ENG-1955 — Page 263

208

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

In the earliest maritime connexions between China and the West, the shipping was principally Arab, the traders including Indians, Persians and Jews, all of whom, from the seventh century onwards, formed a considerable foreign community in Canton. When, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese discovered the sea route from Europe to India, they quickly put an end to Arab trade with the Far East. In 1513, Jorge Alvares, the first European ever to command a sea voyage to China, reached the Pearl River in a chartered Burmese junk; and in 1517 the first Portuguese ships arrived, with the aim of opening regular trade with China.

Their first attempts were unsuccessful, and it was not until 1557, partly in recognition of the help they had given the Chinese in the local suppression of piracy, that the Portuguese gained the settlement which was their aim, and established themselves at Macau.

From then onwards, through many vicissitudes, and against the main current of authoritative Chinese opinion, which was not interested in foreign trade, Macau provided the only reliable point of contact between China and the West. English contacts with Macau date from about 1600, the first English ship actually calling there in 1635, under charter to the Portuguese. Between 1601 and 1627 the Dutch made repeated attempts to capture Macau, but without

success.

Regular seasonal British trade with China dates from 1700, and although Amoy and other ports farther up the coast were visited from time to time, the bulk of the trade was with Canton, the ships weighing for dues and clearing at Taipa, just south of Macau, but being allowed up-river as far as Whampoa, 13 miles from the city of Canton, for discharging and loading. A strictly limited number of Europeans connected with the trade were, under security paid by their Chinese business associates, allowed to reside in Canton during the trading season only, being obliged by the Chinese authorities to leave the country as soon as they had completed the year's business. The thirteen Chinese mer- chants, who were alone permitted to trade with the Europeans, conducted their affairs as a monopoly guild, charging prices far in excess of real market values.