I exchanged calls with Mr. Hancock, Acting Commissioner of Customs, who stated that the custom-house will probably be placed on Lot A, and that the rock will be the eastern limit of the anchorage. Soundings showed a shallow patch in the position given by Mr. Ross' native informants.
Lot B is, so far as I can learn, still unsold, but the Hong Kong, Canton, and Macao Steam-beat Company have bought land on the bank between Kong-kun and Sun-hu.
On the 11th instant, at 10 A.M., we anchored off Chao-ch'ing city after spending the night opposite Kuang-li, a village about half-a-mile long, with few signs of trade. In the gorges leading to and from the city the current was moderate, and the only danger would be meeting rafts in the narrower places.
Chao-ch'ing, like Te-ch'ing, Feng-ch'uan, and Wuchou, is of very moderate size, and the space inclosed by the walls is not by any means crowded. Business is carried on in the suburbs, some 2 miles long, in front of which many junks were moored. The public buildings of the city and the temples, in one of which the telegraph office is located, are in good repair.
During this afternoon we passed the town of Luk-po, a place of very considerable size and apparent traffic. We anchored a few miles short of Te-ch'ing (Takhing), which did not seem very busy.
At noon on the 12th May, Tu-cheng was reached. Many boats lay here, and there was a greater air of life and bustle than at any other place along the river.
Some intricate navigation brought us about 4 P.M. to Feng-ch'uan, the great groves of bamboos opposite to which are noticeable, and we stopped at a salt station just within the Kuangtung boundary.
The channel thence to Wuchou showed unexpected depth, and was less tortuous than the chart indicated. The suburbs are as busy as reported, and many foreign sundries are for sale in the well-built shops. Half of the space within the city walls is taken up by a barren hill slope, and the streets of the lower portion, like the public offices, are mean and dirty.
The number of native craft met or passed on the way up was not so great as we expected. The chief cargoes seemed to be wood and grain, to which may be added cassia and some tobacco and medicines. The neighbourhood also produces a little silk and tea; but the city is in great measure simply a distributing centre, trade routes reaching to Yünnan, Kueichow, and Hunan. Most of the merchants are natives of Kuangtung, and many firms are branches of Canton houses.
At Wuchou, as at Samshui, all the foreshore sites are liable to flooding during the summer freshets (each of which, however, lasts but a few days), but Jardine, Matheson, and Co., Butterfield and Swire, and the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company have all bought land on the north bank below the city, and later purchasers will find it hard to acquire frontage. Go-downs, if built, must be raised on pillars, and, as in view of the rapidity of the current (even now 2½ knots), the crossing of the river must often be very difficult, residences will have to be placed some distance inland or else on the high ground across the Fu Ho or Little River.
The Commissioner of Customs is about to move from his boat into a temple outside the east gate. A piece of land has been bought at the east end of the suburb, but in all likelihood His Imperial Majesty's customs will have to follow the example of the li-kin and other Chinese collectorates, and make use of a hulk for examining goods. The Hong Kong, Canton, and Macao Steamboat Company have already placed two pontoons just below the native Customs hulk.
So conflicting are the local accounts of the rise and fall of the river, that any soundings taken now are of doubtful value. The northern side of the Wuchou reach from the Josshouse rocks to the Fu Ho at present offers an expanse of water, at least 10 feet deep and about one mile long by half-a-mile broad, which seems to be free from obstructions, but some say that the river is now 10 feet above winter level.
The conclusion to which I incline is, that only powerful steamers of 14 knots drawing 4 feet or less will be able to ply hither the whole year round, and it seems likely that such stern-wheel vessels as tow flats on the Upper Irrawaddy would best suit the conditions of the Upper West River.
At Samshui and this city I saw Proclamations posted notifying the people of the opening of those ports by Imperial Decree, and enjoining in very satisfactory terms the courteous treatment of foreigners. I am told that similar notices are displayed at the calling stations.
Captain Holland having expressed a desire that our flag should be shown at Wuchou as soon as possible, I did not pay or receive calls at any place on the way up, merely sending a messenger to tell the local officials that I was pressed for time, but would shortly return. Soon after our arrival here the Magistrate came on board and offered every possible assistance in a very cordial manner; while the Prefect, who sent an apologetic message yesterday, called with the Foreign Affairs Deputy this morning. These three officers give a dinner to the ship's officers, the Commissioner of Customs, and myself to-morrow.
Mr. Watts informs me that the kerosene oil trade has been checked by the impending establishment of a tso-li Company, which will levy 20 cents a case throughout Kuanghsi. I learn also that, so soon as the port is opened, a system of Syndicates, similar to those that hamper the trade at Canton, will be set up to levy additional duties on all articles of foreign trade at least. An emissary from the Kuangtung Li-kin Office is now here making the necessary arrangements.
At present both the Prefect and the Deputy for Foreign Affairs assure me there is neither li-shui nor tso-ku at Kuei-lin nor at Wuchou. Unless the question of additional taxation at open ports is taken up, there is serious danger of the benefit of the new Article being seriously impaired—and this, apart from the ever-present risk that, to counteract the use of transit passes, a heavy tso-li, tso-ku, or lo-ti terminal charges, not overtly differential in character, will be imposed throughout this province and the transit li-kin charges reduced.
I have, &c. (Signed) E. H. FRASER.
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