Kathay: A Cruise in the China Seas Part 8

Next morning settled up accounts, and found the item for carriage hire considerable, averaging three dollars a day! Bidding adieu to Manilla, embarked in a banca--Manilla boat--and came on board ship.

At meridian a salute was fired in honor of the day, the smoke from which had hardly cleared away before the anchor was tripped, and with studding-sails set, we were standing down the bay, with a fine leading wind. Pa.s.sed the island of Corregidor, at its entrance, about sunset; and before midnight had made some fifty miles of an offing.

CHAPTER XIII.

Anchor in Harbor of Hong-Kong--Hastings and Herald both off --Advantage of Newspapers--A First-rate notice--The Press of Victoria--The Friend of China--Its pugnacity--Advertising Sheets--Description of Island--Rain--Character of Chinese Inhabitants.

Our pa.s.sage to Hong-Kong was unmarked by any incident worthy of especial notice; and we reached that harbor safely upon the second of March, and came to anchor. Found every thing in about the same condition as when we left, and a large fleet of merchantmen in port; but missed the "Hastings" from her moorings, as also the "Herald." They both had sailed during our absence: the Hastings' to be roasted by the hot sun of Bombay; the Herald's to a warm greeting in their native isle.

Missed the officers of these vessels very much; for a kindly feeling had sprung up amongst us, and interchanges of courtesies had made us friends. But thus it is in this roving life; and it may be best that the acquaintance thus stumbled upon remains but long enough to please, and is gone before the gloss of novelty is rubbed off,--before familiarity deadens or destroys its first impression.

There is one thing connected with this colony which adds greatly to its interest to a person coming from a country where "the art preservative of all arts" sends the rays of knowledge throughout the entire length and breadth, to all cla.s.ses and conditions, illuminating as well the squatter's hut, as the patrician's hall. I allude to the existence of newspapers. Only a person who has been accustomed to them, as we are in the United States, can appreciate the deprivation of this mental food, when placed beyond its reach, on a foreign station like this, where a paper some three months after its publication is seized upon with the greatest delight; and news, which at home has long lost its name, is devoured with avidity, and discussed as a dainty. How true is it, that we can only appreciate our blessings by their loss. Why, with all the arts lending their aid; with steam, with electricity, with the painter's skill, condensed by the most powerful intellects; with midnight toil, and daily effort to produce that "map of busy life," which is diurnally, almost hourly, spread out before us, and for a consideration, too, which in many instances is not equivalent to the cost of the material upon which it is sketched: with the lightning harmlessly conducting along the pliant wire, stretched from one end of the continent to the other, thoughts which have annihilated time: with another element, which has nearly obliterated s.p.a.ce, they are spread over its face; and by another application of the same magic power are wafted hundreds and hundreds of miles, and thrown upon your lap, damp and reeking, ere yet the process has had time to dry. If Faust was supposed to have been a.s.sisted by the Evil One, what would his persecutors have said, had they been shown a picture like this? What would they have said? Why, that even Satan himself possessed not such power, and denied that to the devil, which is now accomplished by a poor _devil_ of a printer! And yet how often do we throw aside the teeming sheet, placed as regularly before us as our breakfast, and declaring it indifferent, petulantly begrudge its publisher the poor penny of its price. Let the grumbler be stationed in these Chinese waters for two years and upwards, and when he has been deprived a greater part of that time of the "Sun," that awaited his pleasure to shine, the "Herald," ushering in the morn at his bidding, the "Times," that never grew old, and the "News," expressly awaiting his perusal,--let him, I say, after perusing papers that have reached him in March, '51, bearing the date of the past Christmas, pick up a paper out here, even if it be a colonial one, upon the day of its publication, and he will sing, _Io Triumphe_, as I did.

There are two newspapers printed in Victoria (Hong-Kong), and both of these, I believe, are bi-weekly. One is called the "Friend of China, and Hong-Kong Gazette;" the other, "The China Mail." The latter is the government organ, and has the colonial printing. The former is independent, and slashes away right and left, sparing neither friend nor foe, and its columns are always open to complaining correspondents. Sir Geo. Bonham, the Governor, often got severely handled; and either because the government laid itself open to attack, or the editor had some cause for pique, it appeared to be continually "pitching into" it.

Its articles were bold and forcibly expressed, and from their tenor would suppose it exposed itself to prosecution for libel, but understood it had steered clear of the Courts that far. Its editor shows a great deal of industry and perseverance in its management. His Marine List is full and complete. Not only does he give the arrivals and departures of shipping at Hong-Kong, but at all the other ports in China waters; also a full and corrected list of all vessels at Whampoa, Shanghae, and Macao, and publishes all the information that can be obtained of the extensive commerce of this part of the East, such as statistics of imports and exports, &c., &c. His is the ungracious task to reform abuses; perhaps, like Hamlet, he thinks "the times are out of joint,"

and he "was born to set them right." Or it may be that he is influenced by the same motive as the Irishman, who, upon the eve of a presidential election in the United States, was asked to cast his vote for the party which aspired to place their candidate upon the chair, after ousting the inc.u.mbent. Pat's first inquiry was, if it was _aginst_ the government they wanted him to vote; and being told it was, a.s.sented, upon the principle that he always went against the government.

In addition to these there are several advertising sheets, which are distributed _gratis_, and exhibit the extensive trade carried on by the merchants of the colony and Canton. Even these are interesting, proving, as they do, the indomitable perseverance of the race, and bringing up pleasant remembrances by their familiar diction.

The island of Hong-Kong, the original word in the Chinese is Hoong-Keang, which means "Red Harbor," is in about lat. 22 17' 00''

North, long. 114 East, and is one of the Ladrones, a group of rocky islands which dot this part of Canton Bay. In length it is about eight miles, its greatest breadth not more than four, and it is separated from the mainland by an arm of the sea, called the Lyemoon Pa.s.sage, in which are several smaller islands, which vary its width, and make admirable hiding places for the pirates, whose existence has given to this Archipelago its distinctive t.i.tle of Ladrone. In fact the Strait is named after a celebrated pirate who once commanded there.

Upon the northern side of this island of Hong-Kong, is the settlement called Victoria, which, as I have before stated, is generally known by the name of the island, and a reference to it is made in a former page.

This island is mountainous, but contains many extensive valleys--none very remarkable for fertility.

The mountains are formed of a species of granite, the greater part of which is of a crumbling nature, and through them runs a stratum of a red sandy formation, which, I suppose, geologists would call "poecilitic."

There are occasionally to be found solid boulders of this material, which has been used for building. But it is to be remarked that the granite found in that state is generally detached from the larger ma.s.ses, which appear to be in a state of decomposition, the particles from which, washed down by the heavy summer rains, are said to add greatly to the fatality occasioned by the decimating properties of an Indian sun.

That old lady who a.s.serted that "it never rains but it pours," would have been furnished with corroborative proofs had she witnessed some of the pluvial exhibitions at Hong-Kong. It really does pour on such occasions there. Talk of the deluge, when the windows of heaven were said to have been opened! Why if that venerable dame could have seen the descent of these torrents, she would have thought that all obstructing barriers of the blue empyrean had been removed, and the surcharged clouds suddenly overturned, and have come to the conclusion that forty days of such outpouring would leave no resting-place, even upon the lofty peak of Victoria mountain.

They call the period from June to October the rainy season, but I have witnessed extensive showers in nearly all the intermediate months. These are sudden and overwhelming. Instances are related of Coolies having been caught in currents rushing down the mountain, and drowned without the possibility of a.s.sistance.

In the years 1845 and '6, from July to January, within a period of six months, _ten feet of rain_ was measured by an ombrometer, having fallen at Hong-Kong.

The island came into possession of Great Britain in 1842 by cession, but had been occupied on the 26th of January of the previous year, in consequence of a treaty which was afterwards rejected by the Emperor.

Great inducements were held out to Chinese to settle in Victoria by the British government. They were guaranteed all their rights and privileges, and allowed freedom in their religious rites, and permitted to follow their own customs. These inducements, however, appeared to have but little effect upon the Chinese. They distrusted the "outside barbarians," and it was to the interest of the Mandarins to prevent emigration to the new settlement. At present much of the distrust has worn away, and many have taken advantage of the opening made by thriving trade; still it must be admitted that the majority of Chinamen to be found in Hong-Kong, are of the nature of those patriots who leave "their country for their country's good," and the numbers seen in the chain gangs, show the manner in which they best serve the State.

CHAPTER XIV.

Hong-Kong--Object of its Settlement--Its service as an Opium Depot--Views of the Opium Trade--Its History--Considered the cause and object of the War--Treaty of Nankin--Opium Trade fixed on China.

The princ.i.p.al advantage possessed by Hong-Kong--I shall designate the settlement henceforth by the name a.s.signed to it by common consent--is the facility its position affords for carrying on the trade in opium, which deleterious drug will continue to be introduced into China, in spite of the strongest imperial edicts, and the severest denouncements of punishment against its consumers, so infatuated are its users, and so governed by the spirit of avarice its introducers.

After the celebrated destruction of all he could get possession of, by Commissioner Lin, in June, 1839, which operated somewhat like the Frenchman's revenge upon the bank, in destroying the bill for which he had been refused specie, not only having to be paid for by the Chinese, after an expensive war, but causing other imports of the drug to supply its place; the English, naturally seeking a safe and suitable spot for a depot, arranged so as to make its cession an article in a treaty with High Commissioner Keshen, in January, 1841, which, although it was abrogated, and hostilities resumed, made but little difference in the destinies of Hong-Kong, for it is well known that wherever that nation plants its foot, the marks of it are not easily obliterated. There can be little doubt but that this was what gave the barren island more importance in their eyes, than the more healthy and fertile Chousan.

The cession made, their great desire to procure an emigration of Chinese to this point, proved a wish for consumers and distributors, and the stationing at once of receiving ships in the Red Harbor, disclosed their object.

In answer to orders, from Bombay and Calcutta came numerous vessels which here deposited their poisonous cargoes, and returning for another freight, left it to be distributed by swift-sailing and armed clippers, throughout the dominions of an empire whose laws they had signed a solemn compact to respect, which laws made its delivery contraband.

"But," will exclaim some, "these were not the acts of the British Government. The crown lends no aid to such a traffic." Indeed! then let us say that it is the act of the people of a colony under the fostering care of that crown, with the representative of the Queen directing its affairs. To his lordship's knowledge, I will not say to his profit, but certainly to the pecuniary benefit of the colony, and against the most repeated protests of the Chinese Government are these imports and exports allowed and countenanced, until even good men of their own kind have called out in their midst--_proh pudor_!

"Have not the colonists a right to import a drug, which is legally an article of import, allowed by the crown?" No! not for the avowed purpose of distributing it amongst a people, whose government protests against its introduction; for no opium dealer will pretend to a.s.sert that it is for consumption by the inhabitants of Hong-Kong, or foreign residents of Canton, but must admit that it is brought expressly for transhipment to the coasts of China, at no port of which would it be admitted upon the payment of any duty; in fact, it is contraband! As good a right has the Frenchman to land his Bordeaux brandy upon a part of the English coast, to evade the customs. Aye! if you come to that, a better right; for upon the payment of a duty its admission is not denied; but this article is considered so baneful to China, that no premium is thought equivalent to the injury sustained by its introduction.

The argument advanced by interested persons, that supposing they did not prosecute the trade, others would reap its advantages, bears its fallacy upon its face. For it is not permitted to us to profit by doing evil, for the reason that the possibility of performing the wicked act is in the hands of others.

The first opium known in China was grown in small quant.i.ties in one of its own provinces, that of Yunnam, which was used medicinally. It belonged to the East India Company first to introduce it into the empire as a luxury; for we have an account of the importation of a number of chests in one of its vessels from Bengal in 1773. Shortly after other English merchants entered in the trade, and two vessels were stationed as receiving ships, near Macao. By degrees these opium depots were extended to Whampoa, Lintin, Cap-sing-Moon, and other suitable places, until its consumption began to attract the notice of the Chinese government; and in the year 1800 its importation was prohibited by a special Imperial edict, and measures were taken to prevent its use throughout the provinces. But the habit had become too strong to be controlled, and its consumption increased, despite the severest penalties. Death, transportation, confiscation of property, could not deter those upon whom the sight of its daily operations had no effect; and the immense profits realized in the sale caused those engaged in the traffic to incur all risks.

From the southern, it spread to the northern and eastern coasts.

Receiving vessels were stationed at Amoy, Fuh-Choo, Namoa, and Woosung, with fast clippers to supply them from the princ.i.p.al depot at Hong-Kong; and opium was smuggled almost within the precincts of the Imperial Palace.

The government did all in its power to prevent its introduction and sale, but its efforts were fruitless, until Commissioner Lin was sent to Canton, empowered by the Emperor himself. By prompt and vigorous measures, he succeeded in obtaining possession of two thousand two hundred and eighty-three chests, which he publicly destroyed, and which act was the cause of the rupture between England and China, justly called the Opium War. This war was continued with much success by the English, and a great deal of intriguing on the part of the Chinese, until, on the twenty-ninth of August, 1842, after the British forces had possessed themselves of nearly all the important towns on the coast, and penetrated the Chinese empire as far as Nankin, a treaty was concluded between the two nations on board H. B. M. ship Cornwallis, which was to take effect from that date, after being signed and sealed by the Plenipotentiaries of the respective parties. By this treaty, five ports in China were to be opened to British subjects for residence and trade. These are Canton, Amoy, Fuh-Choo, Ning-po, and Shanghae: six millions of dollars paid as the value of the opium destroyed by Lin: the system of Co-Hong abolished, and three millions paid for losses by the Hong merchants to British subjects; twelve millions to defray the expenses of the war; and the island of Hong-Kong ceded for ever to the British government. By the cession of this island, all future attempts of the Chinese government to prevent the introduction of opium are frustrated. Previously, those who dealt in this article were confined to the insecure depot of a receiving vessel, liable to attack, fire, and wreck. Now they possess an island capable of a strong defence, where the opium can be imported in any quant.i.ty, under the protection of the English flag, and from whence it can be exported at leisure to any point in China. Certainly, by the acquisition of Hong-Kong the British have secured this trade; and henceforth the "flowing poison" must spread from hence over the length and breadth of the "Central Flowery Land," unless the Celestials, with one consent, should abandon its use,--a thing almost impossible to a people once brought under its influence.

It has been urged by Chinese of much shrewdness, that its importation as a drug should be allowed under a heavy duty, and that the government thus secure a profit from the evil; but a former Emperor declared he could never receive a revenue from the misery of his people, and the present government still perseveringly opposes its use.

CHAPTER XV.

Trip to Macao--Disappointed in getting ash.o.r.e--Mail arrived-- Get no Letters--Expression of Sentiments--Causes and Effects --Overland Mail--Idea of a Route--Happy Valley--Chase of Pirates--_A Poisson d'Avril_--Into the Typa again--Arrival of Consort--Late Dates--Catholic Fete--Depart for Shanghae--The Yang-tse-Kiang--Improvement in the appearance of the Country --Better race of Men--Banks of the Woo-sung.

Took a trip over to Macao, for a supply of provisions, our depot being there, and having these on board, back again to Hong-Kong. Did not get ash.o.r.e at Macao, which was somewhat of a disappointment, as I had some kind friends there whom I wished much to see, and from whom the cruise to Manilla had made the separation longer than usual.

Upon the eighteenth of March the Mail Steamer came into Hong-Kong, with the overland mail. I had been anxiously expecting its arrival, with letters for myself, but was disappointed, and gave expression to my feelings in this wise:

No news from home! My weary heart Beats sadly in its prison cage, And 'gainst its bars, with bound and start, A wearing, useless war doth wage.

Alone, alone! Its feeble song Finds no responsive, answering tone; And it hath sung in silence long, And long, alas! may sing alone.

Oh, for a sound across the main, A note affection knows so well; That it might dream of heaven again, That peace again with it might dwell; And joy delayed, at last may come, In cheerful, happy news from home.

After this felt somewhat relieved; for the mind is like the body, and mental, as well as physical suffering, must have vent. A twinge of a tooth brings forth a groan; a twitch of the heart-strings produces poetry in me: have only to hope the poetry may not have the effect of the toothache upon the reader.

The overland mail is brought across the desert by the Isthmus of Suez, and reaches Hong-Kong in about forty-five days from England, and brings dates from the United States in from 60 to 70 days, depending upon the junction of the Atlantic steamers. Letters by it can either be sent via Southampton, England, or Ma.r.s.eilles, France; the latter is considered the swiftest route, the former the most secure.

Monsoons in the China Sea affect its transit on that end of the line, and letters have been known to have reached Hong-Kong from New-York during a favorable monsoon within 60 days.

Since the acquisition of California, our government possesses a much speedier route, and would find it greatly to her interest to establish a line by any of the overland routes across the Isthmus of Darien, and from thence by steam to Shanghae, or even Hong-Kong in China; and I do not despair of seeing the time when letters will be delivered in these ports within forty days, from the Atlantic cities. Our growing interests in this section of the globe demand attention and some arrangement of this kind.

Remained moored in the harbor of Hong-Kong until the second day of April, visiting the town occasionally, and strolling over the hills for exercise.