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was more proper. In the document translated below, the first view tends to be assumed; it is worth bearing in mind that there was a different way to view the question of rights to toll.
“A VILLAGE WAR IN SHAM CHUN
When we travel in either direction between Hong Kong and Lilong, our route usually passes the market of Sham Chun, or, to be more precise, the two markets and cluster of villages which bear this name.
This area lies about three hours walk to the south-west of Lilong. It also lies several hours walk from the mouth of a stream which flows into the Pearl River. This stream is not really fully navigable. At the ebb-tide the passenger boats at Sham Chun lie on the mud for a certain time: with the flood-tide, however, they can make their way down to the vast body of water of the main river. In the same way they return back up the stream to Sham Chun. Because of this, Sham Chun is one of the most significant ports in the district of San On. Every three days many boats leave here for Hong Kong. Similarly, there are regular ferry connections with Canton, Fu Mun, and Nam Tau.
This lively traffic brings considerable prosperity to the inhabitants of Sham Chun. A major factor in this prosperity is the "Transit Toll". This is a sort of toll taken on goods leaving the port. It is levied on all goods as they are brought to the ships. Particularly important in this respect are the pineapples and pears which, in the harvest season, are carried in hundreds of loads each week from the warehouse area near Sham Chun, where there are rows of godowns, to be shipped out to Hong Kong, Canton, and elsewhere.
The right to levy this "Transit Toll” on goods originally belonged, not to the main village of Sham Chun, but to the village of Lo Wu, about half-an-hour's walk away, and to the Yuen clan of that village. The land on which the landing place stands is owned by that clan, who also own
269
was more proper. In the document translated below, the first view tends to be assumed; it is worth bearing in mind that there was a different way to view the question of rights to toll.
“A VILLAGE WAR IN SHAM CHUN
When we travel in either direction between Hong Kong and Lilong, our route usually passes the market of Sham Chun, or, to be more precise, the two markets and cluster of villages which bear this name.
This area lies about three hours walk to the south-west of Lilong. It also lies several hours walk from the mouth of a stream which flows into the Pearl River. This stream is not really fully navigable. At the ebb-tide the passenger boats at Sham Chun lie on the mud for a certain time: with the flood-tide, however, they can make their way down to the vast body of water of the main river. In the same way they return back up the stream to Sham Chun. Because of this, Sham Chun is one of the most significant ports in the district of San On. Every three days many boats leave here for Hong Kong. Similarly, there are regular ferry connections with Canton, Fu Mun, and Nam Tau.
This lively traffic brings considerable prosperity to the inhabitants of Sham Chun. A major factor in this prosperity is the "Transit Toll". This is a sort of toll taken on goods leaving the port. It is levied on all goods as they are brought to the ships. Particularly important in this respect are the pineapples and pears which, in the harvest season, are carried in hundreds of loads cach week from the warehouse area near Sham Chun, where there are rows of godowns, to be shipped out to Hong Kong, Canton, and elsewhere.
The right to levy this "Transit Toll” on goods originally belonged, not to the main village of Sham Chun, but to the village of Lo Wu, about half-an-hour's walk away, and to the Yuen clan of that village. The land on which the landing place stands is owned by that clan, who also own
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