1841-1886
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make small purchases, the amount of which could not be ascertained, as it is done in a very quiet way
Such is the native trade which
Hongkong had hitherto, far below the lowest calculations, that the most desponding merchants could have made. Extraordinary circumstances may produce a salutary change, but in the ordinary course of events; as long as every thing remains quiet, of which there can be at present not the slightest doubt, and the northern ports engross gradually the business of Canton, Victoria must not expect much. We have no produce of the island, except granite, to sell; there is no large amount of goods stored in godowns, ships do not come here merely to discharge their cargoes, and then return home, nor do the Chinese put their commodities
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