CANTON.
103
the river the Honam Temple is the principal attraction.
is estimated at 1,600,000.
The population of Canton
When the foreign merchants returned 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 the 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. An Hotel was erected on the Settlement in 1889, and now affords accommodation to visitors.
year
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some of the northern ports, many of the merchants by whom lots were purchased there in 1861, at enormous prices, have withdrawn from Canton altogether.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 ending 31st December, 1888, was 12,605,775 lbs. compared with 15,879,535 lbs. in 1887, and the quantity of Raw Silk (exclusive of Refuse and Wild Silk) exported in 1888 was 14,291 piculs as compared with 22,950 piculs in 1887. The import of Opium in 1888 was 13,114 piculs as compared with 7,702 piculs in 1887. The total value of the trade of the port for 1888 was Tls. 38,125,272 as compared with Tls. 37,334,157 in 1887. The purely native trade of Canton still enjoys a high degree of prosperity.
Ample means of communication exist between Canton 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. 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.
DIRECTORY.
Consulates.
署事領國法大
署事領國英大
Tai Ying-kwok Ling-sz shũ. GREAT BRITAIN.
Consul-C. Alabaster
Interpreter & Pro Consul-H. B. Joly Assistant J. W. Jamieson Linguists-Feng Min-sun Li Po-cho Constable-H. Evans
Post Office Agent J. W. Jamieson
Tai Fat-kwok Ling.sz shü. FRANCE.
Consul Honoraire—C. Imbault-Huart Interprète Chancelier-L. Flayelle Writer-Ou Jen-y
UNITED STates.
Consul-Chas. Seymour Interpreter-Chin Poy Woo Chinese Writer-Lee U Lin
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.