Fire--Departure for China--The "Arcturus"--An Invalid on
Board--Chinese Sorcerers--Death--The Chinese Seas--A Watery
Journey--Arrival at Hong-Kong--Visit to the Consul--Journey
to Canton--Chinese Insurrection.
After eighteen months of Californian life, a circumstance occurred,
which changed, not only my position, but my prospects. I became
acquainted with one Madame Nelson, a French lady who, like myself, was
engaged in commercial speculations. It was, at this time, her
intention to leave California for Batavia, in the Island of Java,
whence she had already received many letters of invitation, and where
she believed herself certain of success. Being desirous that I should
accompany her in this expedition, she proposed that we should travel
together, and share the profits, as well as the fatigues of the
enterprise. This matter was of too serious a nature to be hastily
decided; but, while I was yet hesitating, an event took place which
summarily decided it for me. One of those destructive fires so common
in San Francisco broke out next door to us, in the dead calm of a
lovely summer's night, and made such rapid progress that we with
difficulty escaped. Startled from sleep, we had but time to collect a
few valuables which we flung into a portmanteau, and threw out of the
window. Scarcely had we gone twenty paces from the house, when
staircases and flooring fell in with a tremendous crash. Three hours
later, fifty-two houses were entirely destroyed. This fire cost us
more than four thousand piastres, since we rescued nothing from our
stock.
My sister, being utterly out of heart, made up her mind to return to
Eureka, where commercial affairs were said to be unusually prosperous.
As for me, I decided to accompany Madame Nelson; for, notwithstanding
the pecuniary advantages which I hoped to derive from the journey, my
love of novelty was in nowise abated.
We then drew up the following programme of our route:--Directing our
course through the Chinese seas, we proposed touching at Canton,
Macao, Hong-Kong, and Batavia, where we hoped to remain about two
months. These matters settled, we had but to prepare for our
departure.
On the 14th of June, 1854, we embarked on board the "Arcturus," bound
for China. Our fellow-passengers consisted of four French artistes,
going to Calcutta on a musical speculation. In addition to these, we
carried thirty-five Chinese in the steerage.
On the fifteenth day of our voyage, we came in sight of the Sandwich
Islands. My companion, who up to this time had proved herself an
excellent sailor, became all at once languid and melancholy. Two of
our Chinese passengers were professed fortune-tellers. Finding that
they could both speak a little English, and hoping thereby to amuse
Madame Nelson, I summoned them to an exhibition of their talent. Half
laughing, half incredulous, my friend offered her hand to their
scrutiny. Silently and sadly they looked at it, hesitated, and
consulted together. Becoming impatient of this delay, Madame Nelson
pressed them for an explanation. "We pause," said they, "because we
fear to afflict you." "You are wrong," said she, "for I have no belief
in your art." Annoyed, perhaps, by this observation, they framed an
evil prophecy. "You have been wealthy," said they (and this was true),
"but you seek in vain to accumulate fresh riches. Your days are
numbered." Speaking thus, they gazed earnestly upon her, and seemed to
read the future in the lines upon her brow.
Painfully impressed by this prediction, my friend yielded to a
despondency which I tried in vain to dispel. I then regretted what I
had done, and strove to conceal my uneasiness by consulting the
necromancers on my own account. The second prophecy made up in a
measure for the dreariness of the first. The markings of my hand,
said they, were especially favourable. I was destined to prosperity,
and should one day become rich. One of them then pointed to a line
upon my forehead. "A great misfortune awaits you," said he; "but it
will not affect your future prosperity." I only laughed at these
predictions, and endeavoured to cheer my poor friend by every means in
my power.
The next day she was more dispirited than ever. She contrived,
however, to sketch the portraits of our Chinese soothsayers, with
which they were much delighted.
Within eight days from this time the state of Madame Nelson's health
had become truly alarming. We had no medical man on board, and my
anxiety grew daily more and more insupportable. At length one of the
Chinese offered to prescribe. In his own country he was a physician,
and he proposed administering some pills, which, hitherto, he had
never known to fail. These pills were red, and about the size of a
pin's head. The French passengers agreed with me that it was better to
trust the Chinese than leave Madame Nelson to die without help. We
offered her six of the pills. She enquired whence they came, and we
were so imprudent as to tell the truth, which immediately prejudiced
her against them. Her resistance drove us almost to despair; and when
she at length yielded, it was not from conviction, but in compliance
with my entreaties. More than six, however, she would not take.
Whether their number were too few, or administered too late, I know
not; but henceforth she grew rapidly worse. A violent delirium seized
her, during which she raved of the Chinese and their prophecies. The
delirium was succeeded by spasmodic paroxysms. I bent sorrowfully over
her; I drew her head to my bosom; and, seeing that death was close at
hand, imprinted a farewell kiss upon her lips. She looked up, smiled
languidly, as if to thank me for my love, and gently breathed her
last.
That same night the sailors bore her body upon deck, and the captain
read aloud the funeral service. This done, they wrapt her in a sheet,
slung a cannon-ball to her feet, and consigned her to her grave in the
deep sea. That sullen plash found an echo in the hearts of all
present.
The death of Madame Nelson left me almost broken-hearted. Far from my
friends and my country, I felt more than ever desolate, and lamented
the fatal day which bore me from my native land. What was now to
become of me, friendless and alone, in a strange and savage country?
Alas! what would I not now have given to turn back; but I could not
change the course of the ship, or turn the currents of the winds. Go
on I must, and submit to my destiny.
The navigation of the Chinese seas is rendered more than commonly
hazardous by reason of the sunken rocks which there abound. Threading
these securely, we came, one glorious day, upon the Bashee Islands. In
three days, said the captain, we should probably arrive at the end of
our journey. Just, however, as we were congratulating ourselves on
this pleasant intelligence, we were overtaken by a frightful storm of
wind and rain. Huge black clouds traversed the sky, and we saw more
than one water-spout in the distance. When the tempest at length
abated, it was succeeded by a dreary calm, which lasted for nine days.
A faint breeze occasionally sprang up, only to die away again, and
leave us more impatient than ever. At length, after beating about the
Chinese shores for more than twenty days, the captain informed us that
our sea-stores were almost exhausted. Hereupon the sailors refused to
work, unless some of their number were allowed to take a boat, and
venture in search of Hong-Kong, which, we calculated, could not be
distant more than thirty miles. The captain despatched eight men. We
then cast anchor amid a group of islands, and there awaited the return
of these brave fellows who had undertaken to risk their lives for our
safety. Twenty-four hours after, they returned with a steamer, which
towed us into the Hong-Kong roads, on the 29th of August, after a
sea-voyage of seventy-six days. Summoned to the French Consulate to
attest the death of my unhappy friend, I made the acquaintance of our
vice-consul, M. Haskell, and explained to him all the discomfort of my
present position. He advised me to relinquish an enterprise so
unfortunately begun. I replied that my only desire was to get back to
California. "Suffer me," said the vice-consul, "to make all the
arrangements for your return; and I trust that my influence may be
sufficient to ensure you every attention during the voyage." I thanked
him for his kindness, and from this time became better reconciled to
my Chinese expedition.
The island of Hong-Kong contains twenty thousand Chinese, and one
thousand European inhabitants. It is situated at the foot of an
immense mountain, and is built in the form of an amphitheatre. On
entering the principal street, the traveller is surprised to find
himself in the midst of elegant European buildings. The houses are
very large, surrounded by verandahs, and fitted up with jalousies--a
very necessary luxury in all tropical climates. On a height to the
left of the harbour stands the town-hall, and, a little farther on, an
immense line of barracks, for the accommodation of the English
soldiery. In the midst of the parade, which is a kind of fortified
esplanade, stand several pieces of cannon, so placed as to command the
principal street of the town--an arrangement admirably calculated to
ensure the respect and good conduct of the Chinese population. Here
also is an English Protestant church. The climate of Hong-Kong is
unhealthy. The summer heats are oppressive, and fevers are prevalent.
Life at Hong-Kong is monotonous to the last degree. Public amusements
are unknown; society there is none to speak of; and it offers no
resources beyond those of the domestic circle. The women never walk
out. In the first place, it is not the fashion; and, in the second, it
is scarcely possible, on account of the heat. Though it be to go no
farther than the next house, you are always carried in a palanquin.
The English gentlemen at Hong-Kong wear white suits, as in India.
Every kind of European trade is carried on at Hong-Kong for the
benefit of the English residents. Few Chinese women perform any kind
of manual labour; and, except in shops of the very poorest
description, they are not even to be seen behind a counter.
Costermongers and provision-vendors, peripatetic cake, fruit, and
sweet-stuff sellers, and enterprising speculators in grilled fish,
roast fowls, and other smoking delicacies, here abound. Of beggars,
old and young, there is no scarcity; and the blind go about the
streets ringing a little bell to attract public attention. Besides
these, there are plenty of wandering singers and musicians, who
recite quaint and monotonous legends "for a consideration."
Not the least curious members of the population are the barbers and
hair-dressers, who twenty times a-day make the tour of the city,
carrying their shaving apparatus on their backs. Should a shopkeeper
or pedestrian wish to have his head shaved, his pig-tail dressed, or
his eyebrows trimmed, he beckons to the first _artiste_ who passes by,
and the operation is forthwith performed, either in the shelter of a
doorway, or in a shady angle of the open street.
There are but two hotels in Hong-Kong, and both lodging and provisions
are quite as expensive as in California. As might be expected, the
accommodation is far inferior; and even the cleanest and best
regulated houses are infested with frightful insects. Everywhere, on
the furniture, in the presses, hidden in your shoes, clinging to your
curtains, and ensconced in your portmanteaus, you find spiders,
beetles, and mosquitoes. If you take out a garment for use, two or
three of these disgusting creatures are sure to be lying in the folds
of it. The beetles, however, are the most annoying of all; and at
night, when the candles are lighted, become almost unendurable. One
falls on your head; another alights upon your nose; and in the
morning, when you wake, you are sure to find half-a-dozen lying
drowned in your wash-hand basin, or served up, struggling, in your
tea. At table you meet with them constantly in the gravy, or the
vegetables; but this is a matter of course, and cannot be avoided.
The vegetation of Hong-Kong is the most luxuriant in the world, and
the flowers are redolent with a perfume more sweet and more
penetrating than those of Europe. Admitted to visit the garden of a
mandarin, I scarcely knew which was the greater, my delight or my
astonishment. It was an artificial world in little, interspersed with
grottoes, rocks, rivulets, and miniature mountains. There was not a
straight path in the place, and at each turn I came upon some fresh
point of view. Here were fantastic kiosks with windows of coloured
glass; rustic suspension bridges; and tranquil shrubberies, musical
with birds. It is only in balmy solitudes such as these that the
Chinese ladies can, with their pinched and mutilated feet, enjoy any
kind of out-door recreation.
Taking advantage of the time that still remained to me, I agreed to
join my fellow-travellers in a visit to Canton. Just at this period
the insurrection of 1854 was at its height, and, although the city
itself was tolerably tranquil, the neighbourhood all around was up in
arms. Under these circumstances, we could hardly hope to make any
lengthened stay.
In this enormous city (only two streets of which were then accessible
to Europeans), factories, English counting-houses, and extensive
warehouses abound. There is not a single hotel in the place. At the
houses where you wish to transact business, you send in your card. The
retail dealers are classed as a separate body of tradesmen. One
quarter of the city is wholly occupied by the porcelain-sellers,
another by the tea-dealers, a third by the silk-merchants. I was never
weary of admiring these magnificent warehouses, where are displayed
specimens of the most exquisite handiwork imaginable. Lacquered
furniture, ivory fans, carved jewel-cases, silken tapestries, and
resplendent stuffs, distract the attention of the stranger at every
step. The thoroughfare called New China Street is bordered by these
superb stores, each of which has its flat roof decorated with
parti-coloured balls, and its upright sign, where golden letters on a
scarlet ground proclaim the name and trade of the merchant. The
streets are filled by a busy, noisy crowd: strolling vendors, with
their strange guttural cries; grave and solemn citizens, with their
flowing robes and perpetual parasols; and, now and then, one or two
women of the poorer class, hurrying along with children in their arms.
If a traveller desire to visit a Chinese interior, he will not be
refused admittance to the houses of those merchants who are in the
habit of trading with the English. Having sought and obtained the
necessary invitation, I went one day to a house celebrated for its
luxury, and belonging to one of the wealthiest mandarins of the city.
I scarcely know how to describe what I there beheld. There were
flowers, musical instruments, opium-pipes, and cigarettes. From the
ceiling hung lanterns of every shape, colour, and material--lanterns
in glass, gauze, and paper--lanterns fringed, tufted, hung with bells,
and decorated in every possible manner. From the walls were suspended
pictures representative of the very infancy of art, and varnished
tablets inscribed with philosophical and poetical sentences. Above
all, however, I was curious to visit the apartments of the women; but
this was forbidden.
During the three days that I stayed at Canton, I witnessed a _fracas_
amongst the Emperor's soldiers. A Chinese army is the most ludicrous
affair imaginable. How shall I describe these absurd warriors,
dignified by the titles of "War-tigers," and "Mountain-splitters?"
Standing on a lofty terrace, I was quite near enough to distinguish
all their proceedings. Armed with lances and cumbrous matchlocks, they
crowded along in the greatest disorder, and almost every soldier
carried an umbrella, a fan, and a lantern; all of which forcibly
reminded me of the Chinese burlesques that I had seen in the theatres
at San Francisco.
The perpetual thundering of cannon, the brawling and skirmishing of
the insurgents, the frequent encounters which took place beyond the
walls, and the false alarms by which we were continually harassed, all
combined to hasten my return to Hong-Kong.
After I had been resident about a month in China, our vice-consul
informed me that a ship was about to sail for California. He was so
extremely kind as to interest the captain in my favour, and this
officer, whose name was Rooney, promised to pay me every attention in
his power. Having thanked M. Haskell for all the interest which he had
taken in my affairs, I hastened to my hotel with a light heart, and
prepared forthwith for my journey.