One most important element in tea cultivation is the method adopted to

impart a certain bloom, an artificial fragrance, which it does not possess

in the natural state. This process of "scenting," as it is called, which

is practised exclusively for the foreign market, is termed by the Chinese

_Hwa-hiang_. The flowers which are used for imparting this fragrance, and

the growth of which, like the invisible fields of odoriferous herbs near

Cannes, in the South of France, forms a most important branch of

cultivation near Canton, are chiefly _Jasminum sambac_, _Jasminum

paniculatum_, _Aglaia odorata_, _Olea fragrans_, _Sardenia florida_,

orange-blossom, and roses. The method of "scenting" consists simply in

placing a definite quantity of the flower-blossoms, varying according to

the strength or feebleness of the odour, in juxtaposition with about 100

lbs. of dried tea-leaves, where they are suffered to remain from 24 to 48

hours. Thus 40 lbs. of orange-blossom, 50 lbs. of Jasmin, 100 lbs. of

_Aglaia odorata_, are reckoned the equivalent respectively of 100 lbs. of

tea-leaves. The extraordinary costliness of these fragrant blossoms[171]

has caused a very general suspicion to prevail, that the leaves thus

"scented" are afterwards adulterated with large quantities of the common

teas. And as it is an ascertained fact that 60 lbs. of such tea can impart

a similar fragrance to 100 lbs. additional by merely mixing the two

together, without any apparent diminution of fragrance, it seems more than

probable that similar admixtures, very possibly in a still more profitable

proportion, are being silently carried on every day in the warehouses of

the tea districts.

Since the suppression of the East India Company's monopoly, and the

opening of the Five Ports, tea has somewhat fallen in price, but has in

consequence gained in far greater ratio in respect of quantity shipped.

The value of a picul of tea is at present about 18 or 20 taels (L5 12_s._

6_d._ to L6 5_s._), so that the pound costs 1_s._ 1_d._ to 1_s._ 2_d._

Notwithstanding the unexampled cheapness of hand labour (60 to 70 cash, or

2-1/2_d._ to 3_d._, per diem), it is not possible to procure _good tea_

below this limit, although the various descriptions vary extraordinarily

in price according to their quality and the districts they come from. The

lower classes in the tea districts purchase for themselves the raw

unprepared leaves just as they are plucked, for about 1_d._ per pound,

and as it takes about 4 lbs. of the fresh leaves to make 1 lb. of dry

leaves, it may be calculated that the tea, as drunk by this class, must

cost from 4_d._ to 5_d._ per lb. Moreover, it is customary to add some of

the less costly descriptions, more especially in districts at some little

distance where the tea plant is cultivated.

The first historical document referring to the introduction into England

of tea as a beverage, is an Act of Parliament in the year 1660 (the year

of the Restoration). At that period China tea cost sixty shillings the

pound, which of course limited its use to a very narrow circle. At present

there are 30,000,000 lbs. imported into England[172] annually, or more

than one half of the entire export from the Central Empire, the consumer

in London paying about 3_s._ per pound on the average.

Of late years attempts have been made to cultivate the tea plant at the

foot of the Himalayas, in Java, and in the United States. In Hindustan,

whither only a few years ago that well-known and enlightened gentleman,

Mr. Robert Fortune, dispatched 24,000 plants, selected from among the

finest tea districts, the experiment has already proved successful, and

even remunerative. The cost of growing is about 10-1/2_d._ per lb. for

one description, which fetches 2_s._ per lb. in the London market. That

grown in Java has hitherto been viewed with disfavour in Europe, but in a

few years more it must make its way. The result of the experiments in the

United States we have yet to learn. Mr. Fortune, who was intrusted by the

Patent Office at Washington with superintending the introduction of the

tea cultivation into the Southern States, and who in virtue of many years'

scientific researches in China may be regarded as an authority upon this

subject, is of opinion that the possibility of cultivating tea in the

United States does not admit of a doubt, since the plant not only

successfully resists frosts, but even, in a measure, benefits by them, it

being a well-known fact that it flourishes better in the northern than the

southern climates of China. It is questionable, however, whether its

cultivation can prove remunerative in a country where labour is still so

exceptionally high. Will the tea plant repay the immense cost of

cultivation, and compete successfully with the product of China? The next

few years will settle this question, if it be not choked by this unholy

fratricidal war, which is raging within the freest and most glorious

confederacy of modern times.

We enjoyed the good "fortune" while at Shanghai of becoming personally

acquainted with Mr. Fortune, and of gathering these valuable particulars

from the very lips of that distinguished naturalist and traveller. While

reserving for consideration elsewhere the subject of various little known,

but most important, articles of export from the vast Empire of China, we

cannot refrain from indulging in a few remarks upon some useful products

of that country, which seem to us of more than merely commercial

importance. Among these we shall notice first one of the most valuable

rewards bestowed by Nature on human industry, the so-called Chinese

sugar-cane (_Sorghum_, or _Holcus saccharatus_), which deserves the

earnest attention of all European proprietors of land, as it grows in its

native country quite in the northern districts, in fact in latitudes where

the ordinary cane (_Saccharum officinale_) no longer flourishes; because

frost and cold are much more conducive to its growth than the opposite

extreme, so that it would seem to be specially adapted for cultivation in

Southern Europe.

The first attempt to cultivate this cane in Europe was made, if we are

rightly informed, at the Hyeres islands by Count David de Beauregard, from

seeds which M. de Montigny had sent home to the Geographical Society of

Paris, while other attempts were made at the same time in various parts of

France by the _Societe d' Acclimatisation_. The results surpassed the most

sanguine expectations. From the stem there was obtained a juice from which

sugar and alcohol, syrup and brandy, can be easily made. The abundant

leaves, five or six feet long, furnished a considerable quantity of cattle

with most nutritive food; the seeds were used as food for poultry, and

were even substituted with advantage for barley in the provender supplied

to horses, so that the experiment at once repaid its cost, while in

addition to the foregoing, the flour obtained from the seeds was found to

furnish a highly nutritive, wholesome article of diet for man. Dr. Adrian

Sicard, to whom the agricultural world is indebted for a very exhaustive

analysis of the Chinese sugar-cane, has established, by conclusive

researches, that its leaves are also specially adapted for the manufacture

of paper, as well as for various colours or dye stuffs. As to the

remunerative value of the _Sorgho_, it is more than 230 per cent. more

productive than beet-root, which in France produces on the average 2160

kilogrammes per hectare, while the _Sorgho_ makes a return of 5000

kilogrammes.

The mode of cultivating this useful plant differs in no respect, as we

repeatedly had occasion to observe, from that of maize or Indian corn. The

season for sowing varies with the temperature of the country, between the

months April and July. The seed when sown in the beginning of April will

be ripe about the middle of August, or in 135 days, while that sown in

mid-July will not be ripe before the end of November, or about 140 days.

In France the experiment has been made of bathing the seeds in tepid water

for periods varying from 24 to 48 hours before sowing, which resulted in a

much more speedy bringing forward of the plant. In like manner experiments

were made of sowing the seeds with and without their husk, the result of

which was that the former took 15 days, and the latter only 10 days to

sprout. It is recommended to plant the seeds in furrows sufficiently

separated from each other according to the conditions of soil and

irrigation, so far as is possible.

The period of germination of the _Sorgho_ is rather long, but once that

period is passed, the most favourable results are sure to follow, even

should the most unusual alternations of temperature ensue, provided the

thermometer does not descend below 27 deg.5 Fahr. The _Sorgho_ requires about

five months to attain its full ripeness, when it is usually of a

pale-yellow colour, streaked with red. It is occasionally subject to

different maladies, some of which attack the root, others the pith. In

like manner the larvae of certain noxious insects have been remarked on

occasional specimens. But the origin of all these drawbacks has been as

yet far too little inquired into, and they are of too rare occurrence to

permit of any definite information respecting them being as yet available.

On the whole, the cultivation of the _Sorgho_ may be regarded as eminently

successful in the South of France, as well as in Pennsylvania, U. S.

(which has a much severer climate than Venetia, Dalmatia, or the lower

course of the Danube). Very probably we may also succeed in naturalizing

the _Sorgho_ in suitable parts of Austria, and introducing there the

cultivation on a commensurate scale[173] of a plant, which bids fair not

merely to prove far more profitable in cultivation than any other member

of the vegetable kingdom in any part of the earth, but at the same time

seems destined at no distant period to be the means of supplying the

civilized world with one of its most vitally necessary articles of food,

by means of free white labour, without the assistance of slavery![174]

Another plant, which it seems likely might be advantageously introduced

into the southern districts of Europe, is the _Mo-chok_, one of the most

graceful kinds of bamboo found in the forests of China, which grows in

greatest luxuriance on the limestone slopes of the province of

Tschi-Kiang, in a climate ranging between 90 deg.5 in summer, and 20 deg.3

(Fahr.) in winter. The erect, smooth, elegant stem shoots up to a height

of from 60 to 80 feet. The lower part of the tree is usually free from

branches, which usually begin to spring from the trunk about 20 feet from

the ground, and are very delicately leaved. These and two other species,

the _Long-sin-chok_ and the _Hu-chok_, are used in the manufacture of

sieves, baskets, furniture, &c., while the tender shoots form a most

nutritious and delicately flavoured vegetable. The stem of the plant is

moreover available for the manufacture of paper.[175]

Writing paper is manufactured from it as well as packing paper, and one

very coarse quality is mingled with the mortar by the Chinese masons. Mr.

Fortune has introduced the Mo-chok into China, where, especially in the

north-west provinces, it promises to come on well upon the slopes of the

Himalaya.

Of the other plants which grow in China, which are not indeed suited for

transplanting to a colder climate, yet merit attention on account of

their produce, we shall briefly notice the varnish tree, the tallow tree,

and the wax shrub.

The varnish tree (_Vernix vernicia_), a sort of sumach, which grows in

greatest luxuriance in the provinces of Kiang-si, Chi-kiang, and Szechuen,

furnishes that varnish which, partly in a semi-fluid, partly in a dry

state, comes to market in whitish cakes, and is worth, according to

quality and demand, from 40 to 100 dollars per picul of 133 lbs. In the

preparation of this lacquer, the reputation of which has extended over the

globe, 6-2/3 lbs. varnish, 13-1/2 lbs. water, 41-2/3 lbs. nut-oil, 16-2/3

lbs. of pigs' gall, and 33-1/3 lbs. of vinegar, are mixed together till

the whole assumes the consistence and appearance of a shining black paste.

The fact that many Chinese lacquered wares, especially those prepared in

Foo-chow, vie with the renowned manufactures of Japan in beauty and

lustre, leaves room to suspect that the Chinese workmen have received some

instruction from their Japanese fellow-craftsmen.

Vegetable tallow (_Schulah_, or _Schu-kau_, tree fat) is obtained from the

_Stillingia sebifera_, the so-called tallow tree, and, judging by the

experiments made with it, promises under an extended system of cultivation

to become a tolerably profitable article of export. The tallow tree

flourishes throughout the southern provinces, but is chiefly found in the

island of Chusan and the coasts adjacent. The tallowy substance procured

from the seeds, which externally resemble nuts, is sold in cakes of from

90 to 130 lbs. at from 7 to 12 dollars.

Vegetable or tree wax (_peh-lah_) is a waxy substance, which the _coccus

pela_ or _flata limitata_ deposits, apparently as a protection to its

eggs, on a sort of ash tree, on whose twigs and boughs it is deposited

like snow-flakes. It is gathered after the first frost, and purified by

melting it in a cloth held over hot water. Apparently the process is

varied by dipping what has been collected in a silken sack into hot water.

It melts at 81 deg. Fahr., and in consequence of its unusual stiffness is much

used for admixture with bees-wax and other descriptions of fats used in

the manufacture of tapers. The candles hitherto made in England of this

substance have commanded a large sale, and only the circumstance that as

yet but a small quantity has found its way into commerce, prevents its

being much more extensively cultivated. The price of _Peh-lah_ is rather

high, as it fetches about L11 10_s._ per 133 lbs.

Passing from the various natural products furnished for export by China to

a consideration of those articles[176] of European industry, for which the

Chinese market supplies an ample demand, we find that their number is

considerable, while they represent a value of upwards of L5,000,000. In

these pages, however, we propose to notice only that article which is the

most profitable, and undoubtedly forms the chief staple of import in all

the harbours opened to foreign commerce, viz. opium. Opium (_a-pien_), the

solidified sap of _Papaver somniferum_, was, as every one knows, up to

quite a recent period, a monopoly of the Anglo-Indian Government, by whom

it was cultivated under the superintendence of agents in the various

provinces of Hindostan, and sold to the trade by public auction in large

quantities at a time in the markets of Calcutta and Bombay. It seems to

fulfil among the Chinese the function of the various spirituous liquors of

Europe; at least every attempt to introduce among the Chinese a taste for

ale, whisky, sherry, port, champagne, and claret, has hitherto entirely

failed. Indeed there is probably no country of the globe where, in

proportion to population, there is so little spirituous liquor introduced

as into China, what is imported being almost exclusively for the

consumption of foreigners. The Chinese is emphatically a born

"tea-totaller," or friend of abstemiousness, for the native drinks,

substitutes for wine, which are obtained chiefly from rice and millet, are

only used on special occasions, and then only in small quantities. During

our entire stay in Chinese waters, we never saw one single Chinese drunk,

and heard in every quarter that any such cases are rare and quite

exceptional. On the other hand, the consumption of opium is continually

increasing, and the quantity of solidified poppy-juice annually imported

amounts to from 75,000 to 80,000 chests, which at current rates represent

a value of from L7,500,000 to L10,000,000. There are four descriptions of

opium that come to the Chinese market, viz. Benares (_Ku-ni_), Patna

(_Kung-ni_), Malwa (_Peh-pi_), and Turkish (_Kiu-ni_ or golden dung). Of

these the Patna and Benares are reckoned of finer quality, and

consequently are more sought after, than that imported from Malwa, but

both descriptions are preferred by the Chinese to the Turkish, and even to

that produced at home.[177]

The custom of opium-smoking is of comparatively modern introduction among

the Chinese. It was about the commencement of the 18th century,[178] that

the practice of mingling opium with tobacco as an antidote against

toothache, headache, and pains in the body first began to prevail. Chinese

sailors and merchantmen, returning from the islands of the Bornese

Archipelago, had learned from the natives to inhale it as an anaesthetic,

which, depriving them of all activity, brought the most delightful visions

before their eyes. It is unquestionably the prohibition of wine to the

believers in the Koran which first directed their attention to this

narcotic substance, which the Western Asiatics swallow in pills, the

Hindoos chew, and the Chinese smoke. In 1750, there were imported into

China from Turkey, Persia, and Bengal, chiefly by Portuguese merchants,

some 200 to 250 chests according to official return (of 140 lbs. each),

ostensibly for medical use. Nothing could be more welcome to the entire

Empire than a means of passing the intervals of relaxation from the hurry

of business, in a state of absolute exemption from all anxiety, rocked in

the most delightful slumbers! In 1773 the East India Company sent a small

portion of opium to China by way of speculation. Seven years later they

founded an Opium Depot in Larke's Bay. In 1781 the Company sent 2800

chests (of 140 lbs. each) at one single shipment to Canton, where it was

purchased by a "Hong," or Association,[179] for trading purposes. The

Company found itself compelled, however, to re-export a quantity, as at

that period there was not in China a sufficient demand for such a supply.

The first regular shipments began in 1798, when 4170 chests were sent to

the account of the Association in China, and then sold at Rs. 415 (about

L41 10_s._) per chest.[180] Since that period the import and consumption

have been steadily increasing at a geometric ratio, and a table now before

us, drawn up with great labour and industry by Dr. Medhurst, informs us

that between 1798 and 1855 there were imported altogether 1,197,041 chests

of opium from Bengal, which, after deducting all expenses of cultivation

and shipment, represented a net gain to the East India Company of

L67,851,853.[181]

Relying on the splendid profits secured to the East India Company, and its

colleagues settled in China, by the opium traffic, no one troubled himself

in the slightest with the many protests of the Chinese Government, any

more than the anathemas launched at opium dealers and opium-smokers by

English missionaries and philanthropists. The dealers, growing richer day

by day, contented themselves with laconic replies to the more virulent of

their antagonists, to the effect that they were but supplying a want

originating in a national custom, and that it was as futile to attempt to

prevent the Chinese from smoking as to restrain Europeans from the use of

spirituous liquors. Both when abused are productive of much evil, and even

then opium was productive of far less destructive ravages on the human

organism, and was never followed by such appalling catastrophes as those

resulting from alcohol. The dark side of the opium traffic has since been

so fully exposed, that but little more remains to be said, and although

even the most sanguine persons have ceased to hope that the trade can

ever be entirely suppressed, yet it is at least consolatory to know that,

according to the best calculations, the number of opium smokers throughout

China, in a population that is to say of 420,000,000, is not above

4,000,000 to 5,000,000, and that an ordinary smoker does not on an average

consume more than one mace or about one drachm[182] of opium, worth about

90 cash, or 3-1/2_d._ The provisions of the new tariff, by which opium may

be imported unrestrictedly on payment of a fixed duty of 30 taels (about

L10) per chest when water-borne, and 20 taels (about L6 10_s._) when

imported by land, must materially effect the opium trade as hitherto

carried on, and may very possibly alter the views at present entertained

by the Chinese Government with reference to this important article of

commerce, in proportion as its treasury begins to be replenished by such a

high rate of duty.

Although for European readers the chief interest of China is to be found

in its relations with foreign countries, we yet cannot take leave of it

without a few remarks on the momentous political movement which has been

on foot since 1849 in several provinces of China, and claims, in

consequence of its peculiar religious nature, universal interest.

Hung-sin-Tsuen, the originator and head of this rebellion, was born in

1813, in a village near Canton, and while yet in his early youth was, in

consequence of his precocity, removed from tending his father's flocks to

be a scholar in the village, where he pursued his studies with such zeal,

that a year later he took several degrees as a teacher. On one of his

visits to Canton, he made the acquaintance of a Protestant missionary,

with whom he long corresponded, and from whom he received a variety of

tracts translated into Chinese, and books, by way of presents. In the

course of a serious illness with which he was assailed about this period,

he had numerous visions, and is said in his delirium to have insisted on

being hailed Emperor of China. Gradually Hung and his friend and zealous

adherent Fung-Yun-San became, through erroneous or wilful

misinterpretation of the works of various missionary societies, the

founders of a new creed, a sort of free, semi-Christian sect, which, as it

could not long subsist without coming into collision with the reigning

Government, very speedily assumed a political character. It is an

indubitable fact that at first the religious movement was supported by the

Protestant missionaries, and the views of its founders forwarded by every

means in their power, with the object of using it to prepare the soil for

the promulgation of Christianity. When about entering his forty-first

year, Hung formed an alliance with American missionaries stationed at

Canton, studied their books, after which he returned to the province of

Kuang-si, where he published writings descriptive of the alleged

manifestations of the Deity, gave himself forth as a poet,[183] and at

the same time issued proclamations under the designation of the "Heavenly

King." The severity with which the regular Government treated the

insurgents, and all who consorted with them, only served to augment their

ranks, to which the mysticism of their doctrine contributed in no small

degree; for the credulous masses have in all lands the same love of the

marvellous and unintelligible. Such a result only increased the courage,

the energy, the arrogance of Hung. He no longer was content to announce

himself as "the mouth through which God the Father, and Jesus the Elder

Brother, declared their will;" he now proclaimed boldly the intention of

himself and his followers to overthrow the unworthy Mantchoo dynasty, and

raise to the throne a new native dynasty, that of the Tai-ping, or

universal peace. Although stigmatized by the official _Pekin Gazette_ as

"local banditti," they were nevertheless strong enough in March, 1852, to

storm even such a populous city as Nankin, where they set up a

provisional government, and have since fortified it as their

head-quarters. At the time the Tai-ping rebellion first broke out, Yeh,

the then Governor of Canton, thought he would readily be able to suppress

it by the summary process of chopping off the heads of all who were

supposed to be in correspondence with them, and thus had as many as 800

executed daily.[184] It was no longer quite safe for a native to show

himself in the streets of Canton, unless provided with a paper of

identification. For this purpose, four-cornered pieces of a sort of white

cotton fabric were worn, on which was printed a sign in red. These cotton

strips served as countersigns for those friendly to the reigning dynasty,

and were worn concealed from view, but so as to admit of being at once

shown in case of need. Dr. Pfitzmaier, who has examined this sign, is of

opinion that it is simply a union of the three signs [Chinese

character(s)] which, so far as the two last are concerned, seem to have

been compressed together and abbreviated, so that only the initiated could

understand its significance. The learned sinologue is of opinion that this

hieroglyphic, signifying "to offer hand and heart," or "to offer the

original (own) heart," has nevertheless no meaning apart from the centre

figure, which, however, is unusually distorted, so that the whole may

also mean [Chinese character(s)] Kia-hoei, "to yield grace and

benevolence," or may be applicable to him who wears it, "one who enjoys

the all-embracing Imperial clemency."

The religious direction of the Tai-ping movement, coupled with its

apparent Christian tendencies, its results, and, above all, the last

hostile proclamation of the Pekin Government against foreigners, roused

the sympathies of both Europeans and Americans in favour of the

insurgents; and in the English papers of Hong-kong and Shanghai, the

policy was vigorously and repeatedly advocated of turning the insurrection

to their own advantage; while in a religious point of view it was

recommended to avail themselves of the favour shown to the Scriptures by

the Christian sect of the Tai-ping, which was also so amicably disposed to

foreigners, who at all events were more likely to prove a bulwark and

support to English Protestantism than the deceitful, promise-breaking,

idol-worshipping Mantchoos. Letters and communications, which from time to

time were published on the visit of Protestant missionaries in the

insurgent camp, were apt to propound the most favourable ideas about the

insurgents and their strivings after religious truth, and to attach to

their victories and successes the most glorious hopes with respect to the

spreading of Christianity in China. Fortunately the English Government did

not suffer its policy to be affected thereby, but continued to observe the

strictest neutrality. Only in those cases where, owing to the advance of

the rebels, the interests of British subjects or of universal commerce

seemed to be endangered, communications were held with the "Heavenly King"

or his ministers, or to protest against the injury and limitation of trade

with the earnestness and depth of impression which Armstrong guns are apt

to impart to diplomatic dispatches. Thus the insurgents were prohibited

from approaching within 10 Li of the city of Hang-kow, by this measure

protecting not alone their own property, but the entire city from pillage

and destruction. During the last war the interests of the insurgents were

kept entirely in the background, and during the stay of the _Novara_ at

Shanghai, which had likewise been repeatedly threatened by the insurgents,

we could gain but little enlightenment as to the nature and direction of

the movement.

However, since the Treaty of Pekin has thrown open the navigation of the

most important rivers, and thus facilitated communication with the

interior, there has been a better opportunity than hitherto for

intercourse with the Tai-ping, as also for obtaining a clearer insight

into its present condition, as well as the object and inevitable

consequences of their tenets. People are beginning to consider it more

calmly, and even the missionaries seem gradually abandoning the

expectations they had formed, of finding in it a means of helping the

cause of Christianity, albeit a former missionary, Rev. J. C. Roberts, who

in 1847 had spent several months with Hung, is at the present moment a

sort of minister of foreign affairs in the insurgents' camp at Nankin. The

latest information respecting the Tai-ping enters so fully into the

character of the whole movement, and so clearly develops its tendency,

that no apology is needed for laying before the readers of every class a

brief sketch of the more important and significant dogmas.

The Tai-ping translations of the Old and New Testament, though in the

whole tolerably correct, yet are in certain parts so imperfect that they

implanted the most erroneous ideas in the head of the "Celestial King." He

conceived his own visions and revelations as far more important, and of

far higher authority, than those of Holy Writ. His mission, as he himself

states it, is to be followed by a new revelation, accompanied by numerous

miracles, and a third book will be given to the world, which is to

supersede the Old and New Testaments, and be called the "_True_

Testament." According to Hung, both God and Christ have appeared in the

human form. Christ is not equal to the Father, that is solely God; he is

also brought into connection with other redeemers, and has a wife and

children in heaven.

The Celestial King and his son form with God and Christ a Quaternity in

Unity. The corporeal presence of the Celestial King is that of the

Godhead, and in the distempered imagination of the Tai-ping the government

now existing in Nankin is assuredly that of heaven itself!

The Tai-ping suffer no one to preach against their creed, because that

would be to diminish the authority of their chief, and damp the ardour of

their hopes. In their various proclamations it is expressly declared that

Hung-sin-Tsuen is the brother of the Saviour, the Son of God, without any

other distinction than such as must exist between an elder and a younger

brother. They maintain that there is a celestial mother as well as Father,

a heavenly sister as well as a heavenly Brother, and that the recently

defunct King of the West, Fung-yun-san, one of Hung's oldest adherents, is

now married to the heavenly sister. They hold to the opinion that not one

of such of their revelations as clash with the Old and New Testaments, can

be decided by such ancient books of religion. Their revelations being the

newest, are on that account the most entitled to belief.

In a letter of greeting addressed by Hung to Roberts[185] the missionary,

on the occasion of the arrival of the latter at Nankin, in October, 1860,

Hung narrates his heavenly journey in 1837, the repeated miraculous

interference of the Father and the Son in his favour, as also the

revelations made to the Eastern King. He professes to have seen the Father

and Christ, the heavenly mother and the heavenly sister. He is himself

"the Way, the Truth, and the Life," just as Christ is. He warns Roberts

repeatedly, that implicit belief in this is of the highest importance, as

otherwise he can neither be useful in this world nor blest in the next.

After such an exposition, Christian missionaries will scarcely be suffered

in the insurgent's camp if they dare to preach against such errors, not to

say blasphemies.

There are but few religious ceremonies. The Tai-ping, indeed, call one

day of the week the day of prayer, and it happens more through oversight

than intention to be fixed upon the Saturday, but so far as external

sanctity goes there seems to be no special attention paid to it. They buy,

and sell, and delve just as on other days. On the previous night about ten

o'clock two or three cannon-shot are fired to announce the approach of the

hour of prayer, and that the day of worship is at hand. Every family is

engaged for an hour in devotion and praise. All strangers who have been in

communication with the Tai-ping in Nankin state that, even in the capital

where he has been resident for seven years past, that dignitary does not

observe the Sabbath in any way, either by preaching, prayer, or expounding

of the Scripture; there are no exhortations or pious admonitions; they

have neither church nor temple; their sole divine service consists in each

one reciting in his own house English hymns, and repeating a few prayers,

while divers offerings are made, such as tea, rice, and the flesh of slain

animals. They offer their prayers kneeling, after which they close the

proceedings by singing a hymn standing. An English missionary, who arrived

at Nankin with the conviction that the insurgents were genuine sincere

Christians, made, after a short stay, the following severe but just remark

concerning them: "I found to my regret no trace of Christianity, but a

system of the grossest idolatry substituted for it, and arrogating its

name. Their notion of God is so distorted, that it is, if possible, still

more erroneous than that entertained of the Supreme Being by other

idol-worshipping Chinese. Their conception of the Redeemer, to whom they

pay equal honours, is crude, and thoroughly material. Their prayers, far

from giving the impression of a true reverence of God, have much more the

appearance of an idolatrous mockery of sacred things!"

An English merchant, who accompanied Sir Hope Grant on his reconnoitring

excursion up the Yang-tse-Kiang, and spent a week in what used to be

called Nankin, now the celestial capital of the Tai-ping, gives the

following characteristic sketch of them: "The insurgents take no interest

in and do not encourage trade, except in muskets and ammunition. To our

representations how unwise it was to lay waste towns and villages, and

shut out commerce, they promised, after peace was concluded, to erect

schools and other similar institutions, and professed their willingness to

promote trade, but 'for the present,' they went on, 'we must, before

anything else, make the hills and the rivers subject to our power.' On the

whole I found the condition of the rebels far better than I had expected.

They are comfortably clothed and well fed. The population of Nankin

consists exclusively of officials. No one not connected with the

administration of the army is admitted within the gates of the city. The

majority of the inhabitants, who number about 20,000, are prisoners and

slaves from every part of the empire. Although employed in most arduous

work, they get no pay, but are simply clothed and fed. I remarked an

extraordinary number of beautiful young women in elegant silken stuffs

from Sutschan. There were also prisoners of war from Sutschan and other

places, who, however, were by no means inclined to lead a very Christian

and moral life in the celestial capital. The city of Nankin, as well as

its suburb, the beautiful ancient cemetery of the Ning dynasty, and the

far-famed porcelain Pagoda, are all utterly destroyed; instead of the

broad well-paved streets of former times the stranger has now to pick his

steps through heaps of bricks and rubbish. The palaces of the kings of the

Tai-ping dynasty are glaringly conspicuous among all these ruins. They

must have been entirely rebuilt, for the old Yamuns and temples, like the

whole of the Tau-Tai City, have been demolished utterly.

"The rebel chief inhabits a large palace. His household consists of 300

female attendants. He also, in virtue of his rank, has 68 wives supported

for him. No one but the kings (of whom there are 11 or 12, but only two

are resident in Nankin) is permitted to approach his sacred person.

Probably Hung is little more than a mere puppet in the hands of his

ministers. It is he who mainly keeps the rebellion on foot. Discipline is

far better maintained among the long-haired insurgents than the imperial

troops, and many of the younger soldiers have pleasing manners.

"The kings or Wangs, on the other hand, seem exceedingly lazy and

vicious, and when they make their appearance, with a theatrical attempt at

assuming a dignified deportment, clad in the yellow costume of a

mountebank, and with a tinsel crown upon their heads, they present a most

ludicrous aspect. Not one of these so-called kings understands the

Mandarin dialect, so widely diffused among the educated classes;--not one,

except Hung himself and Kan-wang, has a better education than one of his

coolies.[186] They have linguists at their elbow, who do their reading and

writing for them.

"The arms of the Tai-ping are very wretched, and the bare fact that they

are able to make head against the Imperial troops, speak volumes for the

utter helplessness and incapacity of the Imperial Government. I have not

the slightest expectation that any advantage will accrue to civilization

or Christianity from the religio-political movement of the Tai-ping. No

Chinese will have anything to do with them. Their whole activity consists

in burning, murdering, and devastating. They are universally detested by

the people; even those inhabitants of the city who do not belong to the

'Brotherhood' detest them. For eight years their head-quarters have been

at Nankin, which they destroyed, nor have they as yet made the slightest

attempt to rebuild it. Trade and industry are forbidden. Their taxes are

three times higher than those of the regular Government. They take no

measures to staunch the wounds which they have inflicted on the people,

nor do they occupy it as though they had any permanent interest in the

land. They take no pains to tap those slow but sure springs of revenue, or

to increase the resources of the state. They lay themselves out to

maintain themselves by plunder. Nothing in their organization gives hope

for any amelioration of the present or consolidation of power in the

future; there is nothing in the entire history of the Tai-ping to enlist

sympathy or compel confidence in a movement which, under the mask of

religious reform, conceals the most hateful self-interest and terrorism,

and under the pretext of spreading peace amongst men, brandishes the

scourge of destruction and desolation among the provinces through which it

has passed."[187]

On the 11th of August the _Novara_ quitted her anchorage off Shanghai, and

with the steam-tug _Meteor_[188] fastened to her side availed herself of a

spring-tide to make her way into the Yang-tse-Kiang. Off Wusung we awaited

the arrival of the post, after receiving which we were on 14th August

towed as far as Gutzlaff's Island. Here we had once more to lay to, owing

to calms and currents, till at last on the 15th August a fresh breeze

sprang up from the S.E., and enabled us to make an offing.

The temperature had materially altered during the last few days. After a

cycle of oppressive heat the weather had suddenly changed to severe

squalls, with a marked fall in the barometric column. The thermometer,

which while we were lying off Shanghai marked from 86 deg. to 93 deg.2 Fahr., now

indicated in the morning only 68 deg. Fahr., and during the day never rose

above 77 deg. Fahr. The number of fever cases, which had reached the number of

seventy, began gradually to fall off. Several cases of dysentery forthwith

began to show symptoms of amendment.

Considering the latitude we were in, and the season of the year, the

barometer stood unusually high (30 deg.100), and although this might be

attributable to the constant prevalence of easterly winds, we nevertheless

knew we were approaching the period when the monsoon changes, and little

reliance was to be placed on the steadiness of that from the S.E.

Accordingly on the 17th the wind shifted round to N.E. by E., while our

course was due S.E. This however rendered it necessary to tack, if we

wished to pass to the northward of the Loo-Choo group, whereas we could

run free and with a fair wind through the southern channel. The sun set

behind a bank of dense clouds on the horizon. The western sky was tinged a

deep red, and the stars shone out with uncommon brilliancy, but with a

sort of trembling ray. The barometer fell slowly but steadily; the sea

began to heave perceptibly. Our course was now changed to S.E. by S.

The following morning the breeze freshened, and drew somewhat further aft;

the sky was covered with clouds massed together, those to the N.E. of a

very dark, almost black, colour. Wind and sea were now rising, the sky

became more and more obscure, the barometer kept falling--there was every

indication of the approach of heavy weather.

The 18th August, the birthday of our Emperor, was duly celebrated far on

the open ocean, in the middle of the China Sea. All was prepared for

Divine worship, which was to be celebrated at 10 A.M. on the gun-deck, in

presence of the staff and the entire crew. The Commodore had invited

several gentlemen of the staff to dinner. On land no one thinks of

consulting the elements, when such a festival is to be observed, nor do

the guests waste many thoughts on wind, rain, and heavy seas, as they

assemble in their comfortable chambers. At sea, on the other hand, the

conditions are altered. Wind and weather are the masters here, whose

behests the sea-farer must attend to. This was our case on this 18th of

August.

First, Divine service had to be dispensed with, because the sea became too

heavy, rendering it necessary to close the port-holes in the gun-deck,

where, as already mentioned, the service was to be performed. As the hour

for the festival drew nigh, the elements gave unmistakeable evidence of

their determined hostility; there was no room any longer to doubt that we

were about to do battle with a regular Typhoon.[189] This species of

storm, which is very customary at the change of the monsoons in August,

September, and October, when the N.E. trade suddenly veers round and

becomes the S.W. monsoon, is, like the tornado of the West Indies, the

Pampero of the eastern coast of South America, and the hurricane of the

Mauritius, a whirlwind of the most colossal proportions and most

tremendous fury, by which the atmosphere is swept in a circle at an

astonishing velocity around a central point more or less calm, which does

not, however, remain stationary, but is continually progressing, and hence

they are usually termed _cyclones_, or circular storms, to distinguish

them from those other storms in which the wind moves in a straight line.

It has been reserved for scientific investigation to explain the

extraordinary regularity of the laws in obedience to which the masses of

air, in the case of such storms occurring in the Southern hemisphere, move

in the direction of the hands of a clock, whereas in the Northern

hemisphere they are rotated in an opposite direction. In like manner, the

direction of the centre round which the _cyclone_ is raging has been

definitely ascertained, so that, provided with these data, it is not

merely possible for the navigator to hold aloof from the dangerous

central point of these circular storms, where the best and stoutest ship

that ever floated must almost to a certainty be swallowed up, but even to

avail himself of the wind to reach the edge of the _cyclone_ (the breadth

of whose path is from 300 to 1000 miles), and thus make a rapid and

prosperous passage. By mid-day the wind had increased to such an extent

that we had to take in most of our sails, and reef the rest. The sea now

rose, and many of its waves came thundering upon our decks. The vessel was

tossed to and fro with such violence that everything which had not been

made fast, or was attached to the vessel, began to lurch from side to

side. Nevertheless, the invited guests sat down to table, made the seats

and the table fast, and, such at least whom the violent rocking did not

make sea-sick, partook of a pleasant and joyous meal. But even these

precautions did not prevent numerous unpleasant accidents. One tremendous

lurch of the ship, which took us unawares, suddenly set adrift a number of

our mess, who rolled over and over each other upon that unstable floor,

amid a hideous chaos of tumblers, bottles, plates, and crockery. Chairs

and _fauteuils_ had their legs broken, everything breakable went into

irretrievable smash, the convives escaping serious injury only by a

marvel. Once more they took their seats at table, where only the bare

cloth gave promise of security, and endeavoured to anchor themselves more

firmly. When, at the conclusion of the meal, our Commodore gave the usual

toast, and his guests emptied their glasses to the health of the reigning

monarch, the band attempted to strike up the National Anthem, and a hearty

cheer resounded above the groaning of the ship, the howling of the wind,

and the sullen roar of the ever-increasing waves, as they lashed against

the ship's sides.

The sun went down behind clouds, as we went careering along under

close-reefed main sail and storm stay-sail over a confused sea, running

mountains high, and with huge heavy grey masses of cloud and mist close

overhead; the barometer was still falling, and as night closed in the wind

sung mournfully, yet with almost deafening noise, through the masts and

rigging. The wind now shifted and sprung up from N.E. by N., which being

an additional sign that the centre of the _cyclone_ was receding, we felt

assured that we were on the right side to keep clear of it. By midnight

the wind came still further round, till it stood steadily at N.E., when it

acquired fresh strength, and blew a most violent hurricane. The centre of

the _cyclone_ had once more altered its course, and begun to move in our

direction.

Our position at noon (27 deg. 25' N. and 125 deg. 23' E.) was the most

unfavourable possible. We had a N.E. wind, and were in the N.E. section of

the typhoon, whose centre, as is customary in these storms, was moving in

a N.W. or W. direction, and therefore threatened the more readily to

overtake us, that our course lay S.E. through the wide channel, which

leads from the Chinese Sea into the open ocean between the Loo-Choo

Islands and the Meiaco-sima group. There was now no other egress possible

than by steering W. by S. to get away from the advancing centre of the

whirlwind, on which course we would have to steer for the N. extremity of

the Island of Formosa.

The night of 18th and 19th of August was, in the fullest sense of the

word, a night of storms. Towards midnight we once more set double-reefed

foresail in order to lie our course of west by south. Had we calculated

aright the course of the centre of the _cyclone_, the wind as we advanced

should have drawn ahead, as we were now keeping it on our larboard beam.

Daybreak of the 19th found us beneath a gloomy, angry-looking, cloudy grey

canopy on every side, the clouds hanging quite low, till they seemed to

brood upon the surface of the sea, now lashed into fury by the violence of

the storm. The look-out could scarcely see a cable's length clear of the

ship. Deluges of rain, lashes of spray, driven on board by the tremendous

violence of the wind, enveloped us in a strange, half-mysterious

obscurity. Towards the N.E. a compact bank of bluish grey clouds indicated

the centre of the _cyclone_. The motion of the ship was so violent that

one of her quarter-boats got filled with water, which at every lurch was

washed upon the frigate's quarter-deck like a small cascade. Sometimes

they became so full that they threatened to wrench the davits from their

fastenings. The gun-deck was afloat with spray lashed on board with each

pitch of the ship, while the foam flew high up upon the mast. The waves

crossed each other in every direction, huge conical masses rising suddenly

to a height of 25 or 30 feet, as far as one might guess, and then as

suddenly subsiding. It was the genuine pyramidal sea of the true

_cyclone_, of which vessels caught in these furious circular storms are

even more apprehensive than the fury and strength of the hurricane.

The wind, which now began to draw to the westward, indicated that thus far

we had shaped a proper course, and that the course of the _cyclone_ lay

towards the N.W. Under these circumstances it was deemed most prudent to

make the Marianne Islands, and to avail ourselves even of the hurricane in

order to perform a rapid voyage. We accordingly now laid our course to

steer S.E. by S., through the centre of the channel south of the Loo-Choo

Islands. Considering the width, 120 nautical miles, of this channel, there

was reason to hope that, despite the errors in reckoning which were to be

expected amid so many man[oe]uvres, and considering the impossibility of

getting astronomical observations, and the influence of the sort of

currents which those hurricanes usually set in motion for a short period,

we might make our way through it in safety.

The wind remained steadily in the N.W., and at first was on our port

quarter. Towards noon, however, it came round to N.W. by W., so that we

were now running dead before it. We now set double-reefed foresail so as

to make quicker progress. Towards 6 P.M. the hurricane woke up to its full

strength; squall followed squall, the universal covering of cloud in

which the heavens seemed wrapped looked as though it reached to the very

waters, and the air was quite filled with spray, till when standing at the

ship's stern it was barely possible to distinguish the forecastle. The

storm, sweeping along above the seething water, had a singular piercing,

almost metallic, note, quite unlike the singing and whistling made among

the sails and cordage. Staggering along under close-reefed fore and main

sail, and double-reefed top-sail, the frigate pressed on through the thick

night, going 14 miles an hour, through the strait between Loo-Choo and

Meiaco-sima, out of the China Sea into the Pacific Ocean, whither she was

being hurried along with such impetuous, irresistible violence by the

wind, that not even the most experienced seaman could make head against

it, but had, when passing from one part of the ship to the other, to warp

himself along by means of a rope made fast fore and aft.[190] At 4 P.M.

the barometer stood at its lowest (29 deg.302, the temperature at the same

period being 66 deg.02 Fahr.), where it remained without sensible alteration

for several hours. At last, towards 9 P.M., it began slowly to rise, the

surest indication, and therefore most welcome one, that we were increasing

our distance from the central point of the storm. About 11 P.M. the

clouds suddenly lifted on S.S.E., the horizon began to widen; there was no

longer a doubt that the worst was over.

At dawn on the 20th the masts and cordage showed a thick incrustation of

salt, thus giving unmistakable evidence of the great height to which the

spray had been driven. The wind was now W.S.W., and the barometer had

risen to 29 deg.5, so that we had now merely an ordinary gale to deal with,

and might look upon the _cyclone_ as expended. Science had indicated the

method of evading the centre of the circular storm, and even of making the

very hurricane subservient to our ends in driving us along our destined

course!

At 8 A.M. the sun began to be visible by fits and starts, long enough,

however, to permit us to make an occasional observation. According to this

we were only one mile out of our position by dead-reckoning. During the 24

hours, inclusive of the period during which we lay to, we had run 218

miles in a general direction of S.E. by E. During the afternoon the sky

cleared. The sea was still high, but the atmosphere gradually became

clearer and more transparent, till by sundown even the large banks of

clouds on the N.E. which continued to mark the centre of the _cyclone_ had

entirely disappeared. The _Novara_ during this tremendous storm had proved

herself a thorough sea-boat, nor was there any particular damage

noticeable on the occasion of the careful inspection to which her sails,

masts, and rigging were subjected, immediately that the weather became

more favourable. Her masts and sails, which in such a warfare of the

elements she might so readily have had carried away, were all found to be

uninjured, and only a few plates of her copper sheeting had been loosened

by the fury of the waves, while those still clinging to the ship had been

rolled up like so much paper, by the tremendous pitching of the good ship.

The quarter gallery too, which when the frigate was running before the

wind was exposed to considerable danger, had sustained but little damage.

Such unfortunately was not the case with a small menagerie of rare birds

and monkeys, which had been placed in cages carefully covered with linen

in this, ordinarily the most sheltered, part of the vessel. The covering

had been torn away by the hurricane, and the wind had so tossed the poor

things about, that all their feathers were knocked off, and they presented

a most pitiable appearance. The quadrupeds too, whose cries and lowings

during the storm had already testified to their misery, were found to have

suffered severely. Two oxen and several sheep died on the 19th. All the

surviving animals lost flesh terribly during 48 hours, while those that

had been the wildest and most untameable were now quite tame and docile.

An analysis of the phenomena observed during the continuation of the

_cyclone_, shows that on the 18th it formed its vortex, being then about

opposite the rather lofty and tolerable-sized island of Dkinawasmia of the

Loo-Choo group, which must have occasioned an alteration in the direction

of the wind. Owing in part to the influence of the N.E. trade, which

enters the northern part of the China Sea, and at this season is gradually

veering round till it completely displaces the S.W. monsoon, as also

during the S.W. monsoon itself, which blows from Formosa on the south,

there appears to exist to the northward of the latter-named island,

favoured probably by its natural configuration and physical features, a

well-defined space within which the barometer is always depressed, and in

which the atmosphere in immediate contact with these N.E. and S.W. winds

is compelled to assume a sort of whirling motion, like that of the hands

of a clock, thus forming the germ as it were of a _cyclone_.

So long as the S.W. wind was blowing strongly, the centre of the _cyclone_

moved in an easterly direction, or in other words, in the direction of

least resistance. But arrested in its advance by the various island

groups, as also by the gradually increasing pressure of the S.E. and E.

winds, the _cyclone_ must, in consequence of the obstacles opposed to its

path, have swung round with a sort of whirl, which once more impressed

upon it a N.W. direction to the coasts of China, there to expend itself,

apparently in consequence of the ever-increasing pressure of the

surrounding atmosphere. During forty-eight hours, namely from 6 P.M. of

the 18th to the same hour on the 20th, we were within the range of the

typhoon itself, and on the 19th were at the nearest point to its vortex;

nevertheless, judging by our lowest barometrical reading, we must have

been at least 100 miles distant from the centre. It was the first typhoon

that visited Chinese waters in 1858, and had been predicted weeks before

in the "North China Herald," while the Thousand Years Almanac of the

Chinese calendar assigned its date for the 10th of August.

Our course was now shaped for the Marianne Archipelago. For several days

after the typhoon, the weather remained unsettled, and the swell was both

heavy and broken, when on 26th August we came in sight of the island of

Guam or Guaham, the most southerly of the Marianne group. In twelve days

we had run 1860 miles, with the aid of the typhoon it is true, but there

was the fact, the distance had been accomplished, and as to the How? Jack

gives himself little concern, so long as he reaches his goal swiftly and

in safety.

On the morning of the 27th we stood into the Bay of Umata, although it was

very doubtful whether we should find a secure anchorage here, considering

the S.W. wind that was blowing full into the roadstead, which is quite

un-sheltered in that point of the compass. In fact, as we came nearer the

land, we speedily became aware of the impracticability of anchoring here

even in the best weather; while, on the other hand, it did not seem very

advisable, owing to the difficulty of getting in, to make for the

excellent harbour of San Louis de Apra, it being by no means easy, during

the prevalence of the S.W. monsoons, for a large ship to beat out, so that

they are occasionally detained there for several weeks. The order was

accordingly given to luff up, so as to make tacks against the freshening

west wind, out of this bay, studded as it is with numerous coral reefs.

This proved to be a work of much time and trouble, ere we succeeded,

after many hours of anxious care, in weathering the reef.

The island of Guam, with its lofty green mountain-ridges, numberless

valleys, and thickly-wooded glades, had a cheerful and friendly aspect,

but seems but little cultivated. At Umata, where we perceived a few

houses, the Spanish flag was waving from a small fort adjoining the

settlement, which had been hoisted on the approach of the frigate.

On 30th August, in 149 deg. 53' E., we reached the eastern limit of the S.W.

monsoon, and--although not more than four days' sail from the object of

our next visit, the island of Puynipet, had we met with favourable winds

to waft us a little further--it was 15th September ere we came in sight of

that lovely island, for, stormy and boisterous as the beginning of this

section of our cruise had proved, not less annoying were the fickle calms,

which kept us lying for weeks motionless, our sails idly flapping with the

roll of the ship. It is a wretched depressing state of inactivity and

discomfort, of which only those can form an idea who have been caught in a

calm on the open ocean, on board of a sailing ship,--

"Wenn Welle ruht und jedes Luftgefluester; Wenn Meer und

Himmel schweigend sich umschlingen, Und fromm, fast wie zwei

betende Geschwister."

Which may be freely translated as follows:

"When ocean smooths his wrinkled face,

And sea and sky in pray'rful silence bend,

As when, in mutual fond embrace,

Two loving sisters' vows on high ascend!"

The original is by Nicolas Lenau.

FOOTNOTES:

[126] Compare Gutzlaff's "History of the Chinese Empire," published by K.

Neumann; Stuttgart and Tuebingen, 1847.

[127] The copper cash is the sole currency in use, and consists of a

mixture of copper, iron, and tin. Its value, reckoned by the string of

100, is variable, and is calculated according to the proportional traffic

in foreign merchandise. On the average, from 1250-1300 cash are about

equal to $1.00 American, or 4_s._ 2_d._ English.

[128] In Shanghai the medium of exchange in common use is not as at

Hong-kong reckoned in dollars, but in taels, an imaginary currency of the

value of about $1.33, so that 100 taels = $133-1/3, or about L27 15_s._

Most accounts are rendered in taels, whence they are reduced into Mexican

dollars, the only foreign silver that is current. When European merchants

first came in contact with the children of the Flowery Land, the latter

used to pay a sort of premium for American dollars, while for those

bearing the effigies of Charles III. (known as the Karolus dollar), quite

a special price was paid. Gradually, however, the value sank till, as

already mentioned, 75 taels=$100. What has so often been reported of a

special Shanghai dollar coinage is quite erroneous. There are neither gold

nor silver coins struck in China, but solely of copper, and in some

provinces of iron. The term Shanghai dollar is equivalent to tael, which,

as already remarked, is, like the guinea in England, unknown to commerce.

1 tael=5_s._ 7_d._ English, but in trade it is taken as 6_s._ It

occasionally rises as high as 6_s._ 6_d._, when the proportion between the

dollar and the tael is as 100 to 72.

[129] An English translation of one of these reports will be found in the

1845 number of Morrison's admirably edited, but now rather rarely met

with, monthly periodical, "The Chinese Repository."

[130] We occasionally saw the Queen of Heaven (Kwan-Yin) represented with

a child in her arms, and have in our possession a piece of carved work

representing such a group, which we purchased in a shop at Shanghai. This

elegant figure seems to be a favourite deity with the Chinese, as it

frequently adorns their little domestic altars, and is especially

reverenced by the women who are desirous of the honours of maternity. The

striking similarity between this exhibition and that of the Holy Virgin,

as we see her represented in Catholic Churches, with the infant Jesus in

her arms, must involuntarily suggest the idea that there has been an

infusion of Catholicism intermingled here with the rites of Buddha. If the

resemblance between the two is not accidental, it may readily be assumed

that the same thing has occurred here as in the case of certain Christian

legends, which the traveller encounters among various races, on whom the

beams of Christian civilization have never been shed.

[131] The price of each meal is as follows:--

1 bowl of rice, 12 cash (1/2 _d._)

1 " vegetables, " " (1/2 _d._)

1 cup of tea, 6 " (1/4 _d._)

Breakfast, consisting usually of rice,

vegetables, and tea, 30 " (1-1/4 _d._)

Bed, fire, and attendance, 20 " (7/8 _d._)

[132] This sacrificial paper, coloured and written upon, is usually called

"Joss" or "Sycee"-paper in Canton-English, because the prayers addressed

to the Divinity are usually for riches and silver ingots (_Sycee_), which

the suppliants hope to obtain by entreaty.

[133] Properly spelt _Kong-fu-tseu_, from which the Europeans have

constructed the Latinized name Confucius. _Kong-fu-tseu_ (sometimes also

written _Kong-tse_) was born 550 B.C. in the city of Kio-siu-bien, in the

modern province of Shantung.

[134] Lao-tse (Lao-tseu), born B.C. 504, in the village of Knio-schin, in

the kingdom of Thsu, held the post of keeper of the archives of the palace

under the Tscheu dynasty. In his Book of Philosophy (Tao-te-king) the

following remarkable words occur: "The rule of antiquity has been, not to

shed light on the people, but to keep them in ignorance. A people that

comprehends is difficult to govern. On this subject men say, Whoso governs

a kingdom in knowledge, the same is the destroyer of that kingdom; whoso

governs a kingdom assigning no reason, the same maintains that kingdom. In

the family, in the school, children are brought up among idols. When they

enter school in the morning they are taught to do honour to the image of

Kong-tse. This custom must be forthwith dispensed with." (Compare J. R.

Kaeuffer's History of Eastern Asia, for "Friends of the History of

Mankind," Leipzig, Brockhaus, 1859, vol. ii. p. 64, and K. F. Neumann's

Eastern Asiatic History, Leipzig, W. Engilmann, 1861, p. 129.)

[135] Copper coins, struck by a ruler with whose reign any memorable

occurrences are associated, command a high price as health-giving amulets.

Some of these, those, for instance, of the Ming and Sing dynasties, have

very special healing virtues attributed to them. The currency of

Tsching-ta (1506-1522) are unfailing preservatives against the perils of

pregnancy, and the illnesses consequent thereon. Others are held in great

honour as prophylactics. The mode of application consists in the invalid

dragging them by a cord over various parts of his body in a certain

prescribed order.

[136] The Chinese attribute the most marvellous healing powers to water,

and accordingly apply it in a variety of forms, in numbers of maladies of

the most dissimilar character. Water, cold, tepid, warm, and hot, as also

snow and iced-water, figure among the list of medicaments, as do also

rain-water, well and river-water, brackish water, dew, water from any eddy

or whirlpool, or a stream, boiling water, and steam.

[137] The Chinese women are for this reason anxious to keep their children

at the breast for two or three years and even longer, partly by way of

speculating upon their having a constant breast of milk, and in this

singular manner make up for any deficiency of cow's milk, between the

market demand and the actual supply. A Chinese who possesses five or six

concubines in addition to his legitimate spouse, may thus boast of a

regular dairy farm. As sailors on arriving in port are usually excessively

fond of milk, which they drink in large quantities, we were not a little

amazed on learning from a physician at Hong-kong the source whence in all

probability had been derived the milk that was so plentifully supplied!

[138] In German _Bruch-porzellan_, in French _porcelaine-craquelee_.

[139] _Description generale de la Chine._

[140] Not alone this oil-cake, but ground horns and bones, hair from the

beard, and nail-parings, rust, ashes, and even human excrement are used as

manure. And it is a singular fact that the price of the latter varies

according to the race of men by whom it has been evacuated. The

succulently nourished flesh-eating English and Americans are in this

respect in far greater demand than the more sparely-fed cross-breeds;

while the Chinese, subsisting almost exclusively upon fish and vegetables,

are in respect to the value of their _faeces_ as manure, behind every other

race inhabiting the country. The price of this manure varies with the

quality from one dollar to three dollars the _picul_. This custom of

collecting and disposing of human excrement for manure is much more

extensively observed in the interior of the Empire than in the provinces

along the coast. "If," writes M. Huc, the well-known missionary,--"if we

were not aware to what perfection the denizens of the Celestial Empire

have carried the art of manuring, one would be at a loss how to reconcile

the fondness of John Chinaman for making money with the conveniences free

of all charge which the proprietors of the soil everywhere erect for the

comfort of travellers. There is not a city nor a village in which this is

not universally the case. In the most crowded streets, or the most

out-of-the-way abandoned spot, one frequently marvels to find these

"cabinets" in cane-work, earth, or even masonry. One is almost tempted to

believe he is in a country where the care to provide plenty of public

latrines is pushed to the extreme. Utilization, however, furnishes a

sufficient explanation of all these edifices."

[141] In every part of this extensive empire, travellers encounter these

national tributes to the memory of distinguished women, and Dr. Medhurst,

as also Fortune and other authorities upon China, relate numerous

instances of these remarkable memorials. One of these, an archway of

stone, is spoken of by Medhurst as of singular beauty. It is half a mile

from the city of Kwang-Tib, and was erected by the community of that

region, with the approval of the Emperor, in honour of a lady of that

city, of singular piety and benevolence. Over the portico are inscribed

the words "Kin-sin-tsae-tschung" (a golden and perfect heart precisely in

the middle).

[142] In the hospital, in what is called the western suburb of Canton,

which was under the charge of Dr. Hobson from 1848 to 1858, the annual

number of patients of both sexes under treatment averaged upwards of

20,000. During the most unhealthy season (May and June) the number

imploring assistance frequently amounted to from 3000 to 3400. In the

dispensary there were, moreover, from 200 to 250 patients, who received

medical advice three times a week, and were supplied with medicaments

gratuitously.

[143] We saw this huge work in the private library of the chief of the

medical staff at Hong-kong, Dr. W. A. Harland, who had conceived the idea

of publishing a more important work upon Chinese drugs, when death struck

down this distinguished and most industrious gentleman while in the active

discharge of his duties.

[144] In the Leper village near Canton, which is under the superintendence

of a Chinese physician, there are about 100 lepers of both sexes, each of

whom receives about 20 cash (not quite one penny) daily for his support.

The superintendents stated to Dr. Hobson, who repeatedly visited the

village, as the result of their many years' experience and observations,

that leprosy is not in every case transmitted from parents to children;

that several wives of leprous persons have no trace whatever of the

disease, but that these women in all probability belong to those of the

third and fourth generation, who wholly escape. The Chinese overseers and

attendants, however, can have had as little opportunity for remarking upon

the breaking out of leprosy among the children of those whose parents were

entirely exempt from it as they had of informing themselves with accuracy

as to the various forms and rapid diffusion of the disease in the case of

the one, or its mild type and gradual disappearance in the other.

Perspiration or suppuration in the diseased parts are never remarked in

these patients.

[145] At the Refuge for the Destitute (_Monegu choultry_) at Madras, where

Dr. Mudge was at the same time instituting experiments lasting over two

years, exhibiting these same remedies in every form and shape of

elephantiasis, to which cases a special ward had been set apart, rarely

entertaining fewer than 100 patients, that gentleman found it to be

perfectly inoperative, and he accordingly entirely ceased prescribing it.

In lieu of the Tscharul Mugra, the Hindoos in cases of leprosy make use of

what are known as the "Asiatic pills," consisting of arsenic, pepper, and

the root of the _Asclepia gigantea_.

[146] In an old Chinese medical work occurs the following remarks upon the

plant: "Tae-fung-tzi. Taste, acrid and burning: imported from the South

(this obviously alludes to the Straits of Malacca). Acts as an alterative

on the blood, and is accordingly useful in cases of leprosy, when the

blood is corrupted. The oil pressed from the seeds is also used as a

remedy in ulcers, eruptions, and psoriasis, and for killing worms. This

drug must be exhibited in the form of pills."

[147] Geography, Statistics, and Natural History of the Chinese

Empire--New York, 1847; Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese language--Canton,

1856; Chinese Commercial Guide. Fourth edition--Canton, 1856.

[148] In the figures of the Chinese original, which represents the

Lo-hau-miau or Buddhist aboriginal, Buddha is represented in a cavity of a

rock. Two burning lamps are standing beside him, one on each side, and in

front are two worshippers in devotional attitudes, while at a short

distance one perceives a woman with a little child, who is approaching the

divinity. The men wear fox-tails as ornaments to the head, and their long

locks hang loose and dishevelled, far below the shoulders. Every year on

the third day of the third moon, our Chinese traveller goes on to state,

old and young, man, woman, and child, bring offerings of fruit to Buddha,

and for that and the three next succeeding days, they sing and dance, and

at the same time make offerings of all manner of _cooked_ food. From their

custom of wearing a fox-tail on their heads, which was also common among

the ancestors of the present Mantchoos, and that these wild tribes

reverence the image of Buddha, Dr. Bridgman is disposed to class them

amongst foreign nations.

[149] Among these there were, besides a small quantity of Sorghum, several

species of vegetables, which are suited for cultivation in temperate

climates, such, for example, as Poussen, Pa-tse, Pon-ta-tse, with which

since our return experiments have been instituted in various parts of the

Austrian Empire. M. de Montigny has also since our return sent, quite

lately, a large quantity of Chinese seeds by way of souvenir, and despite

illness, is so much interested in forwarding the objects of the Imperial

Expedition, that he was a short time ago decorated with an Austrian order.

[150] We are however in a position to furnish an extract from the

note-book of an English sailor, left in charge of the yacht of an English

merchant at Shanghai, who accompanied the expedition of Lord Elgin to the

Pei-ho as coxswain. Notwithstanding the occasional _naive_ expressions

made use of, it is a valuable narrative, such as may call up many strange

reflections in the mind of the reader:--

"1858. May 30th.--The river Pei-ho is about 150 yards wide at its mouth,

and at dead low water varies from 1-1/2 to 4-1/2 fathoms in depth. On the

bar, which is two miles wide, the difference between the ebb and the flood

is from 9 to 10 feet. Easterly winds cause the highest tides. In the

interior, near Tien-Tsin, the river is from 3 to 6 fathoms deep, and from

50 to 100 fathoms wide. Countless villages stud the banks. The houses are

built of clay or straw. The boys run about naked to an age of eight years.

It is a very wretched population. The coolies plunge into the water after

the empty bottles which are swimming about. They seem exceedingly willing

to be serviceable to foreigners. At Tien-Tsin, ten and a half hours from

the mouth of the river, the thermometer marks 89 deg. Fahr. in the shade. Lord

Elgin is living in a private house on shore. The interpreters live in a

passenger-junk. Provisions are on the whole cheaper than at Shanghai. An

immense number of natives keep crowding open-mouthed round the

"barbarians" and their ship during the entire day, hundreds following us

at every step. Almost all the shops are shut, through dread of the

barbarians."

"4th June.--Thermometer 95 deg. The people very willing to supply the

strangers with water, tea, &c. The natives are on the average from five to

five feet three and well-proportioned. Some of them are "tremendously"

fat, with huge heads. Among the entire lot I could not see one single

woman. The streets are narrow, filthy, and uneven. Saw several hand-carts,

which were used to convey water from the river to the village. On each

barrow there could be from six to eight buckets of water. There were also

plenty of mules and donkeys, but very few horses."

"June 18.--This day the Russian minister concluded his treaty. A Russian

courier starts to-morrow for St. Petersburg with dispatches."

"June 26th.--At 6 P.M. to-day the treaty with England was signed. Went in

procession to the town. All the shipping dressed with flags, and manned

yards. The festivities went off in the Yamun. Lord Elgin sat at the middle

table, with a Mandarin on each side of him. I hear their names were

Wa-schu-nau and Kwei-liang. The first-named is a strong, corpulent man of

about 45; the latter is much older, and seemed very much dejected; he has

however just recovered from sickness, which may account for it. After the

ceremonies of signing and sealing had been gone through, they all partook

of refreshments provided by the Mandarin. Lord Elgin proposed a toast to

the health of the Emperor of China, and to the future friendship of the

two nations, which was responded to by the Mandarins. Shortly after the

assembly broke up, and we all marched home to the excellent music of the

flag-ship's band and the bugles of the marines. The whole affair lasted

about three hours and a half. It was full moon, and a splendid night.

"June 27th.--This afternoon the treaty with the French was signed.

Returned to their ships by torch-light, port-fires, &c. &c. Ki-ying, the

Mandarin who assisted in bringing about the treaty, was sentenced to be

decapitated, as he was blamed for opening the door to the barbarians, but

he has since been pardoned."

"July 3rd.--News came from Pekin that Ki-ying has committed suicide by

cutting his throat."

"July 4th.--Thermometer 96 deg. on board, despite awnings and sprinkling the

roof of the wheel-house with water!"

"July 6th.--Left Tien-Tsin. After a long, tedious, and tiresome passage of

15 days we reached Shanghai once more on 21st July, all well.

"Price of provisions at Tien-Tsin, as contracted for on 28th May, for the

supply of the English fleet:--

Oxen (average weight 4 piculs, or 533 lbs.), the carcase $10

Sheep, " 2

Hens, per dozen 1

Geese and ducks, " 2

Eggs, per thousand 3

Vegetables, picul=133-1/2 lbs. 1.50

Rice, " 5

Sugar, " 6

Yams, per dozen 1

Pears, per hundred 1

Apples, " 1.50

Ice, per lb. 16

"All articles to be delivered of the best quality. The prices are reckoned

in American dollars. Every morning a boat was sent off to the

_Coromandel_, on board which the purchases took place."

[151] The Tau-Tai, whose authority extends over the three prefectures of

Soo-Chow, Sung-Kiang, and Tai-tsing in the north-east of the province of

Kiang-ti, is under the governor of Soo-chow, and has resided at Shanghai

ever since that port was thrown open to trade. His salary by law is only

4000 _taels_ (L1445), but the various perquisites and emolument attached

to it make his actual income about 365,000 _taels_ or L105,000 per annum;

out of which he has, however, to defray all expenses of subordinates, &c.;

so that the net annual income of this post is estimated at from 25,000 to

30,000 _taels_ (L7000 to L8700). Besides the Tau-Tai there is only the

Tschi-hien, a sort of magistrate who lives in Shanghai, and trades with

the foreigners.

[152] As another example of an interview with the highest class of Chinese

officials, we must briefly describe one enjoyed by some of our Expedition

with a Mandarin named Li-hoi-wan. He received them in a chamber of his

house, in which were a few small tables and chairs, while at the other end

was an elevated cushioned seat on which sate Li-hoi-wan, a large stout

man. He wore a Mandarin hat, with a blue button, and a greyish blue coat

reaching to the ground. He saluted the foreigners by folding his palms

across his breast, invited them to be seated on the dais beside him, and

ordered cigars and tea to be brought. Afterwards sweetmeats of every

description, confectionery, and fruit were served, as also Chinese wines,

the latter, to judge by their flavour and their fragrance, seeming as

though they must have hailed from a perfumery store rather than a wine

cellar. Two days after the Chinese, with delicate courtesy, returned the

visit at their quarters in the residence of M. Probst, the Consul for

Oldenburg. Punctually at the appointed hour three far-resounding taps of

the gong were heard, a foot-soldier of police presented a flaming red

"_carte de viste_," bearing the name and titles of Li-hoi-wan, who

forthwith was received by the travellers at the threshold, in compliance

with Chinese customs. He was attired in heavy silk clothes, his fan in an

elegantly worked sheath, a gold lever watch in his girdle, and was in

excellent spirits. The hospitable host had, according to the custom of the

country, prepared a chow-chow, or collation, at which, however, instead of

Samschoo, champagne was the prevailing beverage. A few days later the

Mandarin visited his newly acquired friends on board the frigate, and

begged their acceptance of a variety of presents, such as silks, nuts,

tea, dried fruits, and Chinese maxims and proverbs, written on long rolls

of paper, that, as he naively expressed it, we might think of him "as a

brother."

[153] Mr. Hogg has since left that firm, and with his brother, Mr. Edward

J. Hogg, has established the firm of Hogg Brothers, in Shanghai.

[154] Under the Emperor Yang-ti of the Tsin dynasty, which filled the

throne during the 6th century, more than 1600 miles of canals were partly

constructed, partly rebuilt and repaired, the immense works being

distributed among the soldiery and the inhabitants of the cities and

villages. Each family was bound to furnish one man, between the ages of 15

and 20, whom the Government only found in provisions. The soldiers, on

whom devolved the heaviest portion of the work, received higher pay. Some

of these canals, which were the making of the commerce of the interior,

and thus were of the utmost service to the welfare of the Empire, were

forty feet wide, and were planted on either bank with elms and willows.

[155] These lanterns, often beautifully carved and otherwise adorned, are

among the most characteristic furniture of a Chinese room. Into their

manufacture enter not alone glass, horn, silk, paper, &c., but also the

glutinous matter derived from a species of sea-tangle (_Gigartina

tenax_--called by the Malays _Agar-Agar_), with which the paper employed

in covering the sides of the lantern is fastened on. In the silk and paper

manufactures too this omnipresent Agar-Agar paste plays so important a

part, that above 500 piculs at $2 a picul, are annually imported from the

Indian Archipelago.

[156] Vide Huc's Chinese Empire, Vol. I.

[157] The Chinese find it not less inexplicable that we use such

murderous-looking instruments to divide and convey our food to our mouths,

with which they think we must every moment be in danger of wounding our

lips or putting our eyes out, than that we should remove the bones from

the flesh, or crack the shells of nuts and almonds, both which operations

seem to them excessively absurd. In fact, it is no mere bon-mot which

represents a Chinese gazing in astonishment at Europeans playing

billiards, or nine-pins, waltzing, or "polking," and remarking, with an

ill-concealed assumption of superiority, that wealthy people ought to

leave such fatiguing things to be done by their servants!!

[158] Since the well-known minister and envoy to Japan.

[159] Since sacked by the Tai-ping rebels.

[160] Abandoned after a large part of the course of the Yang-tse had been

explored. Lieutenant-Colonel Sarel published lately a most interesting and

valuable pamphlet on this expedition, of which he was the leader, under

the title, "Notes on the River Yang-tse-kiang from Hankow to Ping-Shan.

Hong-kong, Printed at Noronka's office."

[161] Report of the deputation, appointed by the British Chamber of

Commerce in Shanghai, on the commercial capabilities of ports and places

on the Yang-tse-kiang visited by the expedition under Vice-Admiral Sir

James Hope, K.C.B., in February and March, 1861. Supplement to the China

Overland Trade Report of 28th Feb. and 27th May, 1861, and Supplement to

the Overland China Mail, No. 237 of 12th June, 1861.

[162] According to Dr. W. H. Medhurst's translation of this rare work, for

a copy of which, rescued from the last great conflagration at Canton, we

are indebted to the kindness of Mr. Wylie, the portion especially

referring to this runs as follows: "The mulberry ground having been

supplied with silk-worms, the people descended from the hills and dwelt in

the plains," (p. 91,) and further on, "their tribute baskets were filled

with black silks and checkered sarsenets" (p. 96). See Ancient China,

[Chinese character(s)] The Shookin, or the Historical Classic. Being the

most ancient authentic Records of the Annals of the Chinese Empire.

Illustrated by later commentators. Translated by Dr. W. H. Medhurst, Sen.

Shanghai, 1846.

[163] Thus Yuen-tschin in the third month (April of our calendar), Chay

and Yuen in the fourth month (May), Gae-tschin in the fifth month (June),

Sai in the sixth month (July), Han-tschin in the seventh month (August),

Sze-tschan in the ninth month (October), and Hau in the tenth month

(November).

[164] The value of a tael, as already stated, varies from 6_s._ to 6_s._

6_d._ It is estimated that a bale of silk, until it is shipped at Shanghai

for England, has cost from L80 to L100 sterling.

[165] The word _Cha_ is, however, used by the Chinese to designate not the

tea plant alone, but every description of _Camelia_.

[166] Arabian travellers who visited China in the 9th century, A.D. 850,

speak thus early of tea, as of a beverage in universal use. According to

Kaempfer tea was introduced from China into Japan about A.D. 519, by a

native prince named Daeme, who, during his residence in China, had learned

its invaluable properties. The Japanese, however, do not drink their tea

as an infusion, but grind the leaves into powder, pour hot water upon

them, and stir them with a bamboo-stick till they are thoroughly mingled

together, when they swallow the decoction and the powder together, as is

done with coffee in some parts of Asia.

[167] The term "Bohea" is in fact only a corruption of the Chinese Wu-yi,

which again is derived from Wu-i-kien, a well-known Chinese divinity.

[168] In Java, where the tea plant has been cultivated for a series of

years, the mountain region from 4000 to 5000 feet above the sea, and with

an average temperature of from 58 deg.1 to 73 deg.7, Fahr., has been found best

adapted for the growth of the plant.

[169] The first scientific arrangement of the tea plant according to dried

specimens was made in 1753 by Linnaeus, who in his _Species Plantarum_

included among these one species, which he called _Thea Sinensis_. But by

the time the second edition of his renowned work made its appearance in

1762, Linnaeus found himself compelled to make two species of it, and to

assign them the names by which they are known to the present day. The

first living tea plant was brought to Europe in October, 1763, by a ship

captain named Ekeberg, and planted in the Botanic Garden of Upsala.

[170] According to Fortune ("A Residence among the Chinese." London, 1857.

Murray), the various sorts of tea have added to them from two to four

spoonfuls of a mixture in which the plant _ma-ki-holy_ largely enters, as

also indigo and pulverized _gypsum_, in order to increase the green tinge

of the leaves.

[171] A picul, 133-1/3 lbs., of these leaves costs on the average 15 to 18

dollars, though it occasionally ranges as high as 30 dollars.

[172] In the year 1859, the exports into England were 30,988,598 lbs.

(viz. 22,292,702 lbs. black, and 8,695,896 lbs. green), out of a total

export of 55,328,731 lbs. Within the same period 19,952,147 lbs. went to

the United States, 1,879,584 lbs. to Australia; to Hong-kong, and other

ports along the coast of China, 1,261,347 lbs.; to Montreal, 510,600 lbs.,

and to the entire continent of Europe 736,455 lbs.

[173] Some experiments on a small scale were made with the _Sorgho_ at

Aquileia near Goerz, by M. Karl Ritter, a well-known merchant and sugar

refiner, of Trieste. We were shown samples of refined sugar, extracted

from the _Sorgho_, which promised the best results. A large quantity of

seeds which were sent a year ago to one of the members of the _Novara_

Expedition by M. de Montigny, had been made use of to institute a series

of experiments in cultivation, in those parts of the Empire, the climatic

conditions of which promised to be most favourable for the growth of the

_Sorgho_.

[174] During our stay at Shanghai we also made inquiries as to an alleged

new species of potato, concerning which there have been current for years

such contradictory accounts in the European and American journals, that

the foreign community of Shanghai was beset with inquiries from all parts

of the world, begging for more accurate information as to this newly

discovered tuber, which promised to supply a much-needed substitute for

the apparently effete, worn-out, disease-smitten potato of Peru. No one,

however, could furnish us with the slightest information on the subject,

and ultimately it became apparent that the rumours hitherto current were

founded on an erroneous impression. It would seem, according to the

opinion of Mr. Fortune, that the rumour first arose from mistaking for a

new sort of potato, the _Calladium esculentum_, which is quite commonly

exposed for sale in the streets of Shanghai, and the small tubers of

which, both in flavour and external appearance, resemble those of the

potato, when, without taking the slightest further trouble to inquire into

the matter, the pretended new discovery, fraught with such important

results for the poorer classes, was duly trumpeted to the entire world. In

no part of China hitherto accessible was there at the time of our visit

any other description of potato in use than the common Peruvian. Officers

of the English and American navies, who at the time of the first Peace of

Tien-Tsin were eating potatoes in the Gulf of Petcheli, assured us that

they were precisely identical with those that have so long been

acclimatized in Europe. Of edible tubers there are at Shanghai, besides

potatoes, the yam (_Dioscorea_ sp.) and the Yucca (_Jatropha_ sp.).

[175] The following is the process as we observed it: the bamboo strips

are first soaked for a considerable period in water, after which they are

peeled, and again saturated with lime-water, until they are perfectly

flexible. After this, they are converted, according to the method in use

at that special locality, either by water power or hand labour, into a

fluid of a pap-like viscosity, after which it is boiled till it has

attained the requisite fineness and consistency for conversion into paper.

[176] These consist chiefly of cotton and woollen goods of every

description, steel cutlery, iron-ware, glass, clocks, watches, musical

clocks, tin-ware, &c.

[177] The quantity of home-grown opium, chiefly produced in the province

of Yun-nan, cannot be accurately ascertained, as the returns are not made

at certain points; but the quantity must fall far short of the amount

imported from India.

[178] According to MacCulloch's Commercial Dictionary, opium had been

introduced into China and India by the commencement of the 16th century by

Mahometan merchants, and it sounds like an apology when the learned and

patriotic author, in treating of the part taken by England in the

much-to-be-lamented traffic in this noxious drug, adds by way of

palliation--"A century and a half before the English had _anything_

whatever to do with its _cultivation_."--(Latest edition, p. 939.)

[179] Only a certain number (originally twelve) of wealthy Chinese

merchants, "Hong," were permitted by law to trade with foreigners at

Canton. They had not only to account to Government for all duties and

taxes, but were likewise responsible for the good behaviour of the

strangers!

[180] It is a coincidence worthy of notice, that simultaneously with the

rise of the opium trade with China, the importation of slaves into America

began to increase, and that European commerce in these two infamous

traffics seemed to be ever increasing and gaining ground in Eastern Asia

and in America! At the end of last century the number of slaves in the

Southern States of the Union was little greater than that of opium-smokers

in China: at present the number of the former is about 4,000,000, and the

latter may be put at about the same figure; the latter, slaves of their

own intemperate passions,--the former, of the covetousness and cold

calculating selfishness of their masters. The opium question and the slave

question--these two seem destined to be solved simultaneously!

[181] A very similar result is arrived at by MacCulloch, who calculates

that the Company cleared 7_s._ 6_d._ per lb. on opium, which they bought

by their agents from the Bengal ryots at 3_s._ 6_d._ per pound, and

retailed at 11_s._ per pound.

[182] There are indeed smokers who smoke their two, four, five, and even

eight drachms per diem, but these are solitary instances, while the very

costliness of the article forbids the use of the narcotic to the great

mass of the population, except in the very smallest quantities.

[183] One poem of the Chinese Imperial Pretender, which is not included in

Dr. Medhurst's collection of the writings published by the insurgent press

at Nankin, and for a copy of which we have to thank Mr. Meadows,

Government interpreter at Shanghai, has lately been translated by our

learned countryman, Dr. Pfitzmaier. The splendidly got up binding of this

little book is of a golden yellow on the title page, and red on the

reverse; the river Yang-tse-kiang appears to pay homage to the Tai-ping,

whose residence it surrounds. The title printed on the exterior of the

wrapper runs as follows: "Imperial announcements in theses upon the words

of the Heavenly Father, the Most High Ruler." The title within is: "Ten

poems upon Supreme Felicity," although these so-called poems are simply

strophes, never exceeding four verses of seven feet. The writing bears

date the number _Kuei-hao_ (50), corresponding to A.D. 1853, the third

year of the reign of the Heavenly King, Tai-ping. The whole production is,

if that be possible, yet more bombastic, unintelligible, and stupid than

Chinese poems usually are to Western readers.

[184] Between February and September, 1855, there were executed in Canton

70,000 persons all told. Many of the rebel leaders were, in conformity

with the _penal laws_, hewed in numerous pieces while yet living; a

certain Kausin in 108! See K. F. Neumann's History of Eastern Asia, from

the first Chinese war to the Treaty of Pekin, 1840-1860. Leipzig,

Engelmann, 1861.

[185] We extract from the _London and China Telegraph_ of 31st March,

1862, the following severe but just criticism on this gentleman, whose

letter, which we also quote, shows him to be a person of but limited

education:--"Even the Rev. J. Roberts, who, as our readers are aware, has

lived with the rebels at Nankin, and has to his discredit defended their

conduct in the strongest possible manner, has at length discovered that

they are nothing better than robbers and murderers. This change of opinion

in a man who on all occasions so confidently urged the claims of the

Tai-pings, arose from a very simple cause:--he at length suffered,

personally, from their barbarity. A servant to whom he was attached was

killed before his eyes; and considering his life in danger, he fled to

Shanghai, and wrote the following letter, dated 22nd January, 1862,

reprobating the conduct of his former friends:--'From having been the

religious teacher of Hung Sow-chuen in 1847, and hoping that

good--religious, commercial, and political--would result to the nation

from his elevation, I have hitherto been a friend to his revolutionary

movement, sustaining it by word and deed, as far as a missionary

consistently could, without vitiating his higher character as an

ambassador of Christ. But after living among them fifteen months, and

closely observing their proceedings--political, commercial, and

religious--I have turned over entirely a new leaf, and am now as much

opposed to them, for good reasons, I think, as I was ever in favour of

them. Not that I have aught personally against Hung Sow-chuen, he has been

exceedingly kind to me. But I believe him to be a crazy man, entirely

unfit to rule, without any organized government, nor is he, with his

coolie-kings, capable of organizing a government of equal benefit to the

people of even the old Imperial Government. He is violent in his temper,

and lets his wrath fall heavily upon his people, making a man or woman 'an

offender for a word,' and ordering such instantly to be murdered without

'judge or jury.' He is opposed to commerce, having had more than a dozen

of his own people murdered since I have been here, for no other crime than

trading in the city, and has promptly repelled every foreign effort to

establish lawful commerce here among them, whether inside of the city or

out. His religious toleration and multiplicity of chapels turn out to be a

farce, of no avail in the spread of Christianity, worse than useless. It

only amounts to a machinery for the promotion and spread of his own

political religion, making himself equal with Jesus Christ, who, with God

the Father, himself, and his own son constitute one Lord over all! Nor is

any missionary, who will not believe in his divine appointment to this

high equality, and promulgate his political religion accordingly, safe

among these rebels, in life, servants, or property. He told me soon after

I arrived that if I did not believe in him, I would perish, like the Jews

did for not believing in the Saviour. But little did I then think that I

should ever come so near it, by the sword of one of his own miscreants, in

his own capital, as I did the other day. Kan-Wang, moved by his elder

brother (literally a coolie at Hong-kong) and the devil, without the fear

of God before his eyes, did, on Monday the 13th inst., come into the house

in which I was living, then and there most wilfully, maliciously, and with

malice aforethought, murder one of my servants with a large sword in his

own hand in my presence, without a moment's warning or any just cause. And

after having slain my poor harmless, helpless boy, he jumped on his head

most fiend-like and stamped it with his foot; notwithstanding I besought

him most entreatingly from the commencement of his murderous attack to

spare my poor boy's life. And not only so, but he insulted me myself in

every possible way he could think of, to provoke me to do or say something

which would give him an apology, as I then thought and I think yet, to

kill me, as well as my dear boy, whom I loved like a son. He stormed at

me, seized the bench on which I sat with the violence of a madman, threw

the dregs of a cup of tea in my face, seized hold of me personally, and

shook me violently, struck me on my right cheek with his open hand; then,

according to the instruction of my King for whom I am ambassador, I turned

the other, and he struck me quite a sounder blow on my left cheek with his

right hand, making my ear ring again; and then perceiving that he could

not provoke me to offend him in word or deed, he seemed to get the more

outrageous, and stormed at me like a dog, to be gone out of his presence.

'If they will do these things in a green tree, what will they do in the

dry?'--to a favourite of Teen Wang's, who can trust himself among them,

either as a missionary or a merchant? I then despaired of missionary

success among them, or any good coming out of the movement--religious,

commercial, or political--and determined to leave them, which I did on

Monday, Jan. 20th, 1862.' Mr. Roberts adds that Kan-Wang had refused to

give up his clothes, books, and journals, and that he had been left in a

state of destitution. Most persons will agree that he fully deserves any

amount of suffering that may be inflicted on him. Mr. Roberts has done his

utmost to delude Europeans as to the true character of the Tai-pings; he

has kept back some facts, has falsified others, and has acted throughout

in a manner utterly inconsistent with his assumed character of a Christian

missionary. On such conduct no comment can be too severe."

[186] Nankin accordingly is usually called now-a-days the "City of the

Coolie-Kings."

[187] Very similar are the reports made by the English who, in Dec. 1858,

accompanied Lord Elgin on his voyage of discovery up the Kiang, and

remained a considerable period among the Tai-ping. "The tenets of their

religion," says Mr. Laurence Oliphant (vide Earl of Elgin's Mission to

China and Japan, vol. ii. p. 463), "consist of a singular jumbling of

Jewish ordinances, Christian theology, and Chinese philosophy. Like the

Jews in the Old Testament they wage wars of extermination, they live like

the worst professing Christians, and they believe like--Chinese."

[188] The charges forwarded by the owners of the little _Meteor_ for

towing, and which are calculated according to the draught of water of the

ship towed, was as follows:--

+--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+-----------+

|Itinerary or |15 feet |15 to |17 to |18 to |19 ft. & |

|vice versa. |and under.|17 feet. |18 feet. |19 feet. |all beyond.|

+--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+-----------+

| | | | | | |

|From Shanghai |300 taels,|350 taels,|450 taels,|450 taels,|500 taels, |

|to Gutzlaff's |or |or |or |or |or |

|Island. |L90. |L105. |L135. |L135. |L150. |

| | | | | | |

|Shanghai to |150 taels,|175 taels,|200 taels,|225 taels,|250 taels, |

|Wusung. |or |or |or |or |or |

| |L45. |L52 10_s._|L60. |L62 10_s._|L75. |

| | | | | | |

|From Wusung |225 taels,|250 taels,|275 taels,|300 taels,|350 taels, |

|to Gutzlaff's |or |or |or |or |or |

|Island. |L62 10_s._|L75. |L82 10_s._|L90. |L105. |

+--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+-----------+

[189] Typhoon, or _Tei-fun_, a strong wind. While some authors derive this

word from the Arabic _Tufan_, a violent wind, others see in it the giant

_Typhos_ of Greek mythology, who was begotten by Tartarus of Earth, and

from whom proceeded all that was disastrous and destructive. Whoever has

experienced a typhoon will most readily acquiesce in the latter

derivation.

[190] During this storm, we made the not uninteresting observation in a

physiological point of view, that when the gale was at its worst, even the

least hard-a-weather of us seemed quite free from sea-sickness, apparently

the result of extreme excitement. For similar reasons, men who have been

bitten by a snake, and who have had raw spirits administered as an

antidote, seem able to take four or five times the quantity which they can

on ordinary occasions.

[Illustration: Distant View of the Island of Puynipet.]

XVI.

The Island of Puynipet.

18th September, 1858.

Native boats in sight.--A pilot comes on board.--Communications

of a white settler.--Another pilot.--Fruitless attempts to tack

for the island.--Roankiddi Harbour.--Extreme difficulty in

effecting a landing with the boats.--Settlement of Rei.--Dr.

Cook.--Stroll through the forest.--Excursions up the Roankiddi

River.--American missionaries.--Visit from the king of the

Roankiddi tribe.--Kawa as a beverage.--Interior of the royal

abode.--The Queen.--Mode of living, habits and customs of the

natives.--Their religion and mode of worship.--Their festivals

and dances.--Ancient monumental records and their probable

origin.--Importance of these in both a historical and geological

point of view.--Return on board.--Suspicious conduct of the

white settler.--An asylum for contented delinquents.--Under

weigh for Australia.--Belt of calms.--Simpson Island.--"It must

be a ghost!"--Bradley Reef.--A Comet.--The Salmon Islands.--

Rencontre with the natives of Malayta.--In sight of Sikayana.

While yet, on 16th September, 1858, five or six knots distant from the

island of Puynipet,[191] first discovered in 1828 by the Russian Admiral

Luetke, and just as we found ourselves off what is called "Middle Harbour,"

we remarked a boat of European construction making for the frigate. Two

hours later it came alongside, with four natives and a white man, the

latter of whom came on deck and offered his services to the Commodore as

pilot. He proved to be a Yankee named Alexander Tellet, who had lived 20

years on the island as smith and carpenter, to which he added the

functions of pilot for the harbour in which he lived. Presently we were

surrounded by a considerable number of natives in elegant canoes streaked

with red, and formed of hollowed-out trunks of trees with outriggers,

which have very peculiar scaffold-like supports, so that there is a kind

of platform formed in the centre of the canoe, whereon the master usually

seats himself, but which serves on occasion for festive meetings, and even

for a small dance! The sails, made of mats, are triangular, the most acute

angle being confined between two long bamboos, while a third serves as a

mast, the whole capable of being shifted to either end of the boat by one

of the crew, according to the direction of the wind. While some were doing

what they could in their small boats to keep within the speed of the

frigate, though we were going pretty fast, just as parasites make fast to

the shark, others followed us a little distance, like dolphins, those

faithful companions of ships, as far as the nearest harbour. With the

exception of a short apron of cocoa-palm leaves, the natives were quite

naked, and seemed pretty well made. On their heads they wore a sort of

projecting pent-hat, also of palm-leaves, obviously intended to shield

the eyes from the vertical rays of the sun, and in form most resembling

those lamp shades which old men or youths with weak eyesight are with us

in the habit of using to ward off the full glare of artificial light.

Among the natives who favoured us with their escort, there were two who

from their personal grace, their light colour of skin, and thoroughly

European cast of features, especially attracted our attention. They were

the sons of an Englishman named Hadley, who had been for many years

resident on Mudock island, E. of Puynipet, where he supported himself by

fishing and pilotage, and had married a native woman. Shortly before our

arrival, Hadley had started with several hundred pounds of tortoise-shell

for Hong-kong, whence he intended to sail for England. He had intrusted

his two sons to the care of a European settler, who succeeded him as pilot

on Mudock island. According to all appearance, however, Hadley had little

intention of returning to this island, notwithstanding the family tie that

should have bound him to it.

As we were coasting along the west side of the island about 1 to 17 miles

from the reefs, Tellet was overwhelmed with questions on every hand and on

every possible subject, and among other subjects of information we

presently found that the chief intercourse of foreign ships was carried on

with Roankiddi or Lee Harbour, some 15 or 20 miles distant, and Metetemai

or Foul-weather Harbour, which lies six or seven miles E. of Roankiddi.

During the N.E. trade (November to April), from 50 to 60 American whalers

put in to Puynipet to take in wood and water, and fresh provisions,

chiefly yams, taro, sweet potato, poultry, and pigs. Many ships, moreover,

bound from Sydney for China prefer at that season the voyage through the

Pacific to passing round the south of Australia, and thence through the

Straits of Sunda, or the yet more dangerous passage through Torres

Straits, and usually make a tolerably fast run. Thus the Swedish corvette

_Eugenie_, on her voyage round the globe, performed in November, 1852, the

astonishing feat of making the passage from Sydney to Hong-kong, 5000

miles, in the unprecedentedly short space of 37 days!

The number of aborigines on this island, which is about 60 miles in

circumference, was estimated by Tellet at about 2000. Formerly it was as

many as 5000,[192] but the small-pox had since then committed fearful

ravages among the population. The circumstances under which this frightful

scourge was first introduced into Puynipet, throw considerable light upon

the history of the spread of that disease, as well as much useful

information upon the question of vaccination.

In 1854, the English barque _Delta_ arrived at Roankiddi Harbour, with

one of her crew ill with small-pox. The white settlers then on the island,

who were well acquainted with the virulence of the disease, implored the

native chief to forbid the captain's remaining, and insist on his putting

to sea forthwith. The latter, however, seemed determined to leave the

patient on the island. When he learned the hostile feeling of the

population to himself and the crew, and found that they would neither take

his sick man off his hands, nor supply himself and ship's company with

provisions, he availed himself of the silence and obscurity of night to

deposit the sick man on the shore with all his property, and at daybreak

made off under full sail. Next morning the natives found the unfortunate

wretch stretched suffering and utterly helpless on the strand, while the

barque was no longer in sight. Hostility to the captain was now converted

into sympathy with, and active compassion for, the sick man; a couch was

prepared in an adjacent hut, and as much attention lavished on him as was

possible under the circumstances; but his effects, consisting chiefly of

linen and upper clothing, were speedily appropriated by the thievish

natives. A few weeks later the small-pox broke out with frightful

violence, and raged five months with undiminished severity all over the

island. Almost every one of the natives was attacked, and of 5000

inhabitants 3000 succumbed to the virulence of the epidemic. The sailor,

however, with whom first originated this terrible fatality, completely

recovered. His clothing, scattered through every part of the island, had

no doubt essentially contributed to the speedy diffusion of the malady. Of

the thirty white settlers, who had all been inoculated, only one was

attacked, and he soon got well again. In August, 1854, the destroyer

disappeared almost as suddenly as he came, and has since then spared

Puynipet a second visit, but wherever one goes the traces of the disease

are visible in the faces and on the bodies of the natives.

While picking up this information, we were getting nearer and nearer to

Roankiddi Harbour on the S.W. of the island, and Tellet now stated he

could not undertake to conduct us further, as there resided a pilot in the

harbour whom he was not unwilling to give a job to. Another boat was now

approaching the frigate, which had on board the regular pilot of Roankiddi

Harbour, a Virginia Negro, named Johnson. Our man Tellet now took his

leave, and set out in his boat on his return to Middle Harbour. Many a

longing glance did we cast at the spot, where for the first time we were

to be privileged to examine the wonders of the coral beds of the South

Sea. For Puynipet is one of the finest examples known of a lofty island of

the great ocean regularly hemmed in by wall-like reefs, by far the

majority of the other islands being mere low "atolls." Unfortunately the

breeze was unsteady and very light; the sky looked so gloomy and

threatening that we had to haul off again from the island, and steer to

the S.E., so as not to approach the reef too closely during the night. In

the morning we once more neared the island, under the influence of a

gentle west wind, having run 15 miles out during the night. Gradually the

small wooded or rocky islets hove in sight again, which, stretching

northward from the great central mass, 2860 feet in height, surround the

lofty island like a ring, inside of the wall-reef, which encompasses it at

a distance of from one to two miles. We tacked about during the whole day

with light variable winds from the west, and by evening had got

sufficiently near our anchorage, that every one expected by a last tack to

fetch it ere night set in, when the breeze suddenly shifted, died away,

and once more compelled us to withdraw to a safe distance from the island,

and pass the night under easy sail. At length, on 18th September, a fresh

leading wind from the westward promised to carry us in without further

delay.