172 PREJUDICES AGAINST FOOCHEW-FOO 



rate. In short, it cannot be doubted that the 

 readiness with which all other demands were 

 granted, and the resistance offered to the opening 

 of this port, mark its importance in the estimation of 

 the Imperial Government, as threatening the re- 

 moval of the black tea trade from the port of 

 Canton. And too much praise cannot be bestowed 

 on Sir Henry Pottinger for his great sagacity in at 

 once duly appreciating the importance of this port, 

 and for his firmness in risking a renewal of hos- 

 tilities to secure so great a privilege. It is to be 

 hoped that advantages thus obtained by arms, may 

 not be cast to the winds and rendered nugatory, 

 through the supineness and want of enterprise on 

 the part of the British merchants established at 

 Canton. 



It must be acknowledged, however, that the 

 navigation of the river Min, both above and below 

 bridge, does appear to present certain difficulties ; 

 and the port, especially, is not so accessible as that 

 of Amoy or Shanghai : but let these disadvantages 

 be examined dispassionately, and with a disposition 

 to counteract them, and we shall then find, perhaps, 

 that many ungrounded fears may vanish before a 

 strict and fair investigation, and that such as are 

 real, and remain, may be surmounted by the or- 

 dinary means and expedients which navigators are 

 compelled to adopt at even the most favoured 

 ports of the world. 



But in this examination it must be borne in 



