CANTON,
369
1
When the foreign merchants went back to Canton to establish trade after the capture of the city by the English at the close of 1857, they found the Factory and the buildings along the river in ruins. Recourse for accommodation was consequently had to warehouses on the Honam side of the river. Considerable discussion subse- quently took place as to the selection of a site for a permanent British settlement, and it was eventually determined that an extensive mudflat known as Shameen should be filled in and appropriated. In 1859 an artificial island was created there, a canal constructed between the northern side of th site and the city, and solid and extensive embankments of masonry built. It took about two years to complete this undertaking, and cost no less than $325,000. Of this sum four-fifths were defrayed by the British, and one-fifth by the French Government, to whom a portion of the reclaimed land was given, but they have never built on it. The French also received a grant of the old site of the Viceroy's Yamên, on which the new Catholic Cathedral has been erected. Shameen is pleasingly laid out, and the roads are shaded with well grown trees. A neat church, called Christ Church, stands at the western end. During an anti-foreign riot on the 10th September, 1883, sixteen houses and the Concordia Theatre on the Settlement were burned by the mob.
In consequence of the decline in the importance of Canton as a place of trade, caused principally by the opening of some of the northern ports, inany of the merchants by whom lots were purchased there in 1861, at enormous prices, have withdrawn from Canton altogether. The trade now transacted there by foreigners is limited. Tea and Silk are the staple exports. The tot 1 export of Tea for the year ending 31st December, 1885, was 17,438,428 lbs. compared with 13,988,827 lbs. in 1884, and the quantity of Raw Silk exported in 1885 was 11,491 piculs as compared with 12,111 piculs in 1884. The import of Opium in 1885 was 2,761 piculs as com- pared with 2,999 piculs in 1884, and 530 picnls in 1883. The total value of the trade of the port for 1885 was Tls. 28,804,228 as compared with Tls. 25,740,024 in 1884. The purely native trade of Canton still enjoys a high degree of prosperity.
Ample means of intercommunication exist between Cauton and Hongkong, a distance of about ninety-five miles, by foreign steamers plying daily, and a large number of native craft. There is daily steam communication with Macao. Steamers also run regularly between Shanghai, Hongkong, and Canton. There is a safe and commodious anchorage within 150 yards of the river wall at Shameen. Only steamers go to Canton; sailing vessels never ascend beyond Whampoa, owing to the difficulties of navigating a crowded river. Canton was connected by telegraph (an overland line) with Kowloon in 1883, and another overland line was completed from Canton to Lungchau-fu, on the Kwangsi and Tonquin frontier, in June, 1884. A railway between Canton and Kowloon has been projected, but its construction is likely to be deferred for some time.
DIRECTORY.
Consulates.
署事領國英大
Tai Ying-kwok Ling-sz shü.
GREAT BRITAIN.
Consul--C. Alabaster
Interpreter & Pro Consul-A. Hosie
Assistant-W. B. Fitzgibbon
Linguist-A. Duncan
Constable-H. Evans
Writers-Lu Hsio-t'ing, Li Mêng-hsiang Post Office Agent-W. B. Fitzgibbon
FRANCE.
Consul-Vte, de Bezaure
Interprète Chancelier-Guillien
Writer-Ou Jen-y
UNITED STATES.
Consul-Chas. Seymour Vice-Consul-Gideon Nye
Interpreter-Loo Tsu Wha Chinese Writer-Lee U Lin
SPAIN.
Vice-Consul―J. Velez