Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/330

 314 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. foreign nations, the Chinese suffered from in every future limitation to which the Dutch trade was subjected. At the time this limitation was put to the Chinese trade, they were still allowed to send seventy junks a year to Japan. The trade was not confined to that country alone, but the Chi- nese settled in other parts were allowed to parti- cipate. On this principle, a trade was conducted between Japan and Tonquin, Cochinchina, Cam- boja, Siam, and Java. In the year I7OO, when the Dutch trade was li- mited to four ships, that of the Chinese was limit- ed to twenty junks j and when the Dutch trade was reduced to one large ship, or two small ones, that of the Chinese was reduced to its present amount, of ten junks, and 15,000 piculs of cop- per, — their trade being always reckoned at double the amount of that of the Dutch. The Chinese junks are of about 400 tons burden, and the trade is conducted on the part of China from the port of Ning-po, in the province of Che-ki-ang, not above four days' voyage from Nangasaki, and so conve- niently situated that it may be performed by a good vessel at any season. Even the Chinese make two voyages a year. The productions im- ported into Japan from China are raw and wrought silks, the spices, camphor, and frankincense of the Archipelago j zinc ore, damar, drugs, particularly