78 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



forming of bases by other nations from which to push their trade. 

 Chinese soil is now heid, through some excuse and under various con- 

 ditions, by Portugal, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Japan. 

 In addition to this Italy has made an unsuccessful attempt to secure a 

 foothold at San Mun Bay. 



The Portugese possession is Macao, situated on the western side of 

 the mouth of the Canton Eiver, a charming settlement covering the city 

 and a few square miles of territory separated from the main land by a 

 narrow neck. It is a delightful little piece of southern European re- 

 finement in an Oriental setting, and perhaps the only point on the coast 

 to which the word charming can be rightly applied. It was the first 

 foreign settlement in China, being ceded to Portugal in 1557 in return 

 for services in putting down pirates. On account of the shallowness of 

 the harbor, the importance of Macao as a trading point or military base 

 is very small. 



The British possessions are Hong Kong, Kow-loon and Wei-hai-wei. 

 As a result of the Opium War of 1841, the island of Hong Kong, whose 

 greatest dimension is but nine miles, and wholly mountainous, located 

 at the eastern side of the Canton estuary, directly opposite to Macao, but 

 distant therefrom about forty miles, was given over by China as a part 

 of the indemnity. In 1860 there was added the shore of the main land, 

 called Kow-loon, across the roadstead whose width is rather more than a 

 mile, in order to complete the harbor. On this island the English have 

 established a colony, built the city of Victoria, and through the mag- 

 nificent land-locked harbor, have developed a trading point, whose com- 

 merce ranks with that of the world's greatest ports. There are no cus- 

 toms dues, no restricting conditions — all nations and nationalities have 

 an equal footing, so that Hong Kong has become the great entrepot or 

 warehouse for nearly the whole of the Orient, and absolutely so for 

 Southern China, whose gateway it controls. A year's record shows that 

 over 11,000 vessels enter and clear, not including upwards of 70,000 

 junks. Thus have the English converted an apparently useless island 

 into a most valuable possession for themselves and a great stepping- 

 stone for the world's commerce. 



The next country to establish a foothold on Chinese soil was France, 

 who acquired from Annam, by war and treaty, between the years 1860 

 and 1874, part of the province of Tong-king. In 1882 further trouble 

 arising between France and Annam, the latter appealed to her pro- 

 tector, China, and war ensued. The result was the permanent occupa- 

 tion of the whole of Tong-king and the placing of the French frontier 

 next to that of China. 



At the conclusion of the Japanese war, the island of Formosa was 

 permanently ceded by China and an arrangement made for the tempo- 

 rary occupation of Port Arthur. Then Russia interfered, insisted on 



