Page:Ports of the world - Canton (1920).djvu/59

CANTON factories, shops, warehouses, in the shipyards—where sampans, small and large steamers are built—and in the river trade.

Wati and Honan are both as old as Canton, because Chinese legends tell of the two islands being settled at about the same time Canton was founded by the Chinese. Canton, itself, is known as the "City of Rams," because of the ancient legend which claims that its founders—five Genii, clad in garments of five colors, rode through the air on five rams, each bearing five varieties of grains, which they presented to the people of Canton upon their arrival in the village or settlement. "Canton" is the English mispronunciation of "Kwangtung"—the province in which the port is located. The real Chinese name for the city is "Kwong Chow," the name dating back to the period of the three states, 220-280 A. D. Before that time Canton was known as "Nam Hoi."

Canton was incorporated into the Empire of China during the dynasty of Chin-Chi-Wong, the Emperor who built the Great Wall and burned the Chinese classics in 218 B. C.

 

N THE early days of the last century, when the American merchant marine sailed in the first rank of the trading fleets of the world, largely because of the perfection to which the clipper ship had been brought by shipbuilders and designers. Canton was the destination of hundreds of sailing vessels from the United States and other countries.

American clipper ships sailed from the ports of Boston, Salem, and New York—laden with cotton goods and other American products proceeded through the Straits of Magellan to the Pacific Coast, where they traded their cargoes for furs, and sometimes stopped at Hawaii where they traded their cargoes for sandalwood.

Sandalwood and furs, prized by the Chinese, were taken in the clipper ships across the Pacific to Canton, and there exchanged for silk and tea. The voyage usually required two or three years, and when the clipper ships returned to their respective