[VOL II] MACAO, FROM THE FORTS OF HEANG-SHAN

MACAO, FROM THE FORTS OF HEANG-SHAN

Cover Image: Jugglers exhibiting in the Court of a Mandarin’s House / China / Drawn by T. Allom Engraved by T.A.Prior – ALAMY Image ID:2X4BD3A

*Heang-shan（Xiang Shan）was a historical county in China, existing from 1152 to 1925. Its primary territory included present-day areas such as Zhongshan, Zhuhai, and Macao.

“A landmark to the double tide
That purpling rolls on either side,
As if their waters chafed to meet,
Yet pause, and crouch beneath her feet.”

BYRON

MACAO occupies a position rather of beauty than strength; for the rocky summits that surround its peninsular site also command it, and the waters that lave its winding base are navigable by vessels of considerable burden. Its political circumstances have always presented an historic anomaly. Portuguese adventurers having long wandered in the Eastern seas, made occasional descents upon the Chinese coast, and, by bribery, barter, and sometimes brutality, established a species of recognition. About the year 1537—at all events, subsequently to the death of St. Francis Xavier at Shan-shan—the Portuguese obtained permission to settle at Macao; not as an independent community, but in conjunction with the native population, and during their good behaviour, or the emperor’s pleasure. For this commercial residence they probably consented, at first, to pay a large remuneration, their expectations of prosperity being proportionately high; but their illiberality, in endeavouring to secure for themselves and the Spaniards a monopoly of Chinese trade, operated so ruinously to their speculation, that the emperor is now content to receive from them the miserable ground-rent of £150 sterling, per annum.

The city stands upon a peninsula, three miles in length by one in breadth, one side of which is curved into a beautiful bay, the opposite being somewhat convex towards the sea; the ridge of this rocky eminence, as well as its sloping sides, being covered with churches, and convents, and turrets, and tall houses, such as are seen in Europe. A narrow sandy isthmus joins the peninsula to the heights of Heang-shan, which are crowned with forts, to awe the humbled settlers; and an embattled wall, after the jealous fashion of the Chinese, crosses the isthmus, and forms an entire separation between the Christians and idolaters. It is said that this barrier was first erected to check the incursions of Romish priests, who were much addicted to the practice of stealing Chinese children, from a desire to convert them to a saving faith. The end was certainly laudable, but not the means. The rigidity with which the Portuguese refuse all intercourse with the Chinese as separatists, would rather induce a belief that the charge of kidnapping was a forgery, invented as a pretext for building up this rampart. A presiding mandarin (Tso-tang) constantly resides in Macao, and gives evidence of the slight nature of Portuguese tenure there, by occasionally stopping the supply of provisions intended for the Christians—by enforcing strictly the conditions of their occupancy, such as prohibiting the erection of new houses, or repairs of old ones—and by inspecting the Portuguese forts, to see that no additional strength has been given to them, nor any increase made to the garrison of four hundred men. Without a license, (for which a stipend is expected,) none of these conditions may be violated with impunity; nor can the Portuguese accomplish such objects secretly, all handicraft employments being exercised exclusively by Chinese residents.

The Portuguese executive at Macao consists of a military governor, a judge, and a bishop, each of whom enjoys a salary of £600 per annum; a sum considerable indeed, when the insignificance of their services is remembered. The Chinese portion of the population, about thirty thousand souls, is subject to native authorities solely; the European, including Portuguese by birth, Mesticos—also Portuguese—but descended from Malay mothers—and foreigners of all classes, in all not more than four thousand, are under the nominal rule of the Portuguese governor. This power, however, often proves too weak to compete with the lords of the soil, who occasionally order all foreigners to withdraw upon a few hours’ notice, under pain of confiscation of property and loss of liberty; thereby restricting trade—the only occupation which Christian settlers exercise here—so frequently and so much, that the temples of Macao are without worshippers, the dwellings untenanted, the harbour almost forsaken.

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