Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China/Amoy
AMOY.
By Cecil A. V. Bowra, Commissioner of Customs.
MOY, the more southerly of the two ports in the province of Fokien, lies in lat. N. 24° 27', long. E.G. 118° 5'. Fokien, the area of which is about 46,000 square miles, with an estimated population of some twenty-five millions, is almost wholly mountainous. In the southern portion which constitutes the Amoy hinterland, range supervenes upon range, with here and there patches of fertile valley; the rivers are shallow, and impeded by rapids; the valleys are difficult of access, and produce but a bare livelihood for the inhabitants, who, reported to be the rudest and least cultivated of all the peoples in China, are largely constrained to better their condition by emigration. The sea-coast of rugged granite rocks is fringed with islands and deeply indented with numerous bays, bights, and inlets. At the head of these inlets are to be found the principal cities and the mouths of the chief rivers.
The island of Amoy lies in a large shallow bay, the extremities of which are Huithau Point on the north-east, and Tinhai Point on the south-west. The island of Quemoy and a chain of islets form a breakwater across the mouth of the bay, and serve as an effective protection against the heavy seas of the Formosa Channel. The Dodd Island and Chapel Island lights mark the approach of the port, and at the southern entrance to the harbour stand the Taitan and Tsingseu Lighthouses.
The advantages of the situation of Amoy as a shipping centre are manifest. It has a good deep-water harbour, easy of access at all states of the tide; it has well-lighted approaches, and fair docking facilities; it is the natural mainland port for the trade with Formosa and the Philippines, and it lies conveniently situated between the great ports of Hongkong and Shanghai.
The city of Amoy is placed on the south-western corner of the island, and is politically in the district of T'ung-an and the prefecture of Ch'üanchow-fu (Chinchew). It consists of an inner citadel of small extent, surrounded by a decrepit wall standing in the midst of thickly populated suburbs, which stretch along the sea-shore to the south-west as far as the forts and the parade-ground (and foreigners' racecourse), which lie near the village of Ê-mñg-kang. The entire circuit of the city and suburbs is about eight miles. The population is usually put down at 114,000, and that of the rest of the island at about 100,000 more.
The town fronts the narrow strait, seven to eight hundred yards in width, which divides it from Kulangsu—the small island on which foreigners reside, and, since 1903, an international settlement under the governance of a Municipal Council. This strait, though narrow for vessels of great length, gives safe and commodious anchorage to ordinary coasting steamers and constitutes the inner harbour. Large ocean-going ships and men-of-war are usually berthed either at the north or south end of Kulangsu, in either of which places they can find good anchorage. On the Amoy side lies the British Concession, marked by its bund, backed by the row of foreign hongs. This is the principal business quarter of the town, where the foreign trade is carried on, and near which are located the establishments of the leading Chinese merchants. The bulk of the foreign residents cross the harbour daily from their homes in Kulangsu to their offices in Amoy. Kulangsu is almost entirely a residential quarter; the only offices to be found there, besides a foreign store or two, are the various Consulates with their post offices, the Municipal Council office, and the foreign telegraph and telephone companies' agencies.
Amoy Island is about 35 miles in circumference and 10 miles in width. It would be somewhat circular in shape but for the large indentation on the western side, known to foreigners as the Dock Creek, which almost cuts the island in two. A range of granite hills, covered with large boulders poised in fantastic positions, extends along the southern and western sides. At intervals the hills fall back from the sea, leaving a small area of level land which is laid out in fields and dotted with villages. The north and east portions of the island are a flat plain, highly cultivated and thickly populated, the chief productions being sweet potatoes, rice, wheat, ground-nuts, and garden vegetables. A remarkable feature of Amoy is the vast number of graves it contains. The hillsides nearest the city are in some cases almost faced with solid masonry, so closely placed together are the "chunam"-covered tombs, while all over the island graves stud every mound and hill, making one gigantic cemetery of it. The hills behind the town are dotted here and there with temples, often placed in extremely picturesque situations. These form favourite places of resort, not only for natives, but also for foreigners on pleasure bent, who frequently use them for picnics. The appearance of the harbour as it is approached from the sea is one of considerable beauty. The rugged islands, the rocky hills, the blue water, and the pretty island of Kulangsu with its buildings coloured as in a southern European town, combine to make an attractive picture.
Amoy is the port of foreign trade for South Fokien, a region which, though politically and administratively united with the northern half of the province of Fokien, is geographically and ethnologically distinct. Shut off from the other portion of the province and the rest of China by high mountain ranges, the inhabitants of what might be called the Amoy district have always preserved their distinctive peculiarities. Isolated from the interior of their country, their trend for many centuries has been seawards towards Formosa, the Philippine Islands, and the countries of the Malay Archipelago. It is not easy to define exactly in what the Amoy district consists. It is supposed that some ten millions speak the language of Amoy and its subordinate dialects. But the interior of the province is not well known, or, at least, has been but little written about. The whole region is mountainous and inaccessible, and the clan system, which still prevails in its full strength with its perpetual conflicts, has prevented the cohesion of the people. The precise limits within which each dialect is spoken are not known, and possibly on the southern and western borders we may pass into populations which have as little in common with the men of Amoy as the latter have with the people of Foochow. But, roughly speaking, we may take the six southern prefectures or departments of Fokien as forming the district served by Amoy, and as containing populations which are sufficiently nearly related in race, customs, and speech to be considered as one people. These departments are Hsinghua-fu (locally Henghòa), Ch'üanchow-fu (Chinchew), and Changchow-fu (Chiangchiu) on the seaboard; and Yungch'un-chow (Engchhun) Lungyen-chow (Lêngnâ), and Tingchow-fu (Thengchiu) inland. Of these Amoy is principally concerned with the prefectures nearest to the port—Chôanchiu, in which Amoy is situated, and Chiangchiu; or, to give them the names by which they are more commonly called, after their capital cities, Chinchew and Changchow. These two divisions contain together some 8,000 to 10,000 square miles of territory, and a population which is quite unknown, but may be guessed to be somewhere between two and three millions. The city of Changchow is distant some 35 miles to the westward of Amoy, and the Lung-Kiang, the river on which it stands, pours into an inlet at the head of the bay in which the island is located. A short distance to the north there is another inlet leading to Anhai, which is the landing place for the journey to Chinchew, which lies some 40 miles beyond, or 60 miles from Amoy. Amoy is the port for these large cities; it furnishes them with their foreign supplies, and ships away their productions.
The Oldest European Resident in Amoy.
The chief Chinese official in Amoy is the Taoutai or Intendent of Circuit. His jurisdiction comprises the three prefectures of Hsinghua, Ch'üan-chow, and Yungch'un, and he resides in Amoy. The only other civil official of standing is the "hai-fang-t'ing" or maritime sub-prefect, who is the magistrate of the island. The "t'i-t'u," or provincial commander-in-chief of Fokien, has his station on Amoy, He is supposed to combine military and naval functions, and is posted here presumably on account of the former military importance of the port with reference to Formosa, but his duties nowadays are mostly connected with the suppression of revolutionaries and clan-fighters.
Kulangsu is under the control of a Municipal Council, consisting of six foreign and one Chinese member, the former elected by the foreign ratepayers, the latter nominated by the Taoutai. The constitution of the Council and the government of the island are based upon the "Land regulations for the settlement of Kulangsu, Amoy," approved by the Foreign Ministers and accepted by the Chinese Government in 1902. The island became an international settlement under the control of the Council on May 1, 1903. There is a Mixed Court Magistrate, appointed by the Chinese authorities, who deals with charges brought by the Council or others against Chinese on the island, while foreign offenders are dealt with by their own Consuls. The Council employs a foreign superintendent of police, who is also secretary to the Council, and a small force of Sikh police. Under this management the island has made progress in many ways, and has become the place of residence, in addition to the foreigners, of a number of wealthy Chinese, who have bought or built foreign houses there.
Like Kulangsu, the British Concession on Amoy has its Municipal Council, consisting of five members elected from the lot holders, who hold their land from the British Government, which rents the whole Concession from the Chinese Government. There is a British inspector of police and a small force of Chinese constables.
The climate of Amoy is, for its latitude, a mild and agreeable one. It was remarked in 1871 by Dr. (now Sir) Patrick Manson, then medical officer in Amoy:—"For Europeans, as they are now housed, the climate cannot be considered unhealthy. Their places of business and a few of their residences are situated along the foreshore of the town—rather a hot locality—but for the most part they have their private houses on Kulangsu. … In the summer they have the full benefit of the strong sea-breezes blowing during the greater part of the day, and of the land winds at night. … Did the residents display as much wisdom in the furnishing of their tables as they have in the building of their houses, they might live as comfortably here—as far as health is concerned—for eight or ten years, as they could in Europe." Since these words were written, the value of hygiene and clean living has come to be more realised in China, as elsewhere; and were Sir Patrick to revisit Amoy he would probably not find much cause for animadversion. The year divides about equally into a hot and cool season; the summer is the time of the south-west monsoon and is tropical; during the winter, or north-east monsoon, the weather is often mild and warm, but liable to suddenly change to sharp cold. The thermometer ranges between 40° and 96° Fahrenheit, but these extremes are seldom reached; an ordinary summer day in an airily situated house on Kulangsu being perhaps from 82°–87°, and a winter day from 57°–62° Fahrenheit. The comparative salubrity of the climate is no doubt largely due to its dryness, which is remarkable for the latitude. The annual rainfall is only some 40 inches, against 46 inches in Foochow and 80–90 inches in Hongkong. The foreigners who have lived long in the port look healthy, and have none of the worn appearance common to European dwellers in tropical countries. The most marked effects of the climate are nervous and mental; mental lassitude, loss of memory, &c., probably effect more or less all but the very young. These symptoms are also to be observed among the natives, and are no doubt the result of the prolonged heat and rarefied unbracing air; perhaps they account to some extent for the craving for narcotics such as opium and morphia, which is such a marked characteristic of the Chinese of this region. Kulangsu, though found terribly unhealthy when occupied by the British garrison in 1842, except for occasional cases of malaria in the valleys, is a healthy enough place of residence nowadays,
Municipal Council, and (to quote Sir Patrick Manson again) "a little languor by the end of summer, becoming more pronounced as a rule the longer one stays here, is perhaps the only climatic disease a sensible man need suffer from." But Amoy City is a hotbed of every form of disease, among which plague and cholera are prominent. The causes are the filthy state of the town, and the fact that the civilisation of the people has not advanced to the point at which the advantages of hygiene is realised.
HISTORY.
The name Amoy is derived from the Chinese name of the island as pronounced in the Changchow dialect, but by the local Chinese it is called E-mng. The "mandarin" pronunciation of the name is Hsia-men. The modern name seems to have been given during the Ming period, but to have come into regular use only since the subjugation of the island by the present hending the estuary of the Changchow River, we have the seat of a very ancient trade with foreign countries. "Amoy must be taken as the successor and representative of the mediaeval port of Zaitun, concerning which Yule gives this note : — ' Zayton, Zaitun, Zeithun, Caylon, the great port of Chinese trade with the West in the Middle Ages, that from which Polo sailed on his memor- able voyage, that at which Ibn Batuta landed, and from which Marignolli sailed for India, is mentioned by nearly all the authors who speak of China up to the fourteenth century inclusive. A veil falls between China and Europe on the expulsion of the Mongols, and when it rises in the sixteenth century, Zaytun has disappeared.' "' Zaitun had indeed disappeared ; and so completely, that a controversy has raged over the identification of the site. Into the details of this it is needless to enter, for the weight of evidence — to the mind of the present writer at least — sustains the plea advocated stoutly by the late Mr. George THE ANOLO-CHINESE COLLEGE. dynasty. Chia-ho-listi (locally, Kaho-su), which means " the island of good crops," was the name by which the island uas first known to history. The fanciful nature of this appel- lation (like that of Kulangsu, the Chinese characters denoting which mean " drum- wave island ") leads one to surmise that it is only the Chinese adaptation of the name of the island in some lost pre-Chinese langu- age. During the Ming period Amoy was called by the military title of Chung-tso-so, the " middle left place." Koxinga gave a name of his own devising, Ssu-ming-chou, or the " island mindful of the Ming." Amoy is also known in the literary language as Lu-chiang or Lu-hsii, the "egret river" or '■ egret island," so called from the number of egrets or paddy-birds which frequent it. So far as the present city of Amoy is con- cerned, its rise to commercial importance is of comparatively recent date, and may be said to be coincident with the establishment of the modern foreign trade. But, taking Amoy Harbour in its larger sense as compre- Phillips for many years : that the modern district city of Haiteng — situated at the en- trance to the Changchow River, formerly called Geh Kong and the port to the city of Changchow until supplanted by Amoy — occupies the site of the port of the famous medieval town.t " After the expulsion of the Mongols from China, foreign commerce still flourished at this Fuhkien port, and it was at its zenith about the middle of the fifteenth century, which it maintained till
- •' Catliay and the Way Thither." Vol. I. p, 108.
t There is no doubt that Marco Polo's Zaitun was to all intents one of the places immediately north or south of Amoy, and it almost certainly included, in a trader's sense, both Changchow and Chinchew. These are still the great emigration and trade ports for the Southern Ocean and both of them lie near the European "open port " in Amoy Hay, Learned men have long disputed what "Zaitun" specifically means, but I think it almost certainly stands for the coast town of Haiteng. which, though not made an "official " city until 1564, nuist have long borne that name. — "China; Her History, Dip- lomacy, and Commerce." E. H. Parker p. 71. , when, owing to Japanese raids, it gradually declined."* In the day's of Zaitun's greatness Amoy was only one of Marco Polo's " Isles of the ocean." It was sparsely populated, and the prey of the native pirate and the Japanese sea-rover. Its birth as a place of commercial importance may be said to be coincident with the arrival of the foreign vessels early in the seventeenth century, the establishment of the Dutch tr>iding posts in Formosa, and the consolidation of the Koxinga power. In the throes with which the mainland was con- vulsed during the expiring years of the Ming, foreign trade naturally found that it could best be carried on in the port governed by the strong hands of the Koxinga family ; the Zaitun, or Hai-ting trade, which had long been waning, shifted here ; the easy approach and the natural advantages of the harbour soon won appreciation, and here the trade has remained. Foreign trade under the new conditions was ushered in by the Portuguese, who put in an appearance here not long after their tirst arrival in Canton in 1516. The Ch;mg- chow and Ch'iianchow-fu merchants seem to have been eager to trade, and intercourse was carried on at the island of Go-sii, outside Tsingseu, at the entrance to Amoy Harbour. Hut the ollicial mind w,is strongly set against it, and in 1547 it is recorded th,it some ninety Chinese merchants were beheaded for the offence of trading with foreigners. Com- merce, however, no doubt went on clandes- tinely. After the Portuguese came the Spaniards, who in 1575 sent a mission from Manila to Foochow with a view of obtaining per- mission to trade from the Viceroy. In this they were unsuccessful, but a steady trade was established by junk between Amoy and Manila. " This important trade employed thirty to forty Chinese junks running con- stantly between Amoy and Manila. Silk, porcelain, and other products weie carried, amounting to a million and a half dollars in gold annually. At that period there were more than fourteen thousand Spanish in Mexico who were dependent upon the raw silk of China to weave the celebrated fabrics so much in vogue at that time. The Spanish vessels carried this merchandise from Manila to Mexico. So extensive was the intercourse with China that twenty thousand Chinese had located in Manila."t The Spaniards on their journey to Foochow anchored at Amoy, which they called Tan-su-so, the local pro- nunciation of Chung-tso-so, the name of the island during the Ming dynasty. "This Tan-su-so is a gallant and freshe towne, of forre thousand householders, and hath con- tinually a thousand souldiers in garrison and compassed about with a great and strong wall ; and the gates fortified with plates of yron ; the foundations of all the houses are of lime and stone, and the walls of lime and yearth and .some of brick ; their houses within very fairely wrought, with great courts, their streetes faire and brode all paved."| The law at this time against a Chinese leaving his country, and against the admission of foreigners into China, was very strict, and when the Dutch first arrived in these waters, in 1604, they found great difliculties to con- tend with. So hostile were the Chinese measures that the Dutch admiral, Wybrand van Warwyk, was compelled to leave the Pescadores. The Dutch attention was turned • Phillips' " Two Medixval Fuhkien Trading Ports," p. 5. t Davidson : " Island of Formosa," p. 12, Note. J " Mendoza," Vol. 11. p. 41. towards Japan, where permission to trade was obtained in 1611, and no further serious attempt was made on China until 1622. In that year a squadron of fourteen ships arrived from Batavia, and took possession of the Pescadores, whence expeditions were sent over to Amoy to try to compel the Chinese to trade. The result was that open hostilities were carried on for two years, the Chinese resorting to every device to get rid of the unwelcome strangers. They were finally so far successful that the Dutch retired to Formosa in 1624, where they built forts and established themselves. From that time intercourse, though technically forbidden, was carried on chiefly at Little Quemoy and Go-su, the merchants of the neighbourhood taking them cargoes of silk and sugar, much of which found its way to Japan and Batavia. The Dutch trade with Amoy was, of course, broken by their expulsion from Formosa by Koxinga in 1662. " The Dutch not only traded with the Chinese and Japanese in Formosa, but also sent their own ships to China and Japan to deal directly. Peter Nuits, the Dutch Governor, in his report on trade, stated that silver was sent by junks from Taiwan to the mainland city of Amoy ; some- times to be remitted to their agents who resided there, sometimes to be given to the merchants who were to provide merchandise for the markets of Japan, India, and Europe. This could only be done with the connivance of the Governor of Foochow, and was very advantageous, for goods could thus be obtained so as to allow a greater profit than those delivered at Taiwan by the Chinese compradores. Also, when the time arrived for the departure from Taiwan of the Dutch ships for Japan or Batavia, if their cargoes were not complete, they were sent across to China by stealth, where they were filled up with goods which were brought on board in great quantities and at a cheaper rate than they could be bought at Taiwan, the differ- ence in the price of silk alone being some eight or ten taels per picul. If time allowed, these vessels returned to Taiwan ; otherwise, they were sent direct to their destinations. The principal exports were raw silk and sugar to Japan, the amount of the latter being as much as 80,000 piculs in one year ; silk piece goods, porcelain, and gold to Batavia ; while paper, spices, amber, tin, lead, and cotton were imported to Formosa ; and, with the addition of Formosan products, such as rice, sugar, rattans, deer-skins, deer-horns, and drugs, were exported to China."[1]
"The Koxinga power dates from 1626, when Cheng Chih-lung, the founder of this remarkable family invaded and took Amoy. It was held by him, his still more famous son, Cheng Ch'eng-kung, "Koxinga," and his grandsons, until 1680, when it fell finally into the hands of the Manchu Government."[2]
It was during the period of the Koxinga domination that English vessels first appeared in Formosa and at Amoy. The ejection of the Dutch from Formosa by Koxinga gave an opportunity to the East India Company to open up trade with the "King of Tywan." On June 23, 1670, the Bantam Pink, accompanied by the sloop Pearl, which had sailed up from Bantam, anchored off Anping, in South Formosa. "We were the first foreign ship or junk that has been here since the Chinese Tywanners took it from the Dutch." An agreement was drawn up for the establishment of a factory, by which the English obtained fairly favourable terms. But the famous freebooter had not much idea of traffic beyond helping himself to such articles as took his fancy, and imposing such exactions as he thought fit. The trade in Formosa did not flourish, but in the factory at Amoy, which appears to have been established about the same time, better results were obtained. "The trade in Amoy was more successful than at Zealandia, and a small vessel was sent there in 1677, which brought back a favourable report. In 1678 the investments for these two places were $30,000 in bullion and $20,000 in goods ; the returns were chiefly in silk goods, tutenague, rhubarb, &c. ; the trade was continued for several years, apparently with considerable profit, though the Manchus continually increased the restrictions under which it laboured. In 1681 the Company ordered their factories at Amoy and Formosa to be withdrawn, and one to be established at Canton or P'uchau, but in 1685 the trade was renewed at Amoy In 1701 the investment for Amoy was £t,!, and for Canton ;f40,8oo In 1734 only one English ship came to Canton, and one was sent to Amoy, but the extortions there were greater than at the other port, whereupon the latter vessel withdrew. . . . The Hardwicke was sent to Amoy in 1744 and obliged to return without a cargo."[3] Local records of this old trade appear to be nonexistent. The only vestige left is the tombstones on Kulangsu. which tell of the foreign sailors who were buried on the island. These graves occupied a corner on the north-east side of the island, where they lay undisturbed in some cases for two centuries. But with the growth of population in Kulangsu, in recent years, it was desirable to remove them to the foreign cemetery. A subscription was raised among the foreign residents, and the inscriptions on the stones were restored. The site of the English factory is not known, not even to tradition. " Slightly to the northward of the Amoy Dock is the wall of the old Dutch factory. Another evidence of the former connection of the Dutch with Amoy is afforded by the triumphal arches, with figures of Dutchmen sculptured on them in relief, standing a short distance beyond the site of the former British Consulate (now the Taoutai's yamen). No very clear history is attached to them, but it is presumed they were erected about 1664, when the Dutch were permitted by special edict to trade with
OLD SPANISH SILVER COINS, DUG UP IN AMOY BY H. F. RANKIN. (Showing Reverse Side.) Thirty-three in all, found in an urn in Amoy City at a depth of 30 feet below the surface. Weight equal to that of the present Mexican dollar. Stamped with Castilean Coat "of Arms at beginning of the seventeenth century. (Vide "Spanish Coins " in larger "History of Spain.")
Chang-chow-fu."[4] In 1730 the Chinese Government centred all the foreign trade at Canton and only permitted Spanish ships to trade at Amoy. But trade, no doubt, went on intermittingly and clandestinely, and at the beginning of the nineteenth century received an impetus from the sudden growth of the opium traffic. Matters were not put on a regular basis, however, until the whole question of foreign trade in China came to a head in the so-called Opium War of 1841, in which Amoy soon figured as a scene of hostilities.
In 1840 an English man-o'-war was sent here to try to place a letter from Lord Palmerston to the Chinese Emperor, Tao Kuang, in the hands of the Fokien authorities for transmission to Peking. But the Chinese refused to receive the letter, and fired on the officer and boat's crew sent under the wtiite tJag to establish communication with the local oflicials. In retaliation the HIoikIc, under the command of Captain Bourchier, bom- barded the town. But the object of the mission was not accomplished, and the only result of the incident was to imbue the Chinese with the idea that Anioy was a place likely to be attacked, and to aiuse them greatly to strengthen the defences. When the British squ:»dron arrived in August, 1841, to take possession of the ix>rt, it was found that a surprising change had taken place in the fortifications, upon which the guns of the ships made little impression, and the town had to be taken by escalade. The story of the occupation of Ainoy and Kulangsu by Admiral Sir William Parker and General Sir Hugh Gough, accompanied by Sir Henry Pottinger, Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary, may be quoted from the contemporary accounts published in the ■• Chinese Repository " (vol. x., pp. 524, 621):— " The following was the order of sailing: Bentinck, sure-ing vessel; Qiiccii; Wellcsley; Sesostris; Phlegfthoii: Blenheim; Wnicsis; Columbine; Million; Modcste; seven trans- ports bearing a detachment of the 4(;th and the whole of the i8th Regiment; six pro- ision transports; eight transpvirts bearing a detachment of the 26th, the 55th entire, with engineers and artillery; Dntid, wing ship; Blonde, wing ship; Fylades; Ciiiizer; Alj^cr- ine. " 24th. — At noon, a little to the westward of Breaker Point, the ships making good progress. ••25th. — At noon about seventy miles from Chapel Island, and the order of sailing pretty well preserved by the whole squadron. During the afternoon the wind increased considerably from the south-eastward; at dark, with a strong breeze, the ships ran into Amoy. The whole squadron, however, was not anchored till rather a late hour, in a fine moonlight evening. In taking up her anchorage, the Columbine ran foul of the Wellesley. not without some serious damage, Mr. William Maitland having been struck with great xiolence, and others narrowly escaping. Some guns were fired from Quemoy, as the squadron passed. . . , . . Omitting to attempt to give, for the present, any des- cription of the city of Amoy, we will detail here such facts as have come to our know- ledge respecting its defences and their fall, as alxjve noticed. " On the south side of the island, upon which the city stands, and south from it, was a heavy battery, about 1,100 yards long, and its wall about 14 feet at the base, mounting 90 guns; over against this, in a south- westerly direction, on Red Point, was another battery of 42 guns; nearly between these, but further westward, on the island of Koolangsu. were several other batteries. •' Early in the morning, which was hot and calm, the admiral, general, and plenipotentiary (the staff of each accompanying theinl em- barked on board the Phlcgctlion to reconnoitre. They proceeded within range of the long line of guns to the right on Amoy, and of the works to the left on Red Point, taking such positions in their course as to enable them to observe the defences on either hand, as well as those on Ko<jlangsu. where the men were seen engaged adding to their sand batteries. "A Chinese merchant was sent off in the course of the morning with a flag of truce to the squadron, to ask what might be its object. A demand of surrender was returned by his hands. A junk with a white flag, found after- wards to be owned by Siamese, came in while the vessels were advancing to engage, and stood on for some time after the action had commenced, seemingly in perfect confidence of being let alone. " .At 1 o'clock the Queen and Sesostris stood in for the east end of the long battery, and the Blonde with the Druid and Mo<hste for Ko<ilangsu. The Sesostris tirst tired. It was returned. The Queeti then conunenced. The batteries on all sides soon opened. The Bcnliiick gave the soundings for the Wellesley and Blenheim, in front of the long battery, distant 400 yards. The Chinese did endure the fire right manfully, standing to their guns until they were shot down by musketry in their rear. The batteries were never completely silenced by the ships' guns, and it is believed they never would have been. It was not till the troops landed that the majority of the men fled. Some were bayoneted where they stood at their guns; and two or three chief oflicers destroyed themselves — one, strange to say, by walking coolly into the water. The troops landed at several points, and drove all before them. The batteries on Red Point were almost entirely disregarded. By six o'clock the Moiteste and some of the other vessels were at anchor in the inner harbour. The troops, having passed through tiie southern suburbs, mounted the heights between them and the chief town, where they bivouacked for the night, and entered the citadel ne.xt morning. Thus fell the boasted strength of Amoy. " The wall of the long battery was found to be a masterly piece of work. When looked at from the sea, it had appeared as a town wall, with sand batteries in front; but instead of this, it was a strong and thick wall of good height, with only small, low gun-ports, and a defence between one gun- port and another of a thick earth battery of equal height with the wall; over each gun- port, too, mud was laid, so as to prevent the striking off of splinters from the stone. " About one hundred sizeable junks were found in the inner harbour, which is spacious, well-protected, and having good anchorage. " The 27th, Friday, was occupied by Sir Hugh Gough in possessing himself of the citadel and town. Late in the day, the plenipotentiary and admiral landed, and visited the town. " Yen Pihtow, the governor of Fuhkeen and Chekeang, having been for some little time past residing at Amoy, must have been spectator of the light; but no certain infor- mation could be obtained, regarding either him or of Admiral Tow Chinpew, commander- in-chief of the naval forces of the province. The admiral, it was said, had gone out for a cruise. Yen and Tow are both natives of Canton. "In course of this day, the body of the officer who had walked into the water was found lying on the beach. If he was actually the person he was stated to be — the tsung- ping — he was the chief in command at the time, having left his usual station at Quemoy to take the place of the absent admiral. " On the 28th, early in the morning, the plenipotentiary and admiral landed, and went up to Sir Hugh's quarter in the city. Sir Henry visited several of the large buildings in the citadel, and in the course of the day removed with his suite on board the Blenheim. " Here we must close these details for the present, only remarking that the Druid 42, Pyhidcs 18, and the Al^erinc 10, with three transports and 400 men (being one wing of the 18th and the entire detachment, one hundred and twenty or one hundred and fifty men of the 26th Cameronians) were to remain on Koolangsu, Amoy being evacuated, and the squadron under orders for the northward, destined it was supposed, for Ningpo, Chinhae, and Chusan." .... " The capture of Amoy was chiefly a naval operation, and the little that was left for the troops to do was done by the iStli Royal Irish. Scarcely had the fleet on the 26th August taken up their position opposite the batteries of Amoy, when a boat bearing a white flag w.is seen to approach the Wellesley. An ofticer of low rank was the bearer of the paper, demanding to know what our ships wanted, and directing us ' to make sail for the outer waters ere the celestial wrath should be kindled against us, and the guns from the batteries annihilate us! ' The line of works certainly presented a most formidable appearance, and the batteries were admirably constructed. Manned by Europeans no force could have stood before them. For four hours did the ships pepper at them without a moment's cessation. The Wellesley and Blenheim each hred upwards of 12,000 rounds, to say nothing of the frigates, steamers, and small craft. Yet the works were as perfect when they left off as when they began, the utmost penetration of the shot being 16 inches. The cannonade was certainly a splendid sight. The stream of fire and smoke from the sides of the liners was terrific. It never for a moment appeared to slack. From twenty to thirty people was all that were killed by this enormous expenditure of powder and shot. " It was nearly 3 p.m. before the i8th landed, accompanied by Sir Hugh Gough and staff. They landed close to a high wall which flanked the main line of batteries, covered by the Queen and Phlegethon steamers. The flank companies soon got over the wall, driving the enemy before them. They opened a gate through which the rest of our men entered, and advancing along the battery quickly cleared it, killing more men in ten minutes than the men-of-war did during the whole day; three of our fellows were knocked over, besides others injured. One officer cut his throat in the long battery, another walked into the sea and drowned himself in the coolest manner possible. The enemy fled on all sides so soon as our troops landed. We bivouacked as best we could during the night, and next morning took possession of the city without hindrance. Much treasure had been carried away, the mob leaving only the boxes which contained it. Immense quantities of military stores were found in the arsenals, and the foundries were in active operation. One two-decker, modelled from ours, and carrying thirty guns, was ready for sea, and others were on the stocks. But few war-junks were stationed here, the Chinese admiral being at this time absent with his fleet. During the engagement the Phlegethon steamer was nearly severely handled. She came suddenly opposite and close to a masked battery, the guns from which, having the exact range, opened upon her. Fortunately for the steamer, the water was sufficiently deep to come close into the land. Captain McCleverty immediately landed his men, advanced directly on the battery, and took possession of it, killing a great portion of the garrison. This was a very spirited affair, and attracted universal admiration. ... A garrison of detachments from the i8th and 26th Regiments, and the Madras Artillery was left at Amoy, with H.M. ships Druid, Pyladcs and Algcrinc." As Kulangsu completely commands the city of Amoy, it was determined to leave a small force on that island, which was capable of easy defence, and not to occupy the town itself. The people in and around Amoy showed very little fear or distrust of the troops, and found, indeed, that they were rather protectors than oppressors. The pirates of the neighbourhood, who had always been a great scourge, were kept in check, Changchow remained tranquil, and the trade with Formosa was kept up.
Under the treaty signed at Nanking on August 29, 1842, Amoy became one of the five new Treaty ports, and it was stipulated that the island of Kulangsu (as well as Chusan) should continue to be held by Her Majesty's forces until the money payments and the arrangements for opening the ports to British merchants were completed. The question as to which ports should be opened under the Treaty had given occasion for anxious con- sideration to the British Plenipotentiary ; for, outside of Canton, the knowledge of the Chinese coast and the potentialities of the trade-marts was most important. Amoy, how- ever, like Ningpo, was chosen as having been a former seat of European trade. A Spanish Catholic mission f had been estiiblished in Amoy from the early days of the Spanish trade, but the first Protestant missionaries arrived soon after the British taking of the port and installed themselves on Kulangsu. The Rev. W. J. Boone, M.D., and his wife came in 1S42, accompanied by Dr. David Abeel. In 1844 arrived the Revs. E. Doty and W. J. Pohlman, and in the same year the London Mission was opened by the Revs. A. and J. Stronach, who had previously worked among the Chinese in Penang and Singapore, and were thus conversant with the Amoy language. These were the pioneers of the iine work which has since been ex- tended to the whole of the province. Several foreign firms opened here in the early forties ; of these, Messrs. Tait & Co., opened by Mr. James Tait in 1845, and Messrs. Boyd & Co. and Messrs. Pasedag & Co., opened at about the same time, still survive in the port, though the headquarters of the two former houses are now transferred to Formosa. The chief difficulties at the opening were found to be the poverty of the population and the unpro- ductive nature of the hinterland. These were evils which have always militated against Amoy, and it is only the importance which it gained later on as the harbour and entrepot for F'ormosan teas which put it for a time among the larger ports. Another difficulty at the start was the opium ships stationed at Chinchew and Chimmo which acted as competitors with the newly opened port, but these were withdrawn later on and the opium hulks were moored off Amoy Island itself. The British Consul appears to have lived at first on Kulangsu with the garrison and afterwards in what is now the Taoutai's yamen on Amoy ; but, as Michie's " Englishman in China " gives a picture of the first British Consulate on Kulangsu, built by Mr. Alcock in 1844, we may presume that the Consul from that time on lived more or less continuously on Kulangsu, and that such premises as were occupied on Amoy were used for office purposes. The first negotia- tions for a British concession on Amoy took place in 1844, when a site on the sea-shore at E-mng-kang, near what is now the Customs stables, was agreed upon. But the spot was inconvenient and does not seem to have ever been used, and in 1851 the present site was finally settled upon. Kulangsu was evacuated by the British garrison in March, 1845, after the payment t The first Catholic missionaries came in 1589 from Manila, but they were not permitted to remain. Another more successful attempt was made in 1631, from which year dates the establishment of the Spanish mission of the Order of Saint Duminic, which has survived tlirouj*h various vicissitudes and persecutions to the present day. of the fifth instalment of the indemnity. The British Consul who arranged the evacuation was Mr. (afterwards Sir) Ktitlierford Alcock, and his interpreter was Harry Parkes, then a boy of sixteen. These two gentlemen, both bearing names famous in British annals in China, rose successively to be British repre- sentiitives in Peking. Mr. Alcock was only officiating for a few months for Captain Henry Gribble, who held the substantive post and was the first British Consul in Amoy ; Mr. George G. Sullivan was his Vice-Consul, Lieu- tenant Wade, 98th Regiment (afterwards Sir Thomas Wade, Britisli Minister at Pelting) his Interpreter, and Mr. Charles Alexander Winchester his Consular Surgeon. The early days of the Treaty port seem to have gone on qnietly enough till the time of the general upheaval in China caused by the Taeping rebellion. The first signs of unrest on the coast were exhibited at Amoy, where on May 18, 1853, a body of insurgents under the auspices of the Dagger — a branch of the Triad Society, and led by Huang Wei, Huang Teu-mei, and one Magay (so foreigners called him, his Chinese name seems to have been Ma-kin) seized the town, the official resistance being of the weakest description. Magay called himself an admiral, but his experience of warfare, naval or otherwise, seems to have been derived from serving the British garrison at Kulangsu with spirits, and from a brief cruise with a renegade Neapolitan in a lorcha. The rebels held the town until November, when the imperialist forces regained possession. The insurgents fled away to sea, and many succeeded in escaping to the Straits and P'ormosa. Magay fled with the rest, but was accidentally shot off Macao. Foreigners did not suffer during this dis- turbance. They were few in number, and Kulangsu under the protection of British gunboats afforded a safe refuge. The recovery of the city was marked by terrible cruelty on the part of the imperialist forces, who seemed bent on making a wholesale butchery of the population. So horrible were the scenes of slaughter that the foreign residents and a party landed from the liciincs and Bittern intervened to stop the beheading that went on in front of the foreign hongs. The end of the fifties was marked by the Taeping rebellion raging in Mid-China and the second Anglo-Chinese War carrying on its eventful course in the north. But the first reflection in Amoy of these stirrhig events was the establishment of the foreign Customs in 1862. The opening w-as carried out under the direction of Mr. Hart, as he then was, now Sir Robert Hart, Inspector- General of the Chinese Maritime Customs, who visited the port early in that year. The first Commissioner of Customs was Mr. W. W. Ward, who remained until December, 1862, when he transferred charge to Mr. George Hughes, who remained in control of the Ainoy Custotns off and on until March, On October 14, 1864, the port was astounded to hear that the Taeping rebels had captured the city of Changchow. The rebellion was supposed to have been simmering out safely away in the north, and the very existence of rebels in the vicinity was imsuspected. A small party had, it appeared, come overland after the fall of Nanking. There was terrible consternation in Amoy, where the Chinese had no means of resistance, and many natives fled the town. The foreigners and their property were protected by the surveying vessels Sicnllow and Dove, and by volunteers among the residents themselves. Two more gunboats, the Janus and Flamcr, were promptly sent up from Hongkong, and assistance also came from Foochow in the shape of H.M.S. Bustard, under Lieutenant Tucker, four foreign officers, one hundred men, and two guns of the Foochow Franco- Chinese force under Colonel de Mercy. Owing to the fear that they would have to pay for the maintenance of this small force, the local officials showed the strongest hostility to it, and it was obliged to return to Foochow without having been allowed to accomplish anything. Some sixty foreigners of doubtful character arrived on the scene from Shanghai, Ningpo, and Foochow with a view to joining the rebels. Some of these were stopped by their consuls, but some got through to the rebel lines. Raw levies were raised locally by the Chinese authorities, but no delermined efforts were made to oust the Taepings, and had it not been that the movement was in its expiring throes, it would have overcome easily the slender opposition in this district. As it was, however, the rebels remained entrenched in Changchow until April 16, 1865, when they left, unable to resist the disciplined force of eight thousand men brought down from the north. On May 13, 1865, there arrived at Amoy an American schooner naired the General She mum, and among her pas-engers was one Burgevine, the same who was formerly in command of the disciplined Chinese force at Shanghai, and afterwards a leader of the rebels at Soochow. Burgevine had been deported from China thirteen months before by the United States Consul-General at Shanghai. An effort was made to arrest him here, but he succeeded in getting out of the port and was only seized by the Chinese authorities on May 14th as he was on his way to join the rebels at Changchow. He was handed over to the Chinese general, Kuo Sung-ling, and was subsequently sent down to the Taoutai at Amoy. His fate is somewhat mysterious. A mob of rowdies, led by one of Burgevine's compatriots, went to the liai-faiifl-tiiig's yamen, where he was supposed to be confined, and broke it open, only to find that he had already been sent away. The Chinese afterwards reported that he had been accidentally drowned by the capsizing of a boat while on his way to Foochow, an explanation which was, apparently, accepted by the American Government. There is no certain record here of where the capsizing took place, but there is a tradition that it was in the strait between the north of Amoy and the mainland. On March 13, 1865, the British Consul (Mr. W. H. Pedder) accompanied by Mr. Johnston, of Messrs. Tait & Co., Mr. Douglas, a mis- sionary, and Gerard, a storekeeper in Amoy, left in the gunboat Flanier to visit the rebels at Changchow. They were hospitably enter- tained by the rebel leaders, and found five or six foreigners serving in prominent positions among them, under the immediate control of one Rhody, late a colonel and adjutant-general in Colonel Gordon's force. The party brought back with them as a guest, and returned afterwards safely to Changchow, one of the leading rebel chief- tains. This worthy was treated with high distinction, and entertained on H.M.S. Pelorns, on which vessel a visitor recognised in the distinguished guest his former chair coolie in Hongkong. With the close of the Taeping rebellion Amoy entered on a peaceful phase, and its history becomes the story of the development of its foreign trade. Trade. The principal article imported by foreign merchants in the early days of the Treaty port was opium, and the chief article of export was Amoy tea. It is a curious fact—pathetic almost, considering that Amoy is the first of the old Chinese tea-ports entirely to lose the trade—that the word tea should be derived from the word te[5] in the Amoy dialect, and not from the ordinary name for tea in most of the languages of China, which is ch'a. The reason no doubt is that tea was first introduced into Europe by the Dutch, who got if from this region. The trade in these staples, with the ownership or agency of the vessels which carried them and other commodities, such as rice, in which a large coasting trade was done, furnished a lucrative business for the merchants of the time. These were the days of the opium clippers, smartly found craft, which, carrying a valuable cargo paying a high freight, and being also the mail boats of those days, could afford a style and equipment not seen later on the coast. These vessels, schooners at first, and later on fast steamers, lasted into the sixties, until the time, in fact, when the opening of the Suez Canal and the establishment of the telegraph cable revolutionised the China trade.
It was not long also before emigration became an important element in the carrying trade. Emigration from this district to the countries of the Malay Archipelago has existed from time immemorial. The unproductive nature of the soil has never been able to provide more than a slender list of exports, and the heavy excess of imports has been balanced by the output of human labour and the savings which those labourers have remitted to their native place. The establishment of steam communication with the Straits gave an impetus to the movement which has since been steadily maintained. The intercourse with the Malay countries has its reflection in the villages near Amoy, where faces of Malay type are seen, and Malay may be heard spoken.
Statistics of trade exist only from the time of the establishment of the Foreign Customs in 1862, from which time on full information is available from the Customs returns and the Consular and Customs trade reports. Space only permits a brief sketch of the subject here. The number of foreign firms engaged in trade was always small, the large establishments probably never exceeding half-a-dozen in number. In 1865, according to the directory of that year, there were three regular Consuls—those representing Great Britain, Spain, and United States—the other Powers having merchants Consuls only. There were two docks (the Amoy Dock Company and the Bellamy Dock), a marine surveyor, eleven "merchant" firms, three medical practitioners, three pilots, two firms of ship-chandlers, and two watchmakers, which, with the missionaries and the Foreign Customs staff, made up the foreign community. In 1862, 394 vessels of 129,677 tons entered at the Customs, the vast bulk of these being sailing-ships. By 1871 the figures had risen to 566 vessels of 215,651 tons. The British flag greatly predominated, and it was fol- lowed next by the vessels of the North German States. Imports in 1862 were valued at Hk. Tls. 3,394,816, and exports at Hk.Tls. 1,498,860, the haikwan tael being equivalent at that time to 6s. 8d. By 1871 the figures had become Hk. Tls. 5,730,078 and Hk. Tls. 3,085,889 respectively. The principal imports were opium, cotton yarn, cotton piece goods, metals, rice, beans, and bean cake (from the northern ports), and exports were chiefly tea, sugar, chinaware, earthenware, paper, bricks, tiles, tobacco, and vermicelli.
The modern history of foreign trade in Amoy divides itself into three periods—the period of the Amoy tea, the period of the Formosa tea, and the period through which the port is now, unfortunately, passing, when the tea trade is extinct and nothing has risen to take its place. In the early days, the export of Amoy tea was quite considerable. Between 1858 and 1864 the exportations varied annually from four to seven million pounds. In 1874 75, 7.645,386 lbs. of Amoy Oolong were shipped to the United States. But the trade did not last long. From 1875 the figures steadily fell away; the quality of the leaf deteriorated so seriously and the tea was so adulterated and so badly prepared that, finally, the American Consul advised his government to forbid the importation. In l899 the last shipment—31.705 lbs. was made. The failure in quality, the general inferiority of the leaf as compared with the products of Formosa and Japan, and unduly heavy taxation, are the causes of the ruin of this once fine industry.
The failure of Amoy tea, however, did not hit the foreign merchants very hard, for, as it began to decline so the market for Formosa tea began to grow. The Amoy firms had branches in Formosa with a representative or two, but the tea was bought, warehoused and shipped here. This was due partly to the foreign and Chinese merchants having their chief establishments and godowns here, but mainly to the excellence of the harbour and the lack of a suitable haven in Formosa. This trade brought great prosperity to Amoy. The big Pacific liners and many large steamers going to Europe and America viâ the Suez Canal put in to load up with tea, and several small steamers were kept running between Tamsui and Amoy during the season for the tea alone. The great staple brought other business in its train. In 1873 the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank opened a branch here, and, as sugar at the time was also an important article of export, Amoy may be considered to have reached the zenith of its fortunes in the eighties and nineties. In 1880 it was reported that there were 24 foreign firms, of which 17 were engaged in business as general merchants, 4 being agents for banks as well. Many of these, of course, were British-Chinese firms doing business with the Straits. There were 183 native wholesale houses, and 6 native banks. The value of the goods handled by the foreign and native firms was roughly estimated at from $20,000,000 to $25,000,000 a year.
But the Formosa tea, like its predecessor, was to have only a brief reign. The Japanese occupation of Formosa quickly brought about a change in the trade. Matters continued much as they were for some years after 1895; but the improvements made by the Japanese Government—the reconstruction of the railway from Taipeh to Kelung, and, above all, the improvement to Kelung harbour—have concentrated the trade entirely in Formosa and dealt what is, apparently, a death-blow to Amoy. The years 1905-6 witnessed heavy diminutions in the shipments of Formosa tea from Amoy; in 1907 hardly any went at all, and there was almost a complete absence of big ships from the harbour.
As tea went, so did sugar. Here, also, old methods had to give place to modern ones. The local sugar was killed by the superior article prepared and grown under modern scientific methods in Java, and there is now a large importation of Java sugar into Amoy.
At present, therefore, unless the unforeseen happens, it would seem that the career of Amoy as a tea-port is ended. The trade as it now stands has some eleven million taels worth of foreign Imports (of which foreign opium accounts for nearly two million taels), and about three and a half million taels worth of native Imports; while exports amount in value to nearly three million taels. With the exception of opium, in which a couple of Parsee firms are still interested; oil, case and bulk, which is imported by the two tank Installations, the Standard Oil and the Asiatic Petroleum Company; some American Hour, and a small amount of piece goods and other sundries, the imports are entirely in native hands, as, of course, are the native imports and the entire exports. Shipping is still in foreign hands, and owing mainly to the tonnage required for the emigration and passenger traffic still constitutes an Important Interest. The total tonnage employed by the port in 1907 amounted to over two million tons. But so far as the British ship-owner is concerned, his interests have been heavily cut into of recent years by Japanese competition. In 1907, 23 per cent, of the tonnage was under the Japanese flag, and 55 per cent, under the British; a great change from the time, not many years back, when Great Britain had 80 per cent. of the tonnage and Japan was not represented in these waters at all. During the last ten years a small fleet of launches under the Inland Navigation Rules has come Into being. These small craft ply between the port and neighbouring towns, among them Changchow and Chinchew, and do a large passenger-carrying trade. Many of them carry a foreign flag, but they are almost entirely owned and managed by Chinese, who somehow or other have managed to acquire a foreign status.
The Amoy of to-day is thus the shadow of its former self. The loss of the tea trade has sensibly reduced the foreign community, and with the tea have gone the attendant industries. To regain its position as an important centre of foreign trade the port must find some productions wherewith to pay for its Importations and replace those articles of export which have disappeared. Hope for the future lies in a railway which is now being built, entirely with Chinese capital and by a Chinese engineer, from Sungseu, on the mainland to the west of Amoy, to Changchow. This short line, avowedly experimental. Is of interest as the precursor of a proposed large railway scheme, which, it is hoped, will ultimately embrace the whole of Fokien. If any progress is made in railway construction the way is opened for the exploitation of the mineral resources of the province, which are believed to be considerable. Already a beginning has been made in this direction by a Chinese syndicate of capitalists in the An-ch'i district, on ground which is said to contain coal and Iron, besides lead, lime, and stone. Other possible lines of development are the application of foreign machinery to the brick and tile industry of Changchow, which thus handled might rise to considerable proportions. A large industry in salted fish might also be established in the port, the materials being all at hand; and there seems no reason why, if undertaken in a scientific manner with the requisite capital and knowledge, tea and sugar plantations should not be re-introduced into South Fokien. The difficulty in these matters is to secure the necessary capital and co-operation. The Chinese have little money of their own and are as reluctant to admit foreign capital, as they are unable to handle large co-operative concerns themselves. The gradual enlightenment and education of the people will, we must hope, remove these drawbacks. In the end there seems no reason why Amoy should not rise from its ashes to higher things ; but in the light of to-day it would seem that before such a consummation is reached, a generation or two must yet pass away.
MR. P. E. O'BRIEN-BUTLER. Mr. Pierce Essex O'Brien-Butler, who has been British Consul at Amoy since May, 1906, was born on November 15, 1858, at Twickenham, and was educated in Leipzig, in Germany. He entered the Consular service in 1880, and since 1895 has acted as Consul successively at Chinkiang, Kiungchow, Foochow, and Chefoo. Mr. O'Brien-Butler has also studied law, and was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple, in June, 1895. ME. W. H. WALLACE. Mr. Wallace has taken the greatest interest in public affairs during his residence in Amoy, and now holds the position of chairman of the Municipal Council. Born in London in 1861, he was educated at Dedham Grammar School, Essex, and at the early age of seventeeti accompanied an orchid- hunting expedition to South America. On his return he devoted some time to the study of botany, and one of his chief hobbies novv is the cultivation of flowers. In 1882 Mr. Wallace entered the service of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank in London, and two years later was sent to the Hongkong ol'lice. In 1890 he resigned his appointment, and for two years engaged in business in the Colony as a stock and share broker. Rejoining the bank's service in 1902, he came to Amoy, at which port and Koochow he has been since that time. Mr. Wallace is an enthusiastic sportsman, and in his younger days was a well-known figure on the football and hockey fields. He won the tennis championship of Hongkong in 1901. and even now devotes as much of his spare lime to that game as to his flowers. The garden adjoining his private residence is one of the sights of Amoy, and is recognised as being one of the finest in China.
MR. C. A. V. BOWRA.
Mr. C. a. V. BowKA, Commissioner of Customs, Amoy, is the eldest son of the late Mr. E. C. Bowra, Commissioner of Customs at Ningpo and Canton. He was born at Ningpo, in 1869, and was educated at St. Paul's School, London, returning to China in 1886 upon appointment to the Customs service. He was a Student Interpreter at Peking, and has been stationed at various ports during his career. He became Acting Commissioner in Newchwang in 1899, and while in office there defended the Customs and commanded the Newchwang Volunteers during the Boxer troubles of 1900. Four years later he was promoted full Commissioner after having been in charge of the Customs for three years during the Russian occupation of the port. In 1905 he was appointed to Amoy. Mr. Bowra is ^ barrister-at-law of the Inner Temple, and has written several articles on Chinese subjects besides contributing officially to the various Customs publications. He is fond of riding and tennis. Among his decorations are the British China Medal, 1900, and the French Colonial Order of Cambodge. He also holds the Chinese Third Civil Rank and the Order of the Double Dragon.
BRANCH OF THE HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANK AT AMOY. (.Actint; .i,'eiit, W. H, Wallace.)
C. A. V. BOWRA.
Commissioner of Customs, Amov.
MR. C. B. MITCHELL.
Mr. C. Berkeley Mitchell, Capt.-Superintendent of the Kulangsu Police and Secretary to the Kulangsu Municipal Council, has had an active and distinguished career. Born on February 12, 1864, he was educated at St. Olave's Grammar School, Southwark, London, S.E. He served with the Second Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment in Egypt, South Africa, Ceylon, and Hongkong, and had a full share of fighting. He was mentioned in Lord Kitchener's despatches, and among his decorations are the Queen's South Africa medal with three clasps, and the King's South Africa medal with two clasps. After twenty-two years' service he retired from the Army, having then also won the long service and good conduct medals.
MR. H. McDOUGALL.
Mr. H. McDougall, M.B., CM., of Ku- langsu, Amoy, was born in Scotland in 1858, and was educated at Glasgow High School and University. After qualifying, he worked for some time at the Great Western In- firmary. In 1882 he came to Amoy as assistant to Dr. (now Sir) Patrick Manson and Dr. Ringer, and has been practising in the town ever since.
MR. A. F. GARDINER. Mr. a. F. Gardiner, of Amoyv was born in Ireland in 1865 and was educated at the International College, Isleworth. For some time he was connected with a prominent London tea house in Mincing Lane and Fenchurch Street. In 1889 he came to China for t!ie firm of Bovd & Co., whom he represented in Taipei (Formosa) from 1891 to 1901. Just after the arrival of the Japanese in the island he was made British Pro-Consul there, a post which he held for some little time. He returned to Amoy on behalf of Messrs. Boyd & Co. in 1901. Mr. Gardiner was an enthusiastic oarsman in his younger days, and has represented the Twickenham Rowing Club at Henley.
(C. Berkeley Mitchell, Superintendent, in centre.)
CAPTAIN H. BATHURST.
MR. C. J. FARROW.
MR. LIM NEE KAR.
The Dry Dock.Boiler Shed.
Machine Shop.
Carpenters' Shop.
niines. and in .prospectinj; expeditions into the interior. Alter the Japanese War the family came to Amoy. and here Lim Nee Kar assisted his father to establish four banks, as well as one each in Honjjkonji, Tientsin, and Shanghai. The death of Mr. Lim See Fu tiK>k place in n)o^. after which his son l<M>k charge of all the businesses. Success followed success. He has visited the Throne at Peking, and was granted a title equal in rank to that of an anibass;idor, and carrying with it the privilege of petitioning the Throne in person. Amongst the many positions he has held as a prominent man of business may be mentioned the chairmanship of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, to which he has tvcen elected three times. In 1906 he was asked by the Government to establish the Sin Vong Corporation Bank, and, at the present time, he is a director of the Fokien Railway Company : superintendent of the Amoy Telephone Company ; chairman of the Shanghai Hwatong Marine and Hre Insurance Company ; and auditor of the Taiwan Bank in Amoy. At the time of writing he is using every effort to secure the construction ol some efficient waterworks on the island. He is a great believer in the advantages of a European education, and his sons, who are now studying under a European governess, show every promise of developing intellectual faculties similar to those which have -characterised their father and grandfather.
THE HOPE AND WILHELUINA HOSPITALS. As early as 1842 medical mission work was begun in Amoy, and to-day the outward and visible signs of its activity are to be seen in the two useful and commodious institutions which stand on the island of Kulangsu. The Ho|-ie Hospital was opened in 1898, the money for its ereclion having been collected amongst Hollanders in the United States through the instrumentality of Dr. Otte. Up to the end of ii)o6, 85,758 in and out-patients were treated, ^.865 oper.itions were performed, and 21 medical students received instruction at the institution. The Wilhelmina Hospital for women was built, and continues to be supported, by friends of the work in the Netherlands, and has been of inestimable benefit to the district since it was opened in March, 1899. Dr. J. A. Otte. M.A., M.D., who has charge of the hospitals, was born in F"lushing, Holland, in 1861. and when five years of age went to America, where he was educated at Hope College and at the University of Michigan. He caine out to China at the beginning of 1888, and was for seven years at Sio-Khe, a place 60 miles in the interior, where he built the Neerbosch Hospital. He speaks Chinese fluently. At the Hope and Wilhelmina Hospitals he has a European nurse, and a Chinese assistant.
ANGLO-CHINESE COLLEGE. Started in 1898 as a Christian educational establishment for residential and day students, the Anglo-Chinese College was taken over in by Dr. A. H. F. Barbour, of Edinburgh, on behalf of the Knglisli Presbyterian Church and London Mission, as a new departure in their work among the Chinese at Amoy. The present principal entered upon his duties in 1900, and had, at the comniencement, titty students under his charge. The scliool buildings were purchased by Dr. Barbour in
(or §15,000, and the adjoining boarding-
house was erected with money collected by teachers, parents, and students, at a cost of §5,000. Each of the nine class-rooms will accommodate upwards of forty students, and the lecture-hall will seat 350 persons quite comfortably. The special class-rooms for chemistry and physics have been splen- didly equipped through the kind help of
THE RESIDENCE OF LIM NEE KAR.
Dr. Barbour and other friends, and here the accommodation is sufiicient to enable thirty scholars to receive instruction at one time. The school is divided into two depart- ments — junior and senior. The junior section is equivalent to the elementary school in Great Britain, while the senior is equal to the home collegiate standard, having, accord- ing to the bent of the students, a commercial or a science course. The commercial course comprises letter-writing, book-keeping, short- hand, and typewriting ; while the science course embraces zoology, chemistry, physics, geology, astronomy, and mathematics. Music and drill — military and physical — are taught, and sports are encouraged.
The teaching staff numbers sixteen, and comprises two trained English masters, one voluntary English master, six Chinese teachers AMOY ENGINEERING COMPANY, LTD., KULANGSU, AMOY. [See page 827] GENERAL VIEW OF WORKS. The Boiler Shed. The Turning Shop. The Fitting Shop. Mr. J.D. Edwards, Managing Director and Superintendent, and his Compradores. M.M.M 2 of English, and seven Chinese teachers of Chinese. The students come (roin P'ormosa, Manila. Swatow. Singapore, Rangoon. Foo- chow, and neighbouring towns in the Fokien Province, and are usually the sons of Man
THE HOPE AND WILHELMINA HOSPITALS, AMOY. darins, merchants, and literati. The expenses of a resident student are roughly $100 per annum, and last year 216 were enrolled. The immediate aim of the school is to give a liberal English and Chinese education, while its ultimate object is to teach the students to think and study for themselves, to inspire them with a keen sense of right and wrong, and to develop their spiritual instincts along broad Christian lines. In these directions much success has already been achieved, and Mr. Kankin and Mr. H. J. P. Anderson. M.A.. the vice-principal, may be relied upon to see that there is no falling away from the high standard reached. Mr. Hugh Fraser Rankin, F.S.A. (Scotland), F.E.I.S., was born in 1868 at Garthlick, In- verness-shire. Scotland, and was educated at Moray House College and at Edinburgh University, where he was medallist in science and honoursman in education and engineer- ing. He went to Singapore as principal of the Eastern School in 1896, and four years later took up his present post at Amoy.
TUHG WEH IHSTITUTB. The Tung Wen Institute was founded in 1898 by Mr. A. Burlingame Johnson, the American Consul at Amoy, and six wealthy Chinese merchants. The object of the school is to provide the Chinese with an opportunity of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the English language, a sound business education, and elementary instruction in the sciences. Religious teaching of all kinds is prohibited, and a respectful toleration of the various beliefs is insisted upon. The building, erected in 1902, affords accommodH- tion for six hundred day pupils, and two hundred boarders. The situation is high and healthful, and easily accessible from both the city and the harbour. The rooms are large, cool, and well lighted. Three regular courses of study are offered — the grammar course, requiring from four to six years to complete ; the advanced course, open to those who have completed the jirammar course, and requiring from two to three years to complete ; and the Chinese course, equivalent to that required for middle schools by the Chinese educational Board, to be taken independently of, or conjointly with, the English courses. Mr. Charles J. Weed, the superintendent, has obtained considerable academic distinction. He was born in 1870, in Wisconsin, and was educated at public schools in Iowa and Oregon, at McMinndille College, and at Portland and Willamettae Universities. After successfully taking the graduates course, he came to China in 1900, to take up his present appointment.
THE NEW AMOY DOCK COMPANY, LTD. The prosperity of a seaport depends in no small degree upon the efficiency and capacity of its dock accommodation, and in this respect Amoy is exceedingly fortunate. The dock owned by the New Amoy Dock Company has been in existence since 1858, but the Company, as at present constituted, was Hoated in 1892, being registered in the British Colony of Hongkong with a sub- scribed capital of $67,500. Messrs. Robert Hunter Bruce and William Snell Orr, who have now retired, were the two leading spirits in the formation of the Company and were the first directors. Since that time nearly Sioo.ooo have been invested in new machinery and upon improvements to the property, so that now orders can be executed with much greater despatch than was possible formerly. The Company carry on the busi ness of marine, mechanical, and electrical engineers, shipbuilders, boiler-makers, and iron and brass founders. They possess a well- constructed granite dry dock, capable of taking vessels up to 310 feet between perpendiculars ; machine shop, foundry, boiler
THE ANGLO-CHINESE COLLEGE, AMOY. (H. F. Rankin, Superintendent.) shed, smithy, and carpenters' shed, equipped with modern machines; and a 20-ton crane on the sea-wall for the handling; of heavy substances. Among the machines in constant use are a plate-rolling machine, capable of rolling plates up to 18½ feet; a punching and shearing machine, which can take 1¾ inch plates; and some up-to-date lathes, upon one of which the largest tail-shaft can easily be manipulated. In the foundry it is possible to make castings up to five tons, so that, with its present permanent staff of two hundred competent artisans, the Company can undertake practically any repairs which shipping may demand. In case of emergency extra hands are easily procurable.
The present board of directors comprises Messrs. Tait & Co., the general managers, Messrs. Fred B. Marshall, Wm. Wilson, A. F. Gardiner, and Wm. Kruse, members of the consulting committee. The Company has been fairly successful, from a financial point of view, from the start, and its future prosperity seems to be assured. There is no doubt that the establishment is a credit to the small port of Amoy, and a boon to the shipping. All the work undertaken is superintended by the able and energetic manager, Mr. Robert W. Black, an engineer possessing a wide and varied experience.
THE AMOY ENGINEERING COMPANY, LTD.
Chinese capital controlled and worked by a thoroughly well-trained and experienced Britisher is the combination that has placed the Amoy Engineering Company, Ltd., of Kulangsu, Amoy, in such a prominent position. The undertaking was registered in Hongkong, in 1893, as a limited liability company, with a capital of $30,000. The Company build and repair launches, repair steamers in harbour, and do general engineering work in all its branches, with the exception of making castings over 10 cwts. in weight. Their slip for building launches, tugs, &c., is upwards of 110 feet in length, and their patent slipway extends from the works to a distance of 290 feet, most of which is under water. They have, also, a double-power capstan, and sheers capable of raising anything up to ten tons. The turning and punching machines are of the best, and in first-class condition. The firm's boast that it is capable of fulfilling almost any obligation it may be called upon to undertake is, therefore, not without justification.
The managing director and superintendent of the works is Mr. J. D. Edwards, an Irishman, who was born and educated at Greenock. He was apprenticed to marine engineering with the firm of Steele & Co., in that town, and on the completion of his articles went to sea. In 1882 he joined the well-known Eastern firm of Douglas Lapraik & Co., but resigned his position in 1902, in order to establish the Amoy Engineering Company. Mr. Edwards is a well-known figure on the China coast; he took an active part in quelling the Boxer disturbances and gained a medal for his services.
THE STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF NEW YORK.
A large and important business, under the direction of Mr. L. I. Thomas, the manager, and Mr. Morley, the assistant manager, is carried on at the local branch established by this Company. Their tanks are capable of holding 1,750,000 gallons. The chief trade is done in American kerosene oil, paraffin wax, mineral oils, and naphtha from America.
(Chas. J. Weed, Superintendent.)
MESSRS TAIT & CO.
The firm of Messrs. Tait & Co., which carries on a general import and export business in many parts of the East, was established in Amoy in 1845 by Mr. James Tait. The founder of the house died some time back, but others have been taken into partnership and the business has developed gradually year by year until now its ramifications extend from China and Formosa to Japan, branches having been established in North and South Formosa, Yokohama, and Kobe. The firm acts as agent for the Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China, the Peninsular and Oriental Company, and the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company. The special feature about this firm is that all its members speak the local dialect, and thus are able to conduct their business direct with the natives, without the aid of compradores. The present proprietors are Messrs. F. B. Marshall, W. Wilson, and R. N. Ohly. Mr. Wilson is a member of the Kulangsu Municipal Council and is on the committees of several governing bodies.
THE SHANGHAI LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, LTD.
Insurance business has extended rapidly in numerous directions during recent years, but few companies have so wide a sphere of activity as the Shanghai Life Insurance Company, Ltd., who, in their desire to offer every possible advantage to their policy-holders, appear sometimes to encroach almost upon the domain of philanthropy. As their name implies, their head office is at Shanghai, but they have, of course, a branch at Amoy, which has sub-agencies in the inland towns of Chwan Chew and Cheang Chew, where every effort is made to give policy-holders any assistance they may require. The Company are making arrangements now to provide accommodation for their Chinese clients who may be travelling through the port, and they will shortly start a policy-holders' school in Amoy, to which all who are insured in the Company may send their children to learn English. The general agent is Mr. Fred Heyte, who was born in Antwerp in 1869 and came to China in 1904, joining the Company two years later. The collecting agents in Amoy are Messrs. Douglas Lapraik & Co.
THE FOKIEN DRUG COMPANY, LTD.
The Fokien Drug Company, Ltd.. of Kulangsu, Amoy, is an amalgamation of several wholesale druggists. The combine was formed in March, 1906, and was registered at the Chamber of Commerce, Peking, with a capital of $56,000. The Company are wholesale import and export druggists, general store-keepers, dealers in piece goods, wines and spirits, photographic chemicals, stationery, fancy and toilet goods, &c. They are also commission agents, and export a considerable quantity of articles manufactured locally. The directorate is an influential one, and the committee includes Messrs. Yap Cheng Ho, S. P. Yin, Lim Leong Eng, Tan Thian Un, Lim Chong Siu, Ng Sit Teng, and Wong Teng Sing. The managing director is Mr. Lim Ui Sian: the secretary, Mr. Cheong Eng Soon, M.D., Chinese diploma; the treasurer, Mr. Liau Yat Hoat; the dispensers are Messrs. Ng Gi Hu and Sih Kun Eng; and the chief clerk is Mr. Liau Chiau Hi.
THE CENTRAL DISPENSARY. Mk. C. Whitkiklu. of the Central Disptnsiiry, Kulangsu, Amoy, was born in Ainoy in 1864. While quite young, however, he went to the Straits Settlements, and was educated at the RafHe's Institute, Singapore, returning to China at the age of twelve. In a few years he joined the China Hospital, .iiH)y, under Sir Patrick Manson. Afterwards lie was con- nected with the Seaman's Hospital, Kulangsu. Amoy. and, at the same time, took charge of the dispensary of Dakin Bros. Here he re- mained for twelve years, and received a testimonial of efliciency. Through unforeseen circumstances, the branch was suddenly
THE NEW AMOY HOTEL. (Proprietor, F. H. LCCASSEX.)
placed in his charge. He gained further experience during two years' superintendence of the Tong Chong Dispensary, now the Fokien Drug Company, Ltd., and then, in 1898. opened the Central Dispensary, which is also a general store, where wines, spirits, tobacco, and fancy goods are sold.
PASEDAG & CO. This general import and export business was established in Amoy, in about 1850, by Mr. C. K. Pasedag. Since that time its opera- tions have been extended in a number of directions, and the present partners, Messrs. A. Piehl and B. Hempel, carry on a large coal trade, and are agents for the Asiatic Petroleum Company, and the Norddeutscher Lloyd, the Hamburg-Amerika, the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and the British India Shipping Companies.
THE NEW AMOY HOTEL. One of the best little establishments of its kind to be found on the coast of China is the New Amoy Hotel, Kulangsu. The rooms are spacious and comfortably furnished. A visitor can enjoy a game of billiards and rely upon his comfort being attended to in every possible way. Mr. F. H. Lucassen, the proprietor, was born in Emden, Germany. At the age of twelve he went to sea and served in British and American vessels trading in Chinese waters. He went through liis training in the German Navy from 1876 to 1878. and then, returning to China, took his chief officer's certificate in Hongkong. Afterwards he traded up and down the coast until, in 1884, he entered the Imperial Maritime Customs service. He resigned in 1891 in order to join the Shell Transport and Trading Company, with whom he remained for nine years, at the end of which time he opened the New Amoy Hotel.
- ↑ Davidson: "Island of Formosa." pp. 14, 15.
- ↑ Native Customs Quinquennial Reports, 1902-6, pp. 85 seq.
- ↑ Williams: "Middle Kingdom," 1883 Ed., pp. 445 seq.
- ↑ Treaty Ports of China and Japan, p. 257.
- ↑ Pronounced tay, as formerly in English, and now in French and German.
"Here, thou, great Anna! whom thrice realms obey,
Dost sometimes counsel take—and sometimes tea."—Pope,—Rape of the Lock.