"Hullo, Bamboo Jack!" cried Larkyns, as I came up the side of our old
ship again after a tedious voyage down the Peiho in one of the gunboats,
accompanied by Ned Anstruther, my comrade not merely in arms but in
captivity. "Chin, chin, my hearty, I'm delighted to see you and Ned
safe and sound, after all your wanderings and wonderful adventures,
which a little bird, not caged, though, has told us of! Come below,
now, to the gunroom, old chap, and have `one piecee chow chow,' and spin
us a yarn about it all yourself. It seems like old times seeing your
ugly old phiz once more, by Jove!"
All the other fellows, too, appeared quite as pleased to see us both
back, except that surly brute Andrews, who looked as if he wished the
Chinese had made puppy pies of Ned and myself.
Truth to say, I was jolly glad myself to be on board again with my
messmates, amid the old familiar scenes and surroundings.
Indeed, when swinging in my hammock the first night after my return, I
fancied all that occurred was but a dream--so it seemed to my heated
imagination--and that I had never left the _Candahar_ for a day, nor
passed through such exciting experiences!
A week or so later, after all the details of our treaty with the Chinese
Government had been settled, and Lord Elgin departed from Pekin on his
way to Europe on the conclusion of his highly successful mission, we
likewise weighed anchor before the Gulf of Pechili should be closed by
the ice and our egress therefrom barred for the winter months; and then,
bidding a long farewell to the poetically-named but "beastly hole of a
place," as Mr Jellaby called it, the "Bay of the Wide-spreading-sand
Islands," we sailed for Hong Kong.
Here we arrived at the end of November, the north-east monsoon being all
in our favour, and the current along the coast as well; both these
favouring causes making the old _Candahar_ travel as if "Old Nick" was
after her.
None of us were sorry to be amongst an English-speaking community once
more, with its attendant advantage of our being able to procure most of
the comforts and luxuries of civilised life, for our commissariat was in
the most deplorable condition.
My friend Larkyns, able caterer of the mess as he had hitherto proved
himself to be from the date of his deposing poor Mr Stormcock up to our
going to the Peiho, was at his wits' end to replenish our sadly-depleted
larder, which brought on the head of the unfortunate Dobbs every day at
dinner more abuse than even the long-suffering steward could well bear.
The fact was, really, fish and rice were the only articles of food to be
obtained to diversify our stock fare of pickled pork and salt horse from
the neighbouring inhabitants of this northern portion of the domain of
the Ruler of the Universe, and Emperor of the Sun, Moon and Stars; for
our French allies had so bullied and plundered all the Celestials in the
immediate vicinity on the seaboard that those dwelling in the interior,
where provisions of all sorts was quite plentiful, were too frightened
of the ferocious and light-fingered Gauls to care to come forward with
their goods--although, we invariably paid for all we had from the
natives in good, sound dollars, the reverse of the practice of Messieurs
Achille and Jules of the Chasseurs a Pied who generally reimbursed "ces
pauvres betes des Chinois" for what they unceremoniously appropriated,
with true Parisian deviltry, "in kind" of the most unkindly description!
Under these circumstances, the gourmands of the gunroom were most
unfeignedly delighted at abandoning such an inhospitable region as that
of "The Widespreading-sand Island," where they had to starve in the
midst of plenty; so likewise was I, the only thing which I had to thank
our sojourn off the province of Shan-tung for being the nickname Larkyns
gave me in his sportive fancy on my return on board from Pekin after my
imprisonment.
This was, certainly, nothing to be proud of; and yet, such is the
incongruity of things, the sobriquet stuck to me from that day to this,
following me about from ship to ship while I have been on active
service.
Some fellow, whom I had never previously seen in my life, perhaps, or
knew from Adam, accosts me immediately on hearing my proper patronymic,
with a sudden lighting up of face and hand outstretched as if I were an
old friend. "Oh, yes; why, I've heard of you before, I think, old chap!
Ain't you Bamboo Jack, eh?"
This, of course, is extremely gratifying, illustrating the truth of the
adage, which my poor old Dad used to quote to me frequently enough, that
"More people know Tom Fool than Tom Fool knows!"
We all of us enjoyed our long stay at Hong Kong, accordingly, the
_Candahar_ having a thorough overhaul and refit with the rest of the
fleet, now that the campaign was over; for, the residents were
accordingly hospitable and kind to us, including the principal merchants
of the place and the government officials, as well as the military
stationed at Kowloon on the mainland opposite, where there was a large
camp--all of them keeping open house, where we were welcomed at all
hours, dinners, balls, picnics and all sorts of festivities being the
order of the day while we remained in Victoria Bay.
Our ship, however, nearly left her bones behind her here during a
terrific typhoon that sprang up of a sudden, on the eve of our
departure; when all the junks and fishing-boats in the harbour were
wrecked, besides several trading vessels and most of the flimsier of the
buildings ashore demolished.
We dragged our anchors in the very height of the storm, although we were
moored securely with both bowers down; and, it was only by good
seamanship and the active exertions of all hands that we escaped,
cutting our cables and putting to sea for safety, so as to let the old
barquey brave it out on her own element, which she gallantly did.
When we were all ataunto again, we sailed for Bombay, whither the
admiral had preceded us; and from thence, after a grand entertainment at
the celebrated Biculla Club, we were despatched on detached service,
spending the summer months in cruising up the Persian Gulf and about the
Indian Ocean hunting up pirates and Arab slave dhows, in pursuit of
which we ran down the East African coast as far as the Mozambique
Channel.
We captured a lot of slavers, laden with cargoes of poor wretches that,
but for our release of them, would have spent the remainder of their
days in picking cloves at Pemba, or serving the Egyptians like the
Israelites of old; and, giving a look in at Zanzibar, we handed over our
prizes, for each of which we had a bounty of so much per head on the
slaves captured, besides the value of the dhows we did not destroy. We
then returned to Bombay whence we were ordered back to the China
station, making our old port, Hong Kong, again at the beginning of
spring in the following year.
From here, in company with the admiral and most of our fleet in the
eastern seas at that time, we paid a visit to each of the Treaty Ports,
which, mainly through the efforts of England, had been thrown open to
the commerce of the world, and by which not only has the Manchester
cotton spinner and Birmingham hardware dealer profited, but the empire
of China herself and her people.