The British Expedition up the YangtzeThe British expedition passed on up the Yangtze River， andbombarded Chinkiang， an important city at the junction of the theGrand Canal. Although the place was defended with courage by theManchu garrison， after a severe struggle， in which many were killed， itwas forced to yield.
From Chinkiang an advance was made on Nanking， at whichplace the expedition arrived on August 9th， 1842. This occupation ofthe Yangtze led the Chinese to sue for peace， inasmuch as the blockadeof the river hindered vessels carrying the tribute rice from proceedingto the capital by way of the Grand Canal.
Ilipu and Ki-ying， both Manchus， were appointed Imperialcommissioners to treat with Sir Henry Pottinger， the BritishPlenipotentiary， who had come up from Hongkong.
The Treaty of NankingThe first treaty between China and Great Britain， known as theTreaty of Nanking， was signed on board the “Cornwallis” on August29th， 1842.
Among other provisions of the Treaty， Canton， Amoy， Foochow，Ningpo and Shanghai were opened to foreign trade and were to beknown as Treaty Ports. It was agreed that fair tariff rates should beimposed.
In the wording of the Treaty no direct mention was made ofsettlements， and the only safeguards provided for foreign merchantswere that “they with their families and establishments shall be allowedto reside for the purpose of carrying on their mercantile pursuits，without molestation or restraint“ In the five ports.
The Treaty was ratified at Peking， and was brought to Hongkongby commissioner Ki-ying in June， 1843.
A careful study of the Treaty shows that in many ways it wasunsatisfactory and that it did not take account of many of the problemswhich were sure to arise. At the same time， it reveals that the objectof the British was not conquest， but solely to obtain a footing so thattrade might be carried on more freely than had hitherto been possible.
American and French TreatiesThe fruits of England"s victories were shared by other nations.
The Hon. Caleb Cushing was appointed commissioner and EnvoyExtraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States， forthe purpose of negotiating a treaty with China. On July 3rd，1844， theTreaty of Wang-hsia was signed， Ki-ying acting as representative of theImperial Government. It was so called because the negotiations werecarried on in a village of that name outside Macao.
The French Government despatched Monsieur Theodore M.
M. J. de Lagrene to China to negotiate a treaty and one was signedat Whampoa on October 24th， 1844 。 Thus these two countries alsoobtained the right of trade for their merchants in the five Treaty Ports.
Appointment of First British ConsulCaptain George Balfour， formerly of the Indian Artillery， wasselected by Sir Henry Pottinger to be the first Consul at Shanghai andheld this office for three years. He came up from Canton and arrivedin Shanghai on November 8th， 1843. On the following day he calledby appointment on the Taotai， Kung Moo-yun， accompanied by hisstaff， Mr. W. H. Medhurst， interpreter， Dr. Hale， surgeon and assistant，and Mr. A. F. Strachan， clerk， and the Taotai duly returned the call onboard the “Medusa，” Consul Balfour"s ship.
The first question to arise was that of a residence for the Consul，and for a time it seemed as if no one would ventually to rent a house tothe unwelcome foreigner， but eventually he secured the city， on a streetbetween the East and West Gates at a rental of ＄400 per annum.
Shanghai was declared open to foreign trade on November 14th，1843.
Sir Henry Pottinger having neglected to make any agreementabout the site of a foreign settlement， the matter had to be arrangedbetween Captain Balfour and the Taotai.
The Chinese authorities immediately raised point that it wasillegal to sell outright any land belonging to His Imperial Majesty， butthis obstacle was surmounted by permission being given to rent inperpetuity， an annual land rent being paid by the renters.
Land was bought from the native proprietors at rates varying from50，000 to 60，000 cash a mow， the actual value being from 15，000 to35 ，000 cash a mow， or ＄15 to ＄35 Mex. The annual rent or land taxwas fixed at 1，500 cash a mow.
A mow is almost one-sixth of an English acre. Roughly speaking a thousand cashequaled a dollar at that time.
The present land tax is estimated at one tael per mow.
First Settlement BoundariesNo very definite boundaries were made in the first delimitationof the Settlement. The Whangpoo River was to mark its eastern andthe Yangkingpang its southern boundary. The west was left entirelyundefined， while on the north， what is now Peking Road was firtboundary.
Later the western boundary was put at the Barrier Road （thepresent Honan Road）。 Altogether about 150 acres were containedwithin the first boundaries.
The main portions of the land were fairly well raised and wereunder cultivation; other portions were lower and marshy. There werenumerous creeks， ditches and ponds， and the lower grounds in summerwere covered with reeds. Innumerable grave mounds dotted the landand the purchasers were obliged to agree that the former owners couldvisit them at stated periods and perform the customary religious rites.
For several years after the establishment of the Settlement， all westof the present Szechuen Road was regarded as being in the country.
The Bund was a towing path with a wide foreshore， covered oruncovered according to the state of the tide.
There were other difficulties connected with the acquisition of1and in this area， for the owners sometimes demanded exorbitantprices or were unwilling to sell. Even after they had sold the land，for one excuse or an-other， they refused to move or went only whenforcibly ejected.