Anchor in Harbor of Hong-Kong--Hastings and Herald both off
--Advantage of Newspapers--A First-rate notice--The Press
of Victoria--The Friend of China--Its pugnacity--Advertising
Sheets--Description of Island--Rain--Character of Chinese
Inhabitants.
Our passage to Hong-Kong was unmarked by any incident worthy of especial
notice; and we reached that harbor safely upon the second of March, and
came to anchor. Found every thing in about the same condition as when
we left, and a large fleet of merchantmen in port; but missed the
"Hastings" from her moorings, as also the "Herald." They both had
sailed during our absence: the Hastings' to be roasted by the hot
sun of Bombay; the Herald's to a warm greeting in their native isle.
Missed the officers of these vessels very much; for a kindly feeling had
sprung up amongst us, and interchanges of courtesies had made us
friends. But thus it is in this roving life; and it may be best that the
acquaintance thus stumbled upon remains but long enough to please, and
is gone before the gloss of novelty is rubbed off,--before familiarity
deadens or destroys its first impression.
There is one thing connected with this colony which adds greatly to its
interest to a person coming from a country where "the art preservative
of all arts" sends the rays of knowledge throughout the entire length
and breadth, to all classes and conditions, illuminating as well the
squatter's hut, as the patrician's hall. I allude to the existence of
newspapers. Only a person who has been accustomed to them, as we are in
the United States, can appreciate the deprivation of this mental food,
when placed beyond its reach, on a foreign station like this, where a
paper some three months after its publication is seized upon with the
greatest delight; and news, which at home has long lost its name, is
devoured with avidity, and discussed as a dainty. How true is it, that
we can only appreciate our blessings by their loss. Why, with all the
arts lending their aid; with steam, with electricity, with the painter's
skill, condensed by the most powerful intellects; with midnight toil,
and daily effort to produce that "map of busy life," which is diurnally,
almost hourly, spread out before us, and for a consideration, too, which
in many instances is not equivalent to the cost of the material upon
which it is sketched: with the lightning harmlessly conducting along the
pliant wire, stretched from one end of the continent to the other,
thoughts which have annihilated time: with another element, which has
nearly obliterated space, they are spread over its face; and by another
application of the same magic power are wafted hundreds and hundreds of
miles, and thrown upon your lap, damp and reeking, ere yet the process
has had time to dry. If Faust was supposed to have been assisted by the
Evil One, what would his persecutors have said, had they been shown a
picture like this? What would they have said? Why, that even Satan
himself possessed not such power, and denied that to the devil, which is
now accomplished by a poor _devil_ of a printer! And yet how often do we
throw aside the teeming sheet, placed as regularly before us as our
breakfast, and declaring it indifferent, petulantly begrudge its
publisher the poor penny of its price. Let the grumbler be stationed in
these Chinese waters for two years and upwards, and when he has been
deprived a greater part of that time of the "Sun," that awaited his
pleasure to shine, the "Herald," ushering in the morn at his bidding,
the "Times," that never grew old, and the "News," expressly awaiting his
perusal,--let him, I say, after perusing papers that have reached him in
March, '51, bearing the date of the past Christmas, pick up a paper out
here, even if it be a colonial one, upon the day of its publication, and
he will sing, _Io Triumphe_, as I did.
There are two newspapers printed in Victoria (Hong-Kong), and both of
these, I believe, are bi-weekly. One is called the "Friend of China, and
Hong-Kong Gazette;" the other, "The China Mail." The latter is the
government organ, and has the colonial printing. The former is
independent, and slashes away right and left, sparing neither friend nor
foe, and its columns are always open to complaining correspondents. Sir
Geo. Bonham, the Governor, often got severely handled; and either
because the government laid itself open to attack, or the editor had
some cause for pique, it appeared to be continually "pitching into" it.
Its articles were bold and forcibly expressed, and from their tenor
would suppose it exposed itself to prosecution for libel, but understood
it had steered clear of the Courts that far. Its editor shows a great
deal of industry and perseverance in its management. His Marine List is
full and complete. Not only does he give the arrivals and departures of
shipping at Hong-Kong, but at all the other ports in China waters; also
a full and corrected list of all vessels at Whampoa, Shanghae, and
Macào, and publishes all the information that can be obtained of the
extensive commerce of this part of the East, such as statistics of
imports and exports, &c., &c. His is the ungracious task to reform
abuses; perhaps, like Hamlet, he thinks "the times are out of joint,"
and he "was born to set them right." Or it may be that he is influenced
by the same motive as the Irishman, who, upon the eve of a presidential
election in the United States, was asked to cast his vote for the party
which aspired to place their candidate upon the chair, after ousting the
incumbent. Pat's first inquiry was, if it was _aginst_ the government
they wanted him to vote; and being told it was, assented, upon the
principle that he always went against the government.
In addition to these there are several advertising sheets, which are
distributed _gratis_, and exhibit the extensive trade carried on by the
merchants of the colony and Canton. Even these are interesting, proving,
as they do, the indomitable perseverance of the race, and bringing up
pleasant remembrances by their familiar diction.
The island of Hong-Kong, the original word in the Chinese is
Hoong-Keang, which means "Red Harbor," is in about lat. 22° 17' 00''
North, long. 114° East, and is one of the Ladrones, a group of rocky
islands which dot this part of Canton Bay. In length it is about eight
miles, its greatest breadth not more than four, and it is separated
from the mainland by an arm of the sea, called the Lyemoon Passage, in
which are several smaller islands, which vary its width, and make
admirable hiding places for the pirates, whose existence has given to
this Archipelago its distinctive title of Ladrone. In fact the Strait is
named after a celebrated pirate who once commanded there.
Upon the northern side of this island of Hong-Kong, is the settlement
called Victoria, which, as I have before stated, is generally known by
the name of the island, and a reference to it is made in a former page.
This island is mountainous, but contains many extensive valleys--none
very remarkable for fertility.
The mountains are formed of a species of granite, the greater part of
which is of a crumbling nature, and through them runs a stratum of a red
sandy formation, which, I suppose, geologists would call "poecilitic."
There are occasionally to be found solid boulders of this material,
which has been used for building. But it is to be remarked that the
granite found in that state is generally detached from the larger
masses, which appear to be in a state of decomposition, the particles
from which, washed down by the heavy summer rains, are said to add
greatly to the fatality occasioned by the decimating properties of an
Indian sun.
That old lady who asserted that "it never rains but it pours," would
have been furnished with corroborative proofs had she witnessed some of
the pluvial exhibitions at Hong-Kong. It really does pour on such
occasions there. Talk of the deluge, when the windows of heaven were
said to have been opened! Why if that venerable dame could have seen
the descent of these torrents, she would have thought that all
obstructing barriers of the blue empyrean had been removed, and the
surcharged clouds suddenly overturned, and have come to the conclusion
that forty days of such outpouring would leave no resting-place, even
upon the lofty peak of Victoria mountain.
They call the period from June to October the rainy season, but I have
witnessed extensive showers in nearly all the intermediate months. These
are sudden and overwhelming. Instances are related of Coolies having
been caught in currents rushing down the mountain, and drowned without
the possibility of assistance.
In the years 1845 and '6, from July to January, within a period of six
months, _ten feet of rain_ was measured by an ombrometer, having fallen
at Hong-Kong.
The island came into possession of Great Britain in 1842 by cession, but
had been occupied on the 26th of January of the previous year, in
consequence of a treaty which was afterwards rejected by the Emperor.
Great inducements were held out to Chinese to settle in Victoria by the
British government. They were guaranteed all their rights and
privileges, and allowed freedom in their religious rites, and permitted
to follow their own customs. These inducements, however, appeared to
have but little effect upon the Chinese. They distrusted the "outside
barbarians," and it was to the interest of the Mandarins to prevent
emigration to the new settlement. At present much of the distrust has
worn away, and many have taken advantage of the opening made by
thriving trade; still it must be admitted that the majority of Chinamen
to be found in Hong-Kong, are of the nature of those patriots who leave
"their country for their country's good," and the numbers seen in the
chain gangs, show the manner in which they best serve the State.