Directory_and_Chronicle_1900 — Page 851

MACAO

門澳 Ou-mun

皎馬 Ma-kau

Macao is situated in 22 deg. 11. min. 30 sec. N. latitude, and 113 deg. 32 min. 30 sec. E. longitude, on a rocky peninsula, renowned, long before the Portuguese settled on it, for its safe harbour for junks and small vessels. The Portuguese, who had already settled on the island of Lampacao, and frequented for trading purposes Chin-chew, Lianpo, Tamao, and San-choan (St. John's Island, where Francis Xavier, the celebrated missionary, died), first took up their residence at Macao in 1557. Shortly after their arrival pirates and adventurers from the neighbouring islands commenced to molest them. The Chinese authorities were powerless to cope with these marauders, who went so far as to blockade the port of Canton. The Portuguese manned and armed a few vessels and succeeded in raising the blockade of Canton and clearing the seas. The town of Macao soon afterwards began to rise, and during the eighteenth century trade flourished there, the difficulty of residence at Canton greatly contributing towards it. The East India Company and the Dutch Company had establishments in Macao.

Historians are divided in opinion as to whether the possession of Macao by the Portuguese was originally due to Imperial bounty or to right of conquest. There can be no doubt, however, that it was held at a rental of 500 taels a year until Governor Ferreira do Amaral in 1848 refused to pay the rental any longer and forcibly drove out the Chinese Custom-house, and with it every vestige of Chinese authority. This bold stroke cost him his life in August, 1849, for he was waylaid and barbarously murdered near the Barrier of Porta Cerco and his head was taken to Canton. The sovereignty of Portugal over the peninsula was, however, formally recognised by China in the Treaty signed with Portugal in 1887.

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The colony is separated from the large island of Heang-shan by a wall built across the narrow connecting sandy isthmus. Two principal ranges of hills, one running from south to north, the other from east to west, may be considered as forming an angle, the base of which leans upon the river or anchoring place. The public and private buildings, a cathedral, and several churches, are raised on the declivities, skirts, and heights of hillocks. On the lofty mount eastward, called Charil, is a fort, enclosing the hermitage of Na. Sra. de Guia, and westward is Lillau, on the top of which stands the hermitage of Na. Sra. da Penha; entering a wide semi-circular bay, which faces the east, on the right hand stands the fort San Francisco; and on the left, that of N. Sra. de Bom Parto. Seen from the roads or from any of the forts crowning the 'several low hills, Macao is extremely picturesque. The public and private buildings are gaily painted and the streets kept very clean.

In the town there are several places of interest, apart from the fan-tan or gambling saloons. The Gardens and Grotto of Camoens, once the resort of the celebrated Portuguese poet Camoens, are worth seeing, as also the noble façade of the ancient Jesuit church of San Paulo, burnt in 1835. The Cathedral is a large plain structure having no archi- tectural pretensions, and the various parish churches are stucco edifices, ugly without and tawdry within. Pleasant excursions can be made to the Hot Springs of Yo-mak, about sixteen miles from Macao, accessible by steam launch. In winter snipe are to be found in the neighbourhood and afford good sport.

After the cession of Hongkong to the British, the trade of Macao declined rapidly and the coolie traffic subsequently developed there gave it a certain notoriety. This traffic, pregnant with abuses, was abolished in 1874. Tea continues to be an article of export, showing the value of about $500,000 a year. Essential oils are also exported to some extent. There is likewise some trade in opium. Silk filature, brick and cement works, and other factories have also been established. The commercial activity of the place, however, so far as the Portuguese are concerned, is a thing of the past. There is still a fair native trade carried on, the value of which, according to the Chinese Customs returns from Lappa, in 1898 reached Tls. 12,030,939 as compared with Tls. 13,143,774 in 1897. As the harbour is fast silting up, however, most of the native trade will soon desert the place unless efficient dredging operations are inaugurated Some work has recently been done in this direction, but the operations are on a small scale