December 1856 by a Chinese
mob, and twelve months later Canton was taken by assault by a force
under Sir Charles Straubenzee, which had been sent out from England for
the purpose. From this time until October 1861 the city was occupied by
an English and French garrison, and the administration of affairs was
entrusted to an allied commission, consisting of two English officers
and one French officer, acting under the English general. Since the
withdrawal of this garrison, the city of Canton has been freely open to
foreigners of all nationalities, and the English consul has his
residence in the Yamun formerly occupied by the allied commissioners,
within the city walls.

On the conclusion of peace it became necessary to provide a foreign
settlement for the merchants whose "factories" had been destroyed, and
after some consultation it was determined to fill in and appropriate as
the British settlement an extensive mud flat lying to the westward of
the old factory site, and known as Sha-mien or "The Sand Flats." This
site having been leased, it was converted into an artificial island by
building a massive embankment of granite in an irregular oval form.
Between the northern face of the site and the Chinese suburb a canal of
100 ft. in width was constructed, thus forming an island of about 2850
ft. in length and 950 ft. in greatest breadth. The expense of making
this settlement was 325,000 Mexican dollars, four-fifths of which were
defrayed by the British government and one-fifth by the French
government. The British portion of the new settlement was laid out in
eighty-two lots; and so bright appeared the prospect of trade at the
time of their sale that 9000 dollars and upwards was paid in more than
one instance for a lot with a river frontage, measuring 12,645 sq. ft.
The depression in trade, however, which soon followed acted as a bar to
building, and it was not until the British consulate was erected in 1865
that the merchants began to occupy the settlement in any numbers. The
British consulate occupies six lots, with an area of 75,870 sq. ft. in
the centre of the site, overlooking the river, and is enclosed with a
substantial wall. A ground-rent of 15,000 cash (about L3) per _mow_ (a
third of an acre) is annually paid by the owners of lots to the Chinese
government.

The Sha-mien settlement possesses many advantages. It is close to the
western suburb of Canton, where reside all the wholesale dealers as well
as the princ