172 COMMERCE WITH legal or popular. Notwithstanding these restric- tions, it is by no means to be supposed that the prohibited articles are not traded in. By force of corruption, all-powerful in China, the articles deem- ed by law contraband are freely imported and ex- ported, and a thorough understanding to evade the law exists between the magistrate and the mer- chant. The only bad effect, therefore, of this clan- destine system is, that the bribery which is indis- pensable, enhances the price of the goods, and, on that account, restricts the consumption. Almost all the foreign trade of China is con- ducted from the two maritime provinces of Quan- tong and Fo-kien. It is from the latter that the greater portion of the Chinese trade with the In- dian islands is carried on. The most numerous, the largest, and the richest jimks, sail from this province, which, although one of the smallest of the empire, is remarkable for the enterprise of its inhabitants, the excellence of its sea-ports, as well as the production of almost all the black tea which is exported to foreign countries. The principal port of exportation is Hiamen, which we name Amoy, or, more correctly, Em-ui, from the name of the island, which forms its capacious and excellent haibour. The character of the commerce conducted be- tween the Indian islands and China will not be intelligible without some description of the shipping and navigation in which it is conducted.
