was protected by its city wall and by fortifications and naval bases around the Humen Strait (formerly the "Boca Tigris" or "Bogue"). Ships of war were not permitted to pass closer to the city. European trade began with the arrival of Rafael Perestrello on a native junk in 1516 and was originally conducted directly on Guangzhou's waterfront. Portuguese misconduct—and rumors that they were eating the children they were enslaving—quickly cut off access, but this was regained after the 1554 Luso-Chinese Accord. Their trade was based out of Macao, but after the general sea bans were lifted in 1684 Pazhou (as "Whampoa") became an important anchorage as the great draft of the East Indiamen turned it into Guangzhou's deep-water port. Early traders were obliged to follow the monsoon winds, arriving between June and September, conducting their business, and then departing between November and February. Typically, cargo was ferried from the ships by its own crew and to the ships at the expense of the Chinese merchants on their "chop boats" (lighters). To avoid theft or piracy, foreign traders began assigning a few of their own seamen to these ships as guards. In 1686, Westerners were allowed to rent accommodations in the factory quarter to avoid the necessity of shuttling back to Pazhou each night. For the most part, the supercargos, their assistants, and the bookkeepers stayed at the factories, the crew—except for a few guards or those on shore leave—stayed with the ships, and the captains continued to ferry between the two. A comprador () dealt with the ship's provisions at Pazhou, where sampan ladies crowded around the ships to do laundry and odd jobs for the sailors. As an added layer of defense and revenue, city officials continued to enforce anchorage at Pazhou even when smaller private craft began to trade in increasing numbers following the mid-18th discovery of the Philippine route allowed them to come and go without waiting months for the monsoon winds. By then, fixed berths for different nations were established at the anchorage. Innermost and westernmost were the Americans and after them came the Dutch and the Swedes. Next came the Danes and the French, close to Changzhou ("Dane's Island") and Xiaoguwei ("French Island"), which they used for their bases. The British were last and outermost. Getting the ship from the Human Strait to Pazhou usually required traveling only by day and assistance from a local