TANKA BOAT WOMEN.
It is here worthy of remark, that there is every prospect of all the enormous expense which has been bestowed upon this island being totally thrown away, and that those who have speculated will lose all their money; in fact, that in a few years Hong Kong will be totally deserted, and all the money expended upon it will be lost. To explain this I must mention a few facts, not probably known to my readers.
When, many years ago, the trade with foreigners was first permitted by the Chinese government, Canton was selected as the port from which it should be carried on. The Chinese government had two reasons for making this selection: their first was, their dislike and jealousy of foreigners induced them to select a port at the very confines of the empire where the communication with them should take place, so that by no chance the foreigners should obtain any thing like a footing in or knowledge of their country; the second reason was, that by so doing they obtained, at the expence of the foreigners, a very considerable inland revenue from the tea trade. Canton is situated at least 500 miles from those provinces in which the tea is grown, and the transit to Canton is over a very mountainous range, at the passes of which tolls are levied by the government, which are now said to amount annually to seven millions. The assertion, therefore, of the Chinese government that they do not care about the trade is very false, for they have derived a great revenue from it.
The opening of the more northern ports, which was obtained by the war with China, has already made a great difference, and every year will make a greater. Shang-hai, one of the ports opened, and the farthest to the northward, is situated on the confines of the great tea country, and vessels going there to take in their cargoes avoid all the duties of transit, and procure the tea in a much better condition. The merchants of Canton, moreover, who traffic in tea, are all of them for the most part people of the province of Shang-hai, who resort to Canton to look after their interests, but now that the port of Shang-hai is opened, their merchants are returning to their own country, the English merchants are settling at Shang-hai, and the vessels are going there to load with tea direct. Already a large portion of the traffic has left Canton and gone to Shang-hai, and it is but natural to suppose, that in a few years the tea trade will be carried on altogether from that port, as the expence of transit over the mountains and the duties levied will be avoided, as well as the advantage gained of having the tea in a much better condition when shipped on board. How the Chinese government will act when it finds that it loses the great revenue arising from the trade being carried on at Canton remains to be seen, but it will, probably, succumb to another war, if such is considered necessary. It will be a curious subject of interest to watch the fall of Hong Kong, of Macao, and also of Canton itself, with its turbulent population, which must, when the trade is withdrawn, fall into insignificance.
The great error of the last war was, our selection of such an unhealthy and barren island as Hong Kong as our pied-à-terre in China, when we might have had Chusan, or, indeed, any other place which we might have insisted upon. We thought that Chusan was unhealthy because we barracked our soldiers in the swamps, and consequently lost many of the men, when, as it is a most healthy and delightful climate, had the barracks been built on the hills, we probably should not have lost a man. Even now it is not too late. The Chinese dislike our propinquity to their coast at Hong Kong, and the last expedition will have the effect of increasing this dislike. I think, with very little difficulty, the Chinese government would now exchange Chusan for Hong Kong, if it were only to keep such unpleasant barbarians, as the English have proved to be, at a more respectable distance. If we had possession of Chusan, the trade would come to our ports. The Chinese junks would come to us loaded with tea, and take our goods in return. The trade would then be really thrown open, which at present it is not.
MAN-OF-WAR JUNK.
Murders and robberies were of daily, or, rather, nightly occurrence at Hong Kong, the offenders being Chinese, who are the most daring robbers perhaps in the world.