JOURNAL OF OCCURRANCES AT CANTON
13
On the evening of the 19th affairs looked so squally that Mr. Hunter who had returned to Canton a day or two before ordered all the books and papers packed up and started with them at 2 A.M. the next morning for Macao. At 7 Mr. King started Mr. Spooner and myself off in Mr. Hunter's sail boat with a load of baggage, and books that Mr. H. could not take. We were towed down by Captain Endicott's boat and arrived safer after a passage of 6 hours on board the Naraganset. On our arrival we received a chit from Mr. Hunter stating that a number of transports and men of war were on the way up and advising us to get out of Canton as soon as possible. This I forwarded to Mr. King, but he did not get it as he had already left with the remainder of R and Co's Establishment.3
Explanatory terms
In China the factory was a multi-purpose building. The lower floor usually was used for office space, storage, and the like, the second floor for dining and lounging, and the third for sleeping. Broad verandahs around the building gave it a spacious and airy quality. In Canton the factories of the various nationalities, American, Danish, French, Dutch, and Swedish faced the river. The British factory was truly magnificent for it contained a huge and lavishly furnished dining hall with terrace, library, chapel and numerous private rooms.
Hong was sometimes used interchangeably with factory but specifically it referred to all the buildings of a commercial establishment, i.e., the factory and subsidiary buildings such as living quarters for servants and workers and large storage areas for cargos of ships.
Hong merchants had formed an association in the early eighteenth century; in 1839 the Chinese merchants numbered thirteen and they had a monopoly of trade with foreigners. The most powerful and wealthy Hong merchant was Howqua, spelt by Hunter Houqua.
Consoo House was the property of the Hong merchants, and in actuality was a series of buildings in the Chinese style. The main building contained lavish reception rooms and a series of courtyards.
3 James Duncan Phillips, editor, "The Canton Letters 1839-1841 of William Henry Low," The Essex Institute Historical Collections LXXXIV, 1948.