CANTON
ports, and their cargoes of tea and silk were disposed of, the owners often found they had made a fortune on the single voyage. Prosperity came to American ports as well as to Canton during the days of the fast clipper ships, and Chinese, as well as Americans, mourned when the advent of the steamer spelled the end of the clipper. For many years trade between Canton and American ports continued to decline as a logical result of the decline of the American merchant marine; but now that the flag is again seeking out new trade routes, as in days of old, trade between Canton and other Chinese ports and the United States is beginning to assume something of its former proportions.
History relates that the first traders to enter Canton came from Arabia more than a thousand years ago, at which time they built the minaret known in Canton as the "Plain Pagoda." Besides engaging in trade with the Cantonese, the Arabians introduced Mohammedanism to the natives, and now, although the Arabian trade with Canton stopped many years ago, the religion of Mohammed still remains in the port. Portuguese traders entered Canton in the early part of the sixteenth century (1511). They were followed about a century later by the British, who sent ships to Canton from Liverpool, as the Americans later sent clipper ships from Boston, Salem, and New York.
