Page:Journal of three voyages along the coast of China in 1881, 1832, & 1833 with notices of Siam, Corea, and the Loo-Choo islands (1834).djvu/12

 of south-eastern Asia known to the inhabitants of the western world.

In 1516, the Portuguese commenced their traffic at Canton; but it was not until 1614, that the servants of the English East India Company sought the trade of China. In 1637, the Company's ships anchored off Macao, and afterwards proceeded up the river towards Canton, to open a direct trade with the Chinese ; but they were obliged to abandon the project, and were treated as enemies. Their commercial intercourse with this singular nation commenced in 1683; — this intercourse, though attended with many difficulties at first, was afterwards firmly established, and has been maintained with few interruptions ever since. ** The English," as Mr. Auber observes, " when they first adventured in the China trade, presented themselves to the notice of the Chinese necessarily under the double disadvantage of being foreigners and merchants: nevertheless, since they have been invested with the character of representatives and servants of a great Company, enjoying the declared and immediate protection of the sovereign of their nation, they have succeeded, by