384 Boundaries and Beyond
peddlers. The former might invest in the more expensive cargoes such as
cassia, camphor, nankeen and raw silk, for which Singapore had become
a depot.^126 Although the import of tea increased by more than 18 times
from 1823 to 1826, the entire quantity was for local consumption.^127
In 1823, the value of exports carried by six junks was about 928,700
Spanish dollars, in which opium, British piece-goods and woolens
amounted to 230,000 dollars. The trade greatly increased in the
following years.^128 During the 1833‒34 trading season, the Chinese junks
brought six to seven thousand chests of teas, including the famous Wuyi
and Anxi brands. The bulk of the cargo came from Canton, a portion of
it from Amoy.^129 In comparison to the 1820s, more branded teas were
being imported, probably more with an eye for re-export than for the
local market. In 1835, the total trade between Singapore and China was
worth as much as 1,344,236 dollars, nearly half of which was contributed
by the junk trade. The rest of the trade was carried in western square-
rigged vessels.^130 In 1829‒30, 23 junks arrived in Singapore, and this
number jumped to 247 in 1841‒42.^131 Singapore had an import value of
2,073,232 dollars in its trade with China in 1844, and its exports to China
were worth 3,256,260 dollars. Ten years earlier these βigures had been
respectively 766,955 dollars and 1,213,695 dollars.^132
John Crawfurd updated his information when he testiβied before
the Select Committee of the House of Commons. He said that the native
foreign trade was run by Canton (including Changlim and Hainan), Amoy,
Zhejiang (including Ningbo and Shanghai) and Soochow. There were
also a great number of small junks from Hainan. Junks embarking from
Ningbo, Shanghai and Soochow sailed to the Philippines, the Vietnam
coast, Cambodia and Siam, but some visited the western part of the
Indian Archipelago. About 80 to 90 junks traded to Siam. He mentioned
that Bangkok was the second largest Asiatic trading place in the East after
Canton. The average tonnage of the junks was 300 per junk and the total
in the native foreign trade of China was 60,000 to 70,000 tons, exclusive
- Ibid., p. 546.
- Ibid., p. 541.
- Ibid., p. 540.
- John Phipps, Practical treatise on the China and Eastern Trade, p. 78.
- Wong Lin Ken, “The Trade of Singapore 1819‒1869”, Journal of the Malayan
Branch Royal Asiatic Society 22, 4 (1960): 106. - Ibid., p. 123.
- Rutherford Alcock, “Report on Maritime Trade of China” (1848), in FO 17/142,
no. 16, Enclosure; BPP; and NCH.
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