Page 70 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

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people were not even C h. inese Cl tizens. Although the river

people had a very segregated existence they created their own

cormnunity, "a floating population as complete in all its fea­

tures as one on land." They kept their boats anchored in

very neat rows, streets between. Among them there was order

and very little violence. These boats occupied a phenomenal

amount of space on the sides of the river. One observer

claimed that "there were not less than 84,000 dwelling boats

17
within the irmnediate neighbourhood of Canton.11
River traffic crowded the middle of the river and

created a scene of "ceaseless movement of boats of every

description and of all sizes, which literally covered it."

Moving up and down the river were vessels never before seen
by Westerners. Gaudily painted revenue cruisers, with

thatched roofs for protection from the weather and cannons tied

with red sashes, hurried by on official business. Coasting

vessels transporting salt to various parts of China or carry­

ing cargo to the East Indies and Manila joined them. Smaller

boats by the thousands ferried passengers ranging from coolies
18
to wealthy idlers with dazzingly long fingernails. The

16
Abeel, Journal, pp. 94-96.
17
william C. Hunter, Bits of Old China (London, 1855),
pp. 17-18. Wines, A Peep at China, p. 26.
18
Hunter, 'Fan Kwae' at Canton, pp. 14-15. Hunter
resided at Canton from 1825 to 1842, having arrived at the age
of thirteen; he was the American merchant who studied the
Chinese language.