in small boats with flaring torches, hundreds of them. The birds with
their long bills reach down into the water and pick up a huge fish,
then the master immediately takes it out of the bill, before it can
be swallowed, and places it in his boat for market. These birds in
a single evening get thousands of fish. I suppose they are rewarded
at the end of their service by being allowed to fish for themselves.
Kite flying is a favorite pastime; the size, shape, and curious
decorations are astonishing. They have fights with their kites up in
the air, and there is just as much excitement over these kite games
as we ever have over foot-ball. They go into paroxysms of joy when
the favorite wins. There are singing kites and signal kites and a
hundred other kinds.
I saw no children indulging in any games on the streets. As soon
as they are able to carry or do anything at all they seem to be
employed. I could not but think that most of the Japanese children
are unhealthy. Every one of them had sore eyes. Small of statue,
the children seemed too small to walk, and yet those that looked
only seven or eight years old would, invariably, have each a baby
strapped on his back, and the poor little creatures would go running
about with the small human burdens dangling as they could.
There is one delightful thing about the people, as a whole, their
attentive, courteous manners; their solicitude to assist you in
whatever they can. They are a domestic and thrifty little race, the
men doing by far the larger part of the work. The enormous burdens
that these little mites of humanity can pick up and carry are an
increasing wonder.
In visiting Japan, it is convenient to make Yokohama one's headquarters
for the northern part of the kingdom, Nagasaki for the southern
part, and Kobe for the central part; and from these centers to take
excursions to the various points of interest.
My first visit was brief, for I still clung to the Gælic, moving when
she moved, and stopping at her ports according to her schedule. But
I returned and made a stay of many months, exploring at leisure the
more important or attractive places. I have gathered together in this
rambling account the various observations and impressions of these
various visits, and have tried to unite them into one story.
IN SHANGHAI.
CHAPTER SIX.
But it is time to bid Japan good-bye and sail for China. It is a
three days' voyage from Nagasaki to Shanghai. We left the ship at the
broad mouth of the Yang-tse-Kiang and in a small river boat went up
a tributary to Shanghai, a distance of twelve miles.
I was met at the dock by our Consul General, John Goodnow, and his
wife, with their elegantly liveried coachman, and was taken to the
consulate, and, after a fine tiffin (lunch), we started for the walled
city. A shrinking horror seized me as if I were at the threshold
of the infernal regions as we crossed the draw bridge over the moat
and entered the narrow gate of the vast city of more than a million
souls. Immediately we were greeted by the "wailers" and lepers,--this
was my first sight of the loathsome leprosy. Our guide had supplied
himself with a quantity of small change. Twenty-five cents of our money
made about a quart of their small change. A moment later we met the
funeral cortege of a rich merchant. First came wailers and then men
beating on drums; then sons of the deceased dressed in white (white
is their emblem of mourning); then the servants carrying the body on
their shoulders. More wailers followed, then came the wives. It made
a strange impression.
The streets are so very narrow that we had to press our bodies close
against the wall to keep from being crushed as the procession passed
us. We heard the tooting of a horn. Our guide said, "Here comes the
Mandarin." We began to press ourselves into a niche in the wall
to watch him pass. First came the buglers, then the soldiers and
last the gayly-bedecked Mandarin carried in a sedan chair on the
shoulders of six coolies. He looked the very picture of the severe
authority that he is invested with. They say that he has witnessed
in one day the execution of five hundred criminals. He was obliged
to put a mark on each one's head with his own fingers, and, after
the head was severed from the body, to remark it in proof of the
exactness of his work. I was glad when I had seen the last of him,
though it is only to go from bad to worse.
In the opium dens, hundreds of people, of both sexes, of various ages,
kinds and colors, were reclining in most horrible attitudes. One
glimpse was enough for me.
From this place we entered the temple. One of our guides said he was
obliged to buy joss-sticks and kneel before the gods or it would make
us trouble, because they are watchful of what foreigners do. They
consider us white devils. We saw a war god nine feet high mounted on
a war steed one foot high, a child's woolly toy. There were placed
before the gods about six or eight cups of tea and hundreds of fragrant
burning tapers.
At one point our hearts failed us. We came to a dark bridge; it looked
so forbidding with its various windings, so frail in structure, so
thronged, that we were timid about stepping upon it. Being assured
that it was safe we ventured across. While it shook under our weight,
we did not fall into the filthy frog-pond beneath.
When we reached the center, there were a number of sleight-of-hand
performers who were doing all sorts of curious things; bringing out of
the stone pavement living animals, bottles of wine, bits of porcelain,
and cakes, too filthy looking even to touch.
There were for sale numbers of beautiful birds in cages and wonderful
bits of art of most intricate patterns and exquisite fineness. We
saw beautiful pieces of brocaded silk and satin on little hand-looms,
made by these patient, ever working people, who only have one week in
the year for rest. There does not seem to be any provision made for
night or rest, and each Chinaman looks forward to this one holiday
week in which he does no work whatever, and in which he must have
all the money ready to pay every debt he owes or be punished.
I did not learn how much the average Chinaman gets for a day's wages,
but I know that one of my friends sent a dozen linen dresses to be
laundried, and that the charge was thirty-six cents. To be sure a
satin dress that she sent to be cleaned was put in the tub with the
rest. In the markets were impossible looking sausages, dried ducks,
and curious frogs. In China, as in Japan, each individual has his
own little table about two feet long, fourteen inches wide and six
or eight inches high,--not unlike a tray.
Their religion is centuries old, but if cleanliness be next to
godliness, they are still centuries away from Christian virtues. The
vast city crowded from portal to portal is one seething mass of
living beings pushing, hustling, and silent. With the exception of a
soothsayer, I did not see in an entire day two people talking together,
so intent were they on their various duties.
It was a joy to get out of the native into the European parts of
Shanghai and feel safe; and yet there was not a single thing, upon
thinking it over, that one could say was alarming, not a disrespectful
look from any one. I said upon reaching the outer gate, "Thank God,
we are out of there alive and safe." It was the first experience only
to be renewed with like scenes and impressions at Canton, with the
same thankfulness of heart, too, for escape.
Our guide told us that he would be in no way responsible for anything
that might happen in traveling about Canton. The land and its people
are a marvel and a mystery; the great wonder is how all this vast
multitude can be reached and helped.
The rivers teem with all sorts of junks filled with all sorts of
wares going to market, and it was upon the quays that we found for
sale the finest carved things, the richest embroideries, the most
delicately wrought wares. The monkey seems to be a favorite subject
with the artist. Look at these exquisite bits of carved ivory. This
one is the god monkey who sees no evil, his hands cover his eyes;
this one is the god monkey who hears no evil, his hands cover his
ears; and this one is the god monkey who speaks no evil, his hands
cover his mouth. Half ashamed of our own dullness an old lesson came
back with new significance,--be blind, deaf, and dumb towards evil.
One curiously wrought specimen of art was an inkwell encircled by
nine monkeys. In the center, on the lid, was the finest monkey of all;
the diversity of bodily attitudes, the variety of facial expressions,
and the perfection of all was wonderful. Temple cloths, with pictures
of various gods embroidered in fine threads of gold, were marvels of
patient labor.
We once entertained at our home in Akron a converted Chinaman who had
come to Gambier, Ohio, to study for the ministry. After the lapse of
many years his son came to Ohio to be educated. It was interesting
to hear him tell of the ways and customs of his native land. I asked
him about servants being so very cheap, and he informed me that
good servants might not be considered so cheap. The best families,
according to the value they place upon the friendship of their friends,
pay for every present received a certain per cent. of its value to
their servants; and at every birthday of any member of the family,
every wedding, every birth and death, there are hundreds of presents
exchanged. I saw many servants in the large cities carrying these
various gifts, and some of the servants were dressed very well,
having, on the garments they wore, the coat-of-arms or rank of their
master. On a little table or tray was placed the richly embroidered
family napkin with the gift neatly wrapped therein, and on both sides
were placed lighted tapers or artificial flowers.
As with Shanghai so with all the coast towns of China, there is the
old walled city swarming with millions of natives, and the new or
European city as modern as New York. My two days' stay seemed like
two weeks, so full was it of strange sights.
On returning to the Gælic, I was pleased to find that two Americans
had been added to our passenger list. Indeed, it was the last of
the many kindly offices of Mr. Goodnow to introduce me to Rev. and
Mrs. C. Goodrich. These new friends were delightful traveling
companions. For a longer stay at Hong Kong and a much better boat to
Manila, I was indebted to their thoughtfulness for me.
We were told that we must all get in position to watch the entrance
at Hong Kong. Captain Finch said that for fifteen years he always went
down from the bridge as soon as he could to see the wonderful display
of curious junks and craft of every conceivable kind that swarmed
about the boat, some advertising their wares, some booming hotels, some
fortune-telling in hieroglyphics which only the Chinese can interpret.
Before our boat dropped anchor there were hundreds of Celestials
climbing up the sides of the ship with all kinds of articles for
sale. There were sleight-of-hand performers, there were tumblers of
red looking stuff to drink; there were trained mice and rats. We had
a man on shipboard who was very clever with these sleight-of-hand
tricks, but he said he could not see where they got a single one of
the reptiles and articles that they would take out of the ladies'
hands, their bonnets, and his own feet, which were bare.
The city of Hong Kong is built upon a rock whose sides are almost
vertical. The city park is considered one of the finest in the
world. It has been said that every known tree and shrub is grown there;
and when one considers that every foot of its soil has been carried
to its place, the wonder is how it has all been done. The blossoms
seem to say, "The whole world is here and in bloom." The banyan tree
grows here luxuriantly and is a great curiosity. The main trunk of
the tree grows to the height of about thirty or forty feet. The first
branches, and indeed many of the upper branches, strike down into the
ground. These give the trees the appearance of being supported on huge
sticks. As to the bamboo, it is the principal tree of which they build
their houses, and make many articles for export in the shape of woven
chairs, tables, and baskets of most intricate and beautiful designs,
most reasonable in price. The first shoots in spring are used as food
and make a delicious dish. It is prepared like cauliflower. Our much
despised "pussley" proves to be a veritable blessing here; it makes
a nice green or salad.
China seemed like one vast graveyard, full of huge mounds from three
to five feet high, without special marking. Each family knows where
its own ancestors are buried. One of the reasons why they oppose the
building of railroads through their country is their reverence for
these burial piles.
One of the very best missionary establishments that I know anything
about is the hospital in Shanghai. The institution is full to
overflowing and the amount of good that the nurses do there is beyond
human measure. I heard pathetic stories almost beyond belief; I hope
that the grand workers in that field are supplied with all they need
in the way of money.
Servants seldom remain at night in the house of their employers or
partake of the food that is prepared for the household. The rich enjoy
pleasure trips on the house-boats; they take their servants, horses,
and carriages with them, and leaving the river at pleasure they journey
up through the country to the inland towns. One cannot understand
how the poor exist as they do on their house-boats. Of course,
those hired by the Americans and English are well appointed, but a
large proportion of the inhabitants are born, live, and die on these
junks which do not seem large enough to hold even two people and yet
multitudes live on them in squalor and misery. I have a great respect
for the determination of Chinese children to get an education. It
is truly wonderful that with more than fifty thousand characters to
learn, they ever acquire any knowledge. Some of the scholars study
diligently all their lives, trying to the last to win prizes.
HONG KONG TO MANILA.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
From Hong Kong to Manila we were fortunate in being upon an Australian
steamer which was very comfortable, indeed, with Japanese for
sailors and attendants. At last I was in the tropics and felt for the
first time what tropical heat can be; the sun poured down floods of
intolerable heat. The first feeling is that one can not endure it;
one gasps like a fish out of water and vows with laboring breath,
"I'll take the next steamer home, oh, home!" It took four days to reach
Manila. The bay is a broad expanse of water, a sea in itself. The city
is a magnificent sight, its white houses with Spanish tiled roofs,
its waving palms, its gentle slopes rising gradually to the mountains
in the back ground.
The waters swarmed with craft of every fashion and every country. How
beautiful they looked, our own great warships and transports! No large
ship can draw nearer to shore than two or three miles. All our army
supplies must be transferred by the native boats to the quartermaster's
department, there to be sorted for distribution to the islands where
the troops are stationed. This necessitates the reloading of stores on
the boats, to be transferred again to medium sized vessels to complete
their journey. A volunteer quartermaster told me, that, on an average,
every seventh box was wholly empty and the contents of the other six
were rarely intact. The lost goods sometimes reappeared on native
heads or backs. Coal oil was in demand, and disappeared with amazing
celerity; it is far better for lights than cocoanut oil.
Custom house inspection being quickly over, we landed. The beauty of
the distant view was instantly dispelled; one glance and there was a
wild desire to take those dirty, almost nude creatures in hand and,
holding them at arm's length, dip them into some cleansing caldron. The
sanitary efforts of our army are effecting changes beyond praise both
in the people and their surroundings.
A little two wheeled quielas (ké-las) drawn by a very diminutive
horse took me to the Hotel Oriente, since turned into a government
office. I noticed that the floors were washed in kerosene to check
the vermin that else would carry everything off bodily. The hotel
was so crowded that I was obliged to occupy a room with a friend,
which was no hardship as I had already had several shocks from new
experiences. We had no sooner sat down to talk matters over than I
started up nervously at queer squeaks. My friend remarked, "Never mind,
you will soon get used to them, they are only lizards most harmless,
and most necessary in this country." The beds in our room were four
high posters with a cane seat for the mattress, a small bamboo mat, one
sheet, and one pillow stuffed with raw cotton and very hard. As we were
tucked in our little narrow beds mosquito netting was carefully drawn
about us. "Neatly laid out," said one. "All ready for the morgue,"
responded the other.
The next morning we watched with interest the carabao as they were
taken from the muddy pools in which they had found shelter for the
night. The natives begin work at dawn and rest two or three hours in
the middle of the day. It seemed to me too hot for any man or beast
to stir.
When a large drove of carabao are massed together it seems inevitable
that they shall injure each other with their great horns, six or
eight feet long but fortunately they are curved back. Strange, too,
I thought it, that these large animals should be driven by small
children--my small children were really sixteen to twenty years old.
We ventured forth upon this first morning and found a large cathedral
close by. It was all we could do to push our way through the throng
of half-naked creatures that were squatting in front of the church
to sell flowers, fruits, cakes, beads, and other small wares.
We pressed on through crooked streets out toward the principal shopping
district, but soon found it impossible to go even that short distance
without a carriage, the heat was so overpowering. We turned to the
old city, Manila proper, passed over the drawbridge, and under the
arch of its inclosing wall, centuries old.
We went to the quartermaster's department to get transportation
to Iloilo. It gave a delightful feeling of protection to see our
soldiers in and about everywhere. At this time Judge William H. Taft
had not been made governor; the city was still under military rule, and
there were constant outbreaks, little insurrections at many points,
especially in the suburbs. We were surprised to find the city so
large and so densely populated.
It is useless to deny that we were in constant fear even when
there were soldiers by. The unsettled conditions gave us a creepy
feeling that expressed itself in the anxious faces and broken words
of our American women. One would say, "Oh I feel just like a fool,
I am so scared." Another would say, "Dear me, don't I wish I were
at home,"--another, "I just wish I could get under some bed and
hide." But for all their fears they stayed, yielding only so far as
to take a short vacation in Japan. There is not much in the way of
sight seeing in Manila beyond the enormous cathedrals many of which
were closed. About five o'clock in the afternoon everybody goes to
the luneta to take a drive on the beach, hear the bands play, and
watch the crowds. It is a smooth beach for about two miles. Here are
the elite of Manila. The friars and priests saunter along, some in
long white many-overlapping capes, and some in gowns. Rich and poor,
clean and filthy, gay and wretched, gather here and stay until about
half-past six, when it is dark. The rich Filipinos dine at eight.
The social life in Manila, as one might suppose, was somewhat
restricted for Americans. The weather is so enervating that it is
impossible to get up very much enthusiasm over entertainments. During
my stay in Manila, in all, perhaps two months, there was little in
the way of social festivity except an occasional ball in the halls
of the Hotel Oriente, nor did the officers who had families there
have accommodations for much beyond an occasional exchange of dinners
and lunches.
The Americans, as a rule, did not take kindly to either entertaining
or being entertained by natives, and besides they could not endure
the heavy, late dinners and banquets.
At one grand Filipino ball (bailie) an eight or ten course dinner was
served about midnight. The men and women did not sit down together at
this banquet, the older men ate at the first table, then the older
women, then the young men, lastly the young women. After the feast
there were two or three slow waltzes carried on in most solemn manner,
and then came the huge task of waking up the cocheroes (drivers)
to go home. While everything was done in a quick way according to
a Filipino's ideas, it took an hour or two to get ready. The only
thing that does make a lot of noise and confusion is the quarreling of
Filipino horses that are tethered near each other. I thought American
horses could fight and kick, but these little animals stand on their
hind legs and fight and strike with their fore feet in a way that is
alarming and amusing. They are beset day and night with plagues of
insects. No wonder they are restless.
The Bilibid Prison in Manila is the largest in the Philippines, and
contains the most prisoners. The time to see the convicts and men is
at night when they are on dress parade. Of the several hundred that I
saw, I do not think that anyone of them is in there for other than just
cause. They are made to work and some of them are very artistic and do
most beautiful carvings on wood, bamboo and leather. It is very hard
now to get any order filled, so great a demand has been created for
their handi-work. I could not but notice the manner of the on-lookers
as they came each day to see those poor wretches. They seemed to have
no pity; and then, there were very few women who were prisoners. I do
not remember seeing more than three or four in each of the five prisons
that I visited. Orders were taken for the fancy articles made in these
prisons. One warden said he had orders for several months' work ahead.
ILOILO AND JARO.
CHAPTER EIGHT.
We went from Manila to Iloilo on a Spanish steamer. I gave one look at
the stateroom that was assigned to me and decided to sleep on deck in
my steamer chair. I had been told that I positively could not eat the
food which the ship would prepare, so I took a goodly supply with me.
The captain was so gracious that I could not let him know my plans,
so I pleaded illness but he ordered some things brought to me. There
was a well prepared chicken with plenty of rice but made so hot
with pepper that I threw it into the sea; next, some sort of salad
floating in oil and smelling of garlic, it went overboard. Eggs
cooked in oil followed the salad; last the "dulce," a composition of
rice and custard perfumed with anise seed oil, made the menu of the
fishes complete. I now gladly opened my box of crackers and cheese,
oranges, figs and dates.
As the sun declined, I sat watching the islands. We were passing
by what is known as the inner course. They lay fair and fragrant as
so many Edens afloat upon a body of water as beautiful as any that
mortal eyes have ever seen. Huge palms rose high in air, their long
feathery leaves swaying softly in the golden light. Darkness fell
like a curtain; but the waters now gleamed like nether heavens with
their own stars of phosphorescent light.
On the voyage to Japan, a fellow passenger asked if I were sure that
Iloilo was my destination in the Philippines and, being assured that
it was, informed me that there was no such place on the ship's maps,
which were considered very accurate. The Island of Panay was there,
but no town of Iloilo.
Iloilo (é-lo-é-lo) is the second city in size of the Philippines. It
stands on a peninsula and has a good harbor if it were not for the
shifting sands that make it rather difficult for the large steamers
to come to the wharf and the tide running very high at times makes
it harder still. There is a long wharf bordered with huge warehouses
full of exports and imports. Vast quantities of sugar, hemp and
tobacco are gathered here for shipment. It is a center of exchange,
a place of large business, especially active during the first years
of our occupation.
Immense caravan trains go out from here to the various army posts to
carry food and other supplies, while ships, like farm yards adrift,
ply on the same errand between port and port. Cebu and Negros are
the largest receiving stations.