"Come, friends, who plough the sea,
A truce to navigation, let's take another station."
CHEFOO--NAGASAKI EN ROUTE.--JAPAN REVISITED.--
KOBE.--YOKOHAMA.
August 31st.--At the early hour of four this morning the shrill sound of
those ear-piercing instruments, the boatswains' pipes in combination,
resounded clearly and distinctly in the pure raw air, as "all hands"
summoned the sleepy crew to heave up anchor. In less than an hour,
thanks to the modern sailors' help, the steam capstan, our white wings
were spread for the expected breeze outside the harbour. As yet,
however, the wind has not been enticed, it being, as one of our
shipmates from the sister isle put it, "a dead calm, with what wind
there was dead ahead." Further on we overhauled a splendid breeze, which
caused our canvas to strain in every fibre as we careened to its
pressure. This gave us such material help that by noon of next day we
had carved a good big slice out of the six hundred miles to Nagasaki.
September 3rd.--From the greasy appearance of the moon last night, and
from a study of other varied phenomena whereby sailors, from time
immemorial, have learnt to forecast the weather, we "smelt" a change of
some sort was about to happen; and we sleepers, on turning out in the
morning, were in no wise surprised to find that the wind had headed us,
that all the sails were furled, and the ship poking her nose into a
nasty sea. But this was a blind: the clerk of the weather was evidently
meditating a stronger blow from the original direction, and had only
gone on ahead to seek some of his refractory forces to give us the full
benefit of the combination. All sail again, fast and furious we drove
through it, and succeeded in knocking "seven and a bit" out of the old
"Duke;" 'twould take something like a hurricane to persuade her to more.
We tore past Tsu-sima, an island in the Corea strait, and laughingly
cleared the run down to Nagasaki.
September 4th.--As information had reached us at Vladivostock that
cholera was raging pretty freely at Nagasaki, instead of proceeding at
once to the anchorage we brought up at the mouth of the harbour, under
the lee of Tacabuco, until such times as we should hear more definite
and accurate accounts of the extent of the enemy's depredations. Like
another much-libelled personage, who is often painted much blacker than
he perhaps is, the cholera, through undoubtedly present, was confined to
the poorer haunts of the city, so that with necessary precautions there
was nothing to fear. Stopping everybody's leave, though, unfortunately
happened to be a necessary precaution, and communication with the shore
was limited to the visits of the bumboat and washermen.
On the following morning we commenced to fill up with coal. I have
before remarked that in this port we have lady coal heavers. It so
chanced that for once they were rather short-handed, and to expedite the
work a party of blue-jackets were sent to clear a spare lighter. Whether
or not they mistook the commander's order, or whether their eyes had got
blinded with coal dust I can't say, but sure am I that they failed,
every man-jack of them, to go into the indicated boat. May be, the sight
of women at "unwomanly work" was too much for Jack's chivalry--at any
rate, they had jumped in among the women and were cheerfully heaving out
the coal whilst the latter bad a smoke. Now this, however laudable in
itself, was clearly not the commander's intention, and the gallants,
much against their will, had to yield to pressure and clear the bachelor
lighter.
September 7th.--In company with the "Growler" and "Sylvia" we left the
shores of fair Nagasaki; and after despatching the small fry about their
business we shaped our course for Chefoo. The wind for a short distance
was again fair; but having, presumably, discovered its mistake, and that
we had had a full share of his favors lately, old boisterous suddenly
changed his tactics, and intimated to us in unmistakable language, by
alternate lulls and squalls, that he was about to do something rash. At
noon of the second day out, after, we must confess, ample warning, he
had apparently decided what to do, the wind came up as foul as it could
well be. We were at this time off the island of Quelpart, still carrying
reduced sail and barely going our course.
The breeze, though strong, was steady and all went well until the ship
reached the western extremity of the mountainous island, when, with a
roar and a screech truly terrific, a squall struck us in wild, fitful
gusts. We were carrying reefed topsails and trysails at the time, and it
was fortunate that we had no more sail on, or surely our spars must have
gone over the side. As it was, the fore trysail split with the report of
a cannon, and the main-topsail, unable to stand the enormous strain, was
torn from top to bottom. To make things more cheerful, the clouds, in
their sport, hurled blinding slanting sheets of water at us; for it
would be an error to say that rain fell. An effort was made to furl
sails; but though there was no lack of cheerful hands speedily on the
yards, numbers became powerless to manipulate canvas which by the
combined elements had been converted into deal boards. As it was
impossible that orders could be heard from deck, the officers went aloft
and lay out on the yards amongst the men, encouraging them by voice and
example. The attempt had to be given up and the sails secured to the
yards by lashings.
September 11th.--The dreary, monotonous, unenlivening coast line of
China, with its interminable sand hills and granite peaks, once more in
sight. The landscapes of north China are, if anything, more dreary than
ever. We must however take the bad with the good. Chefoo lies before us,
and into Chefoo we are bound to go. We cannot, as yet, see any town,
because of a sort of natural breakwater of sand and rocks which
stretches almost across the harbour's mouth; but that there is an
anchorage beyond is clear, from the thousands of masts pointing
skyward. So slow was our progress into the harbour that it seemed as if
we were never going to get there at all; but eventually we dropped
anchor at about three miles from what I suppose pretends to be a town,
but which from such a distance looked more like a straggling village. We
had gone in quite far enough, though, for every revolution of the screws
discoloured the water with sand and mud, and, furthermore, I believe we
touched, for a distinct not to be mistaken vibration was clearly felt by
all hands. This part of the anchorage is much exposed to the sea; and,
in the event of a blow from the northward, we are in a position to
encounter its full fury. Chefoo, notwithstanding its uninteresting
appearance, seems to be a pretty regular port of call for men-of-war,
several of which are lying at anchor within the bar.
There must be some spots in the neighbourhood capable of cultivation,
for our bumboat is loaded with an abundance of tempting fruits--grapes
of rich bloom and large growth, apples which would do no discredit to a
West of England orchard, and peaches scarcely inferior to those v of the
Mediterranean. And how cheap everything is--eggs you can get for the
asking almost, whilst a whole fowl (prepared and cooked in a manner
which, out of charity to the Chinese culinary art, we wont pry into too
closely, but which our sailor gourmands relish nevertheless) is
obtainable for five cents! I refer, of course, to that bird which our
shipmates denominate "_dungaree chicken_." Our first impression of
Chefoo is that it is the place of all others on the station to send
emaciated ships' companies to regain their stamina.
The district has a special manufacture of silk, much prized by our
female friends at home, made from the fibres of the bamboo. Did you ever
see such a wonderful plant as that same bamboo? I could not enumerate
half the uses to which the natives of China and Japan apply its
beautiful slender golden stem. The silk, of a color resembling brown
holland, is really very good, and makes excellent summer out-door
dresses for the European ladies and girls at Chefoo. Some of the best
costumes I noticed on shore were made of this material.
Shortly after our arrival the "Vigilant" came in, en route for Tientsin,
a port further up the Gulf of Pe-chili, and to the westward of us. You
may perhaps remember that it was here the recent massacre of some
helpless French sisters of mercy took place, an event which at one time
seemed very likely to have embroiled China into a war with France.
I wonder if I should be wrong in saying that one of the principal
reasons which makes this so desirable a port for navy ships is the
advantages presented by the sand-bar at the mouth of the harbour for
shore evolutions? This may or may not be so; but scarcely a week passed
without our captain taking us ashore to play at soldiers, and sometimes
two or even three times a week. The bar has many qualities suitable for
military operations; a rocky grass-covered mound at the western
extremity in particular forming an excellent position for the field guns
and assaulting parties. This spot will be always remembered by our
ship's company by the name of Fort Cleveland, a name they themselves
bestowed on it, because the captain, who conducted these landing parties
with strict regard to military tactics, so frequently made it the
culminating point in the day's manoeuvres.
After all it was deemed advisable to shift out of our present unsafe
anchorage to a more secure one inside the bar, and, as the "Modeste" was
about to leave for Chusan, she came alongside and took us in tow. We
have met with no heavy weather here yet; but we shall be fortunate
indeed if we don't get a "brew" at this season.
We had been here somewhere about ten days when the Chinese governor came
on board, attended, as is the custom in China, by a numerous suite of
lesser mandarins and their retainers. Chefoo is an important military
command, as well as one of the chief naval ports in the empire; hence
the governor is a high military mandarin. From the governor downwards
they were all dressed pretty much alike. The mandarins were
distinguishable only by a button, worn on the top of their mushroom
hats. The colour and material of this button, like the "tails" of a
pasha, indicate the position of the wearer, the red being considered the
highest of all. In addition to the button the military insignia of a
tuft of horse hair, dyed scarlet, depended from the top of the hat of
each, whilst some of the more fortunate wore a peacock's feather stuck
jauntily under the button. I say more fortunate because, like our
K.C.B.'s, only a very few can ever hope to attain to such a mark of the
sovereign's favor. These feathers are bestowed by the emperor, generally
in person, on such of his subjects as have achieved some renown, either
as a soldier or in the equally honorable province of letters. We may
well believe, then, that amongst such a people as the Chinese, whose
very breath almost is at the emperor's pleasure, such a distinction is
the chiefest ambition of every man; for _all_ may aspire to it.
A day or so subsequent to the events I have described before, the
captain of a trading junk from Tientsin reported that the "Vigilant" had
grounded in the Pei-ho, and had sustained considerable damage to her
rudder and stern-post, a report which was strictly true; for soon the
admiral returned, and at once ordered the "Vigilant" to Hong Kong for
repairs.
Shortly before sailing the admiral inspected the ship. On this occasion
"Sailor," our widowed cat, was decked out in all the gay and gaudy
trappings of a field officer on parade, and, what is more to the point,
he was seemingly quite aware that he was looking smart. I suppose
"Sailor" can never have read the "Jackdaw of Rheims," but he certainly
_looked_ the words of that conceited bird as he strutted proudly along
before the admiral; and I feel assured that, though the
commander-in-chief may not have thought much about the matter, there was
no doubt in pussy's mind as to _his_ being one of the "greatest folk
here to-day."
By the third day out we had reached the Corean archipelago, and found
ourselves off the northern coast of Quelpart, where we had recently met
with such rough handling. The course was slightly altered to enable us
to touch at a small island in the same group, named Port Hamilton. This,
until very recently, was, I believe, the only place in the peninsula
empire where foreigners--Europeans and Americans--were allowed to hold
any intercourse with the natives. It was left to our admiral to alter
this edict, and to break through their prejudices.
October 23rd.--At four o'clock this morning we dashed through the strait
of Simoneski under steam and canvas, with the wind dead aft and fresh,
in company with some hundreds of junks, whose bellying snowy sails and
neat trim hulls had much the appearance of a yachting contest.
By sundown we had made the original anchorage. Owing, I suppose, to the
season being further advanced, the scenery has lost that freshness we
noticed during our first trip through, but not its charm--I think it
could never do that. The little bay looked very lovely to-night with the
moon's flood of silver light streaming down on its thousand isles.
"Fair luna" had scarcely left us to gladden another world of night
before the anchor was at the bows and the ship holding on her onward
course; and though the wind was both strong and favourable, no advantage
was taken of it to sail, for we were navigating such intricate
labyrinths, cutting so sharply around islets, and dodging in and out so
many channels and passages, that the jib and spanker were the only sails
that could be used with any degree of safety; but when at length we
broke out into the open again, we spread our wings to the gale and made
short work of the distance to Kobé.
Our arrival was most opportune, both for ourselves and also for society
on shore. To the regatta committee we were specially welcome, for a
regatta was to be held in the afternoon, and the presence of our band
was certainly a pleasing and unlooked-for item in the programme of
proceedings. Our third cutter took the first prize in the navy race,
though it was an open question whether the Russian boat did not deserve
it. It was ruled that "Rooski" had forfeited all claim to a place, in
consequence of fouling twice--so somebody said; though there were
others who declared that ours fouled the Russians. This led to angry
words, and a considerable show of splenetic feeling amongst the
committee, which was at length toned down by the appearance of a Russian
officer, who begged that, rightly or wrongly, the prize might be awarded
to the English boat.
Whilst at Kobé an event took place on board, of small moment indeed to
the big outside world, but one of considerable interest amongst
ourselves, namely, the birth of a lamb. If we except the rats and
cockroaches, and a few such-like atomies, this is the first being which
has drawn its first breath on board. One of the sheep taken in at Chefoo
happened to be in an "interesting condition," and as nature was not to
be thwarted of her purpose by big guns and tarry sailors, the little
fellow came along in due course. We are anxious that he may live, for it
is wonderful what tricks and antics sailors can train a lamb to, not the
least being the avidity with which, after a few lessons, he makes his
number at the grog tub at the sound of the bugle.
November 3rd.--Onward, ever onward; a flying visit to Yokohama, and then
back home again, or the nearest approach to home that this part of the
world affords for Englishmen.
But how changed is Yokohama now! Dirty, wet, cold, and dreary, and all
the other adjectives by which discomfort is usually interpreted. During
our stay our negro troupe came prominently before the public. At the
request of the managing committee of the Temperance Hall the captain
yielded, a somewhat reluctant assent, to the attendance of the troupe.
They performed before a highly pleased and encouraging audience, and
had no occasion to blush at the report of the entertainment in the
papers. At any rate many a disinterested resident in the cause of
temperance was induced to unbutton his pockets to further that end.
An entertainment, on a vastly different scale, was given to our
officers, by the imperial family at Tokio. For a whole day they were the
guests of Prince Arisugawa in his capacity of heir-apparent to the royal
dignities. Perhaps "heir-apparent" is not strictly the correct term to
apply to the royal "mid," the emperor having the power to bestow the
crown on whomsoever he lists at his demise. The prince is but the
adopted son of the emperor, who has issue of his own; he may set aside,
and it is generally understood that he will do so, his own children in
favour of his adopted child; by no means an uncommon custom amongst the
nobility of Japan.
Recent arrivals from the southward having reported stormy passage, more
than the usual precautions were taken to prepare the ship for whatever
might chance to fall athwart our hawse. A deck cargo of coals was taken
in, storm sails bent, extra gripes put on the boats, and anchors lashed;
but, as generally turns out in such cases, neither of these preparations
were more than ordinary necessary, for save a roll or two in Formosa's
tumbling channel, the splitting of a stunsail boom, and the snapping of
a rope now and then, the passage was a fairly smooth one. We put in at
Matson, en route, when we found the "Lapwing" awaiting our arrival with
mails and the men we left behind in Malta hospital on the outward
voyage. Theirs has been a chequered existence since that time; now one
ship, now another, until up to this time they can reckon up eight such
shifts.
December 4th.--Whilst coaling at Amoy an accident happened, which has
resulted in the death of another of our poor fellows, George Allen, an
ordinary seaman. Whilst he and a companion were on a visit to a Chinese
gunboat in the harbour, and both, it is to be feared, under the
influence of liquor, Allen slipped as he was mounting the side, fell
overboard, and was not seen afterward. Strangely enough, the man who was
with him had not the slightest idea of the occurrence, and it was not
until the captain of the Chinaman came on board the following morning
and reported the circumstance, that we became aware that we had lost a
shipmate. Before sailing we were joined by the "Egeria," and as it was
the admiral's intention to visit Swatow we called in at Hope bay to
allow him to turn over to the "Egeria" for that purpose. We arrived in
Hong Kong on December 15th.
And now, dear reader, I have accomplished the round of our station, and
have got through, I trust, to your satisfaction, the most difficult part
of this narrative, viz.: the descriptive. Henceforward, to avoid tiring
and useless repetition I shall refer you to the appendix for ports
visited, only taking up for narrative purposes, such events in our
subsequent history as I shall deem of major importance. If I do not
adopt some such plan as this my book will far exceed its intended
limits.
December 25th.--If we may believe the old saw, there are some things
which have the misfortune to suffer by comparison. Accepting this as
fact, the Christmas of last year must hide its diminished head before
its present anniversary. We were determined on making our lower deck as
home-like as possible, to deceive ourselves--pleasant fiction!--into the
belief that there were not 120 degrees of longitude between us and our
friends. The admiral behaved like a brick, by contributing largely to
the good cheer. The mess-deck just showed how tastefully sailors can do
things in the way of "get ups" when left to their own devices and
resources. As Christmas, 1880, was by far the jolliest Christmas day we
have spent during our sojourn in China, I will not anticipate by
describing the present, but will reserve for a subsequent page the
pleasure of telling you all about it.