SHANGHAI
We weighed anchor early in the morning, and soon entered the harbour of
Shanghai. A little steamer, belonging to the Russian-Chinese Bank, came
to take us on land, and moored opposite the French Consulate. We found
the Russian Consul waiting for us in his carriage, in which we drove to
the Hôtel des Colonies, where we arrived just in time for tiffin. During
the meal a large bouquet of heliotrope, surrounded by white lillies, was
sent to me by the director of the Russian-Chinese Bank. In the afternoon
the Governor of the town, accompanied by other Chinese authorities, came
to congratulate my husband on the occasion of New Year’s Day.
January 2nd.—We took our passage on the _Salasie_, one of the swiftest
boats of the Méssageries Maritimes, bound for Hong-Kong. We leave
Shanghai in splendid weather; the sea is beautiful, the sky of an azure
blue.
We have about two hundred passengers on board. Every one chooses his
company according to one’s taste. I have remarked that people on board
ship impart their affairs to utter strangers after a fashion that would
seem impossible on land. Soon we all became known to one another.
At six o’clock the gong called us to dinner. I was placed just opposite
the captain, an experienced mariner who had sailed for the last
twenty-eight years in these parts. After dinner there was music in the
saloon. The _commissaire_, who had a magnificent baritone voice, with
looks of anticipated success, cleared his voice and began to sing love
ditties. His assistant was induced to exhibit his skill on the mandoline,
after which the Attorney-General of Tonkin, a creole, born at the
Assumption Islands, sang opera airs, all the soprano, tenor and baritone
parts, in his _basso profundo_ voice.
January 3rd.—The _Salasie_ is like a splendid hotel on treacherous
waters. After lunch we went over the steamer and admired it greatly. The
crew is composed of 180 sailors—Chinamen all of them. At six o’clock
in the morning they begin to clean the boat, polishing brass things so
beautifully that they can easily be used as mirrors.