same, turning chiefly on the affairs of the neighbourhood, the injustice
of the magistrates, the tricks and stratagems of the crafty merchant, or
of the low mechanic. In entertainments given by those who can afford to
drink wine, it is seldom served round as in other countries, but a
number of puerile contrivances are practised to determine which of the
party is to drink, as in the case I have already noticed of _the game of
the fingers_. Thus, a nosegay is passed round from hand to hand, whilst
a man in an adjoining room beats a drum or the gong, and he who happens
to hold the nosegay when the instrument ceases must drink a cup of wine.
Many other methods still more childish are resorted to, in order to pass
the time and to give a zest to their wine; but the usual resource here,
as well as elsewhere, against the tediousness of time, is gaming. An
attachment to this vice accompanies the lowest Chinese wherever he
goes. It is said that in one of our eastern colonies, where Chinese are
encouraged to settle, they pay to the government the annual sum of ten
thousand dollars for a licence to keep gaming tables and sell opium.
Our route being necessarily delayed for two days at this place, on
account of an intervening neck of land over which all the baggage was to
be transported, I prevailed upon our good natured companion _Van-ta-gin_
to make a party to the lake _See-hoo_, to which he readily assented; and
this was the only excursion that we had in the course of the whole
journey. We had a splendid yacht and another made fast to it to serve as
a kitchen; the dinner began the instant we went on board and ceased only
when we stepped a-shore. It consisted of at least a hundred dishes in
succession, among which were excellent eels, fresh caught in the lake
and dressed in a variety of ways; yet the water was clear as crystal.
Vast numbers of barges were sailing to and fro, all gaily decorated with
paint and gilding and streaming colours; the parties within them
apparently all in pursuit of pleasure. The margins of the lake were
studded with light aereal buildings, among which one of more solidity
and of greater extent than the rest was said to belong to the Emperor.
The grounds were enclosed with brick walls and mostly planted with
vegetables and fruit trees; but in some there appeared to be collections
of such shrubs and flowers as are most esteemed in the country. Among
the fruits we got at this place was the _Jambo_ or rose apple; and, for
the first time, fresh from the tree, but not yet perfectly ripe, two
species of oranges, the common China and the small one usually called
the Mandarin orange; pomgranates, bananas very indifferent and melons
equally bad; apricots far from being equal to those of our own country;
a large plumb, resembling the egg plumb, also indifferent, and peaches
that might have been much improved by judicious culture; apples and
pears that in England we should have no hesitation in pronouncing
execrably bad; and a species of fruit unknown to all of us which the
Chinese called _Zee-tsé_, of a sweet sickly taste when ripe, otherwise
most insufferably astringent. Some of the gentlemen thought they saw
hazel nuts among the shruberry, but it is more than probable they were
mistaken. A few bad grapes were sometimes brought to us, but the party
who went from hence to _Chu-san_ met with abundance of this fruit, and
of very good quality, growing upon standards erected in the several
canals and forming a shade under which the barges could pass.
Among the most conspicuous of the shrubs, on the borders of the lake
_See-hoo_, was the _Hibiscus mutabilis_, the _Hibiscus Syriacus_, the
_Syringa Vulgaris_ or common lilac, and the paper mulberry; we observed
also a species of _Mimosa_, a _Crotularia_, _Cratægus_, _Rosa_,
_Rhamnus_, _Sambucus_, _Juniper_ and the cotton plant. Of flowers we
particularly noticed a large purple-coloured double poppy which, with
the _Nelumbium_ that grew here in all the ponds and a species of
_pæonia_, appear most frequently on the large sheets of painted paper
used for covering the walls of their apartments. A great variety of
beautiful balsams were also in flower, a species of _Amaranthus_, a
_Xeranthemum_ and _Gnaphalium_. I mention only such plants as caught the
eye in passing, for our Chinese companions, who had a much better
appetite for the eels of the lake and other goods things they had taken
care to provide than for botany, had no notion of being detained by a
bush or a flower.
The next day Lieutenant Colonel, now General, Benson, Doctor Gillan, and
myself, accompanied by a military officer and his orderly, rode over the
neck of land to look at the yachts that were preparing for our future
journey. As it was rather late before we returned, I proposed that we
should pass through the city as I had done the day before with our
conductor _Van_, which would save us half the distance. The officer
perceiving our intention endeavoured to draw us off to the right, but
finding us persevere he whispered the orderly, who immediately pushed
forward towards the gate. Aware that the intention of this measure was
to shut the gate against us, we spurred our horses and followed him,
upon which the officer and his orderly set up such a hue and cry that
the whole suburbs were presently in a state of commotion. The gates were
instantly shut and surrounded by a crowd. Within all was confusion.
Message after message was dispatched to the Governor, the gongs were
beat and the guards were drawn out in every part of the city. I assured
them there was nothing to fear; that we were only three, and had no
other design but to pass to our yachts. During this time our _mandarin
of war_, in presence of the whole populace, was down on his knees in the
dirt, first before one and then another, intreating us to give up the
point; so mean and despicable have the maxims of the government made
these people. At length our friends _Van_ and _Chou_, with the
interpreter and a numerous train of soldiers and attendants, made their
appearance, and pretended to enjoy the joke of three Englishmen having
caused so much alarm to one of their strongest cities, which at that
time had a garrison of three thousand men within its walls. On
expressing our surprise at such unnecessary precaution, _Van_ observed,
that our conductor did not know us so well as he did, and, as he was
responsible for our safe return, he would rather have travelled us all
night through the country than brought us among the crowd in the
streets. When the new viceroy of Canton (who travelled with us from
hence) heard of this affair, and understood from our conductors that the
English found great pleasure in walking and looking about them (a
pleasure of which a Chinese can form no idea) he immediately gave orders
that the gentlemen in the train of the Embassador should walk whenever
they pleased without any molestation.
In the city of _Hang-tchoo-foo_, being particularly famed for its
silk-trade, we were not surprized to meet with extensive shops and
warehouses; in point of size and the stock contained within them they
might be said to vie with the best in London. In some of these were not
fewer than ten or twelve persons serving behind the counter; but in
passing through the whole city not a single woman was visible, either
within doors or without. The crowd of people, composed of the other sex,
appeared to be little inferior to that in the great streets of Pekin.
Here, though mostly narrow they had in other respects much the advantage
of those in the capital, being paved with broad flagstones, resembling
the Merceria of Venice or courts of the Strand; Cranburn-Alley is rather
too wide for a Chinese street, but those of this city were equally well
paved. They appeared to be kept extremely neat and clean. In every shop
were exposed to view silks of different manufactures, dyed cottons and
nankins, a great variety of English broad-cloths, chiefly however blue
and scarlet, used for winter cloaks, for chair covers and for carpets;
and also a quantity of peltry intended for the northern markets. The
rest of the houses, in the public streets through which we passed,
consisted of butchers and bakers' shops, fishmongers, dealers in rice
and other grain, ivory-cutters, dealers in laquered ware, tea-houses,
cook-shops, and coffin makers; the last of which is a trade of no small
note in China. The population of the city alone, I should suppose, from
its extent and appearance, to be not much inferior to that of Pekin; and
the number of inhabitants in the suburbs, with those that constantly
resided upon the water, were perhaps nearly equal to those within the
walls.
Here our conductor _Sun-ta-gin_ took his leave, after having introduced
to the Embassador the new Viceroy of Canton, who was now to accompany
the Embassy to the seat of his government. His manners appeared to be no
less amiable than those of the Minister. He had travelled post from
Pekin and, with many assurances on the part of the Emperor of the
highest satisfaction he had derived from the embassy, he brought an
additional present from him to His Majesty, consisting of gold tissued
silks, purses taken from his own person and the _Card of Happiness_.
This is an ornamented piece of paper, neatly folded up and having in the
centre the character _foo_ or happiness inscribed by the Emperor's own
hand, and is considered as the strongest mark a sovereign of China can
give to another prince of his friendship and affection. Another card was
given to the Embassador of a similar import, as a testimony of his
approbation of the conduct of the embassy, which was further confirmed
by a present of silks, tea, fans and other trinkets to every individual
of it.
A few miles beyond the city we again took shipping on the river
_Tcheng-tang-chiang_, which might properly be called an estuary, the
tide rising and falling six or seven feet at the place of embarkation,
which was not very distant from the Yellow Sea. After seven days of
tedious navigation, if dragging by main strength over a pebbly bottom on
which the boats were constantly aground and against a rapid stream,
could be so called, we came to its source near the city of
_Tchang-san-shien_. But its banks were not deficient in beautiful views
and picturesque scenery. The general surface of the country was
mountainous and romantic, but well cultivated in all such places as
would admit the labours of the husbandman. One city only occurred in the
course of seven days; but we passed numerous villages, situated in the
valleys and the glens between the ridges of mountains; and fishermen's
huts were constantly in view. There was here no want of trees, among
which the most common were the tallow-tree and the camphor, cedars, firs
and the tall and majestic arbor vitæ. Groves of oranges, citrons and
lemons were abundantly interspersed in the little vales that sloped down
to the brink of the river; and few of the huts were without a small
garden and plantation of tobacco. The larger plains were planted with
the sugar-cane. We had thus far passed through the country without
having seen a single plant of the tea-shrub, but here we found it used
as a common plant for hedge-rows to divide the gardens and fruit groves,
but not particularly cultivated for its leaves.
At the city of _Tchang-san-shien_ we had again a neck of land to cross,
in order to join the barges that were prepared on another river falling
towards the westward, by which a connexion was formed with the usual
route from Pekin to Canton, from whence we had deviated at the
_Yang-tse-kiang_ river, on account of some of the suite being intended
to join the Hindostan in the harbour of _Tchu-san_. We were the less
sorry for this deviation, as it gave us an opportunity of seeing a part
of the country over which there is no general communication with the
grand route. In passing this neck of land, on a very fine causeway,
judiciously led through the defiles of the mountains, we first observed
the terrace system of agriculture, so frequently mentioned in the
writings of the missionaries. The Chinese seem to entertain a particular
aversion against sowing or planting on sloping ground and, accordingly,
when such occurs, they level it into a number of terraces one rising
above the other, which they support by stone walls, if the earth should
not be thought sufficiently strong for the purpose. The great
conveniency of leading the water from the uppermost to the lowest
terrace, without losing any of its nutritive effects by a rapid course,
seems to have suggested this mode of preparing the ground. In a hot and
dry country, vegetation becomes languid without the command of water;
and I observed that on the uppermost terrace there was invariably a tank
or reservoir to collect the waters falling from the upper parts of the
hills. The expense of labour, that had evidently been employed on such
terraces, was so great as to make any suitable return to the husbandman
apparently impossible; and still less so in other places where the hills
were completely dug away to the skeleton rocks, and the soil carried
upon the marshy ground at their feet.
With all this industry it might be concluded, from the general
appearance of the people, that they merely gained a subsistence. It was
with the utmost difficulty that the officers of government could
procure, in the whole city which we last departed from, a sufficient
number of chairs for themselves and those gentlemen of the embassy who
preferred to be thus carried, and horses for the rest. For the soldiers,
indeed, that composed his Excellency's guard, they had prepared a sort
of open bamboo chair, fixed between two poles and meant to be carried
shoulder-height. But the soldiers, squeezed into these little chairs and
elevated in the air, with their feathers and their firelocks, soon
perceived that they cut such ridiculous figures and that the soon
wretches who carried them were in so miserable a condition, both with
regard to their clothing and their habit of body, that, ashamed to be
thus dragged along, they presently dismounted and insisted, in their
turn, upon carrying the Chinese. Our conductors affected to consider
this as a good joke, but others were evidently nettled at it, supposing
it might have been meant as a kind of oblique reflection on the
indifferent accommodations that had been provided at this place for the
Embassador and his retinue; which were however the best that it was
possible for them to procure by any exertions.
Having finished this land journey, of about twenty-four miles, in the
course of the day, we lodged at _Eu-shan-shien_, a small city of mean
appearance and the following day embarked on flat-bottomed barges,
remarkably long and narrow, on the river _Long shia-tong_; but two
complete days of heavy rain obliged us to remain quietly at anchor.
On the 24th of November we dropped down the river, which by the rains
was swelled to an enormous size and in some places had overflowed its
banks, though in general high and rocky composed of a deep
brown-coloured freestone. Several rice mills were so completely
inundated, that their thatched roofs were but just visible above the
surface of the water; others were entirely washed away; and the wrecks
of them scattered upon the banks of the river. A vessel of our squadron
was upset upon the roof of one of these mills.
During two days' sail the surface of the country was hilly and well
wooded with camphors, firs, and tallow-trees; but as we approached the
_Po-yang_ lake, a small inland sea, it began to assume the uniform
appearance of an extended marsh, without any visible signs of
cultivation: here and there a few small huts, standing on the brink of
pools of water, with twice the number of small boats floating or drawn
up on shore, sufficiently indicated the occupation of the inhabitants.
In this part of the country we had an opportunity of seeing the various
means practised by the Chinese to catch fish: rafts and other floating
vessels with the fishing corvorant: boats with moveable planks turning
on hinges, and painted so as to deceive fishes on moonlight nights and
entice them to leap out of the water upon the planks; nets set in every
form; and wicker baskets made exactly in the same manner as those used
in Europe. Large gourds and blocks of wood were floating on the water,
in order to familiarize the various kinds of water-fowl to such objects,
which gave the Chinese an opportunity, by sticking their heads into
gourds or earthen pots and keeping their bodies under water, to approach
the birds in a gentle manner sufficiently near to take them by the legs
and draw them quietly under the water; a method which is said to be
practised by the natives of South America.
The nearer we approached the great lake _Po-yang_, the more dreary was
the appearance of the country; and for the distance of ten miles around
it, or at least on the south and west sides, was a wild waste of reeds
and rank grasses, such as the _Scirpus_, _Cyperus_, and bulrushes,
interrupted only by stagnant pools of water. Not a human dwelling of any
description was to be seen. This place may justly be considered as the
sink of China, into which rivers fall from every point of the compass.
It is scarcely possible for the imagination to form to itself an idea of
a more desolate region than that which surrounds the Po-yang lake. The
temperature was so reduced, by the circumambient waters, that on the
27th November, with drizzling showers, the thermometer was down to 48°
in the forenoon. We sailed near four whole days over the same kind of
country and came, towards the evening of the last, to the city of
_Nan-tchang-foo_, the capital of _Kiang-see_, where we observed from
four to five hundred of the revenue vessels lying at anchor. We waited
at this place a few hours to take in the necessary provisions and to
receive a present of silk, tea, and some other trifles from the viceroy.
We were told of a famous temple in the neighbourhood of the city, but we
had no curiosity to go out of the way to see it, which was dedicated to
the man who, as we have already observed, made his _apotheosis_
comfortably in his own house; that there was a well belonging to this
temple full of large snakes, whom the priests venerate and to whom they
admonish the people to make sacrifices, as being children of the dragons
which, if not constantly appeased by oblations to these their offspring,
would destroy the whole world. Thus, in all countries where votaries of
superstition are to be found, will knaves be met with to take advantage
of their weakness. The priests of this temple are said to have made one
observation, which is perhaps no superstition, that when these water
snakes appear on the surface, rains and inundations are sure to follow.
I took advantage, however, of the short delay, to go on board one of the
revenue vessels and to measure the capacity of its hold. It was in
length 115 feet, breadth 15 feet, and depth 6 feet; the sides streight
and the width nearly the same fore and aft; so that the burden might
fairly be estimated at 250 tons. Independent, therefore, of the
innumerable small craft, there were lying before this city 100,000 tons
of shipping.
The city of _Nan-tchang-foo_ is situated upon the left bank of the river
_Kan-kiang-ho_ falling from the southward into the _Po-yang_ lake. It
was here about five hundred yards in width, against the stream of which
we made a rapid progress with a brisk breeze. For the first sixty miles
the country was flat and uncultivated, except in places where we
observed a few fields of rice. But there was no want of population.
Towns and villages were constantly in sight, as were also manufactories
of earthen ware, bricks and tiles. The farther we advanced up the river,
the more populous was the country, the more varied and agreeable the
surface, and the more extended the cultivation. The banks were skirted
with large trees, that cast a cool and comfortable shade on the walks
beneath. Of these, some were willows, others camphors, but by far the
greatest number were the _Yang-tchoo_, a large spreading tree that threw
its branches down to the ground where, like the _Ficus Indicus_, of
which indeed it was a variety, they took root and became stems.
At the city _Kei-shui-shien_, which like most cities in China offered
little worthy of remark, the river divided into two branches; and at
_Kin-gan-foo_, a city of the first order, which we passed the same
night, by the river contracting suddenly the current became stronger and
of course our progress slower. To track the barges it was necessary
again to press a number of men; here, however, it may be observed, they
undertook the service with more willingness than to the northward. The
river meandered through a mountainous and barren country, rich only in
picturesque beauty which, though pleasing to the eye of the artist and
the connoisseur, has less charms for the philosopher, who finds more
real beauties to exist in a soil, however tame and uniform, that can be
rendered subservient to the uses of man.
On the 3d of November we approached that part of the river which, on
account of the numerous ship-wrecks that have happened there, is held in
no small degree of dread by the Chinese. They call it the _Shee-pa-tan_,
or the eighteen cataracts: which are torrents formed by ledges of rock
running across the bed of the river. They have not, however, any thing
very terrific in them, not one being half so dangerous as the fall at
London bridge about half-tide. But the Chinese have no great dexterity
in the management of their vessels. They are so easily alarmed, that
they frequently miscarry through timidity, when a little recollection
and resolution would have secured them success. The mountains between
which the river was hemmed in were covered with forests of the larch
fir; the glens and vallies abounded with the bamboo, of which we here
observed two species, one the same that is common in other parts of the
East, and the second much smaller in its growth, seldom exceeding the
height of ten feet; and the fibres of its small stem are more hard and
solid than those of the other species. The Chinese use it in the finer
parts of such household furniture and other articles as are constructed
of bamboo. From the margins of the river to the feet of the forests the
lower parts of the mountains were covered with coppice, among which the
most common shrub bore a close resemblance to the tea plant, and
accordingly the Chinese called it the _Tcha-wha_, or flower of tea. It
was the _Camellia Sesanqua_ of Thunberg, to which they had given the
same name (not being very nice in specific distinctions), as to the
_Camellia Japonica_ of Linnæus. From the nut of the former not unlike
to, though somewhat smaller than, the chesnut, a very pleasant oil is
expressed and used for similar purposes to the Florence oil in Europe.
This intricate part of the river, where innumerable pointed rocks
occurred, some above, some even with, and others just below the surface
of the water, required two long days' sail with a fair breeze; and the
falls became more rapid and dangerous the farther we advanced. At the
fifteenth cataract we perceived two or three vessels lying against the
rocks with their flat-bottoms uppermost; a terrible sight for our
bargemen who, like the countryman in the fable, instead of applying the
shoulder to the wheel, began to implore the assistance of the river god
by sounding the gong, in order to rouse his attention and by regaling
his olfactory nerves with the smoke of sandal-wood matches; so that had
we been dropping down the stream, instead of going against it, there was
every reason to apprehend that our barge would have shared a similar
fate; for it received many a gentle rub against the rocks.
The appearance of the country in the neighbourhood of the cataracts was
extremely beautiful. The transparency of the stream, the bold rocks
finely fringed with wood, and the varied forms of the mountains called
to mind those delightful streams that are discharged from the lakes of
the northern counties of England. Like these too, the _Kan-kiang-ho_
abounded with fish, not however with the delicious trout but one of much
less flavour, a species of perch. Great numbers of rafts were floating
on the river with the fishing corvorant, and we observed that he seldom
dived without success. For the whole distance of three days' journey,
the hilly country bordering on the river produced very little but the
_Camellia Sesanqua_, which appeared to be every where of spontaneous
growth.