Kathay: A Cruise in the China Seas Part 12

CHAPTER XXI.

Haul up all standing--Boat Races--Interest in the sport-- Excitement general--Arrangements--Jockeyism--Regatta-- Preparations--The Start--The Race--The Result--Launch and First Cutter--Race described con-amore--Suggestion of an Old Salt--Satan and Sailors.

But I must cease my digressions, lest my sickness become epidemic, and extend to my readers, in which event I should fear they would not be "at home" to me. To continue:

To fill up the time, and give some relaxation to the men, had boat races between the different crews in the "Typa."

It was surprising to see with what interest the sailors entered into the sport, and the excitement produced by the contests; bets ran high amongst them, and Tattersalls, previous to the great St. Leger Stake, could not produce a greater scene of excitement than did our top-gallant forecastle and forward gangways, during the preparations for a race; the claims of different candidates for an oar would be carefully canva.s.sed, and the c.o.xswains became, for the nonce, men of vast importance, for upon their _ipse dixit_ in selecting the crews, the success of the boats was thought mainly to depend. Then the non-combatants had their favorite boats and men, and their suggestions would be strongly urged.

The enthusiasm even extended to the officers, and produced an excitement as deep, if not so loud, upon the quarter deck and p.o.o.p. Sums were raised amongst them, and set up as prizes for the crew of the winning boat, and suppers on sh.o.r.e, and segars in hand, hung upon the success of the second or third cutters--the first cutter and the launch.

Every plan known to experienced boatmen was resorted to; every unnecessary impediment that could offer the slightest obstruction removed; the bottoms of the boats, after having been well sc.r.a.ped, were _secretly greased_, and the pintals of the rudder carefully oiled, the weight of the oars well calculated, and the trim of the boats arranged by placing breakers of water fore, aft, or amidships, as it was thought their weight might be required to give a proper balance.

The oars, too, were carefully overhauled, sc.r.a.ped, pointed, and newly leathered; the rowlocks, in which they were to be placed, arranged, and nothing that skill or experience could suggest, was neglected to secure success.

_Preparation for the race._--The hour big with fate to the crews of the second and third cutters approached. One bell in the afternoon watch had been struck, and preparations commenced. The respective crews having taken the lightest kind of a dinner, divested themselves of all unnecessary clothing, tied handkerchiefs around their heads, and making their belts taut around their bodies, stood by, ready for a call. The boats, their oars all in, and extra ones secured handily to the gunwales, in case of accident, with a c.o.xswain in each, lay at either of the booms,--second cutter on starboard, third on the port side; and the arrangement was that they should both lay upon their oars and await the signal, which was to be the dropping of a handkerchief by the umpire, who was first to see that neither had the advantage. A few minutes before two bells, the boatswain's mate piped away the crews, and they descended into their respective boats by the booms.

_The start._--After being seated, and having peaked their oars by way of a salute, the order was given to "let fall;" splash went their oars into the water, and anxiety was depicted upon every countenance. "Take your stations"--"Back your oars, third cutters"--"Steady there, second cutters," were the orders given and repeated with only an alteration in the t.i.tles of the boats, as the crew of each with a natural impulse strove to prevent the other from stealing a length upon them; from this impatience it was found impossible to make their position exactly relative; but at last the handkerchief was dropped, and off they shot with the velocity of arrows from a bow, the second cutter having the advantage of half a length in the start.

_The race._--The distance to be rowed was one mile and a half to a stake boat, round that, and back. The prize, a bag containing sixty-four dollars, suspended from an oar in the stake boat. The second cutter having the start, kept the distance open between her and her compet.i.tor (now extended a full length), which pulled up steadily in her wake; the c.o.xswain of the leading boat dexterously antic.i.p.ating all his pursuer's efforts to pa.s.s, and keeping him dead in his wake until they had shot over half the distance between the ship and the stake boat, when, by a desperate effort, the third cutter appeared to leap bodily out of the water, her oars quivering like the wings of a bird, from the impulse given by those muscular arms. Side by side, their oars almost overlapping, they dashed like the wind towards the prize. Now came the tug--a single tarpauling would at one moment have covered them both and retained its position, so steadily did they pull; it was apparently a tie, when an unusual movement was observed on board the third cutter.

_The result_--This was caused by the breaking of the bow oar, which snapping short off, dropped into the water, and fouled the starboard oars; not an instant was spent in shipping another, but the advantage had been lost. The second cutter, with her full power, shot ahead, rounded the stake boat and led the way back; her opponent recovering from the accident, and following so closely, that the two appeared like one boat of unusual length as they approached; but the struggle was unequal. Two third cutters, unable to stand the additional labor, gave out. The flag was hauled down from the fore as the second cutter pa.s.sed the line, and the third, contending to the last, came in about three boats' lengths astern.

The next race was between the launch and the first cutter; the launch, a heavy boat, called by sailors the "Purser's Gig," pulling sixteen oars; first cutter, a fast craft, with a crack crew, pulling just eight. This was _the_ race of the Regatta, and excited much interest. Various were the opinions as to the result, and to use a phrase of the turf, "bets were even;" not that any serious amounts of money were risked, for that would have been "_contra bonos mores_;" but several suppers and sundry boxes of segars hung on the balance.

Both the boats were put in capital order, and the crews of both were sanguine of success. The launchers depended upon the power they possessed in a double bank of oars; the first cutters upon the qualities and lightness of their boat. Impelled by these hopes, they started. I happened to be in the launch; we took the lead after a fair start, and led the cutter around the stake boat, a distance of more than a mile; but that which had given the launch a great advantage on the first stretch, proved a serious drawback on her return, the prevalence of a very high wind, which increasing, kicked up a tremendous sea, and causing her to roll and pitch, very much deadened her headway. Gradually the first cutter crawled up; gallantly the launchers contested the s.p.a.ce they had gained. "Give way, lads! give way, they're gaining on us!" and the oars bent like willows in the hands of the hardy launchers; but in vain this expenditure of strength; one half of it was lost in a heavy lurch, which sent the starboard oars glancing in the sunbeams, dripping salt tears from their blades into the exulting wave, and nearly unseating the men. Like the Giselle, the agile cutter skips alongside.

"Pull steadily now, men!" "Pull with a will!" It is vain; side by side we plunge, but the cutter evidently gains; a glimpse of blue sky is apparent at the back of her steerer; it increases; the slanting beams of the setting sun shines full in our eyes. It is noticed by the crew--sailors are superst.i.tious, and their hopes sink with the sun; "But it will rise again! Give way, boys, give way! we'll beat them yet!"

Again they put forth all their power, and the bow oars nearly touch. But the wind increases, the sea rises, a heavy swell knocks us back from the vantage we had gained. The third cutter, buoyant as a cork, perches an instant on the crest of a wave, and then rushes down its opposite side with a cheer from its crew. The race _was_ to the swift, but "the battle was not to the strong;" the "Purser's Gig" was distanced.

But, if the launch had been beaten, its crew were not conquered, and the c.o.xswain, old Andrews, captain of the forecastle, who, with a picked crew, would have undertaken to have pulled the boat across his own maelstrom, offered his whack--the sum to his credit on the purser's books, on his discharge,--against a plug of tobacco,--upon the issue, in moderately smooth water; whilst I, with others, had not lost confidence in the strong arms that impelled the "purser's gig;" although I did not incline to make one of her crew in a contest in which old A. proposed to beat the devil, on his own lake of fiery brimstone, with his favorite launch; but A. was excited by the race, and had got a tot of a mixture which a.s.similated to that "_fire water_," and forgot that his boat was not framed of asbestos; besides, I fear he held his satanic majesty slightly in contempt from the nautical notion that he possesses power over sailors no more within his dominions.

CHAPTER XXII.

Effects of the Race--Suppers and their effects--The stuff that Dreams are made of--A Sc.r.a.pe in the Typa--Again at Whampoa.

Some suppers had to be ordered, and somebody had to eat them. Suppers are _spiritless_ affairs without wine--nay! I deny the soft impeachment,--no _pun is meant_! And wine came forth at the bidding.

Some one observes,

"You _can call_ spirits from the vasty deep!

But _will_ they come?"

Let him but whisper the name of one "familiar" of any shade, complexion, or color within the corridors of Francisco Diaz's mansion for thirsty men, in Macao; and lo! it appears!

His house is haunted; there are _bottle imps_ therein. Suppers were eaten at which epicures had not lingered; wine gulped down which would _not_ have inspired Anacreon, and segars smoked that Sir Walter Raleigh _might have_ relished! Apropos of segars--I should have said cheroots--Manillas scent the Indian air, Havanas have few lips to greet them in the East. Cheroots, then; who is there amongst the masculine dwellers of the land of "_musquitoes_ and myrtle," that affects not the gentle cheroot? soft in its fragrance as the sigh of love! cheering in its effects as the presence of woman in the hour of pain! seducing in its influence as the eye of beauty! And whence gains the cheroot its magical properties? Look back, if you please, to chapter twelfth of this moving tale, and there you have it fully explained. It comes from the _hand_ of woman! the same that presented the apple to Adam, and the pitcher to Abraham, who in falling or fainting, in laughing or weeping, still infuses the sweetness and acidity that makes the lemonade of life, and in mixing the ingredients "gives it all its flavor!"

"Let the toast be dear woman!" "Hallo, old fellow, thought you were asleep. Had something of a nightmare, eh? Been mumbling away as if the supper didn't agree with you." "Well, your toast, with all the honors, and then to bed." "Agreed."

"Let us go on board ship," proposed a seasoned mate, "the fast boat shoves off at ten." "Agreed, agreed again," was chorused round the table, and "one bottle more" of sparkling champagne being called for, "success to the launch" was drank, and then a majority of the party sought the boat, gained the ship, and turned in. "Let the toast be dear woman," danced through my brain upon sparkling beams of champagne, and the vibration of the nettles in the clews of my hammock plainly said or sung--

"The wine that is mellowed by woman's bright eye, Outrivals the nectar of Jove."

And I had a dream, which _was_ "all a dream." With Byron in his waking "Dream," "I saw two beings in the hue of youth," and like his lovers, they _were_ "standing upon a hill," and "both were young, and one was _beautiful_." I do not know how in fitting words to tell my dream. But as it was similar to his, oh that I could with his language, without the imputation of plagiarism, set down what crossed my sleeping mind.

Besides, I have a dread of offending some readers in these transcendental times, when lectures on mysterious subjects are given to married ladies _only_, whose faces would tingle at the mere mention of one of those English cla.s.sics, from whose fount flowed "the well of English undefiled." But to my dream. It was the age of early manhood, boyhood still lingering on the face of a being who filled my mind until it formed a part of myself. The being described as _beautiful_, oh beautiful as an angel was she! was by his side. Love, full, pa.s.sionate love, brimmed over in her dark black eye, darker, more dazzling than the gazelle's, which was reflected back from his dark orbs, which took their brightest brilliancy from hers. Over her cheek the rosy G.o.d had spread his crimson mantle, and in the dimples of her chin the mischievous boy had found a lurking-place. They walked and talked, and in what phrase?

Truly they knew not themselves! and yet each word, each glance, each touch, had a meaning perfectly intelligible. Time pa.s.sed, but what was time to them, they saw nothing of his beard, heard not the rustling of his ancient wings, his scythe was hidden. The heavens are overcast, thunder rolls above them, and the lightning's glare makes the black fringes of the heavy cloud more funereal. A shadow, heavy, dense, _material_, interposes, and the boy seeks for his fair companion--but she is gone: "Got to see the hammocks up! six bells, come turn out,"

"rouse and bitt," "show a leg in a purser's stocking." "Zounds, how he sleeps," "where, where, oh where is my hammock boy?" who appeared at my call, and whom I wished at the gangway, that I might have slept on. But turn out I must now--and so turned out my dream.

Other races were upon the _tapis_. The launchers, like brave old Taylor, would not stay beaten, and demanded another trial; they offered to oppose any thing, from the Captain's gig, down to the dingui--they even wanted to challenge the boats of the whole squadron, and old A., the c.o.xswain, in the true spirit of Rhoderick Dhu, exclaimed, "Come one, come all," but the regatta was put a stop to, by orders to get out of the Typa, and the men commenced "mud-larking," as they termed it. The Typa is filling up so rapidly that we never could get out _now_ without a _sc.r.a.pe_, and the senior officer perhaps thought it better we should move before we had formed a bar with our beef bones.

So out of the Typa again we got, poised our wings in the outer harbor, and took flight for Whampoa again, and settled down in our old resting place in the "Reach," on the 11th of October. From here I took another trip to Canton, made a few purchases, as I then supposed it would be our last opportunity. Heard there of an extensive fire which had raged near the factories, in which over five hundred houses had been destroyed. A fire in Canton is a serious affair, and from the ideas of fatalism which the Chinese entertain, is much dreaded by foreign residents.

Our stay at Whampoa was not marked by any incidents worth noticing, and it is only to keep up the chronological character of my journal, that the trip is introduced.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Anson's Bay--Hong-Kong again--P. & O. Company's hulk takes fire--Escape of Captain's wife--Toong-Koo Bay--Piracy--Fire at Macao--Wolf again at Whampoa--Amateur Theatricals at Canton--Melancholy musings.

From Whampoa, came down the river to Anson's Bay and anch.o.r.ed; here held communication with our consort, which went up to the "Reach" to take our place.

Anson's Bay is just outside of the Bogue, and from our anchorage had a fine view of the Forts, some eight or nine being in sight. Tiger Island was also conspicuous, and the formation of a tiger's head quite apparent.

From Anson's Bay took our departure for Hong-Kong, where moored ship on the 19th October.

On the 20th, at about 5 P. M., the Peninsular and Oriental Company's hulk "Fort William," used for storing coal and opium, took fire and burned until 10 o'clock that night, when the fire was got under. Our crew a.s.sisted, with buckets from the ship, nearly all of which they managed to lose. The Captain's wife, who lived on board the hulk, had a narrow escape, having to be lowered out of the stern ports.

From Hong-Kong over to Macao, where obtained permission to go into Toong-Koo Bay for the purpose of calking, preparatory to our long voyage home, upon which we now hoped to be ordered daily; the rolling in the Roads preventing the possibility of effecting it at Macao.

Toong-Koo Bay is in the Cap-sing-moon pa.s.sage, and about thirty miles from Hong-Kong. The British fleet rendezvoused here during the war with China.

Were anch.o.r.ed near Sam-sah Island, where tents were pitched and the sick placed in them. Every morning one watch was permitted to go on sh.o.r.e to wash their clothes, &c., until relieved by the other watch, so that there was always a little colony on the island. It was otherwise uninhabited.

Strolling over the island, came upon the ruins of a house and some human bones, and ascending a hill had a splendid view of the bay and surrounding islands. These appeared innumerable, like icebergs in the Antarctic circle, cutting up the bay into intricate channels, and as barren, if not as cold, as those ice islands. Pirates are plentiful in this neighborhood, and one morning, at daylight, Afouke, our fast boatman, brought on board two Chinamen, whom he had picked up swimming.

They were badly wounded, and stated that about three o'clock that morning, as they were fishing, they were boarded by pirates, who threw fire-b.a.l.l.s amongst them, burning them badly, and forcing them to leap into the water to save their fives, and then took possession of their boats. These waters are infested with pirates, who ostensibly pursue the avocation of fishermen, until an opportunity opens to catch men. The English navy did a great deal towards extirpating them, until their government took away the "head money," and now but few expeditions are fitted out; although doubtless the junior officers are as anxious for the service as ever.

The calking completed, reported ourselves at Macao; but no Commodore appearing, and our coppers being worn out, went over to Hong-Kong to get them repaired. Here we got a mail and news from home which was cheering, and increased our desire to start.

Went through a round of dinners at Hong-Kong, exchanging civilities with officers and citizens, but began to get tired of this kind of thing; like the schoolboy, _wanted to go home_!

At this time the government of Macao changed again, Cardozo being recalled, and Gruimaraens, commander of the corvette "Don Jooa,"

superseding him, his _ex_-Excellency departed for Lisbon in the return mail steamer, not much regretted, I understood.