declared its independence vis-a-vis the Nan- king Kovernment, and this aroused a feeling of considerable uncertainty as to what the outcome of this step would be and how it would affect the trade of the port.
An immediate effect was the closing of the local branch of the Central Bank of China, this bank closing its doors and leaving some $160,000 worth of its notes unredeemed for the time being on the market. The next consequence was the withdrawal of nearly all the troops to Canton to provide for eventualities there. This left a garrison of but 300 poorly equipped men to protect Pakhoi, and even these were soon taken away to assist in a bandit suppression campaign inland, so that the protection of the port then devolved upon Salt Office guards. From this time on, merchants and the community in general lived in constant fear of a descent of pirates or bandits on the defence- less port. Rumours of imperfling raids were plentiful, and circumstantial as to details; but the success of the campaign in the interior, and the const- quent dispersal of the bandit forces, resulted in Pakhoi being left undisturbed. As the virtual closing of the West River ports diverted trade to this port în 1930, so the opening up of traffic on that river detracted from the trade statistics of this port in 1931, and a general decrease is noticeable except în the value of exports to Chinese ports. The lessened demand from abroad, the low purchasing power of silver, the higher tariffs, and the anti-Japanese movement were contributing factors to the decline in trade. In the interest of the latter movement, pickets patrolled the beach and the vicinity of the Customs examination shed's during the last four months of the year, and cargo-boats were not allowed to go alongside Japanese steamers. The boycott