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TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS

OF

HONGKONG, SHANGHAI, AND

OTHER TREATY PORTS

OF CHINA.

Cwentkri) Centurp Impressions

Bonflkonfl, SbangDait and otDer Creatp

Ports of Cbina:

THEIR HISTORY. PEOPLE, COMMERCE, INDUSTRIES, AND RESOURCES.

Editor-in-Chief: ARNOLD WRIGHT (London). Assistant Editor : H. A. CARTWRIGHT (Hongkong and Shanghai).

London, Durban, Perth (W.A.), Colombo, Singapore, Hongkong, Shanghai, Bangkoli (Siam), Batavia (Netherlands India), and Cairo :

LLOYD'S GREATER BRITAIN PUBLISHING COMPANY, LTD

1908.

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HIS EXCELLENCY SIR FREDERICK JOHN DEALTRY LUCARD. K.C.M.G.. C.B„ D.S.O.

(Governor of Hongkong, Comm»nder-ln-Chlef, and Vice- Admiral) , and LADY LUCARD.

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HIS EXCELLENCY SIR JOHN N. JORDAN. K.C.M.G.

(British Minister at Peking)

PREFACE.

IHIS xvorh is the outcome of an enter-prise designed to give in an attractive form full and rcliatile information with reference to the outlying parts of the Empire. The value of a fuller knowledge of the " Britains beyond the Sea" and the great dependencies of the Crown as a means of tightening the bonds which unite the component parts of the King's dominions was insisted upon by Mr. Chamberlain in a memorable speech, and the same note ran through the Prince of Wales's impressive Mansion House address in which His Royal Highness summed up the lessons of his tour through the Empire, from which he had then just returned. In some instances, notably the case of Canada, the local Governments have done much to diffuse in a popular form infor- mation relative to the territory which they administer. But there are other centres in which official enterprise in this direction has not been possible, or, at all events, in which action has not been taken, and it is in this prolific field that the publishers are working. So far they have found ample justificalion for their labours in the widespread public interest taken in their operations in the colonies which have been the scene of their work, and in the extremely cordial reception given by the Press, both home and colonial, to the completed results.

Briefly, the aim which the publishers keep steadily before them is to give a perfect microcosm of the colony or dependency treated. As old Stow, with patient application and scrupulous regard for accuracy, set himself to survey the London of his day, so the workers employed in the production of this series endeavour to give a picture, complete in every particular, of the distant possessions of the Crown. But topography is only one of the features treated. Responding to modern needs and tastes, the literary investi- gators devote their attention to every important phase of life, bringing to the elucidation of the subjects treated the powerful aid of the latest and best methods of pictorial illustration. Thus a work is compiled which is not only of solid and enduring value for purposes of reference and for practical business objects, but is of unique interest to all who are interested in the development of the Empire.

In all essential features the present volume follows closely upon the lines of the earlier works on Western Australia, Natal, Ceylon, and British Malaya, and deals fully with the history, administration, population, commerce, industries, and potentialities of the territories to which it relates. In one respect, however, it differs from its predecessors, for, while they have been devoted exclusively to British Colonies, this book, as its title indicates, deals also with settlements which are only partially British. But there is ample excuse, if excuse he needed, for this departure from precedent. More than one half the imports and exports of China passes through the various Treaty Ports, and it would have been a negation of one of the avowed objects of these publications if no attempt had been made to show the present-day tendency of this trade and how the proportion borne by the British Empire compares with that of its competitors. Nor must it be forgotten thai Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, and Shanghai, the first five ports in China to which foreign merchandise was admitted without hindrance or interference, were thrown open in 1842 as the direct result of British influence, which was also responsible in i8_=;8 for the extension of this privilege

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PKEFACE.

to N*trckmamg, Ckefoo, Tatwan (Fonuosa), Svalow, Hainan, and three ports on the Yangtsze-k'iang. Tliough the British Consuls have long ceased to be the only mediums of communication between foreigners and the local Chinese authorities, British interests are still very powerful, and in some cases the British communities are self-governing.

Although tkt whole of the Treaty Ports, numbering upwards of forty, hare not been dealt with separately, the most important have been selected, and they are sufficient for our purpose since tliey receive the kulh <^ the trade of the minor ports. This is especially true of Canton in its relation to the other Treaty Ports on the West River, and of Shanghai in relation to some of the smaller ports lying along tkt banks of the Yangtsze-Kiang.

The wide distances which divide the ports, and the peculiar conditions zcliich prevail in them have rendered Ike task of the compilers one of no little difficulty. The foreign settlements are occupied by representatives of different nationalities answerable to their own Consuls, subject to the laws of their own countries, and, in many instances, organised into independent local governing communities, so that, though tkty form collectively one homogeneous whole, they are, in actual fact, a congeries of separate and distinct units. But neitker trouble nor expense has been spared in the attempt to cover the ground adequately and secure full and tiustworihy information in a'crx direction. As in previous works, the services of acknowledged experts have been enlisted wherever possible. The historical sections have been written from original materials preserved at the India Office, the British Museum, and other national institutions. In Hongkong much valued assistance has been freely rendered by the heads of the various Government depart- ments, and the Editor is especially indebted to H.E. Sir F. J. D. Lugard, K.C.M.G., C.B.. D.S.O., the Goremor, and Ike Hon. Mr. F. H. May, C.M.G., the Colonial Secretary, who have given all the encourage- ment that lay in their power to the enterprise. In Shanghai the Municipal Aiithorilics have shown every courtesy, and in the various Treaty Ports the British Consular Officers, the Customs Officers, and the Municipal Secretaries, have placed the compilers under an obligation which is gratefully acknowledged.

Otrviously a work of this magnitude cannot be produced except at very considerable cost. As the publisliers do not ask for any Government subsidy, because of the restrictions which it might impose uptm them, this cost has to be met in part by receipts from the sale of copies and in part by revenue from Ike insertion of commercial photographs. The publishers venture to think that this fact furnishes no ground for adverse criticism. The piinciple is that adopted by the highest class of newspapers and magazines all oi'er the world. Moreover, it is claimed that these photographs add to, rather than detract from, the value of the book. They serve to show the manifold interests of the country, and, u-ilk Ike accompanying descriptive letterpress, which is independently written by members of the staff from personal observation, they constitute a picturesque and useful feature that is not without interest to the general reader and student of economics, while it is of undoubted value to business men throughout the British Empire.

AUCL'ST, 1908.

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CONTENTS.

HONGKONG, SHANGHAI, AND OTHER TREATY PORTS— i'aok

Early History and Uevklopme.nt. By Arnold Wright 13

HONGKONG- CONSTITUTION AND Law —

The Local Legislature 99

The Courts loi

The Laws. By C. D. Wilkinson 102

EXECLTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE COUNCILS 105

Finance. By The Hon. Mr. A. M. Thomson, Coloiiinl Treasurer 113

Education. By G. H. B.ateson Wright, D.D. (Oxon.), Headmaster of Queen's College,

Hongkoiif^ 121

Public Works. By The Hon. Mr. W. Chatham, C.M.G., Director of Public Works . 129

Posts, Cables, and Telephones '33

Flora. By S. T. DuxN, B.A., F.L.S., J. P., Snperinteiidcut of the Botaiiicnl and Forestry

Department, Hoiiiikong 135

Fauna —

General. By J. C. Kershaw, Autlior of " Butterflies of Hongkong" ... 138

Butterflies. By J. C. Kershaw i39

Birds. By Staff-Surgeon Kenneth H. Jones, K.\ 141

Hongkong (Descriptive). By H. A. Cartwright i45

The Sanitary Board. By A. Shelton Hooper ....... 157

Harbour and Shipping. By Commander Basil Taylor, R.X., Harbour Master . . 188

Hongkong Industries 235

Sport, By J. W. Bains, Sports Editor of the " China Mail " 250

Health and Hospitals. By The Hon. Dr. J. M. Atkinson, Principal Civil Medical

Officer 262

Police. Prisons, and Fire Brigade. By Captain F. W. Lyons, Acting Captain- Superintendent of Police, Hongkong 266

Navy, Ar.my, and Volunteers 272

The Hongkong Volunteer Corps. By Major Chapman, Commandant . . 274

The Foreign Trade of China 278

The Chinese Imperial Maritime Custo.ms 282

The Currency of China 288

The Silk Industry 290

Tea. By H. T. Wade • . . . . 294

Cotton. By James Kerfoot, M.I.M.E 302

The Flora of China 304

Ceremonies and Customs of the Chinese. By S. W. Tso 307

Chinese Characters. By James B. Wong, B.A 319

Ecclesiastical —

The Roman Catholic Church. By Father J. de Moidrey, S.J. ... 321

The Anglican Communion. By The Ven. Archdeacon Banister . . . 326

Protestant Missions in China. By The Rev. J. Steele, B.A 332

The Ancient Faiths of the Chinese. By The Rev. T. W. Pearce . . 337

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CONTENTvS.

SIK.1AL LlFK

Thk Pkkss. By W. H. Doxai.k. Editor of the "China Mail " . SHANOHAI-

DksCKIKTION (IK THK SETTI.KMKNT. Hy H. A. CAKTWKUiHT

Local Goverxsiknt and Law. By H. A. Cartwright Police. By K. J. McEiKX. Deputy Superintendent of Police

voli'xtekrs

Shanc-.mai Fire Bri<;adk

PiBi.ic Works. Supplied by the Pihlic Works Department Health axd Hosi"Itaij>. By Arthur Stanley, M.D.. B.S.Lond., D.P.H

KiSASCK axii Baxkim;

Shippixu. Commerce, and Ci'stoms

Education

Posts, Cable.s. and Telephones

Sport. By W. R. Parkin

Meteorology —

HoNOKoNu. By K. G. Figg, Director of the Hongkong Observatory

, Health Officer

Foochow

Chinese WEKiHTs, Measures, and Money.

CoxcLfDiNG Note

Index

Observatory

Shanghai. By The Rev. Father Froc, Director of Siccawei

Leading Re,sidents of Shanghai

Prominent Chine.se Residents

Industries

The Foreign Commercial Community

The Oriental Commercial Community

The Railways of China

Mixes axd Mixkraus in Manchuria. By Reginald Bate, K.K.G.S

IXFORMATIOX FOR TolKISTS

TREATY PORTS AND OTHER FOREIGN SETTLEMENTS—

Hankow

Tiextsix

Pekix<:

Xkwchwaxg. By Regixai.d Bate, K.R.G.S

Chefoo

NiNGPO

Weihaiwei

Naxkin<:

Canton. By H. A. Cartwright

Macau. By Pedro Nolasco da Sii.va

The Lappa Customs. By A. H. Wilzer, Commissioner of Customs

TSISGTAU

Amov. By Cecil A. V. Bowra, Commissioner of Customs SWATOW

.141 Mi

368

399

409

4'.S 429

432

434 43« 4.S2 484 490 498

509 512 516 525 573 602 662 666 682 683

692 724 755 763 767

772 773 778 782 798 805 810

«'3 829

837 841 842 843

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CiDcntletD Ccnturp Impressions or 1>oiidkoiid, SbangDai, and otber Creatp Ports :

THEIR EARLY HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT.

By Arnold Wright.

CHAPTER I.

Early European Trade with China — The Portuguese at Macao — Efforts of EngHsh to Open Trade- EstabHshment of Enghsh Factory in Japan — The English and the Dutch in China.

JN the history of European Com- merce there is no more interesting, and, in its influ- ence on international events, no more important chapter than that which relates to the opening of the Chinese Empire to British trade. The long drawn out struggle which in its earliest stage culmi- nated in the Treaty of Nanking was something more than a contest for the right to barter. It was a fight between two opposite, and to a very large extent antagonistic, systems of civilisation. On the one hand was the East, self-contained, self-absorbed, living its narrow life in beatific indifference to, if not positive ignorance of, the remainder of the world. What it did not know was not knowledge ; those who were outside its pale were bar- barians ; its rulers were the rulers of all things mundane and of some things celestial. On the other side was the West, bustling, aggressive, sometimes arrogant, confident in itself and conscious of its power, infused with a spirit of progress which gained ad- ditional impetus as every new discovery of science furnished it with fresh weapons to use to batter down the wall which racial prejudice and exclusiveness had reared up against it. That one misunderstood the other — was indeed profoundly ignorant of the motives which were the mainsprings of the otiier's action — added intensity to the battle. To the official Chinese the efforts of the Euro- pean to make his foothold good on the soil

of China were an unwarrantable intrusion on the part of a visitor with many objectionable characteristics. As for the European, and especially the Britisher, he could see in the determined measures to keep him at arm's length — a suppliant and humble guest without the gate — only the bigoted manifestations of a diseased egotism added to a crass and viru- lent congenital dislike of the foreigner. And so the conflict went on until the door was violently forced from without and the breath of a new commerci.il life was breathed into China. Then the giant stirred, but it was only the stretching of the sleeper before the full awakening. Another half-century or more was to pass and China was to see in blacker outline the shadow of irretrievable disaster before the lessons of the West were received, and even then her acceptance was only partial and hesitating. It remained for the cataclysm of the Russo-Japanese War to drive home at last the moral taught, if China could only have realised it by the first European ship that visited her shores, that China was not the world and that if she would preserve her independence and her self-respect she must avail herself of the advantages of Western civilisation, not the least of which are those which pertain to an uninterrupted commerce. When Albuquerque and his men descended, as Sir George Birdwood picluresquely puts it, "like a pack of hungry wolves" upon an astonished Eastern world, tliey found trade flowing in tranquil fashion in channels which had been used for ages. Vessels hugging

the shore made their way from the Chinese coast to Singhapura or to some other port in the straits, from whence their cargoes were carried by Arab craft to India and Persia. Overland the rich fabrics and spices of the East were transmitted to the Levant for dis- tribution to the more populous centres of Europe. The trade was a strictly Oriental one. An occasional European traveller, like Marco Polo, found his way into the interior of China and even over portions of the sea route ; but it had not entered into the calcu- lations of the most imaginative that from beyond the sea would come in great ships bodies of men of this strange white race whose existence was a mere shadowy myth to the great mass of the population. With wonder, therefore, not unmingled with awe, the stran- gers were received at the places at which they touched. In the case of the Chinese a feeling of superstitious dread tinged the lively apprehensions which the appeaiance of the Portuguese barques in the China Sea excited. From immemorial times had come down a tradition that the Chinese Empire would one day be conquered by a fair-haired grey-eyed race. The legend pointed to the advent of the conquerors in the north, but there was suflicient identity between the story and the actual facts of the mysterious appearance of the strangers from the beyond to give potency to fears which, perhaps, were never absent from the minds of the ruling classes of China owing to the enormous stretch of frontier and the difficulties of maintaining

14 TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF HONGKONG, SHANGHAI, ETC.

(Fraai a pciDi ia Or Goj-tf- and De Keyicr't account of the Dutch Embassy to China in 1655.)

onier inberent in the vastness of the empire. It is a motA point whether it was not the faiBuencc of this natiiMial myth which dictated the policy of etcluson so stubtxtrnly enfor- ced ajtiinst Kuropcaiis (or three and a half ccntnncs. Old writers, tike the authors of tbe actxmnl of the Dutch Embassy to China in 1655, are inclined to adopt this view, and it is one which is in complete harmony with tbe altitude conxixtetitly a^sumed from the nwaicnt that European ship* wire seen in Cbincae waters. Ihe first reception of the Portogoese when they appeared off the Canton River in 1516 wa<, however, not entirely Dafnendly. The fleet was one despatched from Malacca by Albuquerque and com- manded by a l»ld and adventurous sailor named Pcreiirclto. The ships returned to Malacca witboid entering the Canton Kiver,

but Perestrello had seen enough to enable him to report very favourably on tlie prospects of trade. Stimulated by the prospect of obtain- inj; entrance to a new and pro<luctive market the Portuguese Viceroy the next year sent a squadron of eight vessels under the command of Perez de Andrade. In due course the ships reached the Chinese coast, and without hesitation de Andrade directed a course past the islands and up the river. Great was the alarm of the Chinese at the appearance of these strange ships, so strikingly different in form from those with which they were familiar. Fearing an invasion the authorities promptly surrounded the intruding ships by war junks. De Andrade protested his peaceful intentions, and eventually, after considerable argument, persuaded the authorities to allow him to take two of his ships up the river to

Canton. At Canton de Andrade had an audience with the Viceroy, and was successful in extracting from him permission to Uade. His satisfaction at this excellent stroke of business was somewhat moditied when news reached him, as it did at about the time that the negotiations were completed, that the vessels he had left at the mouth of the river had been heavily attacked by piiates. The damage, however, does not appear to have . been fatal to the objects of de Andradc's mission. Several of his vessels returned to Malacca witli cargoes, and tlie remainder sailed wilh some junks belonging to tlie Loo Choo Islands for Ningyio, on the east coast of China, and there established a colony. The //i</ II Uric thus secured was turned to good advantage in succeeding years, and a most prolitable trade was built up. But the gieed and cruelty of the Portuguese here as else- where raised up a violent prejudice against them. So it happened tliat when an embassy was despatched by the Portuguese Govern- ment to Peking in 1520, the Ambassador, one Perez, was treated very contumelioiisly. He was sent back practically a prisoner to Canton, and was there robbed of his property, thrust into prison, and finally, it is supposed, put to death, for his real (ate was never actually known. Meanwhile the Portuguese had been expelled by imperial decree from Ningpo, and they were prohibited from all trade. Their star seemed to have set as rapidly as it had risen. 'Ihe early Portuguese explorers were, however, not men to be easily rebuffed. In the succeeding years they maintained resolutely their efforts to secure a lodgment in China. At length fortune once more smiled upon them. A service rendered to the Chinese Government by the extirpation of a formidable pirate fleet secured for them as a reward rights of occupation at Macao, one of the group of islands lying off the mouth of the Canton River. Their earliest settlement there dates back to 1537. It was a mere collection nf Imts for drying goods which were introduced under the name of tribute, but by the middle of the sixteenth century out of tliese small beginnings a town of considerable size had developed. The trade of the port flourished apace under the interested patronage of the Mandarins, who found in the commerce of tlie adventurers a new and lucrative source of income. Imperishably associated with the history of Macao at this period is the name of Camoens, the great national writer of the Portuguese. It was here that the poet com- posed the greater part of " The Lusiad " the famous Portuguese epic which has stirred the hearts and fired the imaginations of so many generations of Portuguese. Camoens' period of residence at Macao extended from 1553 to 1569. On his returning to Europe from China he was wrecked off the coast of Cambodia, and escaped to shore on a plank, tradition says, with the MS. of his precious poem carried in his hand. Macao, though long since sunk into a condition of commercial decrepitude and moral decay, will ever enjoy the reflected lustre of Camoens' great name.

The Spaniards, following in the track of the Portuguese, established themselves in the Manilas and at various other points in the Chinese seas. For the best part of a century the two races had a monopoly of the trade of the Far East. The defeat of the Spanish Armada gave Europe its first great lesson in the value of sea power, for with the destruc- tion of many of the great Spanish galleons in the English Channel and the wrecking of others off the Scotch and Irish coasts, the way was opened to the Far East for other nations. The Dutch were the first to take advantage of the opportunity presented. Towards the close

AN ANCIENT MAP OF CHINA.

(From an old manuscript of the date lOoy, preserved in the Manuscript Room at the British Museum.)

16 TWENTIETH CENTIHY IMPRESSIONS OF HONUKONG, SHANGHAI, ETC.

ot Ibe aiitecuth cenlurv Ihey sent out several fleet* «rilh the object m csiaMi-hing a trade with the Far Eart. The initial English ven- torc was maiie in I5</'. when Sir K. Dudley and ottiert fitted out three ships with the

the Chcneses to bringe thereof thither, both while soweiiig silke, twisted of all sorts and sizes, as also rawe and sleave silke ; of all which we have gcven Mr. Heeling examples : the which silke yf you can p'cure to be

V ,• '■.:^:^^m

AN ANCIENT HAP OF MACAO. (Krocn % nuui»cnpt in the SIo;inc Collcctiini :it the llritish Museum.)

intention of trading to China. 'Wood, the com- inandcr, tMxe with him a letter from Queen Elizabeth to the Emperor of China. With the expedition also went the warm wishes of the commercial community whose hopes of calaMishing a trade had been raised to a high level in consequence of the reports which bad come in of the riches of the Eastern world. The enterprise, however, ended in diaatter. Not a soul of the company which embarked ever relumed to i^ngland to give an account of the rest. Nothing fuiiher was attempted in the direction of opening up the China trade until Sir James Lancaster's suc- oesiful voyages to the Straits of Malacca, and tbe sotMcqucnt establishment there of factories of llic newly constituted East India Company turned the thoughts of Ixmdon merchants once more towards those rich markets of the Far East which the Portuguese and the Spaniards had hitherto monopolised and which the Dutch were now seriously attack- ing. The first direct reference to the China trade in the records of the East India Com- pany is to be found in the year 1606. On Ibe occanon of sending out three ships to tbe Eastern factories Ihe Court issued instruc- tions to "General" Heeling, Ihe commander ol the little squadron, directing him to culti- vate a trade with the Chinese. " It is to be remembered," sai<l the direclorate, " thai uui Factors alt Bantam doe their best endevors 10 p'core the Chineses lo bring from Cheney ticave and sowing silks, that we may fall into some trade with Ihem ; and see yf they can sell any r>f our English cloth to them that they may be hroaghl lo the use thereof." At the same lime Ihe Court wrote lo the /acton at Bantam desiring them to send home particular accounts of all goods ven- dible, or to be procured, and directed that •yf Cheney silks are ihA llicare (in Bantam) presentKe to be had, that then you advise

brought thither att reasonable prices we sup- pose some good profiitt inay be had thereby : of all which you have hitherto left us ignorant ; whereby we must conceive you to be either unskillful in merchandising or unwilling to

gress in the Eastern trade and were reaping rich profits at home from the products brought by their ships from the Far East. However that may be, that the niamifacturos of China met with great favour in the Eng- lish markets at this period is very evident from these additional instructions given in 160Q to the Bantam factors : "The silk called I-ankin (N.inking) is here (in London) well requested : therefore, we pray you use yonr best endeavours to put off our English cloth lor that commodity, whereto as it stenieth by Robert Brown's (second at Bantam) letters, the Chineses were willing and desirous, if you had been furnished with any ; which givelh us good hope that these people will tall to wear our cloth, so as we shall find good bent for the same hereafter ; and have better means to maintain an ample trade there ; lor the better procuring whereof we have now and will hereafter send such cloth as shall be true both in substance and colour, and so you may assure them." In 1613-14 we lind the Court in despatching four sliips to Sural issuing instructions to the Company's agent at Agra to " discover the trade of Tartary." He was told to find out " what English cloth may be there vended ; at what distance the Towns of Trade are situate ; how the passages thither lie, and whether secure or dangerous." The writer added, "The Court conceive that much good might be done in vending our cloth in that cold country Tartary, were it well discovered." In this year the several transactions of the Company were united in one joint stock, and it was intimated that on this basis the Com- pany intended to build an enlarged system of commercial enterprise. Bantam factors on being informed of the change were enjoined to make vigorous efforts to extend the Com- pany's trade, particularly to Japan and China. Meanwhile, the Court asked the assistance of their agents in a matter of some importance affecting the silk trade. Difficulty was found in unwinding the Canton cross-reeled silk.

THE OKOTTO OF

(From :u)

p'forni thai for which we keepe you theare." The asperity of the last remark is probably lo be accounted for by the fact that the Dutch at this time were making considerable pro-

CAMOENS, MACAO.

and it was suggested that one or two of the Chinese or Japanese should be induced to visit England to give instruction in the matter "in order to bring the Canton silk into

TWENTIETH CENTITEY IMPKESSIONS OF HONGKONG, SHANGHAI, ETC. 17

esteem and piice at home." What was the outcome of this suggestion does not appear, but it may be assumed from an entry in tlie Court minutes which we find a little later that the early enthusiasm for the silk trade was somewhat damped by the discovery that there were tricks of the trade in China. "On account of the deceit that is used by the Chinese in their silks," the minutes recorded, " it is proposed in Court to advise Bantam that no more be brought except only raw silks, and such other as be ascertained to be very good ; also to forbear the buying of sundry drugs, which prove rotten and naught, especially China roots and rhubarb." The instructions actually given to the factor at Bantam, who was proceeding eastward from thence to trade, were : " Buy no blacks of any kind of damasks or taffaties but only coloured : the colours to be grass green, vvatchet, blue, crimson, and carnation. Take also white, especially satins. As to raw silk it is not good to bring the Canton cross- reeled sort. But if you could obtain any ready thrown according to the sample, so as to afford it to be sold in England at a mark or 14s. per lb. souie good may be done. Give orders that it be first spun single and then twisted two threads together. Let such as be made up in skains be but one thread together."

At about this period a development of the Company's enterprise in the Far East resulted in the forging of the tirst link which connected Great Britain with Japan. The association was brought about in a somewhat romantic fashion. William Adams, a Kent man, who in early life was apprenticed to a Limehouse pilot, inflamed by stories of the wealth of the Indies, in 1598 took service in a Dutch vessel, one of a fleet bound for the Far East. Arrived off the coast of Japan after an adven- turous voyage the ship in which Adams was employed was boarded by Japanese, and he and the other members of the crew were virtually made prisoners. They were, how- ever, kindly treated, and Adams subsequently found great favour with the Emperor, who took him into his service and liestowed a manor upon him for his maintenance. In 161 1 Adams heard accidentally from the Dutch, who had by this time established a good trade with Japan, that the English had formed an establishment at Bantam. Overjoyed at the discovery of the comparative proximity of his countrymen, Adams addressed a long letter to the Company's agent in the Straits strongly urging him to send ships to open up a commercial connection with Japan. In his communication he furnished valuable de- tails as to the character of the Japanese and the prospects of trade with their country. He added : " Could our English merchants, after settling in Japan, procure trade with the Chinese, then shall our country make great profit here, and the Company will not need to have to send money out of England ; for in Japan there are gold and silver in abundance, and therefore by the traffic here they will take in exchange money enough for their invest- ments in the Indies." The hint conveyed in this historic epistle did not fall on deaf ears. The Company, eager to extend their field of enterprise in so promising a direction, in 1613 sent out Captain Saris with the title of " Company's General " to open up a trade with Japan. Captain Saris was met on his arrival at Firando on June 12th in that year by Adams. Almost immediately the two repaired to the capital where they delivered to the i^mperor a letter from James I. which Captain Saris had brought with him. The monarch, influenced by his regard for Adams, lent a favourable ear to the proposals made by

the Company's agent, and formal permission was accorded to the establishment of English factories at Firando and other places, Adams in his letter to Bantam expressed a decided opinion against Firando and a preference for some port on the east coast nearer the capital. But for some reason or other, pro- bably because objections were raised to an establishment in this locality, the English headquarters were fixed at Firando. For several years a trade was prosecuted from this point by the Company's factors with Adams as a valuable supernumerary. But the enterprise never realised the high expecta- tions entertained of it. Commercially the times were somewhat out of joint ; the Dutch opposition and rivalry also were very for- midable. Moreover, as was explained in a letter of the year 1615, profits were "eaten up by great presents and charges which the country of Japan requires, although there are no customs to be paid." Adams' death, which occurred on May 16, 1620, put the final seal on the Company's failure. The factory lingered on until 1623 and the estab-

CAMOENS, THE PORTUGUESE POET.

lishment viras then withdrawn. Nor, in spite of persistent and repeated efforts was a direct connection again formed until the lapse of more than two centuries.

While the Company was prosecuting the operations in Japan an opportunity offered and was availed of to attempt to open a trade with China. The inteimediaries in the busi- ness were three influential Chinese merchants with whom business had been done at Nagasaki. In a letter from Robert Cock, the factor at Firando, to the Company written on November 25, 1614, we have an outline of the proposals. Keterring to the negotia- tors he writes: "The spot which they point out as desirable for the seat of a factory is an island near to the City of Languin ; to which place we sale from Firando, if the wind be fair, in three or four days. Our demand is for three or four ships to come and go and to leave only factors sufficient to do the business. If we can procure this I doubt not but in a short time we may get into the mainland itself ; for as the Chinese tell me their Emperor is come to the know- ledge how the Emperor of Japan has received

us and what huge privileges he has granted us. But the Hollanders are ill spoken of on each part by means of their continual robbing and pilfering the junks of China : the odium of which they at first put upon Englishmen, but now it is known to the contrary." In another letter of a somewhat later date to the Company's agent at Bantam some additional details are given with an injunction to "use all Chynas kindly," and to ask other Englishmen to do the like, "for," says the sanguine factor, "my hope is great since the Chynas doe complain much of the Hollanders for robinge or pilferinge of their junckes." In subsequent correspondence we catch vivid glimpses of the progress of the negotiations. Now we find an entry recording a payment for two girdles of silk as a present to the " China Captain's daughter." Next is a letter from Andreas Dittis, " the China Captain," reporting that he had great hopes of a suc- cessful issue to his mission "for that the greate men had taken 3,000 pezes (pieces of eight dollars) presented to them to make way" and warning his English friends not to let it be known that they came from Japan " because the Chinese were more averse to the Japanese than any other nation." Again, we have this quaint extract from Robert Cock's diary throwing some interesting side lights on the business ; " I gave my peare (pair of) knives to the China Captain to send to his brother (or rather kinsman) in China upon hope (of) trade. As also he had 4 Looking Glasses for same purpose bought of Dutch, and 4 pss. (pieces) Chowders of 20 Rs. p. corg with Knyves ; and is thought fit to geve 50 Rs. 8 to the man which carrieth the letter to pay his charge per way, and to sende a greate gould ring of myne with a whyte amatist in it, cost me 5 lb. str. in France ; this ring to be sent to one of these two men named Titcham Shofno, an euenecke. God grant all may com to good effect ! Amen, Amen."

The piously expressed wishes of Ihe good factor were not destined to be realised. Civil disturbances i[i China, forerunners of the downfall of the Ming dynasty, delayed the business. The high-handed action of the Dutch in slopping and robbing Chinese junks also, and probably to a larger extent, inter- posed obstacles, for the authorities were naturally irate at the outrages, and owing to the lying stories put about by the Dutch were disposed to associate the English with them. The Company's agents in the matter, however, continued to push the request for facilities for trade vigorously. In 1616-17 the factor at Firando reported home that the affair was pursued so hotly that " the Emperor of China has sent spies into all ports where the Spaniards, Portuguese, Hollanders, and we have trade, to observe how the Europeans behave one toward the other, and also how we (the English) behave towards strangers, especially towards the Chinese." " Some of these investigators," he added, " have been in this place (Firando) and were brought by our Chinese friends to the English House, where I used them in the best manner I could, as I have recommended to Bantam, Patania, and Syam to do the like to all Chinese." The factor was very anxious that suitable presents should be sent to the Emperor of China, and particularly indicated a coral tree as a gift which would be acceptable, a similar souvenir presented many years before by the Portuguese being esteemed by the Emperor "one of his most precious jewels." Before this the Com- pany had thoughtfully sent out for use in the negotiation two letters from James I. to the Emperor. One was amicable in tone, but the other was somewhat " stricter " in terms, and

18 TWENTIETH CENTUKY IMPRESSIONS OF HONGKONG, SHANGHAI, ETC.

it was giTcn by the autlK>rities at Bantam to Iheir " linguists " to interpret they intuiuUed that they dare not for their lives mmftate ibe bold nn^^ive. Dittis and his brother iiegoliator<, when the con)nmnicati<ins were f«rt before ihein, undertook to translate ihcin and also forward them by a certain agency. But they suggested that the one ooMched in a threatening tone should not be teal "for that xiolence would avail nothing." They further urged that they should " proceed in Ibe negotiation in a pacilic manner and trust Id the character which the English had of late aoqnired o( being a ' peaceable |>eoplc.' " How br this shrewd advice was entertained we I DO means of knowing, but there is little to think that James' peppery periods ' oAendcd the august imperial eye. What- may have ticen done in that m.itter the xc against the success of the nego- Tbe a0air dragged on for several yean and was only brought to a close when the Firando factory was vacated in 1623. From first to last the negotiations cost the Company a great deal of money. Dittis alone is represented to have disbursed 13,000 taels.

As has been iitdicated the unjust implication of the English in the piratical transactions of tlie Dutch had a very injurious influence on the coarse ol the negotLitions for a trade with China. That prejudiced feeling was intensified wlicn. as happened in 1619, the English en- tered into a treaty of defence and alliance with the Dutch. This arrangement was ostensibly designed to further the interests of both ooanlries, their forces being joined in a " joint endeaTonr," to use the words of a clause of the treaty, " to open and establish free com- merce in China and other places of the Indies by soch ways and means as the Common Council shall find expedient." But in practice the Hollanders turned the arrangement to their exclusive advantage. They used the English when it suited them to do so, dragging the English ships into a blockade which they instituted against the Chinese junks proceeding to the Manilas, and in other ways com- promising the English name with the Chinese. Hut when equal tacilitics were claimed at the ports occupied by the Dutch the demand was emphatically declined. Ultimalcly the ill- anorted union came to an end as it was bound to do. A tragic outcome of it was the massacre of Amiioyna, an epis<ide which left a deep itain on the English name until it was wiped out by Cromwell. Another consc- quciKx which flowed from the connection was the creation in the minds of the Chinese and the Japanese authorities of a strong diatmst of the English. It is difficult to say to what extent this leeling influenced the coarse of events, but there is little room for qoestion that it militated very seriously against English interests for a long series of years. We may gather some notion of the prejudice eieited from the successive despatches of the Company's agents whose writings became iacreuingly doleful as the time went on and Ibe comequenccs of the alliance were more dearly revealed. Thus, Richard Cfxrk, the (actor at Kirando, in 162 1 wrote to the Company's agents at Batavia in these terms : " Goorockdono, the Governor of Nangasaque (Hagasaki), with all the merchants of that place, Meaco and Kddo, taketh the Spaniards' and Portugals' parts against us, giving the Emperor to understand that Ivjth we and the HoUanders are pirates and thieves and live upon nothing but the tpoil of the Chinese and others ; which is the utter overthrow of Ibe trade with Japan, no one daring to come bilber for fear (A us. By which reports the finpcrar and his Council are much moved a. The King of Kirando, who has

married the Emperor's kinswoman, is now our only slay." He added : " The Hollanders arc generally hated throughout all the Indies, and we much the worse thought of since