342 
FUTURE OF TIEN-TSIN 
Chap. XX. 
It was curious to remark the effect of all this upon 
the Chinese labourers, who had probably been all 
their lives located upon the spot. They evidently 
could not realize the idea that they were really to 
move off to other quarters. In many instances I 
observed them busily engaged in putting in fresh 
crops for the following year ! They could not 
comprehend the justice or propriety of being 
turned out of their houses and lands for the 
benefit of the public, and that public the foreigner ! 
As the purchase-money had been paid into the 
hands of the Chinese Government, it had doubtless 
to submit to a “squeeze” before it reached the 
pockets of the owners of the land. 
In drawing to a close my remarks upon the port 
of Tien-tsin and the country around it, I may state 
my belief that ultimately this place will prove of 
great importance as a mart for our manufactures. 
Next to the opening of the Yang-tze-kiang, it will 
probably prove the most valuable concession ob- 
tained from the Chinese in Lord Elgin's treaty. 
When the rebellion, which has been raging for 
years in this unhappy country, has either died out 
or has been put down, the rivers and canals will 
once more swarm with boats engaged in active 
trade. The Grand Canal, which leads through some 
of the richest and most populous districts of the 
empire, and which is now choked up in many places 
with mud, or rendered unsafe by bands of rebels 
and robbers, will then become the busy highway it 
once was, and foreigners as well as natives will be 
