Page 118 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

Three of the Cohong circa 1830 [left to right]: Houqua, the most powerful Hong merchant, Mouqua and Enqua,
all of them to become vastly wealthy; Howqua to become the wealthiest man in the world

Several other European trading nations gained varying degrees of foothold. Some of the
established British merchants managed to be appointed as Consuls for other European
countries, a cunning ploy since other trading countries would have negotiated tax-free
quotas which by slight of hand might be used by third party British merchants, many of
whom happened to be companies also under the control of the Consul! All were restricted
to the tiny stretch of land in the harbour at Canton called The Thirteen Factories on
Shamien Island [shameen meaning ‘sandbanks’]. Each foreign country had its own
enclave [factory] and foreign workers and crews were allowed to stay in Macau during the
“off season” when the shipping winds were not favourable. The merchants lived in
cramped living quarters on the upper levels of their warehouses.

The Thirteen Factories, Canton in 1780 showing the different “factory” enclave of each trading nation