Page 293 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

279.

in ransom for Canton but failed to end hostilities. In Aug­

ust Sir Henry Pottinger arrived as Plenipotentiary with ins­

tructions to conduct negotiations, either at Chusan or to the

north. Elliot then directed the English fleet to fight its

way up along the coast. The fleet returned in June 1842,

having taken Amoy, Chusan and Ningpo. vfhile the fleet was

absent, trade halted. Although most merchants had no business,

Russell & Co. received consignments from Houqua. He wished

to invest in Indian cotton, so the house despatched three

vessels formerly employed in the river trade to Calcutta,

Bombay, and Madras for cotton. Houqua himself had become

convinced the Chinese should settle with the English, so trade

could resume as quickly as possible. But he feared there

would be "a great deal of trouble for a long time to come."

The Chinese government taxed the Co-Hong heavily to meet the
ransom demanded by the English. Houqua and his colleagues

therefore desperately needed the profits of trade to pay
99
d.
t h ese extraor inary assessments.
1
Houqua s desires for negotiation were not shared by

the Chinese authorities. In February 1842, with the major

part of the English fleet back at Hong Kong, the Chinese

attempted to retake Ningpo. Although the English repulsed

them, Pottinger ordered the fleet to sail north again. This

time the English seized Shanghai and ventured up the Yangtze

99 1
Hunter, 'Fan Kwae at Canton, p. 150. Letters, Houqua
to J.M. Forbes, Oct. 4, 1841, Houqua to R.B. Forbes, May 11,
1842, Houqua's Letterbook.