CHINA. 



3S7 



ed a settlement, and built a city in the year 1585. This 

 inter- j s | an d, which is only about one league in length, and half 

 course with a i ea g ue m breadth, is separated from the continent of 

 * China by a small tongue of land, which is defended by a 

 ^ ovv ^ r y 8tone wa " f ee b'y garrisoned by a few Chinese 

 troops. The Portuguese city was not surrounded with 

 walls, and was merely protected by a few forts, till the 

 year 1622, when it was attacked by a Dutch squadron, 

 who were completely repulsed with a loss of 400 mer, 

 100 of whom, being taken prisoners, were employed by 

 the Portuguese in constructing two strong walls on the 

 north and south sides of the city, which, with several 

 other defences afterwards erected, have rendered the set- 

 tlement of Macao sufficiently secure to resist all the at- 

 tacks of the Chinese. This settlement continued to 

 carry on a very flourishing commerce as long as the 

 Portuguese preserved their intercourse with Japan ; but 

 it has of late greatly degenerated from its former ac- 

 tivity and wealth. Its actual commerce is by no means 

 extensive, consisting of a single ship sent annually to 

 Goa, one to Timor, one or two to Bengal, as many 

 to Manilla, and three or four to Cochmchina. One or 

 two ships arrive yearly from Lisbon, loaded with to- 

 bacco from Brazil, for which there is a great demand 

 in China, and return with different kinds of Chinese 

 merchandise. The expence of the settlement, consist- 

 ing chiefly in the sakry of the governor and of other 

 public functionaries, and the pay of the garrison, is de- 

 frayed by a duty of ten per cent, upon the cargoes of 

 the shipping. The more wealthy part of the inhabi- 

 tants either lend their money at good interest, or employ 

 it in fitting out merchantmen, while the poorer classes 

 perform the voyages, and live during the intervals upon 

 their gains. All the shop-keepers and artisans are Chi- 

 nese, as the Portuguese would reckon themselves dis- 

 graced by engaging in any kind of handicraft. There 

 is a Chinese as well as a Portuguese governor at Macao, 

 and when the respective interests of the two nations in- 

 terfere, the Chinese generally stop the supply of provi- 

 sions, and the Portuguese are obliged to purchase peace 

 and plenty by means of their dollars, which are always ac- 

 ceptable to the mandarins. The population is estimated 

 ut 12,000, of which number 8000 are Chinese. 



In the year 1602, the Dutch formed a company for 

 the purpose of trading to India ; and in 1607, they made 

 their appearance for the first time at Macao. In 1609, 

 they cruized along the coasts of China, and established a 

 commercial intercourse with Japan. In 1620, they form- 

 ed a settlement upon the island of Formosa ; and, in 1622, 

 made their unsuccessful attack upon Macao. In 1653, 

 the governor of Batavia dispatched a frigate for the pur- 

 pose of trading with the Chinese; and, in 1656 he sent 

 the first Dutch embassy to Pekin, which failed in its ob- 

 ject ot procuring liberty to trade with the ports of China. 

 In 1662, they were driven from Formosa, by the Chi- 

 nese pirate Tching-tching-kong ; and in 1673 they assist- 

 ed the Chinese in an attack upon the s>on ot Tching- 

 iching-kong, called Coxinga, who then held the sovc- 

 :.ty of the island. From this period they made re- 

 commercial voyages to China; and in 174O, when 

 a number < f Chinese had been massacred in Batavia. they 

 sent a mission to Pekin, which sufficiently exculpated 

 them to the Chinese court with respect to that affair, and 

 prevented it from producing any interruption to their 

 intercourse. In 1795, they sent their last embassy to the 

 court of Pekin, which was productive of so little com- 

 mercial benefit, while it was attended with so many cir- 

 cumstances degrading to their national character. Of all 

 the foreign companies at Canton, the Dutch continued to 



course with 

 China. 



carry on the most profitable and extensive commerce Proves- 

 with the Chinese, till their affairs in that quarter of the sive inte {' 



- - _ _ . r>i \iiref> wi 1 1 



globe became so much destroyed by the recent conquests 

 of the British. Every year, they used to fit out three, 

 four, or even five Indiamen, from 1 000 to 1200 tons bur- 

 den, for the Chinese trade. These ships, leaving Europe 

 in the autumn, proceeded to Batavia, where they landed 

 their hardware and the stores for the use of that settle- 

 ment, reserving for the Chinese market, the woollens, 

 gold-wire, copper, and ginseng, and replacing the un- 

 loaded goods with sandal wood, clove-buds, pepper, nut- 

 meg, birds nests, tin, wax, and rice. These articles, pro- 

 cured by them at little expence, and so much in demand 

 among the Chinese, yielded an immense profit ; and their 

 prudent attention, which other nations have been advised 

 to imitate, in shewing equal favour to all the Hong mer- 

 chants, prevented them from ever being entirely at the 

 mercy of any of them, and procured them more benefi- 

 cial contracts. They are charged, however, with erring 

 egregiously in several essential points, with failing to pay 

 sufficiently those, whom they employ, and thus exposing 

 themselves to the evil of being badly served ; with exer- 

 cising too little precaution in the choice of their ship cap- 

 tains ; with paying too littlt attention to the proper con- 

 struction of their veosels ; with interfering too minutely 

 in prescribing their route ; and with maintaining too 

 many factors at Canton, and observing too many tedious 

 forms in their commercial transactions. 



The English had made several detached voyages to 

 India before the year 1600, but carried on no regular 

 trade with that quarter of the globe, till the establish- 

 ment of an East India Company by Queen Elizabeth, 

 about the end of that year. In 1613, they obtained 

 permission from the Emperor of Japan to establish a fac- 

 tory at Firando for purposes of commerce, but after- 

 wards abandoned this privilege, without any reason be- 

 ing assigned. They experienced numberless obstacles 

 in the progress of their India commerce, from the in- 

 trigues of the Dutch and Portuguese, in these countries; 

 but finally succeeded in exteSiding their trade to China. 

 In 1634, Captain Weddel obtained permission from the 

 Viceroy of Goa to sail for Macao, where he had to en- 

 counter every species of discouragement and delay in the 

 prosecution of his views ; but at length, without waiting 

 for more particular permission, he dispatched some of 

 his people up the river t Canton, who experienced a 

 friendly reception from the Chinese, and laid the founda- 

 tion or that intercourse, which has hitherto subsisted be- 

 tween the two nation*. In the early periods of this na- 

 vigation, the English visited the ports of Emooy in Fo. 

 kien, and of Ning-pj in Tche-kiang ; and even erected 

 a kind of lodging upon the island of Tcheoo-shan, upon 

 which they had accidentally landed, while in quest of the 

 entrance to the river of Ning-pp ; but the Chinese, hav- 

 ing afterwards restricted all foreign traders to the port 

 of Canton, they have continued, like the other nations 

 who trade with China, to have only one factory at that 

 city. Their great article of export from Canton is that 

 of tea, of which they take on board annually about 

 '20,000,000 of pounds in weight, besides raw silk, silk 

 stuff*, sugarcandy, porcelain, camphor, nankeens, &c. 

 i i which they carry thither, besides money, lead, tin, 

 woollen and cotton cloths, pepper, and other articles of 

 merchandize. In this commerce, they employed, in 

 1795, twenty-one vessels, the amount of whose united 

 burden was not less than 20,900 tons ; but of this near- 

 ly one third was employed in commerce merely Indian, 

 while the remaining two thirds conveyed the cargoes of 

 Europe. A considerable portion of their import* to 



