The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-07 00:00:00

naval forces, the barbarian military chief issued orders
to fire their cannon and summoned his troops to Hew-
shay-poo, and then with our troops they joined in mu-
tual conflict. Then was to be seen the soul of the ve-
nerable Chang-yen aiding us, and all the bar`Arians
falling down with dizziness found it difficult to serve
their guns, and we put to death and arrested them
without number. Our Admiral perceiving the barbarian
ships at anchor in the bay at the end of Sha-io, ordered
the guns to be made to bear upon them. The barbarians
also wished to return the fire, when suddenly was seen
one of the gods with dishevelled hair and bare feet
holding a sword in his hand and descending from heaven,
leading a numerous host of brave soldiery. At this the
souls of the barbarian troops were affrighted on/ of
their bodies, and being set upon by the Celestial corps
were unable to work their guns. Our troops without in-
termission played upon them with several tens of great
guns. We destroyed eight three-masted ships, six two-
masted vessels, four fire wheel ships, and upwards of
twenty ships' boats. Of the barbarian troops that were
slain it would be impossible to state the number. Of
camp followers there fell more than 200, while upwards
of 700 white devils, and more than 900 black devils
(Sipahis) were slain.
The Commander-in-Chief, with the chief officer of
Kinmun, fought up to the third watch, and then ascended
the hill with the Governor, and in a body entered the
city. The barbarian troops having not yet fled, our sol-
diers proceeded to arrest them all, after having put to
death between three and four hundred. There were
seven military Chiefs who were taken alive. The trans-
ports which escaped destruction, perceiving the victory
to be lost, forthwith proceeded out to sea.

That Amoy was re-captured on the 17th was owing,
first, to the aid of the gods ; second, to the assistance
afforded by the soul of the venerable Chang-yen ; and,
third, to the love which the governor cherished fur his
country and the people.
At present the various seaports are guarded by our
troops and are in a state of preparedness should the bar-
barians again return, and within the river the fort of
Sha-po is mounted with more than a thousand cannon.
When the barbarians captured the forts they did not in-
jure a single gun, and now we have all back again with-
out loss.—Canton Press.

[Our Bombay Correspondent doubts the genuineness of
this document, but we give it, because if spurious, it is
at least characteristic. The Mandarins, after re- oCcupy-
ing the ruined fortifications which the British had aban-
doned, would not dare to say anything else for fear of
being sawed in two., There can be no doubt in any case
that the real facts would reach Pekin.]

COMMERCE e AND ADVANTAGES
OF AMOY.

Amoy forms the grand key to the whole pro-
vince of Fokien, and the advantages which this
large tract of territory holds out to commerce
cannot be too highly estimated. On an esti-
mated surface of about 57,000 square miles this
province has a population of about 14,000,000. It
is much diversified by hills and valleys, and the
scenery is exceedingly beautiful, the temperature
warm, and the air healthy. It forms the especial,
though not the exclusive tea-district, which is
cultivated on both the northern and the southern
slopes of the bills. The mineral productions are
iron, copper, tin, mercury, and various descrip-
tions of valuable stones. There are also mines
of gold and silver, but, according to the general
policy of the Chinese, these are not allowed to be
worked. Black teas are grown in abundance.
Ogilvie says that it abounds in " brave forts
and towns for trade," and recites at least twenty
of them. The toll-book, or register of the people,
estimates the number of fighting-men at 182,677.
Its revenues consist of 1,883,115 sacks of salt,
195 pounds of fine linen, and 600 rolls of wrought
silk. But its chief reveeue arises from the Amoy
vessels, which pay according to their burthen so
much a ton.

The following history of the various attempts
on the part of the British, from early times, to
enter into mutual commerce with the people,
exhibits in a peculiar light the obstinate resist-
ance of the local authorities to allow even the
most distant commercial relations between the
people of the town and foreigners.
As early as 1670, the English Company had
instituted a very fair trade at Amoy, which for
a time proved tolerably successful, but through
some cause it gradually declined, and at length
proved so unprofitable and vexatious that the
Company, in 1681, ordered their establishments
there, as also at Formosa, to be withdrawn, and
a trade, if possible, to be established in their
stead at Canton and Fokchow. Amoy was then
taken possession of by the Tartars. These peo-
ple have always shown a great disinclination to
tbreign trade, and the consequence was, that
froin the moment of their being planted in these
parts, the English have been excluded from
Ningpo and Amoy, having traded at this last
place only while it remained independent of
the Manchows, when they supplanted the Tar-
tars by conquest, and also some time after the
rest of China had submitted to them.

In 1685, the ship Delight was sent out by the
English to attempt the re-establishment of the
trade at Amoy, and, about the same time, active
exertions were made by the Company towards
securing a regular commerce at Canton. This
trial, and others which succeeded, were attended
with various success, for the high duties and ex-
tortions which the rapacious Mandarins at this
port endeavoured to put upon the English,
drove them away in disgust. " The ignorance
of the Amoy merchants," complain the English
traders at this period (1734), " and the little en.
couraF,ement they gave us, makes us almost
despair of doing any business at that place."
Another instance of the obstinacy of the Amoy
Mandarins to trade with the British occurred in
1744, when the Hardwicke proceeded into the
inner harbour. The merchants then showed no
disposition to trade, while, in fact, there seemed
few to trade with ; and accordingly, after fifteen
days of ineffectual trial, the Hardwicke left, and
proceeded to India during the monsoon, without
a single article of cargo.

In the attempts made in 1832 by the Lord
Amherst, a small country ship, sent in charge
of one of the Company's servants, accompanied
by Mr. Gutzlaff, to establish, if possible, a sur-
reptitious trade in opium at the prohibited ports,
Amoy was tried. On this occasion no device, or
ingenuity, or enterprise, was spared to dispose of
the goods on board, and to establish a traffic
with the natives. These showed a very hospit-
able disposition towards strangers, but all com-
merce was effectually prevented by the Manda-
rins, except in one or two instances. Vigilance
was everywhere exercised to prevent trade.
The people of Amoy, and those along the
coast, retain an hereditary aptitude for the sea,
and chiefly supply the Emperor's war-junks with
sailors,..and commanders. Two circumstances
probably tend to maintain the maritime propen-
sities of the inhabitants. First, the province in
which it is situated is so far removed from the
grand canal as to afford fewer inducements to
inland navigation; secondly, the proximity
of the opposite coast of Formosa keeps up a
constant intercourse by sea. The language or
dialect of Amoy also, in common with that of the
rest of Fokien, is so peculiar as to be hardly in-
telligible elsewhere; ch is always pronounced
t, and hence the difference between cha and
tea for the great staple production of China; the
first name for tea being adopted by the Portu-
guese from Macao, and the second by the Eng-
lish from Amoy, when this port was first the seat
of the-Englishtrade.
• Du llalde, -whose authority may always be
-telied'cin,''visited Amoy himself, and gives .a fa-
vourable account of it. He pronounces it to be
a " famous sea-port," and forming one of the
best harbours in the world as a place for ships to
ride at anchor. "It is hemmed in," he says,
" on one side by the island, and on the other by
the continent, and by abundance of other is-
lands, which are high, and shelter it from every
wind : it is also so spacious withal, that it can
contain many thousands of vessels, and the sea
there is so deep, that the largest ships may come
up close to the shore, and ride there in perfect
safety. You see there," he continues, at all
times, a great number of Chinese barques, which
are on their voyage to the countries bordering
upon China, and about twenty years ago you
might see there many
European vessels, but
now they come hither but seldom, and all the
trade is removed to Canton. The Emperor
keeps six or seven thousand men there
in garrison under the command of a Chinese
General. In entering into the haven, you double
a cape, or rock, and this divides itself in two, al-
most as the mingaut does in the port of Brest;
the rock is visible, and rises several feet above
water. Three leagues thence stands a little island,
having a hole through which you see from one
side to the other; and on this account called the
bored island. Between this port and the isle of
Formosa, the islands of Pong-hou form a small
archipelago, which are occupied by a Chinese
garrison, and the Mandarin who resides there
has a constant eye upon vessels that trade from
China, to Formosa, and from Formosa to China ;
and their continually passing and repassing,
yield a considerable revenue to the State."
Another traveller speaks of it also in the fol-
lowing words :—" The coast of Amoy is washed
by the Chinese sea, which forms itself into a
channel, making the passage of Amoy. This
channel is at all times practicable, though at
those periods when the monsoons have their
changes, this, like all other parts of the China
shores, is unsafe. Anioy is perhaps one of the
best natural harbours to be found along the
coast, and was the first station for the Europeans
trading to China. It is ample, costly, and made
safe ; its depth of water renders it capable of re-
ceiving vessels of great burden, and the island
of Formosa lies, like a great breakwater, as a
defence for the coast."