TAKU.
This village is situated at the mouth of the Pei-ho, on the southern side of the river, about sixty-seven miles from Tientsin. The land is so flat at Taku that it is difficult for a stranger to detect the entrance to the river. There are two anchorages, an outer and inner. The former extends from the Customs Junks to three miles outside the Bar, seaward; the latter from Liang-kia-yuan on the south to the Customs Jetty, Tz'chu-lin, on the north. Tae village is a poor one, possessing few shops, no buildings of interest except the forts, and the only foreign residents are the Customs employés, some pilots, and the members of the Vice-Consular establish- ment. A British Vice-Consul is stationed at Taku and receives the papers of all British sailing vessels bound for Tientsin as well as Taku; steamers retain theirs until arrival at 'Tientsin.
Taku is memorable on account of the engagements that havə takən 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 fataily unsuccessful, was made by the British forces in June, 1859. The third took place on the 21st August, 1860, when the forts were captured and the booms placed across the river destroyed, and the British ships sailed triumphantly up to Tientsin. From the description of the place in "The Treaty Ports of China," we gather that the water n the bar ranges from about two to fourteen feet at the Spring tides. The Cairo a name of the bar is Lau-kiang-sha. At certain states of the tide, steamers are obli to anchor outside until there is sufficient water to cross, but they are seldom detained very long. Towards the end of autumn it sometimes happens that the river is so low that vessels drawing over seven feet of water are unable to get up to Ttsin, but this is by no means a common occurrence.
The river and the northern
? of
the gulf are generally frozen in about the 9th December, and few vessels attemp, an entry after the end of November. The ice breaks up, as a rule, about the second week in March.
DIRECTORY.
Vice Consulate. BRITISH.
Vice-consul-J. T. Middleton (absent)
Imperial Maritime Customs. Assistant Tide-surveyor-R. Trannack Tide waiters-W. French, C. Parker Signalman—H. A. Behnke
Pilots.
TAKU PILOT COMPANY.
A. G. Baxter
W. Boad
G. W. Collins (absent) G. W. Hicks
T. Livingston
G. Mitchell
J. C. Hill
Jas. Watts, secretary
J. Young
J. Fölser
TAKU TUG AND LIGHTER COMPANY,
James Watts, secretary
Lighter Serpent
Tug Orphan, W.K. Scott, captain, W. Wells
engineer
Tug Algerine, J. McMurray, engineer Tug Pathfinder