Departure from China--The "Malta"--Singapore--Penang--The
Island of Ceylon--The "Bentinck"--Aden--In the Red Sea--The
Isthmus of Suez--Cairo--The Nile--The
Pyramids--Boulac--Alexandria--The
"Valetta"--Malta--Marseilles--End of a Journey Round the
World.
On the 11th of November, 1854, I was received on board the "Malta,"
government mail-packet. The vice-consul accompanied me on board, as if
to assure me of his generous protection up to the very last moment of
my stay, and I parted from him with feelings of such regret as I shall
not attempt to put into words. Should this narrative ever meet his
eyes, may he here read the earnest expression of my gratitude.
The line of route taken by the Indian mail-packets is certainly the
most desirable for passengers. From Hong-Kong to Singapore is a
journey of only seven days, and the steamer puts into port for
twenty-four hours, which enables travellers to see something of the
city. Singapore is chiefly inhabited by Chinese and Malays, and
contains but few European families.
From Singapore to Penang takes but three days more, and here the
steamer delays eight hours for the mails. These eight hours are,
however, sufficient to enable a passer-by to judge of the infinite
beauty of the place. It is verdant and luxuriant as a corner of
paradise, and the most delicious fruits abound in every part.
Eight days after this, we touched at Point de Galle, in the island of
Ceylon, where all the passengers were put on shore. The luggage was
then transferred to another steamer, and the "Malta" continued her
journey to Bombay. The number of travellers by this route is seldom
large. We were but thirty-two, and consisted of English, Portuguese,
and French. We all breakfasted together at a cottage-restaurateur's in
the Jardin Canella, which is the public promenade of the place.
Embarking, towards evening, on board the "Bentinck," another steamer
belonging to the same company, we started for Suez, and after ten
days' travelling touched at Aden, for the purpose of taking in coals.
It is a wretched spot--arid and desolate, and inhabited by a race of
hideous and miserable human beings. Seven days on the Red Sea brought
us to Suez, where I landed with real delight. We crossed the Isthmus
in omnibuses, and our luggage was transported by a troop of camels.
The camel-drivers were half of them blind, or nearly blind; for their
eyes, during the transit across the desert, are perpetually attacked
by myriads of flies.
Two refreshment-stations have been established along this route, for
the benefit of travellers journeying between Cairo and Suez.
Cairo, as has been truly said many and many a time before, is a city
taken from the pages of the "Thousand and One Nights." I shall not
attempt to describe it here, for it has been described well and often,
and I have nothing new to tell. I spent three days there, dreaming and
wondering, strolling through bazaars and marketplaces, and visiting
all that is most curious and surprising in the city and its
neighbourhood. As for the Pyramids, although I saw them from afar in
my passage down the Nile, I cannot say that I experienced any special
delight or enthusiasm at the sight. Cairo, and Cairo alone, usurped
all my admiration, and, far as I have travelled, and much as I have
seen, I may truly assert that no spot I ever beheld could compare with
it for novelty and magnificence.
From Cairo we proceeded by steamer down the Nile to Boulac, and at
Boulac took the railway to Alexandria. Excepting a glimpse of the
distant pyramids, and the sight of those quaint little mud-coloured
Egyptian villages which lie scattered along the banks of the great
river, this journey afforded no objects of interest by the way. At
Alexandria I remained three days, waiting the arrival of my luggage.
This city, unlike Cairo, is neither picturesque nor splendid. The
bazaars are dirty, the population is scanty, and (being chiefly
inhabited by Europeans) the oriental costume is but rarely seen. I
visited the palace of the viceroy, Pompey's Pillar, and Cleopatra's
Needle; but my heart was full of France and home, and I cared little
for either modern palaces, or vestiges of a remote antiquity. How
happy I was when I at length embarked on board the "Valetta," and knew
that in six days more I should tread French ground! On the fourth day,
we touched at Malta, but no one went on shore; and on the 26th of
December, 1854, the "Valetta" cast anchor at Marseilles.
On the 30th I was in Paris, and read the following announcement in the
columns of _La Presse_:--
"Mademoiselle Fanny Loviot, who was taken prisoner not long since by
pirates in the Chinese seas, has just returned to France in the
'Valetta,' via Marseilles."
Oh, the happiness of once more dwelling in the midst of those dear
ones who had so often lamented me with tears, and believed me lost for
ever! Oh, the delights of home, after the sufferings and dangers of a
journey round the world! I went to seek my fortune, and found only
misfortune. Still, with all their troubles, my weary wanderings had
not been wholly profitless. I had beheld Nature, bountiful and
beautiful Nature, under her most varied aspects; and if I had endured
fatigue, privation, and even disease, I had, at least, lived that life
of peril which hath its own peculiar charm for the imaginative and the
young.
I have never yet regretted my journey, or its adventures. May the
indulgent reader, who has followed me thus far in my narrative, as
little regret the trouble of perusal!
CORROBORATIVE EXTRACTS FROM THE FRENCH PRESS.
"La Presse," December 20th, 1854.
"The _Moniteur de la Flotte_ publishes the following
passage, extracted from a letter dated Hong-Kong, October,
27th, which contains some interesting details respecting a
little '_drame maritime_:'--
"'The Chilian ship "Caldera" left Hong-Kong on the 4th of
October for San Francisco, having two passengers on board,
one a young Parisian lady, named Mademoiselle F. Loviot, and
the other a Chinese. Overtaken, two days after, by a
frightful tempest, the captain anchored in a bay among some
islets of the Chinese seas, whither his vessel had been
driven by the storm. He hoped to return to Hong-Kong and
refit, but was assailed during the night by three Chinese
junks, and plundered without mercy. For two days these
robbers remained in possession of the ship; but fled on the
third day before a flotilla of fresh junks which came up to
dispute the prize. On the 11th of October, the pirates
belonging to one of the newly arrived junks proposed to
conduct the captain, the Chinese, and the lady-passenger to
Hong-Kong, there to treat for a ransom; but when the lady
and the Chinese had got into the boat which was to transport
them to a junk close by, the rowers pushed off, and left the
captain behind. He, however, succeeded shortly after in
procuring a boat, and returned to Hong-Kong. In the meantime
the pirates carried off the young lady and the Chinese, and
confined them in a little den on board one of the junks. "We
were obliged," writes this young lady, in her account, "to
keep ourselves bent almost double, for want of room, and
were watched narrowly. In the evenings we were permitted to
leave our prison for a quarter of an hour; but whenever the
pirates saw other vessels approaching, they made us return
thither immediately. When they took their own meals, they
gave us food, and told us that, should our captain not
forward our ransom very shortly, they would transfer us to
the hands of other pirates. We remained thus till the
morning of the 18th, when the Chinese, who was my companion
in misfortune, heard the pirates calling to one another that
a steamer was in sight and they must save themselves by
land. They did so, accordingly, and left us on board the
junk, free and unharmed. While we were imprisoned on board
this vessel, the pirates one night attacked a Chinese
merchantman, and sold the booty next day to pirate traders.
From our dungeon on board we could distinctly hear the goods
passed from one ship to another, and the purchase money
counted overhead."
"'The steamer which rescued this young lady and the Chinese,
then proceeded to cruise round the coasts, and destroyed
three pirate villages. It is supposed that an expedition
will soon be fitted out against these assassins and their
haunts.'"
"La Presse," December 30th, 1854.
"Mademoiselle Fanny Loviot, who was lately taken prisoner by
pirates in the Chinese seas, has just returned to France in
the 'Valetta,' _via_ Marseilles."
"Moniteur," January 20th, 1855.
"His Excellency Lord Cowley has just forwarded
communications to the imperial government, respecting a
despatch addressed to the Board of Admiralty, by
Vice-Admiral Sir James Sterling, commander of the British
naval station in the Indian and Chinese seas. Also a report
dated October 20th, 1854, in which Sir William Hoste,
captain of the 'Sparta,' gives account of an expedition
lately undertaken against the pirates of the isle of Symoug,
near Macao.
"The pirates had pillaged and run aground the Portuguese
bark 'Caldera,' carrying off a French lady, who was among
the passengers. The British cruiser 'Lady Mary Wood,' having
vainly pursued them, the vice-consul of France at Hong-Kong
asked the captain of the 'Sparta,' to send a detachment on
board the steamer 'Ann,' which the insurers of the bark
proposed despatching on a second trial.
"On the 17th of last October, according to the orders of Sir
William Hoste, Lieutenant Palisser embarked with eighty-five
men in three long boats. He anchored near the wreck of the
'Caldera.' The morning after, having perceived some junks of
suspicious appearance, the lieutenant gave chase with the
three boats, the water not being deep enough to allow of the
steamer approaching the coast. These junks made at once for
the land, where their crews took refuge, after throwing
their weapons into the sea. On board the first junk were
found the young French lady and the Chinese dealer.
"They sent both on board the 'Ann,' and burnt the junk as
well as two other boats. They then sailed on to the village
of Kou-Cheoumi, where the pirates had fired on the English
ships two days before, and where they knew the stolen cargo
was concealed. They discovered there one hundred and
fifty-three sacks of sugar, and forty chests of tea, which
they took away. They then burnt two villages. Having now
discovered a third village, defended by a battery of four
cannons and eight field pieces, the lieutenant forced his
way through a thick copse, and attacked it. After firing a
volley, which wounded no one, he seized the battery,
dispersed and killed the gunners, burnt the village and the
boats that were lying on the beach, spiked most of the
cannons, and carried six away as trophies.
"Sir William Hoste, in his despatch, praises the gallantry
and good conduct of the crews which were sent on this
expedition, and which laboured twelve hours per diem, all
the time beneath a burning sun. He also speaks highly of
Lieutenant Palisser, who has, within the space of five
months, conducted five successful expeditions of a similar
nature, and taken seventeen pieces of cannon."
"La Patrie," February 12th, 1855.
"Macao, _December 6_.
"On the 4th of October last, a Chilian ship, called the
'Caldera,' sailed from the port of Hong-Kong and was
grounded by stress of weather amid a group of islets lying
to the south-west of Macao. One Mademoiselle Fanny Loviot, a
young French lady, happened to be on board. The pirates took
her prisoner, as well as a Chinese merchant, who was her
fellow-passenger, and sent on the captain to Hong-Kong, to
treat for a double ransom.
"Informed of these facts by the captain of the 'Caldera,'
the French vice-consul applied to Sir W. Hoste, then
commandant of the English station, and requested, as all the
French forces were just then absent, that he would assist in
fitting out an expedition for the rescue of Mademoiselle
Loviot. Sir W. Hoste acceded instantly, and despatched
eighty of his own crew, under command of Lieutenant
Palisser. They took the steamer called the 'Lady Mary Wood,'
and were accompanied by several of the consignees of the
'Caldera,' who were anxious to save whatever might yet be
found of the cargo of that vessel.
"A detachment of English marines, in the steamer 'Ann,'
shortly after encountered the pirates, burnt a large village
to which they were in the habit of retreating, killed twenty
men, and took several pieces of cannon. Having discovered
the junk wherein the prisoners were confined, they sacked
and attacked all the pirate villages along that coast, and
returned to Hong-Kong on the morning of the 19th inst. The
young Frenchwoman had been twelve days at the mercy of these
monsters; but, thanks to their expectations of a ransom, had
escaped without insult or ill-usage."
THE END.
Thomas Harrild, Printer, 11, Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, London.
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