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NINGPO.
Ningpo is sated on the ri: Yung, in the province of Chekiang, in lat. 29 deg. 55 min. 12 sec. N, an lon, 121 deg. 22 min. E. It was one of the five ports thrown open to foreign in 1842. Foreigners had, however, visited Ningpo at an early date. Portugu t. aded there in 1522; a number of them settled in the place in that and succeeding years, and there was every prospect of a rising and successful colony soon ing established. But the lawless acts of the Portuguese soon attracted the antion of the Government, and in 1542 the Governor of Chokiang ordered the er lement to be destroyed aud the population to be exterminated. A large force of nese troops soon besieged the place, destroying it entirely, and out of a populat 1,200 Portuguese, 800 were massacred. No further attempt at trade with port was mad till towards the close of the 17th century, when the East India Cany established a factory at the island of Chusan, some forty miles from Ning!
The attempt to found a trade mart, there, however, proved unsatis- factory, and the factory was abandoned after a very few years' trial. The port was deserted by foreigners for many years after that. When hostilities broke out between Great Britain and China in 1839, the fleet moved north from Canton, and on the 13th October, 841, occupied Ningpo, and an English garrison was stationed there for some tir In March, 1842, an attempt was made by the Chinese to retake the city, but the itish artillery repulsed them with great slaughter. Ningpo was evacuated on May 7th, and, on the proclamation of peace in the following August, the port was thrown open to foreign trade.
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Ningpo is built on a plain, which stretches away to a considerable distance on either side. It is a walled city, the walls enclosing a space of some five miles in cir- cumference. The walls are built of brick, and are about twenty-five feet high. They are fifteen feet wide at the summit, and twenty-two at the base. Access is obtained to the town by six gates. A large moat commences at the north gate and runs along the foot of the wall for about three miles on the landward side, until it stops at what is called the Bridge Gate. The main street runs from east to we-t. One of the peculiarities of the place is a number of walls built across various portions of the city, for the purpose of preventing the spread of fires. Several of the streets are spanned by arches erected in memory of distinguished natives. Ningpo has been celebrated as possessing the fourth library of Chinese works, in point of numbers, which existed in the empire. It was owned by a family who resided near the south gate. The site occupied by the foreign residences is on the north bank of the river. The population of Ningpo is estimated at 260,000.
The trade at Ningpo has never been large. This is owing to a considerable extent, doubtless, to the proximity of Shanghai. The net quantity of Opium imported in 1881 was 8,628 piculs, as against 6,258 piculs in 1880. Of Tea, there were 162,715 piculs exported in 1881, and 152,832 in 1880; Cotton, 9,436 piculs in 1881, and 28,497 piculs in 1880. The quantity of Raw Silk exported in 1881 amounted to 216 bales, as compared with 391 bales for the previous twelve months. The total value of the trade of the port was Tls. 13,269,020 in 1881; and Tis. 12,384330, in 1880.