Physician--Visitors--Day's employment--Taken before the
mandarin--Letters and clothing from Chusan--Chinese clothes--Irons
taken off--Return home--Salamanders--Amusements.
The next morning one of the Melville's boys was taken ill of the
dysentery; the doctor came to see him, and prescribed some medicine,
which came in the shape of a bitter brown mixture; it did him no good,
for in a few days he grew so much worse, that he was removed down to
the jail again, where, by-the-bye, the two marines who were ill had
been left, as they were unable to bear the moving. Poor fellows! they
felt very much being separated from their comrades, and left behind;
but it was of no use complaining; they were obliged to submit. As for
the boy[10] that was taken from us, (the same that I dragged out of the
water when we were wrecked,) he left us, I might almost say, with a
determination to die, so entirely did he despair; his forebodings were
too true, as he died shortly after in the jail.
The window was besieged all day by well dressed persons, who came to
see "the lions;" at first we only looked again, but getting bolder by
degrees, we turned beggars, and from every fresh batch that came to the
window, we requested something--either money, tobacco, or cakes, not
being very particular: if they refused to give anything, we immediately
slid the panels to, which most effectually prevented their seeing us,
and the soldiers, our guard, very soon turned them out. Our grating was
blockaded continually in this manner for more than a week, when the
visitors ceased to come, and we were left in quietness.
Being in so crowded a state, and never allowed to go out of the room,
on any pretence whatever, the air soon became very unwholesome; and
animals, the natural consequence of such a state of things, began to
show themselves, and, in spite of our utmost exertions, increased upon
us; so that if the warm weather, which was very favourable to them,
should continue, we stood a fair chance of being devoured alive. But
our deplorable condition fortunately raised up another nation, which,
though living upon the same body, made desperate war upon the other
creatures, and by this means they kept each other under. The principal
employment in the morning was to overhaul our clothes, and kill all we
could catch--a most disgusting way of passing the time, but yet most
necessary; the rest of the day was spent either in walking up and down
the room, spinning yarns, or sleeping.
After remaining in this place about a fortnight, we were one evening
surprised by the appearance of the compradore, who came to ask if we
wished to send to Chusan for anything, as he was going there. As
I knew nobody there, and felt sure that Lieut. Douglas, who was as
kind and attentive to us as opportunity allowed, would write, and
acquaint the proper persons with our situation and wants, I did not
write, neither did any of the others; he therefore went away, saying,
that in about three weeks he hoped we should all be free; but he
added, "Mandarin big rogue;" however, this was far better news than I
expected, and I looked forward to his return with pleasure and anxiety.
Time passed on pretty well after this, and things were going on as
usual; those who had been ill of dysentery on board the ship were
gradually getting better, fear having worked wonders; when about a
fortnight after the compradore's visit, we were roused one evening
by a noise in the passage, whilst we were at supper. The board which
had before attended us, again made its appearance, and as soon as we
had finished our repast, all the white men were walked out of the
room, and, after waiting a short time in the yard, sedans having been
collected, we were placed in them, and carried to the chief mandarin's
house. After passing through numerous streets, we arrived at a green
plot railed in; against the railings were placed several small flags,
some yellow and some red, but all having Chinese characters upon them.
Passing through a gate, we came to a pair of large folding doors, on
each fold of which was painted a gaudy figure, bearing a sword, and
very much resembling the king of diamonds in our cards, only not half
so good looking. On each side of this huge door was another smaller,
through one of which we were taken, and here our sedans stopped, and
we alighted. At the end of this new yard was a canopy of red and green
silk as usual; we sat under this canopy until we were summoned before
the mandarins. We were then led through a large place, which appeared
intended for an ornamental garden, several rocks being placed here and
there, round which the path wound; but I saw no flowers, and very few
green things of any description.
The room in which the mandarins were assembled, was rather a large
chamber, open in front, as it was the hot season; several couches,
and glazed arm-chairs, were arranged about the room; four large paper
lanterns were suspended from the ceiling, and as the evening drew in,
they, and many more placed in other parts of the room, were lighted.
One or two more mandarins arriving, there was a great deal of bowing,
and salaaming, and tea-drinking, after which they proceeded to business.
The compradore now made his appearance, and produced several letters,
which he handed to me to read: on opening them, I found that they came
from Chusan, with various articles of clothing, and other comforts for
Lieut. Douglas and Captain Anstruther, clothes of all sorts for Mrs.
Noble, and a quantity for the child which was drowned; but nothing
whatever arrived for the crew; although Lieut. Douglas had written for
necessary clothes for us, as well as for himself. I read the letters
over to the compradore, making him understand, as well as I could,
the nature of the contents, and he repeated them to the mandarins,
whose official took them down in Chinese. When we had finished reading
the letters, Mrs. Noble, Lieut. Douglas, Capt. Anstruther, and the
mate, were brought in, and their letters given to them; they were
also permitted to open their stores. We were now allowed to converse
together for a short time. Until now, I had not been able to speak to
Mrs. Noble since the wreck. The mandarins soon called us up, and told
us, by the interpreter, that all was peace, and that in six days we
should be sent down to Chusan; but, after giving us this agreeable
intelligence, they inquired if we had any clothes for the cold weather,
which would soon come on. I immediately said, "If we are going so soon
to Chusan, we shall not require any of your clothes." They sent out,
notwithstanding, and soon after a basket was brought in, containing our
future raiment, which the mandarins distributed amongst our party. They
gave to each man a large loose coat, and a pair of leggings, made of
dungaree, and lined with cotton.
They were very warm and well calculated to keep out the cold, but very
clumsy and heavy; still they were not to be refused, and indeed had
it not been for this kindness of the mandarins, we should have been
exposed, almost naked, to the approaching inclement season. But this
anxiety to provide us with clothing for the cold weather, made me doubt
very much whether six days, or even six weeks, would find us on our way
to Chusan. As it turned out, it was exactly sixteen weeks from that day
before we were released.
After another consultation amongst the mandarins, we were all called
up again, and the irons taken off our legs, beginning with Mrs. Noble.
This was a great relief, as our legs were quite stiff with their long
confinement, and in most cases the iron had worked into our flesh.
Whilst they were being taken off, the compradore desired us to tell the
Lascars, who had been left behind in the prison, that if they made no
"bobberee," their irons would be taken off also.[11]
Being once more unfettered, we were again separated from Lieut. Douglas
and his party, and led away to another room, the ceiling of which
seemed very much inclined to come down on our heads. There was a table
here, and a couch. I had no sooner taken my seat on the latter, than a
well-dressed Chinese put writing materials before me, red paper, Indian
ink, and a small brush. He made signs for me to write, salaaming low
at the same time; I immediately complied with his request, and wrote a
few lines for him. I had no sooner done this, and returned his brush,
than he produced a handful of pice, and presented them to me; my
finances being very low indeed, this donation was not to be rejected;
I therefore accepted them, and found he had given me between fifty and
sixty pice, (about four pence in our money,)--very good pay, I thought,
for writing half a dozen lines.
In this room refreshments were brought for us; hard-boiled eggs, fowls
and pork cut into small pieces, and two sorts of cakes, one being
plain, with small seeds on the top; the other very like dumplings, with
minced pork inside. In fact, there was as much as we could eat, and all
was good of the kind; at any rate, we completely demolished the good
things, and then we returned to our sedans, and were carried back to
our rooms. Here we found the Lascars anxiously awaiting our return; we
told them that the mandarins said we were going to Chusan in six days,
which good news raised their spirits very much, and they began to abuse
the Chinese, especially the female part of the community, for having
imprisoned them at all. The next day our jailer brought us shoes and
stockings of Chinese manufacture, and made signs that the Lascars'
clothes were being made, and would very soon be ready.
In the course of the same day, my friend of the previous night came and
requested me to write something more for him; I of course consented,
and he then produced some plain white fans; I wrote a few lines upon
them, and he seemed much pleased with my performance; Wombwell also
wrote on one for him. In return, he gave us two a basket full of sweet
cakes, which were very acceptable; he came to see us several times
afterwards, and never failed to bring some token of his gratitude with
him.
Time wore away: the six days went by, and we were not released; some
said they were perhaps waiting till the Lascars' jackets were ready,
but they were brought, and we were still kept prisoners.
With the new clothes came also some of those horrid creatures by which
we had been tormented; these coming fresh from the tailors' hands,
made us observe our guards a little more closely, and we could plainly
discern that they were swarming with vermin. We were glad to find that
what we had at first set down to our own dirt and unwholesomeness, was
more attributable to the dirt and laziness of our jailers and other
people. Even the walls had their inhabitants, for they fell down out of
the rafters upon us.
Days and weeks passed on, and we gave up all hopes of a speedy release,
expecting nothing less than an imprisonment of a year or two; but I
cannot say that I was now much troubled with the fear of losing my
head. During this time we were sometimes amused with a fight in the
yard, between two of the soldiers--a most unpleasant kind of combat,
for they seized hold of each other's tails with one hand, and dragging
the head down almost to the ground, clawed and scratched with the other
hand, till the one with the weakest tail rolled over and gave in; we
always tried to get out and see fair play, but the soldiers mustered
too strong at these times. Sometimes, again, a drunken soldier would
make his appearance, and coming to the window afford us a little
amusement, for, getting hold of his tail, we made it fast to the
grating, and then left him to get loose as he could; generally one of
his comrades, attracted by his bellowing, came and released him; all
this was not very edifying employment, but it served to pass the time,
which, having no books or employment, hung very heavily on our hands.
The weather now changed, and the winter set in; we were glad to put on
our thick clothes, which we found very comfortable, except that they
afforded a great harbour to the vermin: this was, however, by this
time only a secondary consideration, as the cold weather had rendered
them very torpid, and they did not bite so hard. We had only two meals
a day, morning and evening, and these being soon settled, and not
being allowed anything in the middle of the day, we made bags of our
old clothes, and at breakfast-time filled them with rice, when the
servants were out of the room, and stowed them away for a mid-day meal.
The servants discovered it once or twice, but we generally managed to
secrete some rice from our breakfast.
The Chinese used now to carry about little teapots, full of hot water,
at the spouts of which they were constantly sipping; and also a kind
of salamander, an oblong brass vessel, with a handle to it, and filled
with hot water; in the lid were several small holes, and the steam
coming through kept them warm. They carried these things either in
their long loose sleeves, or, sitting down, placed their feet upon
them; but I should have imagined that the steam would have damped their
clothes, and rather chilled than warmed them. About this time, having
got rather free and easy with our jailers, one of our party slipped
out into the passage, whilst the servants were removing the rice and
dishes, and brought in the piece of bamboo and stick, which the watch
used at night; in the evening we saw the soldiers searching for it, but
we kept quiet till dark, and then we began to keep watch ourselves;
but the noise soon brought our jailer in, who took the bamboo away,
threatening to put us in irons. This threat made but little impression,
for, a short time after, another of the party walked off with a teapot
belonging to one of the soldiers; this we kept for several days, till
the owner found out where it was; but we would not give it up unless
he paid for it, and as our jailer and his own comrades only laughed at
him, we obliged him to redeem his teapot with a hundred or more pice,
much to his dissatisfaction.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] These _boys_, as they are called in the Navy, were all above
one-and-twenty.
[11] However, they did not take their irons off until just before our
release. Indeed, they always made a marked difference between the white
men and the men of colour, holding up the thumb to signify the former,
and the little finger the latter. Note 9.