LAMP AC AO, A MYSTERY OF THE 



FAR EAST 



H. B. MORSE 



Lampacao, as it is called in English books (sometimes 

 Lampakaw) has never had its position identified. The name 

 was evidently taken in by English sailors, through the eye 

 and not the ear, from the Portuguese Lampagao. The 

 Chinese name, according to J. B. Morrison's " Chinese Com- 

 mercial Guide," is Langpehtsao (JB 6 M ). He says, 3rd 

 edition, 1848, p. 66— 



''Between Ta Wongkum (Montanha) and Samtsao-u is 

 the entrance to the Broadway. Here we look in vain for 

 the particular island which, under the name of Lampacao> 

 (Langpihtsaou) was once, for several years, the residence of 

 many Portuguese merchants. None of the islands lying 

 outside, between St. John's and Montanha, afford sufficient 

 shelter against all winds; and we must therefore seek for 

 it within the entrance of the Broadway. It is strange that 

 a place where, in 1560, there were said to have been 500 or 

 600 Portuguese constantly dwelling, should now be entirely 

 lost to the recollection of the living no further from it than 

 Macao. The island was occupied by the Portuguese in 1542; 

 in 1554 the trade was concentrated there; in 1557 Macao 

 began to rise into notice ; and 1560 is the latest date at which 

 we find any mention made of Lampacao; but it was then, 

 apparently, a flourishing place." 



But inside the Broadway there is no trading mart to 

 which a deep ship could ascend. In 1664 the E. I. C. ship 

 Surat was expelled from Macao, and, after "riding between 

 Samtsaou and Montanha" for 14 days, she "sailed away for 

 the Lampakaw Islands," and tried to trade there. 



In 1683 the E. I. C. ship Carolina went from Macao 

 "to Lantao," mooring very certainly in the Kapsingmun 

 anchorage, and, on leaving Lantao, she "sailed out from the 

 islands," and arrived the next day (September 18th), after 

 sailing probably 30 to 36 hours, and "came to anchor in the 

 harbour of Lampacao." There, according to the diary of 

 her supercargoes, they did some trading; but the existing 

 copy of the ship's log ends on September 3rd. 



