Although received with scant courtesy， he was able to present hispetition. He was told， however， that the right of trade could only beallowed at Canton and was advised to return tbere as soon as possible.
Trade with Shanghai being impossible， Mr. Lindsay left for Corea.
Reasons for the Unwillingness to TradeWhen we consider that a certain amount of trade had always beencarried on between China and Western countries by the over land routethrough Central Asia， it seems strange that so many obstacles were putin the way of trade by the new sea routes.
The obstinate attitude of the Chinese Government was due toFactories were establishments of factors or agents for carrying on business in China.
many causes. Undoubtedly the piratical incursions of the Portuguesetraders along the coast injured the reputation of Western traders， andgave some excuse for regarding them as barbarians. The real reason，however， for the strong opposition was that these merchants from theWest were demanding the privilege of trade as a right to which theywere entitled， and asked that commercially and diplomatically theyshould be treated on terms of equality.
Furthermore， the trade of the overland routes had been verylimited in scope， while that by the sea route was carried on on a muchlarger scale. In those days China regarded imports as an evil andthought that the purchase of foreign goods resulted in the outflow ofmoney and in the consequent impoverishment of the country.
Although in his report， Proceedings on a Voyage to the NorthernPorts of China in the Ship “Lord Amherst，” Mr. Lindsay describedShanghai as an excellent entrep?t for commerce. the East Indiacompany did not seem to appreciate its possibilities. Even after themonopoly of trade of that company ceased in 1834， Shanghai was notdeemed of much importance in the minds of British merchants.
For a time it seemed as if one of the Chusan Islands might bedestined to be the centre of British trade in East China rather thanShanghai， but after the signing of the Treaty of Nanking， these islandswere evacuated.
The Battle of WoosungDuring the first war between China and Great Britain， 184 0–1843 ， in order to bring hostilities to a close， the British decided toinvade the North， so as to strike a blow at the Central Government. AThis view is also expressed in Dr. Sun Yat-sen"s modern lectures， known as SanMin Chu I or Three Principles.
These islands were occupied by the British during the first war between GreatBritain and China.
British fleet commanded by Vice-Admiral Sir William Parker， with amilitary force of 4，000 men under Sir Henry Gough， was despatchedfor this purpose. Amoy， Ningpo， and Chapoo were taken in succession，and on June 13th， 1842， the expedition reached Woosung and founditself at the outer gate of Shanghai.
The Chinese authorities had neglected to make adequatepreparations， but when they realized that Shanghai was to be attacked，they did what they could to strengthen its defences and to block themouth of the Yangtze against the British fleet. The forts at Woosungon both sides of the Whangpoo were rebuilt and enlarged. Earthworks，following the course of the Yangtze， were constructed on the Woosungside， having an extreme length of three and a third miles， between theWoosung Creek and the town of paoshan. A large numher of more orless ancient guns was collected to arm the forts. These guns were tenfeet long and had an inner tube of wrought metal round which theouter covering had been run. Among them were 16- and 24-pounders.
Some were of brass and were mounted in such a way that they couldtraverse on a pivot， but were without any device by which they couldbe elevated or lowered.
As to the native troops engaged， although some Tartars andregular troops had been hurried to the place， the larger proportion wasinefficient， composed of recruits hastily gathered from the towns andvillages. There were thirty armed vessels， some of which were junksprovided with paddle wheels revolved by coolies somewhat in thesame way as they work the water wheels for irrigating the fields. Boatsworked in this way could travel about three miles an hour.
The British fleet， sailing in unknown waters， approached Shanghaislowly.
