258  THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE
Kiungchow  (20 o  i'  N.,  no 0  i6'  E.),  the  prefectural  city
of  the  island  of  Hainan,  contains  a  population  of  35&gt; 000 ’
and  is  situated  3  miles  inland  from  Hoihow  (“  Seaport  )
its  port.  Its  opening  as  a  treaty  port  was  stipulated  in  the
treaties  of  1858,  but,  as  none  of  the  mercantile  community
had*  any  interest  in  it,  the  actual  opening  was  deferred
until  1876.  The  port  serves  the  trade  of  Hainan  and  of
the  prefecture  of  Leichow  on  the  mainland,  across  the
Straits  of  Hainan,  12  miles  wide.  Hoihow,  the  port,  has  a
population  of  25,000,  and  the  anchorage  is  a  roadstead  open
to  the  Straits  from  north-east  around  to  north-west,  and
-accessible  to  cargo-boats  loading  and  discharging  only  at
high  water  of  the  one  daily  tide  which  rises  here  as  in  the
whole  of  the  Gulf  of  Tonkin.  The  course  of  trade  has
been  as  follows  :—

1884
i8 94
1904

Imports.
Tls.
1,326,499
1,817,398
2,548,725

Exports.
Tls.
1,119,682
1,283,821
2,469,878

Total.
Tls.
2,446,181
3,101,219
5,020,509

fhe  principal  exports  in  1904  were  pigs  (65,306  valued  at
Tls.881,631),  sugar  (Tls.507,000)  and  betel-nuts  (Tls.i20,ooo)-Pakhoi
  (21 0  29'  N.,  109°  7'  E.),  “  North  of  the  Sea,
a  dirty,  insanitary  town  of  20,000  inhabitants,  situated  at
the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Tonkin,  is  the  seaport  of  LimchoM
13  miles  distant,  and  was  opened  as  a  treaty  port  in  1877'
In  common  with  other  ports  on  the  Gulf  it  has  but  one  tid e
m  the  twenty-four  hours.  The  district  directly  served  by
it  is  poor  and  sandy,  producing  sugar,  indigo,  and  ground'
n ^ s ’  w ^b  fishing  and  piracy  as  bye  industries  ;  and  th®
chief  hope  for  any  development  of  trade  lay  in  the  use  0
t  îe  port  as  a  side  door  through  which  to  evade  the  hsca
obstructions  imposed  on  the  natural  routes  to  Yunnan  a^
Western  Kwangsi,  viz.  the  Red  River  through  Tonkin  aH d
the  West  River  through  Tonkin.  The  figures  for  the  trad®
of  Pakhoi  given  below  are  for  years  which  have  been  selected
to  show  the  paralysing  effect  of  the  Chinese  system  ol