Peeps Into China Part 9

[Ill.u.s.tration: LADIES OF AMOY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: LITTLE CHU.]

Whilst Mr. Graham stood by, a purchaser for little Chu stepped forward, holding the ten dollars in his hand; but the missionary was before him, and through a teacher, whom he had already been able to engage, offered the father twice that sum not to sell the little girl at all, but to let him have her for a servant. He hesitated, as though he would rather sell his child right off to any Chinaman than trust her to a foreign "barbarian." But the sum tempted him; and although he could not understand how receiving it did not give Chu altogether to her purchaser, he seemed to be contented, especially when the teacher explained that she would not be a slave, but would be paid for what work she did. Little Chu was well off to have stepped into so happy a service, and the baby was rescued also. A certain sum was to be paid weekly to the father, towards her support, until he recovered his health, if he would only spare her; and both parents, who really fondly loved their children, were very glad to spare their baby, fifth girl though she was. Her name was Woo-Urh, which means fifth girl.

It did not take long to have little Chu tidily dressed, with money that her new master supplied, and her poor mother, who had some beads stowed away, now looked them out and also put these on her. Chu was only eleven years old, but poverty and care had given the little one an old expression beyond her years. Chinese children of from ten to sixteen years of age--about which time they are supposed to marry--have a fringe cut over their foreheads, and Chu wore this fringe now. It has to grow again before they marry.

That evening Chu was sent round to Mr. Graham's brother missionary's house, where, as Sybil's little maid, she was housed for the two or three days longer that they would spend at Amoy; and though Chu had come to live with foreigners, in the family of a "barbarian," as her father thought, we can well imagine that she had never been so happy in her life. Mr. Graham had told her parents that when they reached Hong-Kong he should send her to the mission school.

"And the father would have killed the baby himself!" said Sybil. "How could he have done so?"

"That is the marvel; but it is generally the fathers who commit the deed; other people might be punished if they interfered."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER VII.

LEONARD'S EXPLOIT IN FORMOSA.

ABOUT the middle of November, eleven weeks after Mr. Graham and his family had left England, they arrived in the beautiful island of Formosa, whither they had crossed over from Amoy.

Three more persons were now added to the travelling party--the teacher, a Chinese maid, and little Chu, the latter having already begun to show herself really useful.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ENTRANCE TO THE PORT OF TAKOW.]

There is but little fun in travelling, and one does not see half there is to be seen unless one climbs; and as the Grahams were all bent on having fun and seeing as much as they could, on reaching the port of Takow, in Formosa, they ascended a very high mountain, called Monkey Mountain, because it is the home of very many monkeys, and they were rewarded by having, from its height, a capital view of the entrance to the port. To the front of the mountain were some European houses, belonging to English merchants from Amoy. The port of Takow is a very difficult one at which to anchor, and is closed for commerce during six months of the year, whilst the wind is blowing in an adverse direction; but when the wind and tide are favourable, barks pa.s.s between some rocks at the entrance to the port. It is only at the north that the water is deep enough for merchant-ships to pa.s.s by. Here Leonard saw men fishing quite differently from what he had ever seen people fish before; and as they walked in the water behind their nets, which they seemed to manage very cleverly, he wished so much that he could have been there with them.

Takow is one of the four ports in Formosa which, through treaties, have been thrown open to foreign trade, the others being those of Kelung, Tamsui, and Taiwan-fu.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE EXTREME NORTH OF TAKOW.]

Formosa, as its name implies, is a very lovely, picturesque island, and the Spaniards, who first made it known to Europeans, named it "Isla Formosa," which, in their language, means "beautiful island." Takow seemed to abound in tropical vegetation, palm-trees being very conspicuous. The gong, used everywhere in China, was much in use here also; and as in other places men carried things by balancing them across their shoulders, so also they did here. But as Mr. Graham's special object in coming to this island was to visit Poahbi, the first centre of the population of a tribe of aborigines, whom the Chinese have named Pepohoans, or strangers of the plain, he moved on thither as quickly as he could. The country through which they now pa.s.sed was very beautiful, palm-trees and bamboos overshadowing the way.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FISHERMEN OF TAKOW.]

Although it was the month of November, the weather was hot here, and women, wearing white calico dresses, were hard at work in the fields.

Many of the women of Formosa had compressed feet, and most of the children wore charms round their necks.

The Pepohoans used to live in fertile plains, but when greedy and grasping Chinese drove them from the rich and beautiful lands that were then theirs, and had belonged to their ancestors before them, they took shelter, and made themselves homes, in mountain fastnesses.

Sybil and Leonard were charmed with the people of Poahbi, and thought both their faces and manners very pretty. Although some of the people stared at the foreigners, and laughed at them, many wished to make them welcome in their midst. One woman gave them shelter for the night--a very kind-hearted woman, with a dear little baby, and a very clean and comfortable home. She was a Christian.

At Poahbi Mr. Graham saw a little Christian chapel, which the natives had not only built, but which they also kept up, themselves. Pepohoans are good builders, and do also much work in the fields. They have a most affectionate remembrance of the Dutch, who were once their masters, but who were afterwards expelled from Formosa by a Chinese pirate.

[Ill.u.s.tration: VIEW OF TAKOW, A TOWN IN FORMOSA.]

The huts, or bamboo cottages, of the Pepohoans, raised on terraces three or four feet high, looked very picturesque, and consisted first of a framework of bamboo, through which crossbars of reeds were run; the whole being thickly covered over with clay. The houses were afterwards whitened with lime. A barrier of p.r.i.c.kly stems extended round the huts, throwing a shade over them, whilst these dwellings often had for roofing a thatch of dried leaves. Most things in Formosa were made of bamboo, such as tables, chairs, beds, pails, rice-measures, jars, hats, pipes, chop-sticks, goblets, paper, and pens. Many of the Pepohoans'

habitations were built on three sides of a four-cornered spot, with a yard in the centre, where the families sometimes pa.s.sed their evenings together. The natives a.s.sembled here, in numbers, at about nine o'clock, where they made a fire when it was cold. Old and young people here often formed a circle on the ground, sitting together with their arms crossed, smoking, and talking. It was not unusual for dogs also to surround them.

These people were fond of singing, but played no musical instruments.

Sybil said, directly she saw them, that they were just the sort of people she liked, but this was before she heard that they ate serpents and rats. The women had a quant.i.ty of hair, which they wound round their heads like crowns. None of them painted their faces. Some of the men were very badly dressed. All Pepohoans seemed to have very beautiful black eyes. In the different villages the inhabitants were different, and where they had most contact with the Chinese they dressed better, but were less affable. They seemed to be a very honest race.

The Pepohoans are subject to the Chinese Government. Some of them, like the Chinese, have been ruined by opium. The aborigines, consisting of different tribes, talk different dialects. The people of one tribe, the most savage of all, are very warlike, and think nothing of killing and eating their Chinese neighbours when they get the chance to do so; therefore, they are held in great terror. Sybil and Leonard would not have liked to have visited this tribe, for they also hate Europeans.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOUNTAINEERS OF FORMOSA.]

There was a grandness of beauty in this island of Formosa which could not fail, more and more, to charm Mrs. Graham, and many a pretty sketch did she here make, both for herself and for Sybil's letters. Sybil also liked being here very much; "but if she had only seen," Leonard said, what he and his father saw one day, when they went for a ramble through the mountains, whilst Sybil was helping her mother to sketch by keeping her company, and making clever little attempts at sketching herself, "she would want to be off that very moment."

There were caverns in Formosa, and they were walking along, exploring some, Leonard some little way in front of Mr. Graham, the teacher, and a native guide, who followed a few yards behind, when the English boy suddenly caught sight of two huge, yellow serpents twined round the branch of an overhanging tree. No one but Leonard was near enough to see them, and as the first creature stretched its dreadful-looking head out, hissing towards him, the brave, self-possessed little fellow, who held a stick in his hand, struck his deadly foe with it with all his might, and hit and aimed so well that he had the satisfaction, the next moment, of seeing the serpent roll over and over down the rock. But then the further one (which, although rather smaller than the other, measured about six feet) wound, in a moment, its wriggling body round the branch of the tree, stretching its head out almost within reach of Leonard, when the boy-guide and Mr. Graham, the same instant, came upon the spot.

The boy, accustomed to such encounters, at once dealt the snake a blow, that caused it to lose its balance, and thus all were able to pa.s.s on their way in thankfulness and safety.

When Sybil heard of the adventure she was very proud of her little brother; but, as he had imagined when she heard that Formosa was inhabited by serpents, she was glad also to think that it was settled for them to leave that island for Swatow in two days' time.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PEPOHOANS AND THEIR HUT.]

That evening was spent very pleasantly comparing notes of adventure with an English gentleman, who had been in Formosa for some time, and now called upon Mr. Graham and his family, who were staying at the consul's. He had seen and done a good deal, he said, but he spoke very highly of Leonard's brave exploit.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HUT OF ONE OF THE SAVAGE TRIBES.]

In the course of his wanderings, he told them, he had visited the village of Lalung, which is situated on the narrowest part of a large river. During the rainy season the waters would here rise and cover a vast bed, opening out a new pa.s.sage across the land, and flowing away towards the eastern plain. Great mountain heights surrounded the bed of the river, and the violence of the torrent carried away very large quant.i.ties of all sorts of rubbish, which the sea would collect, and deposit, along the eastern coast. Mr. Hardy explained to Leonard how this would account for the port of Tha-ouan disappearing, and that of Takow forming lower down.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SERPENTS OF FORMOSA.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BED OF THE RIVER LALUNG DURING THE DRY SEASON.]

"Formosa," he continued, "shows very plainly how the violence of waters can quite transform the physical aspect of a country."

Mr. Hardy then told them that he, with a guide, had once visited the bed of the river of Lalung, during the dry season, as an explorer, when he had taken off his boots and socks, so as to be able to walk wherever he chose, and fathom the depth of the water in different parts.

How Leonard wished he had been with him on this occasion, which seemed to him a regular voyage of discovery!

Two days later, as arranged, the Grahams made sail for Swatow. In crossing the channel, which separates the island from the mainland, Leonard, as usual, had some questions to ask.

"What made the Chinese call Formosa Tai-wan?"

"Because that word means the terraced harbour."

"The east coast hasn't a harbour at all, has it?"

"No; mountains are on the east, and to the west are flat and fertile plains, and all the ports."

"I suppose you know, Sybil, that there are some wild beasts in Formosa?"

Leonard went on.

"Yes, I heard Mr. Hardy say so: leopards, tigers, and wolves."