Among The Interpreters Were The Future Sir Thomas
Wade And Sir Harry Parkes.
Various difficulties presented themselves with
regard to the foreign settlements, and the island of Kulangsu at Amoy had
to be evacuated because its name was not mentioned in the treaty.
At
Canton also an attempt was made to extend the boundaries of the foreign
settlement by taking advantage of a great conflagration, but in this
attempt the Europeans were baffled by the superior quickness of the
Chinese, who constructed their new houses in a single night. These
incidents showed that the sharpness was not all on one side, and that if
the Chinese were backward in conceding what might be legitimately
demanded, the Europeans were not averse to snatching an advantage if they
saw the chance.
The turbulence of the Canton populace, over whom the officials possessed
but a nominal control, was a constant cause of disagreement and trouble.
In the spring of 1846 a riot was got up by the mob on the excuse that a
vane erected on the top of the flagstaff over the American Consulate
interfered with the Fung Shui, or spirits of earth and air; and although
it was removed to allay the excitement of the superstitious, the
disturbance continued, and several personal encounters took place, in one
of which a Chinese was killed. The Chinese mandarins, incited by the mob,
demanded the surrender of the man who fired the shot; and that they should
have made such a demand, after they had formally accepted and recognized
the jurisdiction of consular courts, furnished strong evidence that they
had not mastered the lessons of the late war or reconciled themselves to
the provisions of the Treaty of Nankin.
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