The words Factory and Hong were interchangeable, although not identical. The former, as will have been seen, consisted of dwellings and offices combined. The latter not only contained numerous offices for _employés_, cooks, messengers, weighmasters, &c., but were of vast extent, and capable of receiving an entire ship's cargo, as well as quantities of teas and silk. When speaking of their own residences, foreigners generally used the word 'Factories;' when of a Hong merchant's place of business, the word Hong. The Swedish Factory, however, seemed to enjoy the distinction of going by its Chinese appellation, viz. 'Suy-Hong.'[10] I have been thus specific in the description of these world-renowned Factories, as they were subsequently razed to the ground consequent upon Sir Michael Seymour's bombardment of the city of Canton. When I last visited the site, nearly thirty-five years after I first took up my residence in them, it was literally unrecognisable. It presented a scene, the desolation of desolation; there remained not one stone upon another! For more than one hundred years they had formed the sole residence of foreigners within the limits of the vast Chinese Empire. The business transacted within their walls was incalculable, and I think I am safe in saying that from the novelty of the life, the social good feeling and unbounded hospitality always mutually existing; from the facility of all dealings with the Chinese who were assigned to transact business with us, together with their proverbial honesty, combined with a sense of perfect security to person and property, scarcely a resident of any lengthened time, in short, any 'Old Canton,' but finally left them with regret. In no part of the world could the authorities have exercised a more vigilant care over the personal safety of strangers who of their own free will came to live in the midst of a population whose customs and prejudices were so opposed to everything foreign, and yet the Chinese Government was bound by no treaty obligations to _specially_ provide protection for them. They dwelt at Canton purely on sufferance. Neither Consul nor any other official representative from abroad was directly acknowledged as such, and yet the solicitude of the local government never flagged. In addition to the guards always posted at the corner of the American Hong and Old China Street, others were stationed in various directions in the suburbs frequented by foreigners, in order that any Chinese who might be troublesome could be driven off, or that they could escort back to the factories those who were uncertain of their whereabouts.