Swatau itself will then remain as a subsidiary warehousing point. contains merely a trading population of about 2,000 inhabitants, who have been drawn together by the commerce, and have many feuds and rivalries among themselves. The chief items of export are tobacco, paper, coarse chinaware, and sugar; opium, raw cotton, and bean-cake, are among the leading articles of import. Tiles for flooring and roofing, potato flour, shoes, leather, cotton cloth, dried and salted fish and vegetables, rice and fruits, also appear in the list of articles. There are over 100,000 pieces of cotton goods taken annually, and more than 3,000 chests of opium. The estimated value of the total trade in 1860 was $6,176,293; in 1861, it was $6,873,984; in 1862, over $8,500,000. Of each of these amounts, opium formed about two millions of dollars. The region adjacent to Swatau is so populous that its trade may be expected to increase every year. The rates of pilotage up to Swatau from the outer anchorage near Double I. is $2.50 per foot. During the last ten or twelve years, many ships have loaded with coolies at this anchorage for Peru, Cuba, and other countries; and some horrible acts of cruelty and kidnapping have taken place here in connection with this trade, the remembrance of which must remain in the minds of the people; their repugnance to further intercourse with foreigners may arise from something of this nature. Since the legalization of the trade, measures have been taken to prevent these atrocities, which were mostly committed by native agents, aud it is to be hoped, without the cognizance of their employers. Section 3. PORT OF KIUNG-CHAU IN HAINAN. THE island of Hainan has been inhabited and governed by the Chinese from very early times. Its foreign name is unknown to them in that restricted sense; it means Southern Sea, and has a wider application, including this large island and the regions further south. The whole island is included in the prefecture of Kiung-chau or Kingchau-fúf, by which name it is generally known among the Chinese. The area is estimated at 20,000 square miles; much of it is mountainous and still inhabited by unsubdued aborigines, called Lí-mú, from the name of the central range. The port of King-chau is called Hái-kau-soor Hoi-hau, and lies on a long narrow spit between the river and a deep bay north; it is the entrepôt for whatever trade the island has with the mainland. There is a good paved road leading along the river up to the capital, two miles distant; a twelve-sided pagoda, 130 feet high, is built on the northern bank, from the top of which a wide prospect can be had across the Straits to the opposite coast of Luichau. The city of Kingchau is the largest one in the southwest of the province of Kwangtung; some of the streets are a mile and a half long, and all flagged with large slabs of C.G. 25 cut stone. The inhabitants are civil, and the authorities have treated shipwrecked crews kindly, after they have escaped from the clutches of the wreckers, who line the coast, and generally strip the unfortunate mariners. King-chau has not yet been formally opened to foreign commerce; it was inserted among the list of legalized ports without any definite knowledge of its resources or accessibility, and in the expectation that a port opened in this region might gradually develop new outlets of traffic. The productions of Hainan partake of the tropical and temperate zones; cocoanuts, betel-nut, fruits, sugar, cotton, salt, lacquer-varnish, beeswax, tanned hides, and rice, are produced for exportation; gold, silver, pearls, sapan-wood, tortoise-shell, and many kinds of fine cabinet woods, are found in or near the island. The native trade of Hainan is carried on in small junks, which coast along from Hoi-hau to Tienpeh, and thence up to Macao and Canton; and their crews generally bear a character for lawlessness and bravery, that render them formidable. Section 4. PORT OF ΑΜΟΥ. THIS port is the most accessible of all the consular ports in China, and no pilots are required either in entering or departing, though boatmen frequently board ships to offer their services; some regulations were formerly issued requiring British merchantmen to engage pilots to and from the Chau-chat rocks, but it is now optional. The name Amoy is the local pronunciation of Hiá-muni. e., Gate or Harbor of Hia. It is the station of an admiral, who has charge of the coast of Fuhkien and Formosa, and who is assisted in his duties by a general residing on Quemoy, or Kin-mun I. Amoy is in the district of Tung ngán 同安, one of the subdivisions of Tsiuenchau-fú 泉州府, Both Amoy or Chin-chew, whose prefect city lies northeast of it. and Chinchew were celebrated even before A.D. 800 as emporia, and their traders were formerly found in the ports of the Archipelago and India, and as far as Persia. Europeans began to trade at Amoy very soon after their appearance in China; and in 1624, the Dutch established themselves on Fischer's I., one of the Pescadore group, in order to control the coast trade of Fuhkien province. The English and Portuguese also had commercial establishments at Amoy, and sent ships there as late as 1730 or thereabouts, when the Chinese government centred all the foreign trade at Canton, and only permitted Spanish ships to trade at Amoy. The city lies on the southwestern corner of the island of Amoy, near the mouth of the Lung-kiáng, or Dragon river, which leads westerly to Changchau-fu. The island is about forty miles in circuit, and is covered with small hamlets, whose total population is estimated at 100000, and that of the city and suburbs at over 200,000. The scenery within the bay is picturesque, but the nakedness of the gullied waterworn hills, whose scanty vegetation cannot hide their bleak sides, detracts from its beauty; some of the islands are surmounted by pagodas or temples, which serve as landmarks to the mariner. Few cities are more favorably situated for access than Amoy, but its water communication with the interior is not equal to some of the other maritime consular ports. The islet of Kulang-su bounds the western side of the harbor, here about 700 yards wide; it is nearly three miles in circumference, and contains many residences of the foreign merchants, pleasantly situated along the shore or on the hills. The inhabitants of this islet were completely driven out from their villages in 1854 by insurgents; but have since partly resumed the cultivation of their fields. The docks recently built at this port accommodate ships which are not over 300 feet long; and the facilities for repairing vessels are increasing. CUSTOMS' REGULATIONS FOR THE PORT OF AMOY. 1. The limits of the port are defined within lines drawn from the southernmost point of Amoy Island south-eastward to the nearest island; and thence, in the direction of the high pagoda, to the point of Lam-tai-hoo hill; and from the northernmost point of Amoy Island to the opposite point on the mainland. 2. The shipment and discharge of cargo can only be carried on in the inner harbour between Kulang-su and Amoy: northern and southern limits, The authorized Customs' jetties for the examination, landing, and shipment of goods, are those known as the Taou-mei-ma-tau, Kang ah-kow港仔口, Sin-lo-tow 新路頭, and Sai-hong 吏口 wharves. 3. Masters of merchant vessels must deposit their ships' papers and import manifest with their consul (if they have no consul, with the Customs) within 48 hours after entering the port. 4. The import manifest must contain a true account of the nature of the cargo on board, and must be handed to the Customs before any application to break bulk can be attended to. 5. The landing and discharging of cargo must be carried on within the limits of the inner anchorage, as defined in Rule 2,-can only take place between sunrise and sunset,and cannot go on, without special permission, on Sundays or holidays. Cargo-boats employed for the shipment or landing of merchandise cannot make use of other jetties than those specified in Rule 2. 6. When ready to discharge cargo, the consignee inust send to the Customs an application in Chinese (and English), giving full particulars of the cargo to be discharged, when he will be furnished with a permit to remove his consignment from the ship by which imported, and to place the same in a cargo-boat. The cargo-boat must then repair to one of the authorized jetties, in order that the goods may be examined and assessed for duty. A "Customs' memo." will thereupon be issued, to be taken to the Bank by the consignee, who, upon payment of the duty therein noted, will be supplied with a duty receipt." Upon the presentation at the office of Customs of the duty receipt, a "duty-paid order" will be issued. The goods imported may then be removed from the Customs' jetty, and placed in the merchant's godown. 7. In the case of goods to be shipped, the shipper must send them to one of the authorized jetties for examination, with an application in Chinese (and English) for a permit to ship, containing all necessary particulars. The goods will then be examined, and a "Customs' memo." issued, and on the production at the office of the "duty receipt," a "duty-paid order" will be issued, authorizing the shipment. 8. Cargo, for which a shipment permit has been issued, but which cannot be received on board, must be brought to one of the authorized jetties for examination before being relanded. 9. No transhipment can take place without special written permission. 10. Drawback exemption, or coast-trade duty certificates will be issued simultaneously with the permit for the shipment of the goods covered by them; exemption or coast trade duty certificates for goods imported must be presented simultaneously with the consignee's application for the permit to land. 11. Before application is made for the "Customs clearance," the export manifest must be handed in. All dues and duties having been paid, the clearance will be issued. 12. Cargo-boats must be registered at the Customs, and must have their respective numbers conspicuously painted on them in English and Chinese characters. No cargo can be transhipped, shipped, or landed, without special permission, except in duly registered cargo-boats. The trade with Amoy has regularly increased since the port was opened in 1844. The exports consist of Ankoi, oolung, and other kinds of black tea, coarse chinaware, sugar, alum, kittysols, rice, medicines, tobacco, tiles, and iron-ware. The imports present nothing peculiar; raw cotton from India and cotton yarn from England are taken to some extent, and Straits' produce is still brought directly from the Archipelago in native vessels. The total value of the legal trade in English vessels alone during 1855 was over $1,800,000, which was probably about two-thirds of the entire foreign commerce of the port at that time. The southwest part of the province of Fuhkien, connected by water with Amoy, is densely inhabited by a vigorous hardy race, who have spread themselves over the neighboring islands and kingdoms, and during many hundreds of years have carried on most of the foreign intercourse between their own and other countries lying on its southern and western borders. In early times, Chinchew, or Zaitun as Marco Polo calls it, drew more of this trade than Amoy. In 1544, the Portuguese resorted to it in large numbers, but in consequence of their ill conduct towards the native traders and country people, the authorities forcibly expelled them, burning 13 ships, and destroying about 450 Portuguese residing there. Section 5. THE city of Fuhchau lies on the river Min, at the head of junk navigation. It is, like Canton, the capital of a province, and contains within its walls the yamuns of the governor-general of Min and Cheh, (i. e. the provinces of Fuhkien and Chehkiang,) the governor of Fuhkien, the treasurer, judge, chancellor, and other high provincial authorities. It is likewise the station of the prefect of Fuhchau, and also of the two district magistrates of Min and Hau-kwán, whose jurisdiction extends only a few miles beyond the city walls. By means of the river Min and its branches, which drain the region south of the Bohea hills, a large internal trade is carried on between the city and the northern parts of the province, and much produce finds its way to The foreign trade at Fuhchau is of recent growth compared with that of the other four ports opened by the treaty of 1842, nor did it have much foreign trade in early times, owing to its distance from the coast, and the opposition of officials. Legal commerce began there in 1843, but the local authorities opposed it indirectly, until after the year 1853, when Shanghai having been captured by insurgents, attention was directed to this city as an outlet for the souchong and congo teas raised in the Bohea hills, which had usually been takon northward. The teamen then began to bring their stocks down the headwaters of the Min and on to Fuhchau, and the next year, oolung teas were also taken there. Opium had previously been sold at the stations below Kinpai Pass and at Pagoda island, and a few cottons and woolens had been bartered at the city; but the whole trade hardly occupied the time of half a dozen agents living there, until this diversion of the tea took place, since which it has steadily increased. The walled city, about eight miles in circuit, lies more than two miles from the river, and is connected with it by a closely built suburb called Nantai. The river here runs nearly east, and the city is on the northern bank. At the end of the suburb is the islet of Chunchau, connected with the main by a long and substantially built stone bridge, one of the celebrated features of the place. This islet is nearly covered with buildings, and not unfrequently overflowed by the freshes in the river. A small stone bridge joins it to a large island, which extends up and down the river about eighteen miles, and presents in its wooded hills, terraced slopes, well watered valleys, and cultivated fields, the most beautiful scenery near any of the ports on the coast of China. The foreign storehouses and dwellings are built both on Chun-chau and on the opposite shore of the large island; the stream between is nearly covered with the cargo boats required in the traffic. The streets are narrow, and the native houses in this part of the suburbs built closely together. All the consuls have their offices here, though the British consulate still holds a house within the city walls, where it had been first established in 1845 to resist the supposed desire of the people to exclude foreigners from the gates. A few foreigners reside within the walls, and there is no restraint upon their movements in its suburbs, or among the neighboring villages. It is the only one of the five ports which has not been attacked by an invading force and half destroyed during the last ten years. CUSTOMS' REGULATIONS. I. The port shall have been considered to have been entered by any vessel that has passed Kinpai. II. On entering the port, tide-waiters will be placed on board. III. The place at which the shipment and discharge of cargo must take place are Pagoda Island, Kushan, and that part of the river between the Bridge and the Teenhow temple. IV. Vessels must, if possible, within forty-eight hours after entering the port, deposit with the consul their papers and manifests. If there be no consul, these must be deposited with the Customs. V. Manifests must be signed by masters of vessels, and must contain all particulars, quantity, marks, numbers, &c., and any changes must be made within twenty-four hours. VI. Landing and discharging of cargo or ballast can only take place between sunrise and sunset, and cannot go on without special permission on Sundays or holidays. |