OPIUM

333

away  in  fast  boats  with  crews  of  sixty  to  seventy  men.
The  trade  would  be  temporarily  interrupted  on  the  arrival
of  each  new  official  of  high  rank,  until  he  had  settled  into
his  place  ;  and  occasionally  there  would  be  a  brutum  fultnen
of  a  proclamation  ordering  vessels  “  loitering  at  the  outer
anchorage”  either  to  come  into  port  or  to  sail  away  ;  but
never  was  Lintin  mentioned  by  name,  and  never  was  a
guard-boat  so  unmannerly  as  to  poke  its  nose  into  the
anchorage,  though  doubtless  there  were  many  watchful
eyes  round  about.
Opium  for  the  eastern  part  of  Kwangtung  was  ordinarily
sold  at  Canton,  also  always  for  cash,  to  be  delivered  by
the  seller  ordinarily  at  Namoa,  an  island  near  Swatow,  the
station  of  the  Commander-in-chief  of  the  provincial  coast
forces.  Hunter  *  describes  a  visit  he  made  in  1837  in  an
American  clipper  schooner  of  150  tons  regularly  despatched
by  his  firm  from  Lintin  to  deliver  their  sales.  On  arrival
at  Namoa  he  found  there  two  English  brigs  belonging  to
two  English  firms,  engaged  in  the  same  traffic,  and  lying
near  them  the  “  Admiral’s  flagship.”  The  Admiral  called
'  on  board  all  concerned  and  went  through  some  solemn
foolery,  the  object  of  which  was  to  secure  supplies  for  the
schooner,  on  its  way  from  Singapore  to  Canton,  driven  into
Namoa  in  distress  ;  afterwards,  at  a  more  private  interview
opened  by  the  direct  question  “  How  many  chests  have
you  ?”  a  bargain  was  struck,  and  non-interference  provided
for,  on  terms  additional  to  those  which  were  arranged  by
the  purchasers  at  Canton.  After  this  the  opium,  which
had  been  packed  in  bags  at  Lintin,  was  delivered  to  junks
flying  a  private  signal,  without  further  formality.  The
jurisdiction  of  the  Canton  Hoppo  and  Viceroy  ended  at
Namoa,  and  farther  up  the  coast  the  sweet  simplicity  of
the  Canton  procedure  could  not  be  carried  out  in  such
perfect  detail.  The  vessel  in  which  Hunter  returned  came
into  Namoa  from  the  north,  and  “  her  entire  freight  to
Canton  consisted  of  $430,000  in  value  of  gold  bars  and
sycee-silver.”
*  “Old  Canton.”