309 



CANTON. 



CAPE BRETON. 



310 



which there are about thirteen, extends backwards 130 yards, into a 

 long narrow lane, on each side of which, as well as over arches that 

 cross it, are the confined abodes of the English, French, Dutch, 

 Americans, Parsees, and others. 



The European factories are called by the Chinese 'Hongs,' the 

 word hong being always used by them to denote a commercial 

 establishment or warehouse. To the east of all there is a narrow 

 inlet from the river a sort of ditch, which serves to surround a 

 portion of the city wall, as well as to drain that portion of the town. 

 This is crossed with a single arch by a narrow street at the back of 

 the factories, that leads to the warehouses of the several Hong 

 merchants, all of them communicating with the river by wooden 

 stairs, from which the tea and other goods are shipped. The space 

 occupied by the foreign factories is crossed by two well-known 

 thoroughfares, one of them named China Street, and the other Hog 

 Lane ; to which a third, called New China Street, has been added. 

 The first is rather broader than the generality of Chinese streets, and 

 contains the shops of the small dealers in carved and lacquered ware, 

 silks, and other articles in common demand by strangers. The shops, 

 instead of being set out with the showy and sometimes expensive 

 front of an English or French shop, ar<3 closed in by gloomy black 

 shutters, and very ill-lit by a small sky -light, or rather a hole in the 

 roof. The alley called Hog Lane is narrower and more filthy than 

 anything of the kind in a European town. The hovels by which it is 

 lined are occupied by abandoned Chinese, who supply the poor 

 ignorant sailors with spirits, medicated to their taste with stimulating 

 or stupefying drugs. 



The climate at Canton is generally remarkably healthy, though 

 extremely hot during the summer, and at all tunes subject to great 

 and sudden vicissitudes. In July and August the thermometer 

 sometimes reaches 100 Fahr. in the shade, and during winter it 

 occasionally falls below the freezing point at night : the average of 

 the year is about 72. 



Canton derives its chief interest and importance from having been 

 formerly the sole, and still being the principal, emporium of the 

 British trade with China. Canton city is nearly at the farthest 

 possible distance irom the capital. The policy of the Tartar dynasty 

 in confining the European trade with such obstinacy to a point so 

 im.suited to its extension may have been prompted by the desire to 

 remove the danger of external involvements from the vicinity of the 

 capital, and to derive the largest possible revenue from internal 

 duties on transit, which in this instance are known to be large. The 

 emperor derives a very large revenue, direct and indirect, from 

 Canton, and the Chinese officials practise extortion to a very great 

 degree for their own private advantage. The restriction on foreign 

 trade which confined commercial transactions to the Hong merchants 

 has been removed, and foreigners may now trade with any parties 

 they choose to employ. 



The annual amount of foreign business transacted at Canton was 

 estimated a few years ago at 80 millions of dollars ; the larger part 

 of the trade being carried on by Englishmen and Americans. All 

 the legitimate trade of China with European nations, with the 

 exception of Russia, was formerly conducted at Canton. The 

 Russian depot is at Kiachta, on the border of the empire, in Mon- 

 golia. The British possessions in India have extensive commercial 

 dealings with China, exceeding even the amount of the trade between 

 England and China. From India the principal article received was 

 formerly raw cotton ; but opium, clandestinely introduced, was more 

 recently the largest in amount. The Chinese authorities, having 

 been roused to activity on the subject, in 1839 confiscated and 

 destroyed a very large quantity of opium belonging to British 

 subjects. Redress was demanded, and a war ensued, which ended in 

 the adoption of a treaty in 1842, by which a complete change was 

 effected in the commercial policy of China. The Chinese government 

 agreed by the terms of this treaty to pay 21 millions of dollars as 

 an indemnity ; to open the ports of Amoy, Foo-cho-foo, Ningpo, 

 and Shanghai, in addition to Canton, fur the admission of the ships 

 and goods of Britain ; to cede to the British government the island of 

 Hong Kong, situated in the aestuary of the Canton River ; and to 

 establish a just tariff of duties on exports and imports. The average 

 arrivals of ships under the British flag at Canton are about 280, of 

 120,000 tons burden; of which about one-half clear out for the United 

 Kingdom, exclusive of those which clear for British ports after touching 

 at Hong Kong. The average annual value of the imports, exclusive of 

 opium, amounts to 16,000,000 dollars, the exports to from 18,000,000 

 to 20,000,000 dollars. The principal articles of export are tea, raw 

 "ilk, and silk piece-goods. Of tea the quantity exported in 1844 was 

 72,566,311 Ibs., of which 15,825,800 Ibs. went to the United States 

 and 52,179,533 Ibs. to Great Britain. The total value of the tea 

 exported in 1844 was 19,307,750 dollars. The quantity of tea 

 brought into Great Britain during the year ending 5th January 1853 

 was t>6,361,020 Ibs., and that to America had increased in a somewhat 

 larger proportion. On the 5th January 1853 the emperor of China 

 legalised the importation of opium into his dominions. 



Tea. The bulk of the Company's exportations down to the end of 

 1833, when the trade was thrown open, comprised under the head of 

 black teas bohea, congou, with souchong and oampoi, under which 

 ma; be ranged souchi and pekoe. The green teas consisted of the 



three principal distinctions of twankay, hyson skin, and hyson. The 

 two great varieties of the tea plant are the Thea viridii, which is 

 most extensively cultivated in the northern part of the empire, and 

 the Thea Bahea, which is the Canton variety. From the Thea -ciridis 

 are made all the fine green teas in the great Hwny-chow country 

 and the adjoining provinces. From the Thea Bohea are produced at 

 the pleasure of the manufacturer, and according to the demand, the 

 inferior green and black teas which are made about Canton. 



Occupations of the Inhabitants. It has been estimated that about 

 50,000 persons are engaged in Canton in the manufacture of various 

 kinds of cloth; about 17,000 in the weaving of silk; and upwards 

 of 4000 in shoemaking. A large number of persons find employment 

 as workers in wood, brass, iron, stone, &c. The book trade affords 

 considerable employment. Particular trades are associated in distinct 

 communities, guided by laws of their own in reference to the manage- 

 ment of their business. A large proportion of the articles required 

 for use in Canton and for export is manufactured at Fuh-shan, a 

 place of considerable size a few miles west from Canton. 



Money and Weights. A paper currency was adopted by the Mongol 

 conquerors of the empire, but was subsequently abandoned in con- 

 sequence of the depreciation and discredit which ensued from over 

 issues and the bad faith of the government. At Canton- silver and a 

 base alloy of copper are the two nietals in circulation. The native 

 copper com is from its low value used only hi bazaar payments, the 

 exchange varying between 700 and 800 for a Spanish dollar. The 

 Chinese seem to find it impossible to have a silver coin, from the 

 propensity of the people to play tricks with anything more valuable 

 than their base copper coin, the cash. The Spanish dollars imported 

 into Canton are very soon punched into such a state as to be exchange- 

 able only by weight. None but freshly imported dollars are received 

 without a very strict scrutiny called shroffing. The charge attendant 

 on this operation causes a premium in favour of new dollars. 



The broken Spanish dollars circulate by weight, and their proportion 

 to the tale or tael varies in different transactions, being estimated in 

 the accounts among foreigners and native merchants at the rate of 

 720 tales per 1000 dollars ; but in the weighing of money, at 717 

 tales per 1000 dollars ; and to ' outside dealers,' shopkeepers, and 

 compradors, at 715 tales per 1000 dollars. 



The Chinese money-weights are as follows : 



Tale. Mace. Candareen. Cash. Oz. Troy. Grs. Troy. 

 1 10 100 1000 1-208 579-84 



1 10 100 57-98 



1 10 5-79 



In the sycee, or fine silver prescribed for the payment of govern- 

 ment dues, 98 parts in 100 must be pure. This is cast in oblong 

 ingots, 'of 1 and 10 tales in weight, with a stamp impressed. Gold 

 is not used either for exchange or as an article of remittance. 



The commercial weights are calculated in peculs, catties, and tales, 

 and their proportions are according to this table : 



Pecul. Catties. Tales. Ibs. avoirdupois. Cwts. 



1 100 1600 1. '..;', 1-19047 



1 16 li 



(A Description of the City of Canton; The Chinete, a General 

 Description of the Empire of China and iti Inhabitant; Fortune, 

 Two Journeys into the Tea Districts of China, 1853 ; Parliamentary 

 Returns.) 



CANVEY ISLAND. [ESSEX.] 



CAPE, literally Head ( Cap, French ; Capo, Italian ; Cabo, Spanish 

 and Portuguese ; all from the Latin Caput), is a term used to indicate 

 the extremity of a portion of the coast which projects beyond the 

 general line of the shore. On rocky and much-indented coasts, as 011 

 that of northern Scotland, capes are of course very frequent, while 

 low and sandy coasts sometimes offer no cape for 50 or even 100 

 miles. On shores of the latter description they are commonly formed 

 by the change in the trending of the land, and form obtuse angles, 

 while on rocky coasts they terminate in acute angles, on which 

 account they sometimes are called Points. 



CAPE BRETON, an island of British North America, situated to 

 the E. of Nova Scotia, and forming the S.E. limit of the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence, lies between 45 27' and 47 4' N. lat., and between 

 59 45' ind 61 88' W. long. Its greatest length from north to south 

 is about 100 miles, and its greatest breadth 85 miles. Its area, 

 exclusive of the great salt waters, is about 2,000,000 acres, more 

 than one-half of which is supposed to be fit for cultivation. The 

 extent of improved land in 1851 was 63,527 acres. The island is 

 divided from the mainland of Nova Scotia by the Gut of Canso and 

 St. George's Bay. The Gut of Canso is a channel 21 miles long, 

 varying from one mile to one mile and a half in width. St. George's 

 Bay is at the northern extremity of this channel. North Point in 

 about 73 miles from Cape AnguUle, the south-western extremity of 

 Newfoundland. The population of the island in 1851 was 27,580. 



The Island of Breton contains much high land, particularly in the 

 north part, and on the east and north-west districts near the coast. 

 Cape Enfum<5, on the north-east coast, in lat. 46" 40', is 1800 feet 

 above the level of the sea. The east and south coasts are well 

 provided with harbours. St. Ann's Bay, on the east, leads through 

 a narrow pass to a safe and capacious harbour of the same name, in 

 which ships of considerable burden may anchor. Sydney Harbour, 



