the  provinces  and  the  treaty  ports  239
river.  Twelve  miles  up  the  Hwangpu  is  the  city  of  Shanghai,
with  excellent  anchorage  and  discharging  facilities.  The
anchorage  had  thirty  to  forty  years  ago  a  general  width  of
1,800  feet,  but,  by  the  agency  of  natural  causes  acting
mainly  upon  the  works  of  man,  this  is  now  reduced  to
about  two-thirds  of  the  former  available  width,  but  with
unaltered  depth.  At  Shanghai  is  the  junction  with  the
Soochow  Creek,  which  provides  water  communication  with
the  country  to  the  west,  and  which,  almost  entirely  through
human  agency,  is  now  reduced  to  less  than  a  hundred  yards
in  width.  The  approaches  from  the  sea  are  lighted  by
seventeen  lights.
Shanghai  is  mentioned  in  history  2,150  years  ago,  and
900  years  ago  was  a  mart  of  sufficient  importance  to  be
made  a  Customs  Station.  It  was  occupied  in  1842  by  the
British  forces  on  their  way  to  Nanking,  and,  having  been
declared  a  treaty  port  by  the  treaty  of  Nanking,  was  formally ­
  opened  to  trade  on  November  17,  1843.  The  first
district  to  be  occupied  for  foreign  residence  was  selected
by  the  British  authorities,  bounded  on  the  south  by  the
Yangkingpang,  a  ditch  running  east  and  west  about  a
quarter-mile  north  of  the  Chinese  city,  on  the  north  by
the  Soochow  Creek,  on  the  east  by  the  Hwangpu,  and
on  the  west  by  Defence  Creek  dug  at  one  mile  distance
from  the  Hwangpu,  enclosing  an  area  of  470  acres  with  a
river  frontage  of  three-fourths  of  a  mile.  In  1849  the  French
authorities  delimited  an  area  between  the  Yangkingpang
and  the  city,  and  in  1853  obtained  in  extension  the  narrow
strip  lying  between  the  city  and  the  river,  having,  with
narrow  depth,  a  river  frontage  of  nearly  three-fourths  of
a  mile.  The  Americans  occupied  the  district  called  Hongkew,
  lying  north  of  the  Soochow  Creek,  with  frontage  on
that  creek  and  on  the  river,  including  the  most  valuable
part  of  the  wharfage  of  Shanghai.  This  American  Settlement ­
  was  in  1863  amalgamated  with  the  British  Settlement, ­
  both  Governments  waiving  their  exclusive  rights  and
thereby  creating  the  self-governing  republic  styled  “  The
Foreign  Community  of  Shanghai,  North  of  the  Yangking-