compared with the life in the factories of Canton where themerchants were confined in a small circum. scribed area， the residentsof Shanghai enjoyed consider-able freedom， but they were not allowedto penetrate into the country around the Settlements so far that theycould not return to Shanghai the same day. As the shooting wasexcellent， and the villagers friendly， these expeditions into the countrywere most enjoyable.
The committee on Roads and Jetties experienced difficulties incarrying out their functions. As was Per-haps natural， the early residentsof Shanghai were not far-sighted， and did not plan much for the future.
They were satisfied with a few jetties for the 1anding of goods from theships and did not see much necessity for roads， as the native paths weresufficient for the coolies who carried the bales of silk and boxes of tea.
Where roads had to be made， they decided that they must be at least25 feet wide， and in those days that looked over-generous. Followingthe line of least resistance， the roads followed the banks of the creeks，and this accounts for their some-what serpentine windings.
The buildings erected had little claim to architectural beauty andhave been wittily described as of the “com-pradoric” order. Many ofthem were bungalows and all had deep verandahs. They were adaptedto a tropical climate， and the builders seemed to have had only the fourmonths of hot weather in mind， and to have over-looked the need ofsunshine in their homes during the rest of the year.
Very little was done in regard to sanitation， and for a long timerefuse was disposed of by depositing it on the shores of The Bund.
Attack on Three Missionaries， 1848
On March 8th，1848 ， three missionaries， Drs. Medhurst andLockhart， and the Rev.William Muirhead， made a visit to Tsingpu.
a town about 25 miles from Shanghai. It so happened that at thattime the town was crowded with some 13，000 men who had recentlybeen discharged from the junks carrying tribute rice， because theGovernment was sending a large amount of it to Tientsin by the searoute. While the missionaries were preaching and distributing tracts，a dense crowd gathered around them and an attack was made by aparty of junkmen armed with poles， bars， and an iron chain. They wererescued by some runners from the Magistrate"s Yamen， who arrived justin time to save their lives.
When the matter was reported to Mr. Alcock， he decided to takestrong measures to bring those who were guilty of the assault to justice，and take the affair up with the Shanghai Taotai. Failing to receiveprompt redress， he informed the Taotai that until justice had beendone， no British ship would pay duties， nor would any grain junks beallowed to leave the port. The commander of the “Chiltern” detained1，400 rice junks. while the “Espiegle”， with the British Vice-Consul onboard， was despatched to Nanking to bring the matter to the attentionof the Viceroy and to lay before him a formal complaint. In this waythe matter was speedily settled. The ten leaders in the assault werecangued in front of the Custom House， ＄200 were paid as damages，and the junks were released. The Viceroy blamed the Shanghai Taotaifor having erred and failed in the discharge of his duties.
The British Government was at first inclined to censure Mr.
Alcock for exceeding his authority， but when his measures provedsuccessful， its rebuke was considerably softened. The Taotai wasremoved from office， and another—Wu—known to foreigners as“Sam-qua，” was appointed in his place.
The cangue was a large square wooden collar placed around the neck of acriminal.