In cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption — a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is ''encipherment''. To encipher or encode is to convert information from plain text into code or cipher. In non-technical usage, a “cipherâ€? is the same thing as a “codeâ€?; however, the concepts are distinct in cryptography. In classical cryptography, ciphers were distinguished from codes. Codes operated by substituting according to a large codebook which linked a random string of characters or numbers to a word or phrase. For example, “UQJHSEâ€? could be the code for “Proceed to the following coordinatesâ€?. When using a cipher the original information is known as plaintext, and the encrypted form as ciphertext. The ciphertext message contains all the information of the plaintext message, but is not in a format readable by a human or computer without the proper mechanism to decrypt it; it should resemble random gibberish to those not intended to read it.

The operation of a cipher usually depends on a piece of auxiliary information, called a key (or, in traditional NSA parlance, a ''cryptovariable''). The encrypting procedure is varied depending on the key, which changes the detailed operation of the algorithm. A key must be selected before using a cipher to encrypt a message. Without knowledge of the key, it should be difficult, if not nearly impossible, to decrypt the resulting ciphertext into readable plaintext.

Most modern ciphers can be categorized in several ways

By whether they work on blocks of symbols usually of a fixed size (block ciphers), or on a continuous stream of symbols (stream ciphers).

By whether the same key is used for both encryption and decryption (symmetric key algorithms), or if a different key is used for each (asymmetric key algorithms). If the algorithm is symmetric, the key must be known to the recipient and sender and to no one else. If the algorithm is an asymmetric one, the enciphering key is different from, but closely related to, the deciphering key. If one key cannot be deduced from the other, the asymmetric key algorithm has the public/private key property and one of the keys may be made public without loss of confidentiality.

Etymology of “Cipher�

“Cipher� is alternatively spelled “cypher�; similarly “ciphertext� and “cyphertext�, and so forth.

The word “cipherâ€? in former times meant “zeroâ€? and had the same origin: Middle French as ''cifre'' and Medieval Latin as ''cifra,'' from the Arabic صÙ?ر ''á¹£ifr'' = zero (see Zero — Etymology). “Cipherâ€? was later used for any decimal digit, even any number. There are many theories about how the word “cipherâ€? may have come to mean “encodingâ€?:

Encoding often involved numbers.

The Roman number system was very cumbersome because there was no concept of zero (or empty space). The concept of zero (which was also called “cipher�), which we all now think of as natural, was very alien in medieval Europe, so confusing and ambiguous to common Europeans that in arguments people would say “talk clearly and not so far fetched as a cipher�. Cipher came to mean concealment of clear messages or encryption.

*The French formed the word “chiffre� and adopted the Italian word “zero�.

*The English used “zero� for “0�, and “cipher� from the word “ciphering� as a means of computing.

*The Germans used the words “Ziffer� (digit) and “Chiffre�.

*The Dutch still use the word "cijfer" to refer to a numerical digit.

*The Italians and the Spanish also use the word "cifra" to refer to a number.

*The Serbians use word "cifra",which refers to any number.Besides "cifra",they use word "broj".

Dr. Al-Kadi concluded that the Arabic word ''sifr'', for the digit zero, developed into the European technical term for encryption.

Ciphers versus codes

In non-technical usage, a “(secret) code� typically means a “cipher�. Within technical discussions, however, the words “code� and “cipher� refer to two different concepts. Codes work at the level of meaning — that is, words or phrases are converted into something else and this chunking generally shortens the message.

An example of this is the Telegraph Code which was used to shorten long telegraph messages which resulted from entering into commercial contracts using exchanges of Telegrams.

Ciphers, on the other hand, work at a lower level: the level of individual letters, small groups of letters, or, in modern schemes, individual bits. Some systems used both codes and ciphers in one system, using superencipherment to increase the security. In some cases the terms codes and ciphers are also used synonymously to substitution and transposition.

Historically, cryptography was split into a dichotomy of codes and ciphers; and coding had its own terminology, analogous to that for ciphers: “''encoding'', ''codetext'', ''decoding''� and so on.

However, codes have a variety of drawbacks, including susceptibility to cryptanalysis and the difficulty of managing a cumbersome codebook. Because of this, codes have fallen into disuse in modern cryptography, and ciphers are the dominant technique.

Types of cipher

There are a variety of different types of encryption. Algorithms used earlier in the history of cryptography are substantially different from modern methods, and modern ciphers can be classified according to how they operate and whether they use one or two keys.

Historical ciphers

Historical pen and paper ciphers used in the past are sometimes known as classical ciphers. They include simple substitution ciphers and transposition ciphers. For example “GOOD DOG� can be encrypted as “PLLX XLP� where “L� substitutes for “O�, “P� for “G�, and “X� for “D� in the message. Transposition of the letters “GOOD DOG� can result in “DGOGDOO�. These simple ciphers and examples are easy to crack, even without plaintext-ciphertext pairs.

Simple ciphers were replaced by polyalphabetic substitution ciphers which changed the substitution alphabet for every letter. For example “GOOD DOG� can be encrypted as “PLSX TWF� where “L�, “S�, and “W� substitute for “O�. With even a small amount of known or estimated plaintext, simple polyalphabetic substitution ciphers and letter transposition ciphers designed for pen and paper encryption are easy to crack. It is possible to create a secure pen and paper cipher based on a one-time pad though, but the usual disadvantages of one-time pads apply.

During the early twentieth century, electro-mechanical machines were invented to do encryption and decryption using transposition, polyalphabetic substitution, and a kind of “additive� substitution. In rotor machines, several rotor disks provided polyalphabetic substitution, while plug boards provided another substitution. Keys were easily changed by changing the rotor disks and the plugboard wires. Although these encryption methods were more complex than previous schemes and required machines to encrypt and decrypt, other machines such as the British Bombe were invented to crack these encryption methods.

Modern ciphers

Modern encryption methods can be divided by two criteria: by type of key used, and by type of input data.

By type of key used ciphers are divided into:

symmetric key algorithms (Private-key cryptography), where the same key is used for encryption and decryption, and

asymmetric key algorithms (Public-key cryptography), where two different keys are used for encryption and decryption.

In a symmetric key algorithm (e.g., DES and AES), the sender and receiver must have a shared key set up in advance and kept secret from all other parties; the sender uses this key for encryption, and the receiver uses the same key for decryption. The Feistel cipher uses a combination of substitution and transposition techniques. Most block cipher algorithms are based on this structure. In an asymmetric key algorithm (e.g., RSA), there are two separate keys: a ''public key'' is published and enables any sender to perform encryption, while a ''private key'' is kept secret by the receiver and enables only him to perform correct decryption.

Ciphers can be distinguished into two types by the type of input data:

block ciphers, which encrypt block of data of fixed size, and

stream ciphers, which encrypt continuous streams of data

Key size and vulnerability

In a pure mathematical attack (i.e., lacking any other information to help break a cipher), three factors above all, count:

Mathematical advances that allow new attacks or weaknesses to be discovered and exploited.

Computational power available, i.e., the computing power which can be brought to bear on the problem. It is important to note that average performance/capacity of a single computer is not the only factor to consider. An adversary can use multiple computers at once, for instance, to increase the speed of exhaustive search for a key (i.e., “brute force� attack) substantially.

Key size, i.e., the size of key used to encrypt a message. As the key size increases, so does the complexity of exhaustive search to the point where it becomes infeasible to crack encryption directly.

Since the desired effect is computational difficulty, in theory one would choose an algorithm and desired difficulty level, thus decide the key length accordingly.

An example of this process can be found at Key Length which uses multiple reports to suggest that a symmetric cipher with 128 bits, an asymmetric cipher with 3072 bit keys, and an elliptic curve cipher with 512 bits, all have similar difficulty at present.

Claude Shannon proved, using information theory considerations, that any theoretically unbreakable cipher must have keys which are at least as long as the plaintext, and used only once: one-time pad.

See also

References

Richard J. Aldrich, ''GCHQ: The Uncensored Story of Britain's Most Secret Intelligence Agency'', HarperCollins July 2010.

Helen Fouché Gaines, “Cryptanalysis�, 1939, Dover. ISBN 0-486-20097-3

Ibrahim A. Al-Kadi, “The origins of cryptology: The Arab contributionsâ€?, Cryptologia, 16(2) (April 1992) pp. 97–126.

David Kahn, ''The Codebreakers - The Story of Secret Writing'' (ISBN 0-684-83130-9) (1967)

David A. King, The ciphers of the monks - A forgotten number notation of the Middle Ages, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 2001 (ISBN 3-515-07640-9)

Abraham Sinkov, ''Elementary Cryptanalysis: A Mathematical Approach'', Mathematical Association of America, 1966. ISBN 0-88385-622-0

William Stallings, ''Cryptography and Network Security, principles and practices, 4th Edition

External links

SecurityDocs Resource for encryption whitepapers

Accumulative archive of various cryptography mailing lists. Includes Cryptography list at metzdowd and SecurityFocus Crypto list.

Category:Cryptography * Category:Arabic words and phrases

ar:Ø´Ù?رة سرÙ?Ø© de:Chiffre fr:Chiffrement it:Cifrario ka:შიფრáƒ?ციáƒ? nl:Cryptografie pl:Szyfr ru:Шифр sr:Шифра zh-min-nan:Sái-hÅ?

name	Ace Hood
birth name	Antoine McColister
birth date	May 11, 1988
background	solo_singer
origin	Deerfield Beach, Florida
genre	Hip hop, southern hip hop, R&B;
occupation	Rapper, Songwriter
years active	2007–present
label	We the Best Music Group, Cash Money, Young Money, Universal Republic, Def Jam
associated acts	DJ Khaled, Rick Ross, Birdman, Brisco, T-Pain, Lloyd , Lil Wayne, Meek Mill, Chris Brown, Kevin Cossom, Yo Gotti
website	}}

Antoine McColister, (born May 11, 1988), better known by his stage name Ace Hood, is an American rapper. He is signed to DJ Khaled's label We the Best Music Group and Def Jam Recordings. His song "Top of the World", from his debut studio album ''Gutta'', was also featured in the basketball simulation game, NBA 2K10.

Career

Early career

In 2007, he met DJ Khaled outside the offices of WEDR 99 Jamz, a South Florida radio station that mainly plays hip hop and contemporary R&B; music. After Ace gave him an autobiography and demo tape, Khaled asked Ace to rap over the instrumental of "I'm So Hood" and later signed Hood to his label, We the Best. Ace was named with several others to the Freshmen of 09 by ''XXL'' magazine.

2008: ''Gutta''

His first album, ''Gutta'', was released in 2008. Singles included "Cash Flow" featuring T-Pain and Rick Ross, and "Ride" featuring Trey Songz. Hood also released mixtapes called ''Ace Won't Fold'' and ''All Bets On Ace''. He made a guest performance among several rappers on DJ Khaled's single "Out Here Grindin'", also featuring Akon, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, Lil Boosie, Trick Daddy and Plies, which peaked at #38 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Ace Hood's biggest hit. It is from Khaled's third studio album ''We Global'', and was eventually certified gold by the RIAA. Ace Hood appeared on Wildstyle Radio with Rome and Hoss on WUAG 103.1FM in Greensboro, North Carolina, on September 7, 2008, to promote his album, ''Gutta'', along with DJ Khaled. The album debuted at #36 on the Billboard 200, selling 25,000 copies its first week.

2009: ''Ruthless''

On June 30, 2009, seven months later, Ace Hood released his second album, titled ''Ruthless'', once again on Def Jam. The album's first single was "Overtime", which was produced by The Runners and featured Akon and T-Pain. The album's second single is "Loco Wit The Cake", which was produced by Schife, of the Palm Beach County Karbeen Mafia. The album's guest lists includes Rick Ross, Ludacris, Jazmine Sullivan, The-Dream, Birdman, and Lloyd. The album debuted at #23 on the Billboard 200, selling 20,000 copies its first week.

2011: ''Blood, Sweat, & Tears''

Ace Hood confirmed that his third album will be called, ''Blood, Sweat & Tears''. It was released on August 9, 2011. The first official single, "Hustle Hard", became Ace's highest charting solo single, peaking at #60 on the Billboard 100. The second official single is "Go 'N' Get It". Both tracks are produced by Lex Luger. The third single is "Body 2 Body" featuring Chris Brown and the song is produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. It peaked at #65 on the Hot 100. The album features artists like T-Pain, Yo Gotti, Kevin Cossom, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne. The album debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200, selling 26,000 copies, becoming the rapper's most successful album so far. He promoted the album with his first concert tour, the Hustle Hard Tour. He also appeared on three tracks from DJ Khaled's fifth studio album, ''We the Best Forever'': "I'm Thuggin'", "Future", and the "Welcome to My Hood (Remix)". He starts the year 2012 by collaboring on Cash Money Records artist Bow Wow on a song called "We Going Hard". He will be appear on T.I.'s ''Trouble Man'' album.

Awards, nominations and appearances

Ace Hood]Ace Hood performed the Hustle Hard remix with DJ Khaled, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne at BET Awards 2011. He was also feature on "The Cypher" with Kevin McCall, Tyga & Chris Brown on the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards. He performed for a homecoming concert and comedy show at North Carolina A&T; State University in October 2011.

Discography

;Studio albums

2008: ''Gutta''

2009: ''Ruthless''

2011: ''Blood, Sweat & Tears''

;Mixtapes

2008: ''Ace Won't Fold'' (Hosted by DJ Khaled)

2008: ''All Bets on Ace'' (Hosted by DJ Khaled)

2009: ''The Preview'' (Hosted by DJ Dirt Dawg)

2009: ''Street Certified'' (Hosted by Bigga Rankin')

2009: ''Final Warning''

2010: ''The Statement''

2010: ''I Do It...For The Sport''

2011: ''Sex Chronicles'' (Hosted by Rosa Acosta)

2011: ''Body Bag Vol.1'' (Hosted by DJ Inafamous)

2011: ''The Statement 2''

2012: ''Starvation''

2012: ''Same Dream'' (with Meek Mill)

References

Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:African American rappers Category:People from Port St. Lucie, Florida Category:Rappers from Miami, Florida Category:Def Jam Recordings artists Category:Southern hip hop musicians Category:Deerfield Beach High School alumni

cs:Ace Hood de:Ace Hood et:Ace Hood es:Ace Hood fr:Ace Hood it:Ace Hood ja:エイス・フッド pl:Ace Hood pt:Ace Hood fi:Ace Hood sv:Ace Hood

background	solo_singer
birth name	LaRon Louis James
birth date	February 18, 1983
Birth place	Harlem, New York, United States
genre	Hip hop
occupation	Rapper, record producer, actor
years active	1999–present
label	Skull Gang, Def Jam, E1
associated acts	Skull Gang, The Diplomats, Jim Jones, Lil Wayne, Cam'ron, Chris Brown, Lloyd Banks
website	www.myspace.com/juelzsantana }}

LaRon Louis James (born February 18, 1983), better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper, producer, actor and member of group Dipset. He appeared on Cam'ron's 2002 singles, "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma". In 2003, his debut album ''From Me to U'' was released by Def Jam Recordings; his next album ''What the Game's Been Missing!'' contained the top-ten single "There It Go (The Whistle Song)". He is currently working on his long awaited third studio album ''Born to Lose, Built to Win'' set to be released in the 4th quarter of 2012.

Biography

1983-2001: Early life and early career

LaRon James was born in New York City and raised in the Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem. He is of African American and Dominican descent. He began rapping at the age of five and at age twelve started duo Draft Pick, which was signed to Priority Records. In 2000, at the age of 17, he made a guest performance on a track on Cam'ron's album ''S.D.E.'' and eventually joined The Diplomats.

2002–2004: ''From Me To U''

After the signing of The Diplomats, also known as Dipset, to Roc-a-Fella Records in 2002, there was an influence of mixtapes, features on other artists' records, television and radio interviews, in which Juelz achieved mainstream recognition not previously gained through the various Diplomat mixtapes, and his solo mixtape ''Final Destination'', that was sold in late 2002. After being featured on fellow Diplomat member Cam'ron's two singles, "Hey Ma" and "Oh Boy". Juelz started working on his debut album. In the summer of 2003, Santana released his debut album, From Me To U, which peaked at #8 in the Billboard 200. "Dipset (Santana's Town)" peaked #70 in the U.S. Billboard.

2005-2006: ''What the Game's Been Missing!''

''What the Game's Been Missing!'' followed in 2005 with the singles "Mic Check", "There It Go (The Whistle Song)", "Oh Yes", "Clockwork," "Shottas", and "Make It Work For Ya" Feat. Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne. "There It Go" reached #6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot Rap Tracks charts; "Oh Yes" reached #56 on the Hot 100 and #8 on the Rap charts. "Mic Check" reached 35 in the Billboard Hot 100. Both this album and single "There It Go" were certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.

2007-present: ''Born to Lose, Built to Win'' and Dipset reunion

Since 2007, Santana has been recording material for his third album, ''Born to Lose, Built to Win''. Shortly after recording began, Santana released a promo single, "The Second Coming", produced by Just Blaze.

After a two year hiatus, he released a new song, "Days of Our Lives", with two accompanying music videos featuring cameos from Skull Gang. In late 2009 he released the first single off ''Born to Lose, Built to Win'', "Mixin' Up the Medicine" featuring Yelawolf.

In 2010, he released the second single titled, "Back to the Crib" featuring Chris Brown. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. In June 2010, the Dipset reunion began with a teaser titled "Under Construction" and a street single, ''"Salute"'' produced by Araabmuzik. The song features Jim Jones, Cam'ron, and Juelz Santana. The remix features new Diplomat artist Vado with a verse added. Since the reunion it is not yet known if or when Juelz will release the album.

But it is known that he is working on a new album with The Diplomats. Recently Santana tweeted "I will give people that people wants Reagan Era in the studio" so that means that we can wait a new album for 2011.

In 2012 Juelz stated he is still working on his third studio album ''Born to Lose, Built to Win'' & is Set To Be released in the 4th quarter of 2012 but before then he will release two mixtapes entitled ''Reagan Era'' & ''Reagan Era Pt. 2''.

Legal Issues

In January 2011 Juelz Santana's Bergenfield, New Jersey Recording Studio was raided, after a 10-month investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutors Office and Gang Unit.

Santana was arrested February 2, 2011, and charged with possession of a firearm, possession of a handgun without a permit, possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school. Santana posted $125,000 bail.

On March 22, 2011, Juelz Santana missed a performance at Chris Brown's record release party for his album ''F.A.M.E.'', New York Police stopped the rapper and searched him for guns and drugs. While no one was arrested, Santana was not allowed to enter the building during the search. This caused him to miss his entire performance with Chris Brown. Juelz' lawyer Joe Wunstop told The New York Post that police stopped Santana because members of his entourage "might be affiliated, friends bring friends and he's really friendly"

Discography

;Studio albums

2003: ''From Me to U''

2005: ''What the Game's Been Missing!''

2012: ''Born to Lose, Built to Win''

;Official mixtapes

2002: ''Final Destination''

2004: ''Back Like Cooked Crack Pt. 1''

2005: ''Back Like Cooked Crack Pt. 2''

2006: ''Back Like Cooked Crack Pt. 3''

2012: ''Reagan Era''

2012: ''Reagan Era Pt. 2''

;Collaboration albums

2003: ''Diplomatic Immunity'' (with The Diplomats)

2004: ''Diplomatic Immunity 2'' (with The Diplomats)

2009: ''Skull Gang'' (with Skull Gang)

TBA: ''Diplomatic Immunity 3'' (with The Diplomats)

TBA: ''I Can't Feel My Face'' (with Lil Wayne)

Filmography

''State Property 2'' (2005)

''Killa Season'' (2006)

''Kiss and Tail: The Hollywood Jumpoff''(2009) ''The Project'' (2011) *

''Video Girl'' (2011)

References

External links

Official site

Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:African American rappers Category:American people of Dominican Republic descent Category:American people of Haitian descent Category:The Diplomats members Category:Hispanic and Latino American rappers Category:People from Teaneck, New Jersey Category:People from Harlem Category:Rappers from New York City Category:Roc-A-Fella Records artists

cs:Juelz Santana de:Juelz Santana es:Juelz Santana fr:Juelz Santana ko:주엘즈 산타나 it:Juelz Santana nl:Juelz Santana ja:ジュエルズ・サンタãƒ? no:Juelz Santana pl:Juelz Santana pt:Juelz Santana ru:ДжуÑ?лз Сантана fi:Juelz Santana sv:Juelz Santana

name	Cory Gunz
cover
background	solo_singer
birth name	Peter Cory Pankey, Jr.
alias	Cory Gunny, Mr. Gunz, Gunna, Son of a Gun
birth date	June 22, 1987
Birth place	Bronx, New York, U.S.
genre	Hip hop, East Coast hip hop
occupation	Rapper, songwriter
years active	2003-present
label	Young Money, Cash Money, Universal Republic, After Platinum Records, TM3 Records
associated acts	RockFam Lame-A, Peter Gunz, Lil Wayne, Young Money, Nick Cannon, Ryan Leslie
website	myspace.com/cgunz174 }}

Peter Cory Pankey, Jr. (June 22, 1987) is an American rapper, better known by his stage name Cory Gunz. He is the son of rapper Peter Gunz, member of the rap duo Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz, and cousin of fellow rapper Junior. Gunz is currently signed to Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, After Platinum Records and Universal Republic Records. He is a native of the Bronx. He was first signed by Tommy Mottola to Casablanca Records and Def Jam Recordings.

Jay-Z shepherded him into a joint venture through The Island Def Jam Music Group. He was featured on a remix of Rihanna's "If It's Lovin' That You Want". Gunz The Apprentice 3 - Season Finale has amassed over 85,000 listens on the mixtape website Datpiff. He also contributed a verse to the original version of Lil Wayne's ''A Milli'' before it was replaced with new verses by Wayne for the album version. In early 2010 Cory Gunz inked a deal with Young Money Entertaimnent, After Platinum Records and Universal Motown. Gunz has also worked with actor and musician Nick Cannon. He is featured in Lil Wayne's single "6 Foot 7 Foot."

Cory Gunz is also the star of MTV's "Son of A Gun" - a reality show that follows Cory after he signed by Young Money. It also features Nick Cannon and Peter Gunz. He has released eight mixtapes since the start of his career.

Discography

Mixtapes

2004 The Apprentice Mixtape Vol 1

2005 The Apprentice Mixtape Vol 2

2006 The Apprentice 3 – Season Finale

2006 The Militia: The Call Of Duty

2008 The Best Kept Secret''

2009 Youngest in Charge (with Square Off)

2009 Gangsta Grillz: Heir to the Throne (with DJ Drama)''

2011 Son of a Gun: The Mixtape''

2012 That's WTF I'm Talkin' Bout

Collaborative singles

"Push It" (with Emina Jahović) - 2008

"Spit Crack Music" (with Black Kent) - 2010

Featured singles

"6 Foot 7 Foot" (Lil Wayne ft. Cory Gunz) - 2010

"Slime Father" (N.O.R.E. ft. Cory Gunz) - 2011

References

External links

Myspace

Category:1987 births Category:Cash Money Records artists Category:African American rappers Category:Rappers from New York City Category:Living people

fr:Cory Gunz pl:Cory Gunz pt:Cory Gunz

Thomas Beale (c. 1775–1841), was a Scottish naturalist, opium speculator and general merchant operating in the Far East during the 19th century.

Biography

Thomas was the younger brother of Daniel Beale and the cousin of Thomas Chaye Beale.

He is first mentioned as one of the five unofficial foreign residents in Canton in 1796 as secretary to his older brother who was the Prussian consul. Thomas later became consul in his own right and served from 1798 until at least 1814. Both brothers were partners in the trading firm of Magniac & Co., which dealt in goods including opium, cotton and tea. The Prussian consulship eventually devolved upon Jardine, Matheson & Co. through Hollingworth Magniac, that firm's founder.

Along with brother Daniel and John Henry Cox, Thomas was a partner in the firm of Cox & Beale around the turn of the 19th century.

Known for his hospitality, Beale's mansion in Macao included a garden with 2,500 potted plants and an aviary that became a must-see for Western visitors to Macau. The aviary contained hundreds of rare birds from China, Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America. George Vachell, chaplain to the East India Company described a visit during which he saw about six hundred birds to his friend John Stevens Henslow, Professor of Botany at Cambridge University and mentor to Charles Darwin. When the missionary cum naturalist George Bennett stopped in Macau during his Pacific voyage, Beale's garden and aviary made such an impression that he devoted forty-five pages of his travelogue to describing their contents. The house was described by a contemporary as "one of the finest of the old Portuguese houses ... on a narrow street known as Beale's Lane".

After offering opium futures as security for loans in a falling market and investing millions of dollars in illicit deals in Brazil, he ended up owing the East India Company some 800,000 dollars. In 1816, Thomas was declared insolvent in the "most sensational bankruptcy of the period".

Despite his bankruptcy, Thomas subscribed 20 pounds sterling for a memorial to the late Lord Napier, first Chief Superintendent of Trade at Canton following the abolition of the East India Company's monopoly on Far Eastern trade.

The body of Thomas was found washed ashore at Casilha Bay, near Macau in January 1841. after he allegedly committed suicide.

References

Category:Scottish businesspeople Category:History of foreign trade in China Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:1841 deaths