FIRST VIEW OF CANTON—?DESCRIPTION OF THE EUROPEAN QUARTER—?HOSTILE FEELINGS OF THE PEOPLE—?COMMERCIAL PROSPECTS OF CANTON—?AMOY—?FOO CHOW—?NINGPO—? SHANG-HAE—?MR. MEDHURST—?RESULTS OF THE TREATY WITH CHINA.

The sail from Hong Kong to Canton is very interesting, particularly to a stranger. The numerous islands he passes, and the entirely new scenes that everywhere attract his eye, cannot fail to delight and amuse him. Here, the unwieldy Chinese junk; there, the fast-sailing Chinese passage-boat; now and then, the long snake-like opium-smuggler with his fifty oars; innumerable fishing-boats, all in pairs, with a drag-net extended from the one to the other; country boats of all descriptions passing to and fro, their crews all bent on money-getting, yet, never failing to cast a glance of mingled contempt and scorn at the "Fan qui"; the duck-boats on the river banks, their numerous tenants feeding in the adjacent rice-fields; a succession of little Chinese villages, with groupes of young Celestials staring at him with never-ending wonder; here and there, a tall pagoda rearing its lofty head high above the surrounding scenery, as if conscious of its great antiquity and of the sacred objects for which it was built; the Chinese husbandman with his one-handed plough, drawn by a single wild-looking buffalo; smiling cottages, surrounded with orange and other fruit-trees; the immense fleet of foreign ships anchored at Whampoa;—these and a thousand other objects, all equally strange and new, attract the attention of the stranger as he sails up the "Quang Tung" river. On nearing the city itself, he is still more astonished and pleased with the sights that literally confuse his ideas, making the whole scene to seem the creation of magic, rather than sober reality. Here, the river is absolutely crowded with junks and boats of all sorts and sizes, from the ferry-boat of six feet long, to the ferry-boat of a thousand tons burthen. Long rows of houses, inhabited principally by boat-builders and others connected with maritime affairs, and built on the river, line its right bank. Outside of these, are moored numerous flat-bottomed boats with high roofs: these come from the Interior with tea and other produce, and resemble what I fancy Noah's Ark must have been, more than any thing I have seen elsewhere. On the left bank, the shore is lined with boats unloading and loading cargoes, while the different landing-places are completely blocked up with ferry-boats seeking employment. The space in the centre of the river, is continually crowded with boats, junks, &c. proceeding up and down. The scene altogether is bewildering to the stranger. Busy as the scene is, which the Thames presents at London, its superior regularity and order, in my opinion, prevent its coming up to the scene I have just faintly traced, in the strange and excited feelings it calls up. Amidst all this, there is a constant clatter of tongues strongly recalling the confusion of Babel. A China-man never talks below his breath; and, if one may judge from the loud tones in which the whole community express their sentiments, whether in a house or shop or in the street, the only conclusion that can be come to is, that, in China, the word secret is not understood, or rather, that the idea corresponding to that word has no existence in their conceptions.

Of the immense city itself, the home of a million of souls, what account can a traveller give, who has seen little more of it than the portion inhabited by foreigners? I must say a few words, however, about that part of it which I have seen.

I begin with the foreign factories. These buildings stretch along the left bank of the river about three quarters of a mile, (or, rather, they did so, for one half of them have recently been destroyed by fire,) and extend back about two hundred yards. They are large, substantially built, and comfortable houses; but those situated behind the front row, must be (indeed I know they are) oppressively hot residences in the summer season. The space between the factories and the river, is reserved for a promenade, where foreigners may take a little recreation after their day's work. Although but a limited space, it is invaluable. Here, in the evening, may be seen Englishmen, Americans, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Dutchmen, Portuguese, Parsees, Moslem, and Hindoos; all enjoying the evening breeze, and talking over the affairs of the day or the news brought by the last overland mail, while a crowd of Chinese coolies surround the square, gaping with noisy wonder at the strangers attired in all the costumes of Europe and Asia. The streets principally resorted to by foreigners are, China Street (old and new) and Carpenter's Square. In the former, a very choice collection of Chinese articles may be purchased, either in the way of curiosities or of valuable merchandize. In Carpenter's Square, the new-comer may fit himself out with everlasting trunks, dressing-cases, &c.; or, if in search of furniture, he may here, in half an hour, furnish his house with well-made, substantial articles. The houses in these streets are all of two stories, with very narrow frontage, ground being valuable. A large quantity of timber is used in their construction, which renders any chance fire in this city so very destructive. The streets in Canton are all very narrow, most of those I have seen not exceeding six or seven feet in width: the two China Streets are probably twelve feet wide. The city does not cover half the space which a European one with the same population would do. Its streets, from their want of breadth, always appear, and indeed always are crowded; and the unwary passenger is very liable to get knocked down by some heavily laden porter running against him, if he does not keep a sharp look-out. Like Macao, it is infested with loathsome beggars, who are, if possible, still more clamorous in their demands for charity than those of that place. Here, the stranger will be surprised to see dogs, cats, and rats hawked about, dead and alive. I do not say that these animals form the daily food of the people of Canton, but they are daily and hourly hawked about its streets, and purchased by the poorer classes. The Canton market is, nevertheless, remarkably well supplied with the good things of this life; and the European who cannot live and be contented with the provisions procurable in it, must be hard to please. By nine o'clock at night, this huge city is perfectly quiet, and nine-tenths of its inhabitants are wrapped in sleep. At either end of each street is a gate, which is shut at that hour, and ingress or egress put a stop to for the night. This regulation, as may be supposed, is an excellent check upon night robbers, whose peregrinations can extend no further than the end of the street they live in. Another equally salutary regulation is that which makes the inhabitants of a street responsible for each other's good conduct. Thus, if A's servant steals any thing from B, A must make good the loss. Prowling being put a stop to during the night, I have seen robberies attempted and detected during the day; and I certainly never saw a poor thief treated elsewhere with such unrelenting cruelty. A China-man seems to have no mercy for a thief; nor is this feeling to be wondered at in an over-peopled country, where all have to work for their bread, and where idlers are sure to starve. During the winter, in Canton, the lower classes suffer severely from cold: they are poorly fed and worse clothed: and hundreds of them may be seen about the streets, shivering and looking the very picture of absolute wretchedness. Amongst these, a few old women may be seen sitting by the side of the streets, earning a scanty subsistence by mending and patching the clothes of people as poor as themselves. These poor women, having all undergone the barbarous operation of cramping the feet during infancy, are consequently unable to undertake any thing but sedentary employment to gain their bread. The very small size to which the feet of some of the Chinese females have been distorted by cramping them with bandages during the first six years of their lives, is almost beyond belief. I have seen a full-grown woman wearing shoes, and walking in them too, not more than 3¹/₂ inches long. Their walk resembles that of a timid boy upon ice; it is necessarily slow; and, indeed, some of them require the aid of a staff in one hand, while they lean with the other on the shoulder of a female attendant. The smaller the eyes and feet of a Chinese beauty, the more she is admired. I once asked a respectable China-man, what he thought of this custom of cramping their daughters' feet: his reply was, "Very bad custom." On my inquiring further, whether he had any daughters, and whether their feet were treated in the same way, he answered in the affirmative, but asserted, that they had been subjected to the cruel ordeal by their mother, against his will. He added, that, in a China-man's house, where there were young girls, no peace could be had, night or day, for their cries, which lasted till they were six years old. He gave us a reason for the mother's insisting on her daughter's submitting to this long course of pain and suffering:—"Suppose he no small foot, no man wantjee make he number one wife." A respectable China-man, it appears, always chooses a small-footed woman for his principal wife, while, for Number two, three, and four, he contents himself with ladies whose feet are as nature made them, and who are consequently more able to make themselves useful in household matters.

The inhabitants of Canton and its vicinity have displayed, since the war, more hostile feelings towards Englishmen, than those entertained by the natives of any of the northern ports. They still affect to believe, that Sir Hugh Gough durst not attack their city; and it is, perhaps, to be regretted, that he was hindered from shewing his strength on that occasion. Several riots and two extensive fires among the foreign factories, have taken place since that time; and it is the opinion of many persons, that, before long, Canton will require a lesson such as Amoy, Ning-po, and other places have received. That the first of the two fires alluded to was the work of incendiaries, there is no doubt; and so well satisfied were the native Authorities upon this point, that they made good the losses sustained by foreigners on the occasion.

The proposal to grant land to foreigners in the neighbourhood of Canton, for the site of country residences, met with so energetic opposition from the natives, that the Authorities did not venture to carry the plan into execution. Inflammatory placards were posted all over the city, calling upon the people to protect their ancient rights, and threatening extermination to foreigners, and to the local Authorities themselves, in the event of their complying with the petition. It is probable, that the wealthy men and others connected with the commerce of Canton, felt that the arrangements then pending between Her Majesty's Government and that of their Imperial Master regarding the commerce of the two countries, would, if completed, affect their old privileges and monopoly; and that they adopted the measures above-mentioned in order to shew their displeasure. That their commerce will suffer in consequence of the arrangements since brought to an amicable conclusion, there can be no doubt; but it is not less certain, that Canton will continue to be the centre of an extensive trade. Its merchants must be content with a share of the loaf, in place of monopolizing, as heretofore, the whole. The days of Hong merchants and monopoly are at an end; and the benefits derived from Free-trade will shortly convince all but those connected with the late Hongs, that the changes recently effected in the relations of the Celestial Empire with other countries, are not deserving of the abuse that has been so abundantly lavished on them.

The far-famed Bogue Forts, I observed, in passing up the river last March, to be rebuilt in the same clumsy style as that of the fortifications which Sir Gordon Bremmer knocked down. As a means of defending the river against any thing but Chinese junks, they are utterly useless; and one cannot help feeling surprised that so intelligent a people as the Chinese did not take a lesson from the perfect ease with which their forts were razed to the ground, and build their new ones on a better plan. The scenery at the Bogue is very pretty; and the forts, if of no other advantage, form a picturesque feature, viewed while sailing past them.

Not having visited Amoy, Foo Chow, Ning-po, Chusan, or Shang-Hae, I am unable to give any description of those places. I can, however, state what I have heard about them, and give the mercantile reader some idea of their importance as places of trade.

Short as is the time that these ports have been open to the commerce of Britain and other foreign nations, many cargoes of Indian cotton, different sorts of produce from Singapore and the islands of the Malayan Archipelago, manufactured goods, consisting of woollens, gray and white shirtings, chintz, &c., from Manchester and Glasgow, have been advantageously disposed of at one or another of them. Amoy has taken off several cargoes of Bengal and Bombay cotton, at prices considerably higher than those ruling at Canton. This branch of trade is likely to increase, and is one that will interfere with Canton to a considerable extent. As a residence, however, this place has a bad character in point of healthiness: at least, the troops, both European and Indian, suffered severely there from fever. They were stationed on the island of Koo Loong Soo, which is said to be more healthy than Amoy itself.

None of our merchants had visited Foo Chow, up to the time of my departure from China; nor had a Consul been sent there; but this has, I presume, since taken place. The city has been described to me as large and populous, and the seat of a very extensive trade. It escaped the ravages of the late war; and its inhabitants may probably entertain a similar idea to that which possesses the people of Canton; namely, that we were afraid to attack them. Whether this notion will lead them to give Europeans an indifferent reception, or not, remains to be seen. Let us hope that they will act wisely in the matter, and not bring down vengeance on their own heads. Sir William Parker, by visiting their harbour in Her Majesty's ship Cornwallis, proved to them that they are not beyond the reach of European shipping, as they at one time thought. Some difficulty is experienced, I believe, in approaching Foo Chow, owing to the strength of the currents in the neighbourhood; but, as a seventy-four-gun ship has got over that difficulty, it is proved to be not an insurmountable one.Ning-po is also a large and wealthy city, admirably situated for trade, and surrounded with a beautiful country. It stands some forty miles from the sea, by the river, which is said to be navigable for ships of considerable burthen even beyond the town. The climate is salubrious, and the natives are quite awake to the benefits likely to arise from a free intercourse with Europeans. At this port, the first British vessel bound for the northern ports of China, from England direct, was loading, in March last, with tea and other Chinese produce. By how many hundreds she will ere long be followed, I leave the reader to imagine. It is said by those who have visited this port, that nothing can exceed the urbanity of the Chinese Authorities and merchants, or their anxiety to do all in their power to please and entertain European strangers. This, doubtless, in part arises from the severe lesson that was read them, on more than one occasion, by Sir Hugh Gough; a lesson which, it is hoped, they will long remember. An extensive and important trade is carried on between this place and Chusan, by which means our manufactures will find their way into that island, after its ports shall be closed against our shipping. Here, Russian manufacturers are met with; and a friend of mine informed me, that, in a Chinese shop at Ning-po, he purchased a few yards of superior Russian black broad cloth at the very cheap rate of two dollars and a-half (11s. 3d.) per yard. This price seems lower than that at which the British manufacturer could produce a similar article. Samples of the cloth have been sent to England, so that this question will soon be decided.

Shang-Hae, the most northern of the five ports opened to foreign commerce, is, perhaps, the most important of the whole five. I have undoubted authority for asserting, that the number of Chinese junks, of more than a hundred tons burthen, that enter this port weekly, exceeds a thousand. The same authority speaks of the busy scene that this harbour daily presents, as quite beyond his powers of description. Many British, American, and other merchants have visited Shang-Hae since it became an open port; many cargoes of manufactures have been disposed of there; and already a considerable export trade on foreign account has commenced. A bold attempt was made by some influential and wealthy merchants from Canton, to prevent the mercantile men of the place from purchasing cargoes from the foreigners: in this, they succeeded for a time; and the Canton men were in hopes they should secure the northern trade for their own capital, as of yore; but they calculated beyond their mark. The Shang-Hae men listened to the tales that were told them, and kept aloof for some time, till they saw that the Europeans were quite determined not to leave their harbour without effecting sales. Suddenly they changed their minds, and said to the Canton men: "If the 'Fan-quis' are such a wicked race, how comes it that you are so anxious to have their trade to yourselves?" In a week afterwards, every foreign vessel in the river was cleared of her cargo at remunerating prices.

Shang-Hae is the principal port in the Empire for the export of raw silk. This fact is sufficient of itself to proclaim the vast importance of the place. The winter here, is described as being very severe; and the cold is said to be so intense, that hundreds of the very poorest sort of natives perish in the streets from its effect on their half-clad persons. The heat of summer is also intense; which renders the city unhealthy, situated as it is in a low, swampy country. Yet, I heard of no sickness among the Europeans who passed last summer there.

The Missionaries have not been behind the merchants in occupying Shang-Hae; and Mr. Medhurst, so well known for his extensive knowledge of Chinese literature, had completed arrangements for removing his family thither in the early part of the present summer. He had previously visited the place, avowing the object of his visit, and had found no difficulty in procuring a commodious house, large enough for the comfortable accommodation of his family, as well as for a printing establishment, &c. Mr. Medhurst has been a personal friend of mine for these twenty years; and he will believe me when I say, that I heartily wish him all the success in his mission that he can wish for himself; but, of his success, I have my doubts.

As to the benefits likely to accrue to the commerce of Great Britain from the Treaty lately concluded by Sir Henry Pottinger with the Chinese Government, I conceive there can be but one opinion, although the extent of those benefits is as yet uncertain. When I express an opinion, not penned in haste or without consideration, that the large quantities of grey shirtings, white ditto, chintz, cotton yarn, long ells, Spanish stripes, fine woollens, camlets, &c. now purchased of the British merchants by the Chinese, are likely, within the next three years, to be quadrupled, the manufacturers of my country will at once perceive what this celebrated Treaty is likely to accomplish for them.[25] We must, moreover, take into consideration, the extra tonnage that will be required to carry on this extended commerce; the number of seamen it will employ; the consequent increased demand for every description of stores taken to sea for the use of ships and men; the innumerable families that will thus be provided for; and the not improbable increased demand, over and above quadruple the present, for the goods named, when the new trade shall have had time thoroughly to develop itself. Nor must we overlook the benefit likely to result to British India, the cotton of which has hitherto been supplied to the Chinese vi Canton: it will now be carried to their doors in British vessels, and sold to them at far cheaper rates than could have been afforded when sent in the former round-about way. Taking this view of the case, it stands to reason, that the demand will increase; and though the merchant of Bombay, Madras, or Calcutta may not make larger profits than heretofore, he will do a much larger business, employ double the number of men and ships, and enjoy the prospect of returning to his native country some few years sooner than he dreamed of under the old regime.

A trade suddenly thrown open with three hundred millions of human beings, is not likely to be completely developed in three, four, or five years; and I conceive that I am within the mark, when I hold out encouragement to my countrymen to quadruple their shipments to China. In April, May, and June, 1843, before the five ports of China were officially opened to foreign trade, and when visiting them was precarious, an unusually large quantity of British and American manufactures was poured into the China market. Ship after ship arrived from the manufacturing districts, with full cargoes; and the universal cry was, "What is to be done with all these goods?" I can tell the public what became of them. They were sold almost as fast as they arrived. Many of them were purchased, for the northern ports, by speculators, who, to a man, did well with them. Prices not only kept up, in spite of the heavy import duties, but actually continued to advance till the end of the year, when they were twenty per cent. higher than when all the cry was, "What is to become of these goods?" This spirited demand for goods at Canton and Hong Kong, continued up to March last, when I sailed from China. Whether the supply sent out this season, has exceeded the demand, or not, I have no means of ascertaining, while writing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean; but I have no fear as to the result of any shipments that may have been made.

That the thanks of the mercantile world in general, and of its members in Great Britain in particular, are due to Sir Henry Pottinger for the very satisfactory conclusion to which he has brought the recent disturbances with China, and to Sir Hugh Gough and Sir William Parker for the gallant manner in which the warlike portion of the work was conducted, every unprejudiced man must allow. Though Sir Henry had not left China when I sailed, I presume that he will be in England before me vi Egypt; and nothing would give me greater pleasure on my arrival, than to find that he had been rewarded by his Sovereign by being made "Earl Nankin." His career has been a brilliant one; and that he may live many years to enjoy the fruits of his exertions, must be the wish of all that are likely to benefit by them.[26]

Whether or not we are shortly to have another Chinese war, is a problem I do not pretend to be able to solve: there are various opinions on the subject; but my own is, that every thing depends on the foreigners themselves. If the Consuls and others sent by Government to the five trading ports are firm and resolute men, who will never suffer the slightest infringement of the Treaty by the Chinese, without an energetic remonstrance,—if the captains of ships of war stationed at the five ports are strict in maintaining order among the masters and crews of the shipping of their nation,—if mercantile men take care, on the one hand, to give no cause of complaint by smuggling or otherwise, to the Chinese Authorities, and, on the other hand, to put up with nothing from them that is not borne out by the terms of the Treaty;—in short, if foreigners generally (under which term I include every person not a Chinese) unite together and stand up for the Treaty, the whole Treaty, and nothing but the Treaty,—I see no reason to suppose that it may not work well, and for many years to come. On the other hand, if Consuls vacillate in their intercourse with the Chinese authorities,—if captains of ships of war permit irregularities in the conduct of merchant seamen,—and if foreign merchants condescend to injure their fair fame by smuggling, in place of submitting to the very moderate duties imposed upon their trade by the new Chinese tariff,—all and each of them must take the consequences of their conduct; and they may rest assured, that the Chinese will always be ready to seize with avidity the slightest opportunity afforded them for charging foreigners with a breach of the Treaty. We must hope that foreigners resorting to China for the purposes of trade, or merely as travellers in search of health or of strange sights, will be sufficiently aware of the importance that is sure to be attached to their conduct, to avoid giving the Chinese just cause of complaint. Should they be careful on this point, and should the amicable relations now existing between the two countries remain uninterrupted, it will not take many years to convince the intelligent Chinese, that intercourse with what they are pleased to term the Barbarian nations of the earth, is not to be despised.

As for the result of another war, there cannot, I imagine, be two opinions. That Great Britain would be the victor, and the gainer too, after a struggle of half a summer, is pretty certain; and that she would make the Chinese pay dearer for their temerity than they were made to do before, seems probable, and would be but just. The possession of Chusan and other eligible mercantile positions on the coast, would open fresh fields for the enterprise of our merchants, and for the employment of hundreds of seamen and others; and the fleet and army, after satisfying the Chinese that they were as able and as willing to fight as ever, might, with great advantage to their country, take a trip to Japan, and try to prevail on the ruler of that terra incognita to open his ports to foreign commerce. I would tell the Emperor of Japan, You shall either be my friend or my foe. If the former, you must permit your subjects to trade with my people; and if the latter, you must try your strength with me. While there are tens of thousands of unemployed operatives in Great Britain, her rulers should omit no opportunity of extending her commerce; and their suffering the Japanese sullenly to exclude our shipping, while the Dutch enjoy the sole privilege of trading to their country, seems to me putting up with a state of things that ought not to exist.

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