Directory_and_Chronicle_1937 — Page 859

PAKHOI

A475

Extending to the south and east is a plain which is level for many miles, although the country gradually rises towards the north. Attempts at cultivation have been made upon this plain immediately to the south of the town, but with varying success. Various roads intersect the country in the vicinity of the port and are utilized for bringing in some of the produce from the surrounding district. The carts in use for this purpose are heavy, unwieldy vehicles of an almost pre-historic type. They are drawn largely by oxen and have huge solid wooden wheels of the most primitive pattern, by which, needless to say, the roads are badly cut up in wet weather. During the past two years an extensive road building programme has been carried out and there is now a motor service between Pakhoi and Limchow (H), Limchow and Shekhong (), and Limehow and Paksha (). Another service connects Pakhoi with the large trade mart of Namhong (). A bridge las finally been erected across the Paksha River which connects Pakhoi by motor road with Kwangchowwan, a distance of 130 miles. Sportsmen will find the following game in the vicinity of Pakhoi: quails, snipe, partridges, wild pigeons, wild ducks, and some woodcocks and pheasants. Tigers can still be found in the hills, some 25 miles to the N.E. of Limchow. Good cross-country riding is obtainable. The Pakhoi-Limehow motor-road is being kept in fair repair, and the pleasure of cycling and motor-cycling is afforded. The climate of the port during at least six months of the year is a trying one for Europeans, though the nights are, for the tropics, com- paratively cool. Accurate figures for the population of the town, as elsewhere in China, are difficult to obtain, but the number of inhabitants may perhaps be put at some 40,000. Fishing is one of the most important of the local industries, and a large number of vessels are employed in it. The manganese ore mines in the district of Ch'inchow (Yamchow) developed a great deal in recent years.

TRADE IN 1935

The year at Pakhoi was uneventful. Trade during the first four months of the year ran a normal course, but from May onwards a retrograde move- ment set in, and it was not until August that there was some resumption of activity. The first rice crop was a good one, but a severe typhoon on the 8th October, coming just at the time of the harvesting of both the second rice crop and the sugar cane crop, did considerable damage. Silver was scare, and the money market remained tight throughout the year. The statistics for the port were as follows, according to value: direct foreign imports, 1.4 million dollars as against 1.6 million dollars for the preceding year; coastwise importations of Chinese merchandise, 2.8 million dollars as against 3.6 million, direct exportations to foreign countries, 3 million dollars as against 3.5 million; and coastwise exports of Chinese produce, 2 million dollars as against 3.5 million The import from abroad of wheat flour fell off considerably, due to competition from flour milled in Shanghai. Gasolene nearly doubled in quantity owing to an increase in motor traffic on new roads. Better markets prevailed in Hongkong for poultry, but the trade in rush mats-formerly a prosperous one-has declined. During the year two farms were established in the district, one for field crops and the other for animal husbandry and forestry. Some 600 acres of land are being devoted to producing cassava root and another 400 acres to castor-planting. In the mountainous region to the north-west experimentation is being carried on in the raising of cattle and sheep with a view to improving the local breeds. Development of new roads continued, and. a regular air-mail service was operated luring the year by the South-western Aviation Corporation.

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