ABSTRACT
In 1834 the select Committee of the East India Company repeated its notice given in 1831 to the authorities at Canton, that its ships would no longer come to China, and that a king's officer would be sent out as chief to manage the affairs of the British trade. On arriving at Canton the tide-waiters officially reported that three "foreign devils" had landed. With regard to the foreign factory of the Company without the walls of the city, it is a place of temporary residence for foreigners coming to Canton to trade; they are permitted to eat, sleep, buy and sell in the factories; they are not allowed to go out to ramble about. The British residents at Canton saw the point of difficulty clearly, and in a petition to the king in council, dated December 4,1834, recommended that a commissioner be sent to one of the northern ports with a small fleet to arrange the matter of future intercourse.
