At lunch the passengers talked about the lecture that was not yet finished; and all of them who said anything declared that they were very much pleased with it, and they hoped the remainder of it would be given in the afternoon. Of course all of them had read more or less about China; and while there was much that was new to them, they were glad to have their knowledge of the country revived.
"I have been in Hong-Kong, Canton, and Shang-hai, and I have heard no lecture on board that pleased me more than that to which we listened this forenoon; and I appoint this afternoon at three o'clock for the conclusion of it," said the commander.
At this hour all the company, including the passengers from the Blanche, were in their places; and the speaker mounted the rostrum, apparently as fresh as ever. He was received with as much and as earnest applause as had been given at the end of the second part of his lecture; and with this pleasant approval of his work, he continued his discourse.
"According to the accounts of all recent travellers, the roads of China are in a villanously bad condition, and there are no railroads worth mentioning,"he began. "And yet the necessity of good common roads was apparent to the ruler, even before the building of the Great Wall, and twenty thousand of them have been constructed; but the Chinese, having finished a great work, do not meddle with it again. The roads have never been repaired thoroughly, and that accounts for their present condition. The rivers and canals furnish the principal means of communication, though the roads are still used.
"The dress of the poorer classes is very much the same for both sexes. It is regulated by sumptuary laws for all classes; but it is varied by the wealthy in the use of costly material, and the ornaments they add to it. You have all seen Chinamen enough in the streets of New York and other cities, and the dress they wear is about the same as that worn in their native land. The queue is the most notable thing about them. This was not the ancient custom of wearing the hair, but was introduced and enforced by the Manchu rulers over three hundred years ago, when it was considered a degrading edict; though now the Chinaman sticks to his queue with as much tenacity as he does to his very life.
"The small feet of the women, even of the highest class, is quite as notable as the queues. This species of deformity was not required by the Manchus, for they wore their feet as God gave them; and it is not an ancient custom, for it has prevailed only from the sixth century of our era. Nature's growthis checked by tightly bandaging the feet in early childhood, subjecting the victim to severe pain and discomfort. But you will see the women for yourselves, and can judge of the effect upon them. The very poor and those in menial conditions are not necessarily subjected to the torture, but fashion carries even many of this class into the custom. Small but natural feet are the pride of our young ladies, and some of them complain that when the feet were given out they got more than their share.
"The sexes are kept apart until marriage; and this has been a social feature from the earliest time. Girls and boys in the family did not occupy the same mat or eat together from the age of seven, and when the former were ten they ceased to appear outside of the women's apartments. Girls were taught manners therein, to handle the cocoons, to do all the work appertaining to the manufacture of silk and the details of Chinese housekeeping. This was in the feudal time; and the females were not instructed in book-learning, and are not now, though they pick up something of an education, and learned women are not unknown, even those who have written books.
"In regard to marriage, the parents have entire control, and professional match-makers are an institution. It is to a great extent a matter of horoscopes. Usually the bride and groom have not seen each other till the marriage ceremony, and of course they lose all that delightful period which precedesthe event. But they appear to take to each other when brought together, and to be happy as man and wife. Though the man has one legal wife, there is no law or custom to prevent him from taking half a dozen more secondary wives.
"There are seven lawful grounds for divorcing a wife from her husband,—disobedience to her husband's parents; failure to give birth to a son; dissolute conduct; jealousy of her man, especially in regard to theotherwives; talkativeness; thieving; and leprosy. I will leave the ladies to make their own comments. There are three considerations which may set aside these reasons for divorce,—that her parents are no longer living; that she has passed with her spouse through the years of mourning for his parents; and that he has become rich after being poor. The children are often affianced in childhood, and probably this fact furnishes many of the grounds for proceedings in the divorce court.
"Infanticide is not an uncommon crime in China, female children being almost always the victims. Probably its prevalence is somewhat exaggerated. It is among the poorest class that this atrocity prevails, the universal desire for male children, in connection with the ancestral worship of the people, being the root of the evil. Public opinion is against the practice, though not as decidedly as might be wished.
"The complexion of the Chinese is yellowish, as you have seen in our streets; and from the extremenorth to the Island of Hainan, they all have long black hair, almond or oblique eyes, high cheek-bones, and round faces. They are greatly addicted to opium and gambling wherever you find them. Dr. Legge says that the longer one lives among them the better he likes them, and the better he thinks of them; but we are not likely to be able to test the correctness of this remark.
"The Chinese bury their dead in graves in the form of a horseshoe, and with an almost infinite variety of ceremonies and sacrifices. Where the friends are able to pay the expense, the last rites are ostentatious and very costly. You may chance to see something of them before you leave the country. When a very rich Chinaman travels, he takes his coffin with him.
"They have no day in the week corresponding to our Sunday, but they have an annual universal holiday at New Year's. It is a season of rejoicing and festivity all over the country. Stores are closed for several days, and the government offices are shut up for a month. The people 'dress up,' and the temples are visited, the gambling resorts are in full blast, and crackers and other fireworks make Fourth of July of the season.
"There is some sort of a festival every month, such as the 'Feast of Lanterns,' on the full moon, of the tombs, 'Dragon Boats,' and 'All Souls,' in honor of departed relatives, when the supposed hungry spirits from the other side of the Styx are fedat the cemeteries. The people are extravagantly fond of theatricals; and a kind of bamboo tent is erected for the performance, which is usually of inordinate length. Females, as in India, do not appear on the stage.
"It would be quite impossible for me to follow the consecutive history of China from 2637b.c.down to the present time; it would be an infliction upon you, and I shall only mention some of the principal events. Our authority in these remarks numbers the Chinese army at three hundred and fifty thousand; the Year Book makes it double this number. Judged by a European standard, it does not amount to much outside of mere numbers; though in addition to it there is a sort of militia, camped in the several provinces, more in the nature of police than soldiers, of twice as many men as the imperial army.
"The first great war in China was the Tâi-Ping rebellion, which the older of you can remember. It began in 1851, and was continued for nearly twenty years. Its leader was Hung, a poor student, who studied up a new religion, which was certainly an improvement upon those of the people, for it recognized the Great God, and Christ as the Elder Brother. A strict morality and the keeping of the Sabbath were required of its adherents, and idolatry and the use of opium were forbidden.
"Hung incited the rebellion; and its object was to overturn the ruling dynasty of the Manchus, andplace himself on the throne. It was at first very successful in its progress, and it looked as though the imperial cause was doomed. In 1855 the rebels, for the want of sufficient re-enforcements in an attempt to capture Pekin, were compelled to retreat to Nanking, and then the decline of the insurrection began. A body of foreigners under an American by the name of Ward joined the imperialists, and rendered important service; but he was killed in battle in 1862. He was succeeded by one of the subordinates, who became General Burgevine; and he was quite as successful as General Ward had been. The new general fell out with the government, and retired. By the influence of British residents at Shang-hai, who had organized an effective army, General Charles George Gordon, of whom you heard in Egypt, was placed in command. He captured Nanking, and the rebellion was suppressed in 1865.
"You have been informed of the movements of the Portuguese, English, French, Dutch, and Spaniards to obtain territory in the East from 1497, when Vasco da Gama doubled the Cape of Good Hope. All of them established colonies; and in 1516 they began to send their ships to China, whose people did not receive them kindly. This was in the early days of the Manchu rulers, who claimed to be superior to all other monarchs on the face of the earth; they would not acknowledge the visitors as their equals, and regarded them as vassals.
"When the Chinese ruler learned of the conquestsof those from the West he tried to prevent their approach to his dominions. But trade had been established; and the opium traffic had its birth, and the people were crazy to procure and smoke it. This was the cause of the wars between China and England and France, with the vassal question. In 1800 an edict of the emperor prohibited the importation of opium into his dominions.
"England before this had entered upon the task of making a treaty to settle the relations between the two countries; but no treaty was made, and the smuggling of opium continued for many years. In 1816 another embassy went to Pekin; but it was summarily and contemptuously dismissed because the ambassador refused to go through the ceremony of repeatedly prostrating himself before the emperor, and acknowledging his own sovereign as a vassal of the emperor.
"The trade went on after India passed to the government of England. China was still obstinate, insisted upon the vassalship of the Western nation, and was confident in her power to repress the opium trade. The merchants pressed vigorously for the enlargement of their trade with China, which did not seem to be aware of its weakness before a European power. A famous mandarin was appointed governor-general of the Kwang provinces to bring the barbarians to their senses. He proceeded in earnest, and England declared war against the country in 1840. The result was evident from the first, andthe war ended with the peace of Nanking in 1842. The items were the ceding of Hong-Kong to the victor, the opening of five ports to the trade and residence of the British. Correspondence was established between the officials of the two nations; but not a word was said about opium, and the smuggling went on as before.
"In 1857, after some troubles in Canton in which the English were at fault, and the refusal of the governor-general to meet an agent of the British government, the latter declared war again, with France as an ally. Canton was captured the same year; and Yeh, the governor, was taken prisoner, and sent to Calcutta. There was little fighting in this war; and Canton being in possession of the allies, a joint commission, attended by representatives of the United States and Russia, proceeded to Pekin to make their demands upon the emperor. A treaty was made at Tien-tsin, confirming the former, and with many important articles. One provided for the appointment of ambassadors by each nation, another for the protection of Christian missionaries, and several others of less moment.
"It looked as though the Chinese emperor had been sufficiently humiliated; but the treaty 'slipped up,' for its last clause provided that the treaty should be ratified at Pekin within one year. The emperor could not abide the idea of permitting the ambassadors to enter the sacred capital, and he looked about him for the means of escaping the issue. The fortsbetween the capital and the Gulf of Pe-chi-li had been rebuilt and were well armed. The Chinese officials urged the signing at Tien-tsin, and this was done by several of the embassy; but France and England insisted that it must be signed in Pekin, as provided in the instrument itself.
"They started for the sacred city with several men-of-war, but they found the mouth of the river closed to them by the forts. A severe engagement followed, in which the allies were beaten, the only battle gained by the Chinese. At the end of a year another expedition with twenty thousand men went with the ambassadors, the forts were all taken, and the officials went to Tien-tsin. The force marched on Pekin; and the emperor fled, leaving his brother Prince Kung to meet the embassy. The north-east gate of the city was surrendered, and the treaty was duly signed at Pekin.
"In 1861 the emperor died, having named his son, six years old, as his successor. A dozen years later he took possession of the throne, the regency expiring then. He died two years later, and a nephew of Prince Kung was appointed to the succession by the imperial family. He was a child of four years of age then, and reigned under a regency till 1887, when he took possession of the government at the age of sixteen.
"I should have said before that a change of the tariff in 1842 made the importation of opium legal in the empire. The country has in recent yearsemployed foreign officers in its army and navy, and foreign mechanics in its workshops. China is represented at five of the principal nations of the world by ambassadors. It has built up a very respectable navy, mostly at the shipyards of Great Britain; and foreign officers have greatly improved the condition of the army.
"Telegraphic communication has been extensively established, and a railroad eighty-one miles long has been built. Educational institutions have been founded, and schools opened for the instruction of young men in several foreign languages. The increasing consumption of opium, which seems to have been placed in the way of the people by the action on the part of England, is a cause for great regret among the friends of China. I have said too much already, and I know you must be very tired. I thank you for bearing with me so long; and I will promise not to do so again, at least so far as China is concerned. China is at peace with all the world, and I leave her so."
The professor retired with even greater applause than in the forenoon. Since he spoke, China has been engaged in a great war with Japan; and possibly his account of the country will assist those who are yet to read the history of the conflict.
After the conclusion of the lecture in the afternoon, the passengers of the two ships had another frolic, as Captain Ringgold called it, and then dined in the cabin; after which those from the Blanche "went home," as the ladies termed it.
Towards the close of the following day, while the passengers of the Guardian-Mother were seated on the promenade, the lookout forward shouted, "Land, ho!" The announcement caused a sensation, as usual, though it was an old story. It was reported off the port bow; and the captain said it was Lema Island, a considerable distance from Hong-Kong.
"The Chinese name of Hong-Kong is Hiang-Kiang, which means 'sweet waters,'" said the commander. "It is a ridge of rocks, the highest point of which is over eighteen hundred feet above the water. It is ninety miles south by east of Canton. The island has an area of twenty-nine square miles, and is not more than half a mile from the main shore. It is a barren rock, and you will hardly see a speck of vegetation on the whole of it. In the south-west corner of the island is the city of Victoria, with apopulation of two hundred and twenty-one thousand; and it is one of the great centres of trade with Western nations. The principal import is opium, and the principal exports are tea and silk. We shall anchor soon in its splendid harbor."
An English pilot was taken; and at sunset the ship was at anchor, and the party had abundant occupation in observing the rugged shores, the shipping that filled the harbor, and especially the Chinese boats, in charge of boat-women generally. A few junks were in sight; and they had seen several of them among the islands which form an archipelago at the mouth of Canton River, extending some distance up the stream.
"There are a number of hotels here with English names," said the captain at dinner; "but I shall not trouble you to take a vote on the question of going to one of them, for we shall not remain here long, not more than one day. Our steamers can go up to Canton; but I think we had better go up in one of the regular steamers, not Chinese."
After breakfast the next morning, the first thing in order was to ascend the promontory for the view it would afford. But they could not walk up, it was so difficult and tiresome. Before they left the ship the American consul visited her, and proffered his assistance to the tourists; for he had read about the ships in the papers of some of the ports they had visited.
This gentleman was very kind and very polite, andwhile he was on board the party from the Blanche came to the ship in the steam-launch. He was introduced to everybody, and advised the travellers to take Chinese sampans for their visit to the shore, for the novelty of the thing. The water around the ship was covered with them, and a sufficient number of them were taken to accommodate the party. "The colonel," as the consul was generally called, talked "pidgin" English, which is practically a dialect in itself, to the boat-women.
The captain, Mrs. Belgrave, the colonel, and a few others went in the first sampan, and the lady was pleased with the women in charge of the craft; and several children were in a coop at the stern. The price of the craft was ten cents for half an hour. In a few minutes they were landed at the town; and then a crowd of coolies, as the laborers are called here, surrounded the party with sedans and rickshaws, and all were anxious for a job. The passengers waited till all the company had landed, and then took sedans or rickshaws for the Hong-Kong Hotel.
It required twenty of them to accommodate the party. The commander and the consul went into the hotel; and a lunch, or tiffin as it is called here as in India, was ordered for the tourists at one o'clock. Then the colonel instructed the coolies where to go, and the procession started for a round in the city. The buildings are constructed of granite, which is the material of the surrounding heights, the dwellings with verandas.
"How is the weather here, Colonel?" asked the captain, when they stopped to examine a locality.
"The average temperature is seventy-five; and that, of course, gives us some hot days in summer, which is a rainy season. Thunder-storms come often; and once in a while a typhoon breaks in upon us, sometimes doing an immense amount of damage," replied the consul. "But the climate is not unhealthy. If the town had been built around the corner of the island, it would have been cooler, though we could not have had this magnificent harbor."
The company had all descended when a stop was made; and most of them insisted upon walking along Queen's Road in order to have a better opportunity to look into the stores, and see the street traders, for most of the Chinese pursue their business in the open air. The stores were filled with the curious goods peculiar to the East, such as China crapes, porcelain vases, and other wares, and camphor-wood boxes, proof against moths. The shop people were well dressed and extremely polite. Several stores were visited, those indicated by the colonel.
One man, who appeared to be the "boss," sat at a desk with a little brush, or camel's-hair pencil, for the natives do not write with pens, and made a tea-chest character in a kind of book for every article sold. The salesmen were very skilful in handling the goods, and showing them in the most tempting manner. Mrs. Belgrave bought some things that she fancied; and then came up the question as to how topay for them, for they had no Chinese money. The colonel helped them out by giving cards, like bank-checks, payable by the steward of the Hong merchants.
Continuing the walk, they came to a money-changer. The commander put down two English sovereigns, for which he received a bag full of the current coins, which were not the nativecash, but the pieces made for Hong-Kong, as they are made for the island of Jamaica, where an English penny will not pass. The smallest was of the value of a cash, or one mill. A cent was about the size of our old copper one, and a ten-cent piece was a little larger than our dime. The value was given in Chinese as well as English for the benefit of the natives; and the cash piece had a square hole in the centre, for the natives keep them on strings or wires.
The captain gave about a half a dollar's worth of this money to each person, so that none need be bothered about paying for small articles. The boys invested a portion of their wealth for a quantity of Swatow oranges, about the size of heavy bullets. They could not understand the native seller, and permitted him to take his pay out of a handful of coins; but he took next to nothing, and they were confident they were not cheated, for he took the same coins from the hands of all.
Among the pedlers all sorts of vegetables were for sale, and the groper-fish, shark-fin soup, meats minced with herbs and onions, poultry cut up and sold inpieces, stewed goose, bird's-nest soup, rose-leaf soup with garlic—heaven with the other place, Scott called it—and scores of other eatables for native palates, and some of them would suit the taste of Americans.
Taking their places in the vehicles, the tourists were borne through the principal streets. There are only five or six thousand English in the city, and Hong-Kong is substantially Chinese. At about eleven, the coolies toted the sedans to the top of the peak, where an observatory is located, following a zigzag path. The approach of every vessel of any consequence is signalled from this elevation by flags. The ascent is difficult, it is so steep; and the bearers of the sedans had to stop and rest occasionally. The view is magnificent, and the consul pointed out the objects of interest.
It was easier to get down the steep than to get up, and the party reached the hotel at the appointed time. The lunch was ready, though it was hardly first-class. When the captain asked about the expense of living for Europeans in China, the colonel said that the price per day at the best hotels was from four to six dollars, and that one could not keep house for less than four thousand dollars a year. In summer the people live in bungalows on the peaks, where quite a town has grown up. The captain paid the bill in English gold. In the afternoon the company made an excursion by a regular steamer to Macao, on the other side of the river,forty miles distant. It has been a Portuguese settlement since 1557; but it had little interest for the tourists, and they returned by the same steamer, and went on board of the ship.
The colonel dined on board, and the captain announced his intention to go to Canton the following day. The next morning the tourists were on board of the steamer for that city. The colonel could not go with them; but he procured a couple of English guides to attend them, one of whom was Mr. Inch and the other Mr. Larch.
"Kwang-tung is the native name of the city to which we are going, and from this the English had made Canton," said Mr. Larch, as the boat left the shore; and he proceeded to name the islands in sight, and point out all objects of interest, as he did all the way up the river.
The city is on the north side of the Choo-Chiang, or Pearl River, ninety miles from Hong-Kong. They saw nothing of especial interest except a temple on the shore, and a fort with a three-story pagoda rising from the centre of it. On the arrival of the steamer off the city, she was surrounded by boats as at Hong-Kong. The captain of the boat recommended one he called Tommy, though it was a woman; and her craft was engaged, with as many more as were needed, indicated by her.
At the landing-place Mr. Seymour, the American consul, to whom the colonel had telegraphed, was waiting for them. He introduced himself, and wassoon on the best of terms with all the tourists. He advised them to go to the International Hotel, and they went there. A score of sedans and rickshaws were at once engaged; and Tommy and the other women carried the valises and bags for them, each attended by the owner. They were to remain three days in Canton. Dinner was the first ceremony they performed after they went to the hotel, and the consul joined the party by invitation.
"Canton is a city with a population estimated at a million and a half, including the people that live in boats from one year's end to the other, and doubtless you noticed their aquatic dwellings as you came up the river," said the consul, who had been invited to tell the company something about the place. "It is surrounded by a wall nine miles in length, built of brick and sandstone, twenty-five to forty feet high, and twenty feet thick, and divided by a partition wall into two unequal parts. There are twelve outer gates, and also gates in the partition wall. The names of these are curious, as Great Peace Gate, Eternal Rest Gate, and others like them. There are more than six hundred streets, lanes you will call them; for they are not often more than eight feet wide, very crooked, and very dirty. This is the general idea of the city, and the details you will see for yourselves."
Temple and garden in China.Temple and garden in China.Page 329.
Page 329.
After breakfast the next morning the party was organized for sight-seeing, and the sedans they had used the day before were ready for them. The twoguides insisted upon going on foot, the better to discharge their duties. They rode through some of the principal streets, looked into the shops, and observed the pedlers; but all was about the same as in Hong-Kong, except that the streets were wider in the latter. The same goods were for sale. They looked into a tea saloon; and the gentlemen entered an opium den, which nearly made some of them sick.
"This is called the Plain pagoda," said Mr. Inch, when they came to it. "It was built a thousand years ago, and is one hundred and sixty feet high."
They were taken to a couple of Joss-houses, or temples. A sort of tower attracted their attention; and they were told that the one before them, and hundreds of others, were occupied each by a watchman at night to call out the hours of the night, and give the alarm in case of fire. They halted before the nine-story pagoda, the most interesting structure they had seen, and the most peculiarly Chinese.
"It is one hundred and seventy feet high, and was built thirteen hundred years ago," Mr. Larch explained. "Brick, covered with marble or glazed tile, is the material used. Each story is smaller than the one below it, and each has a balcony around it."
"Now we come to the Temple of Honam, which is one of the largest in China," said Mr. Inch, as they halted before its gates, after the party got out of the sedans. "With its grounds it covers seven acres, and one hundred and seventy-five priests are employed in it."
"What is the religion of these people?" asked Mrs. Woolridge.
"The priests and nuns of Canton number more than two thousand, and nine-tenths of them are Buddhists. The Temple of Five Hundred Genii contains that number of statues, various in size, and was erected in honor of Buddha and his disciples."
At the usual hour the party went to lunch, and were tired, though they had done but little walking. The sedans were dismissed till the next morning; the afternoon was devoted to an excursion on the river, and Tommy had been directed to provide the boats. They moved through the wilderness of floating dwelling-places, and looked them over with wonder and surprise. Many of the sampans were made of three planks; and the people on board of them, mostly women, were exceedingly amusing.
Large junks, some of them from five hundred to sixteen hundred tons burden, were to be seen, and long, broad, flat Chinese men-of-war, with twenty to forty guns; but the latter are out of fashion now, and modern-built vessels take their places. They have two great painted eyes on the bow to enable them, as the Chinese say, to find their way over the sea. But the most beautiful sight was the flower-boats, having galleries decorated with flowers, and arranged in most fantastic designs. Each of these floating gardens contains one large apartment and a number of cabinets. The walls are hung with mirrors and graceful draperies of silk, and glasschandeliers and colored lanterns are suspended from the ceiling. Elegant little baskets of flowers are hung in various places. It seems very like fairy-land on these boats. They are stationary, and dinners are given on boardtothe Chinese who can afford them. They are also places of amusement by day and night, and plays, ballets, and conjuring take place at them; but no respectable females frequent them.
During the next two days the tourists continued to wander on foot and in sedans over the city with the guides. One day they went to the great examination hall, 1330 feet long by 583 wide, covering sixteen acres, and containing 8653 cells, in which students are placed so that there shall be no stealing others' work.
When a member of the party asked the meaning of certain tall buildings, he was told that they were pawnbrokers' offices; for the Chinese have a mania for pawning their clothes, or whatever they have, even if not in need of the money, to save the trouble of taking care of the articles. Before the third day of the stay in Canton was over, some of the party had seen enough, and preferred to remain at the hotel while others were out with the guides. The next day they returned to Hong-Kong, and were glad to be once more on board the ships, for sight-seeing is the most tiresome work in the world.
The passengers of the Guardian-Mother were on deck at an early hour the next morning, and the smoke was rising from the funnel as though it was the intention of the commander that she should sail soon; and some of them began to wonder if they were to see anything more of China than could be seen from the deck of the ship.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, have you seen all you wish of China?" said Captain Ringgold, as he seated himself at the head of the table at breakfast.
"We can put it to vote," suggested Mrs. Belgrave.
"I don't think it is necessary," replied the commander, laughing. "We shall sail this forenoon for Shang-hai, for I suppose that some of you who keep hens wish to see the home of the famous rooster that bears that name."
"I thought yesterday afternoon that I had seen enough of China to last me the rest of my lifetime; but I feel a little different this morning since I got rested," said Mrs. Woolridge.
"It is said that travellers enjoy their visits to foreign countries more after they get home, and thinkover what they have seen, than they do while going from place to place," added Mrs. Belgrave. "I think of a hundred things I saw in Canton, and did not understand, that I shall recall when I read about China, as I intend to do when I get home."
"That is just my idea!" exclaimed Mrs. Woolridge. "It will take me three years, at least, after I get home to read up what I have seen on this voyage."
Much more in the same general direction was said by others. When they went on deck they found the pilot who had brought the ship into port walking back and forth. He had brought off theChina Mail, and three other newspapers in English, and a pile of others in Chinese to be kept as curiosities by the party. The captain had obtained his clearance and other papers the day before, as soon as he arrived from Canton, with the assistance of the colonel, who had come off with the pilot to make his adieux. In less than half an hour the ship was under way again, with the Blanche following her.
"How far is it to Shang-hai?" asked Mrs. Belgrave, as she met the captain in front of the pilot-house.
"It is eight hundred and seventy miles, and the voyage will require two days and fourteen hours," he replied. "I shall keep well to the eastward, and if you are up by six to-morrow morning you will see the island of Formosa. Then we shall be about on the Tropic of Cancer, when we shall pass out of the Torrid Zone—out of the tropics."
This information was circulated by the lady among all the passengers. Before noon the ship was out of sight of land, and the voyage was just about the same as it had been in smooth seas and pleasant weather. All the party were seated on the promenade at six o'clock the next morning.
"But there is land on both sides of us, Captain Ringgold," said Mrs. Belgrave. "Which is Formosa?"
"That on your right. We are going through the Formosa Channel; and the islands on the port side are the Pescadores, about twenty miles from Formosa."
After breakfast, when the ship had passed the smaller islands, and the passengers were seated on the promenade, the commander opened upon them with a talk about Formosa: "The name of the island in Chinese is Taiwan; and it is off the province of Fu-chien, and from ninety to two hundred and twenty miles from it. It has an area of 14,978 square miles, or about the size of the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut put together. It has a chain of mountains through it, the highest peak of which"—and the speaker looked at his memoranda—"is 12,847 feet high.
"The number of inhabitants is estimated at about 2,000,000, mostly immigrants from China, with the original natives. The island is exceedingly rich in its vegetation, and the plants are about the same as those of the main land. Rice paper is made ofthe pith of a tree found only in Formosa. In the south sugar and turmeric are the staples. The latter is a plant whose root is bright yellow, used in dyeing silk. Formosa tea has become well known at home as of excellent quality. Other productions are about the same as in southern China.
"There are plenty of birds there, but no wild animals of any consequence that are game for the Nimrods. A great deal more might be said about the island, but you have more now than you are likely to remember. You can see many junks now, and the trade with China is mostly carried on in them; and some of them are pirates in these seas, even to the south of Hainan, for a trading-junk turns into a pirate when her captain can make some money by it."
After lunch the Blanche's people came on board, and all hands had the usual frolic during the afternoon and evening. The next morning the captain told his passengers that they had passed out of the China Sea the day before, and that they were on the Tung-hai, or Eastern Sea, outside of which was the broad Pacific Ocean. On the third morning from Hong-Kong, when the company came on deck, they found the Guardian-Mother at anchor, but just getting under way with an English pilot on board, who had been taken late the evening before.
"Where are we now, Captain Ringgold?" asked Mr. Woolridge, when the party had seated themselves on the promenade to see what was to be seen.
"We are at the mouth of the great river Yang-tsze-Chiang; but we shall soon pass into a branch of it called the Woo-Sung, and find Shang-hai, for it is correctly written with a hyphen between the syllables," replied the commander. "But the tide is right; and we can go over the bar without any delay, the pilot says. It is about twelve miles up the river to the town; and, as you can see, the country is low and flat. The city has 250,000 inhabitants, and is the principal central port of China for foreign trade."
The channel of the river was crowded with junks, and there are sometimes as many as three thousand of them between the town and the sea; but they were careful to keep out of the track of steamers, even though they had the right of way. The two steamers picked their way through the native boats, and they were at anchor off the city in season for the late breakfast ordered.
"Shang-hai stands on low ground; and cholera, dysentery, and fevers prevail here in summer," said the commander when they were all seated at the table. "The English, French, and American quarters are in the suburb north of the native city, and they have broad and clean streets; but in the city proper, they are narrow and filthy, not unlike those of Canton. It is enclosed by a wall five miles in extent. What else there is here you can see for yourselves."
The captain decided, after the pacha came onboard in his barge with the rest of his party, to lunch and dine at the Astor House, perhaps because the name sounded like home; but he found that the hotel "was a horse of another color." They went on shore in some of the native boats that crowded around the ship; and their first care was to secure six guides, all that offered their services on the quay. The next was to procure a supply of the money current in the city, which was accomplished with the aid of the principal guide, all of whom were English, who could speak Chinese and pidgin.
The company were then divided into six parties, who had suggested this plan when they found that this number of guides could be obtained. The "Big Four" went together, and the rest of the company were in parties of three. The conveyances were found to be small, low broughams, pony gigs, palanquins, jinrickishas, and wheelbarrows, the last such as the party had seen in Cholan. The boys decided to walk first, and try the vehicles later. They went into a shop where Louis saw something in a window he wanted, and the guide asked the price for him. The dealer refused to show the article, or to name a price, unless Louis would agree to buy if he did so.
They were not like the Hong-Kong salesmen; for there were several of them, and they were impolite enough to make fun of the tourists. Scott doubled his fists, and was inclined to pitch into the one who refused to show any goods till they were practically sold; but Louis begged him to desist. Theynext went into a tea saloon in the middle of a dirty pond of water, which would have just suited the taste of a Dutchman at home.
The tea was given to them in the cups, and they poured in hot water. The keeper swindled them in asking about five times the price, and the guide remonstrated; but the fellow was saucy, and the charge was paid to avoid trouble. The guide said the other fellow would have cheated them in the same ratio, if Louis had agreed, as he required, to buy. Then they looked into an opium joint, where the smokers were reclining on broad benches. The pipe was a tube with the bowl on the top. The drug is boiled till it is of the consistency of honey. Something like a knitting-needle is then taken by the smoker, the end of which is dipped in the jar; the needle is then turned till the opium becomes a ball as big as a pea. It is then held in a flame till it is partially lighted, when it is dropped into the bowl of a pipe. The amount used is counted in pipes, some being satiated with two or three of them, while the hard cases require twenty. In either case he goes to sleep, and has pleasant dreams. The habit is very deleterious to those who practise it, and death results from excessive use of the drug.
"There is a sedan with a Chinese magnate in it, with four bearers," said the guide; "but it is not so common here as in Hong-Kong and Canton."
The barrow excited the attention of the boys more than the other vehicles. At the door of the shopthey saw a native reading a paper, wearing a pair of spectacles whose eyes were almost as big as saucers. After walking through the streets of Hong-Kong and Canton, the boys saw very little that was new to them.
"Is there a cemetery in the town?" asked Louis, after they had become somewhat tired, not to say disgusted, with the dirty streets, and the crowd in them.
"Nothing that you Americans would call by that name," replied the guide. "There are some small burial-grounds; but the Chinese generally bury their dead in private grounds, outside of the cities. They have a reverence for their dead which is not equalled by any people on the face of the earth. The graves of the rich and noted are very carefully selected, and are decorated with great care and taste. Some of the finest gardens in the country are those enclosed in a private burial-place.
"A rich Chinaman thinks more of his coffin than he does of his house. He often buys it years before he has occasion to use it, and keeps it, taking better care of it than he does of his female children. Wherever a Chinaman dies, he must be sent home to be buried; and many of them come here from America, taken up from the earth even a year or more after death."
At this point the party came to an open place where there were all the different vehicles used in the city waiting to be employed; and as it was nearlytime for the lunch, they decided to ride to the hotel. Louis took a rickshaw, as it is called here; Scott and Morris preferred a wheelbarrow, and Felix took another, balanced by the guide. They were novel conveyances to the boys, and they enjoyed the ride very much. The rest of the parties returned to the hotel about the same time. There were Chinese dishes on the table; and those who had tried some of them before ordered them, especially the bird's-nest soups. The hams were very nice, and the captain hoped that Mr. Sage had procured some of them for the ship.
The afternoon was spent as the forenoon had been, but the party found little to interest them. The next day the tourists made an excursion up the Yang-tsze-Chiang, and enjoyed it very much. They saw a little of the farming operations, as a man ploughing with a buffalo, which looked more like a deer than a bovine; others carrying bundles of grain, one at each end of a pole on their shoulders; another threshing by beating a bunch of the stalks on a frame like a ladder or clothes-horse; but what pleased them most were the fishermen. One had a net several feet square, suspended at the end of a pole. It was sunk in the water, and then hauled up. Any fish that happened to be over it then was brought up with it; but Scott declared that this device was an old story, and they were used in the United States, though an iron hoop was the frame of the net.
They were more interested in the fishing with cormorants. A man with a dip-net in his hand stoodon a bamboo raft, on which was a basket like those the snake-charmers use in India, to receive his fish. The birds were about the size of geese. They dived into the water, and brought up a fish every time. They have a ring or cord on their necks so that they cannot swallow their prizes, and they drop them into the dip-net.
They went up as far as Taiping, where they took a returning steamer, and that night slept on board the ships. On the following morning the steamers went down the river; and then the question where they were to go next came up, and the commander soon settled it by announcing that the ship was bound to Tien-tsin, on the way to Pekin.
The company had hardly expected that Captain Ringgold would go to the capital, for it was off the course to Japan, which was the next country to be visited; but their curiosity had been greatly excited, and he was disposed to gratify it.
"Pekin is not on navigable water, and we cannot go there in the ship," said he. "We go to Tien-tsin, which is the seaport of Pekin, about eighty miles distant from it. It is a treaty port, and is said to have a population of six hundred thousand; the number can doubtless be considerably discounted. The next thing is to get to Pekin; though we can go most of the way by boat to Tung-chow, thirteen miles from the capital. Some go all the way on horseback or by cart. We will decide that question when we get to Tien-tsin."
"How long will it take us to go there?" asked Uncle Moses.
"About two days; we are off Woo-Sung now. We have the pilot on board, and we shall go to sea at once," replied the commander.
Nothing of especial interest occurred on the voyage; and before noon on the second day out the twoships were off the mouth of the Pei-ho River, and a Chinese pilot was taken. As they went up the river they saw the Taku forts, where the Celestial soldiers won their only victory over the English, but were badly beaten the following year. On the rising tide the ships got up the river, and anchored off the town.
The place was like any other Chinese city, and was quite as dirty as the dirtiest of them. Two of the guides from Shang-hai, who were couriers for travellers, had been brought, one in each ship; and both of them were intelligent men. The Blanchita had been put into the water as soon as the anchors were buried in the mud; and the party went on shore in her, to the great disgust of the boat-people.
The American consul came on board with the Chinese officials; and the commander took him into the cabin for a conference in regard to getting to Pekin, while the tourists were on shore with the guides. Mr. Smithers had seen the steam-launch, and the question was whether the party could go up Pekin River in her. The consul could see no difficulty in the way, any more than there would be in the ships' barges. He thought he could put them in the way of making the trip securely, and they went on shore together in the barge.
Mr. Smithers knew a couple of high officials who were going to the capital the next day, and the commander was introduced to them. They were very polite, and both of them spoke English. One hadbeen educated at Yale College in New Haven. They were invited to go with the party to Pekin in the Blanchita, and accepted. The arrangements were completed for the trip. They went on board of the Guardian-Mother, and were treated with the most distinguished consideration, shown over the ship, and invited to lunch.
When the launch came off with the party at noon, all the ladies and gentlemen were presented to them by the commander. The pacha, the rajah, and the princess were clothed in their elegant robes; and they evidently made a profound impression. The plan for the journey to the capital was announced to the passengers, and they could not help being delighted with it. Mr. Sage had been directed to spread himself on the lunch, and he did so. Monsieur Odervie even prepared a few Chinese dishes, the art of doing which he had learned from a native cook in Hong-Kong.
In the afternoon the party went on shore again, under the escort of Mr. Psi-ning and Mr. Ying-chau, visiting the temple in which the treaties had been signed, and several others, and then walked through the street of "Everlasting Prosperity," as the Chinese gentlemen explained it. The prosperity seemed to consist mainly in the sale of eel-pies with baked potatoes, the former kept hot at a small charcoal fire. Live fish in shallow bowls with a little water in them were common, and cook-shops for more elaborate Chinese dishes were abundant.
Both the native gentlemen weremandarinsof different orders, and they were received with the most profound deference by the common people. The tourists saw everything in the town that was worth seeing; and early in the afternoon they returned to the Guardian-Mother, where the consul and the native gentlemen were to dine. The latter were invited to sleep on board in order to be in readiness for an early start the next day, and they had ordered their baggage to be sent to the ship. Mr. Psi-ning said he had telegraphed to an official at Tung-chow to have conveyances ready for the party at that place, which was as far as the boat could go, thirteen miles from Pekin.
Mr. Smithers was exceedingly kind, and did far more than could be expected of a consul. The commander expressed his obligations to him in the most earnest terms for all he had done, and especially for introducing the distinguished Chinese gentlemen. The dinner was the most elaborate the steward and the cook could provide, and it was one of those hilarious affairs which have several times been described during the voyage. In the evening there were Mrs. Belgrave's games, music, and dancing with the assistance of the Italian band, and finally the singing of the Gospel Hymns.
The Blanchita was prepared for her voyage as soon as she came off from the shore, coaled for the round trip, supplied with cooked provisions, though the galley was available, and with everything thatcould possibly be needed. She was put in about the same trim as when she went up the rivers of Borneo. Felipe was to be the engineer, Pitts the cook, and four sailors were detailed for deck-hands. The excursion had been arranged for five days; and the bags, valises, and other impedimenta of the voyagers, were on deck at an early hour. Breakfast was ready at half-past six; and at half-past seven the Blanchita got under way with a native pilot for the river, who could speak pidgin English.
The party were in a frolicsome mood; and they went off singing a song, to the great astonishment of the native boat-people. Mr. Psi-ning joined with them; for he had learned the tunes in the United States, where he had travelled extensively. Tien-tsin is the terminus of the Grand Canal in the north, and they passed through a small portion of it into the river. The trip was through a low country. The road to the capital was in sight, and they saw various vehicles moving upon it. The first that attracted their attention was one of the barrows, with a native between the handles, supporting them with a band over his shoulders. On one side of the large wheel was a passenger; and behind him was a lofty sail, like those depending from the yards of a ship, but about three times as high in proportion to its width. It had five ribs of wood in it below the upper yard to keep it spread out. The boys thought the craft would be inclined to heel over with all the cargo on the starboard side.
They saw a rickshaw rigged with a sail in this manner. A man on a farm was working with an ordinary wheelbarrow sailing in this way. There were no end of men riding ponies, or in the two-wheeled passenger-carts having a cover over them which extended out over the horse. Farther up they observed a couple of coolies irrigating the land with a machine which had four paddles for moving the water, with four more each side of the stream, under a frame to which two men were holding on, and working treadmill fashion, with their feet on each of the four arms. They noticed mixed teams of horses and bullocks, such as one sees in Naples. The most curious was a mule-litter, which was simply a sedan between two animals.
Felipe drove the launch at a nine-knot speed, and at half-past three in the afternoon the boat arrived at Tung-chow. Contrary to their expectation, the passengers had greatly enjoyed the trip; but it was out of their own hilarity rather than their surroundings. Pitts had arranged the lunch in a very tasty manner on the tables in what the boys had called the fore and after cabins. They found all the variety of vehicles they had seen on the road, and in three hours they came to the great gate of Pekin. They were conveyed to the small German hotel, which they more than filled; and other lodgings were provided for some of the gentlemen, though the meals were to be taken at the public-house.
The Chinese gentlemen had to leave them toattend to their own affairs, but after dinner the professor told them something about Pekin: "The city is in about the same latitude as New York, and the climate is about the same. It is situated on a sandy plain, and the suburbs are comparatively few. The town consists of two cities, the Manchu and the Chinese, separated by a wall; and the whole is surrounded by high walls, with towers and pagodas on them, as you have already seen. The Manchu wall is fifty feet high, sixty feet wide at the bottom, and forty at the top. Without the cross-walls, there are twenty-one miles of outer wall, enclosing twenty-six square miles of ground.
"There are sixteen gates, each with a tower a hundred feet high on it. Your first impression must have been that Pekin is the greatest city in the world. You came in by a street two hundred feet wide, with shops on each side; but when you have seen more of it, you will find dilapidation and decay, and about the same filth you have observed in other Chinese cities. But it is one of the most ancient cities in the world, for this or another city stood here twelve hundred years before Christ.Kublâi, a grandson of Genghis Khan, the great conqueror of the Moguls, made Pekin the capital of all China. When the Manchus came into power the city was all ready for them, and for a time they kept it in repair; but for more than a hundred years it has been going to ruin.
"The Manchu, or inner city, is divided into threeparts, the largest of which is the real city. In the middle of it are two walled enclosures, one within the other. The outer one seems to be the guardroom of the inner, to which entrance is forbidden to all foreigners, and even to Manchus and Chinese not connected with the court. This last is called the Purple Forbidden City, two and a quarter miles around it, and is the actual imperial residence. It includes the palaces of the emperor and empress and other members of the family. It contains other palaces and halls of reception.
"The 'Hall of Grand Harmony' is built on a terrace twenty feet high, and is of marble, one hundred and ten feet high. Its chief apartment is two hundred feet long by ninety wide, and contains a throne for the emperor, who holds his receptions here on New Year's Day, his birthday, and on other great occasions. The 'Palace of Heavenly Purity' is where the monarch meets his cabinet at dawn for business; and you see that he must be an early riser. Within these enclosures are temples, parks, an artificial lake a mile long, a great temple in which the imperial family worship their ancestors, and many other grand palaces, temples, and statues, which I have not time to mention.
"The outer, or Chinese, city, is thinly populated, and a considerable portion of it is under cultivation. The principal streets are over a hundred feet wide; but those at the sides of them, like Canton and other cities, are nothing but lanes. None of the streetsare paved, and mud and dust reign supreme. As with other Eastern cities, the population of Pekin is exaggerated, being estimated by some as high as two millions; but Dr. Legge thought it was less than one million.
"The charge of infanticide seems not to be applicable to Pekin or the surrounding country, and is said to be almost unknown there. A dead-cart passes through the streets at early morning to pick up the bodies of children dying from ordinary causes whose parents are too poor to bury them. There are foundling hospitals, to which the mothers prefer to take their female children rather than sacrifice them. In fact, infanticide is said to be known only in four or five provinces. I have nothing more to say, and I leave you to see the rest for yourselves," said the professor, as he resumed his seat.
The next morning Mr. Psi-ning presented himself at the hotel, before which were gathered vehicles enough to accommodate the entire party. The rickshaw had recently been introduced from Japan, and several of them were included in the number; but the carts and the barrows were generally preferred. The company selected what they pleased. Mr. Psi-ning led the way through the principal street, and through some of the lanes; but the scenes in them were so much like what they had seen in three other cities that the novelty of them had worn off. The residences of the ambassadors of foreign countries were pointed out to them, including that of the Hon.C. Denby, before which they halted; and the Chinese gentleman conducted them all into it, where they were presented in due form to His Excellency, who received them very pleasantly.
They then went to the Temple of Heaven, which was quite a curious building, somewhat in pagoda style. It began on the ground at a round structure, with an overhanging roof. The second story was smaller, with the same kind of a roof; and the third was the same, but with a roof coming to a point, like a cone. It was almost a hundred feet high. The tiles were of blue porcelain, in imitation of a clear sky.
In the afternoon the tourists were conveyed to the office of the Board of Punishments, and Mr. Psi-ning explained the criminal processes and sentences. The latter are very severe, including torture, which makes one think that he is reading Foxe's "Book of Martyrs." The party declined to witness any of the punishments. Some culprits are treated to twenty or more blows with a bamboo. Men suspected are tortured to make them confess. They are put in all sorts of painful positions.
Capital punishment is inflicted by placing the victim on his knees, with his arms bound behind him, and his head is severed from his body by the stroke of a heavy knife or sword.
The next day the mandarin conducted the tourists to the gate of the Forbidden City; for he had obtained a permit for the admission of the whole ofthem in a body. The professor had described the principal structures within the enclosure; and it would be only a repetition to report what the mandarin said of them, though he added considerable to what had come from the books. The third gateway was especially noted as one of the finest pieces of Chinese architecture the party had seen.
The "Abode of Heavenly Calmness" was the noblest, richest, and most luxuriously furnished in the great palace; for it is the private apartment of the emperor. The Great Union Saloon, where His Imperial Majesty receives the high-class mandarins, was elegant enough for any royal apartment.
The tourists walked about among the Chinese glories till they were tired out. The two Cupids were completely "blown;" and when they found a place, they seated themselves, and let the rest of the company finish the survey of the Forbidden City. The palace of one prince of the imperial house was so large that three thousand men could be quartered in the out-buildings, and doubtless as many more could be accommodated in the main structure. The Cupids were picked up on the return; but there was more to be seen, and they went to the beautiful temple of Fo, containing a gilded bronze statue of the god, sixty feet high, with one hundred arms, and Scott remarked that he was like a big man-of-war, well armed.
They came again to the Temple of Heaven; but the mandarin had not obtained a permit, which wasexceedingly difficult to procure in recent years. Mr. Psi-ning told them that the interior, in its chief hall, represented the heavens. It was a circular apartment surrounded by twenty-two pillars, and everything was painted sky-blue. A portion of this temple is the "Penitential Retreat" of the emperor, where he keeps three days of fasting, meditating over his own sins and those of the government, previous to offering up his sacrifice. Connected with the temple was a band of five hundred musicians, who reside there; but the commander was thankful that the party were not compelled to listen to their performance.
The tourists were very glad to get back to the hotel in the street of the legations, and they did not go out again that day. The question of visiting the Great Wall then came up for discussion. Brother Avoirdupois and Brother Adipose Tissue declared in the beginning that they would not go; and the mandarin laughed heartily when these names were applied to them, and still more when they were called the Cupids.
"It is forty-five miles to the loop-wall which travellers generally visit from Pekin," said Mr. Psi-ning. "You would have to go in mule-litters, or on horseback, or by the carts you have used; and it would take you a day to get there, and as long to return. Then it would be only the loop-wall, and not the Great Wall, which cannot be reached without going over a hundred miles. I can say for myself that Ihave never been to either, just as I heard a man in Boston say that he had lived there over sixty years, and had never been to Bunker Hill Monument."
"The wall is an old story to you, I suppose," said the princess.
"You have seen the walls of Pekin, and they are a good specimen of the Great Wall; at any rate, they satisfied me," replied the mandarin.
But the "Big Four" and Professor Giroud decided to visit the loop-wall, and the Chinese gentleman advised them to start immediately after lunch. One of the guides, who had been there several times before, was to accompany them, and was sure they could reach their destination by sunset; and they started as soon as they had lunched. Mr. Psi procured for them six fine horses and a mule-litter. The road was paved with solid granite slabs, ten feet long, all the way.
The attentive mandarin kept the rest of the tourists very busy the next two days; and they visited everything that was worth seeing in the capital, and they dined with him one day in his palace. The party from the wall returned before night the next day, and said they had had a good time, though the wall did not amount to much more than that seen at Pekin.
"I have a government mission in Tokyo next week, and I have to go to Japan," said Mr. Psi-ning, while they were dining together at the German Hotel. "I shall probably meet you there."
"If you are going to Japan, permit me to offer you a stateroom on board of the Guardian-Mother," interposed the commander eagerly. "You are practically an American after a five years' residence in the United States, and are familiar with our way of living; though I will add that Monsieur Odervie, our French cook, has learned to make a few Chinese dishes, and we will endeavor to make you comfortable."
"Your living will suit me perfectly, for I am used to it; and having dined with you on board, I know that your bill of fare is better than any hotel in the States. But when do you sail?"
"Whenever you are ready, my dear sir."
"I have to spend a day in Tien-tsin, and then I was to take a steamer to Shang-hai, and thence a P. & O. to Yokohama."
"But that is out of the way; and we go direct to Yokohama, or we will go there first if you honor us with your company," said the captain, glancing at General Noury.
"By all means!" exclaimed the pacha. "Mrs. Noury and myself will be delighted to have you with us, Mr. Psi-ning."
"Then I shall be too happy to accept your cordial invitation," replied the mandarin. That matter was settled; and the new passenger went to his palace to prepare for his journey, though he did not forget to send one of his people to Tung-chow to arrange for the reception of the party the next day.
The horses the young men rode, the mule-litters, wheelbarrows, and jinrikishas were at the door of the hotel early in the morning; and the mandarin, with his valet, were on time. The company reached Tung-chow before noon; and a Chinese lunch was ready for them, ordered by the new passenger. The Blanchita was all ready for them to step on board when they had partaken of roast goose, duck, and chicken at the inn. The passage down the river was a frolic all the way, and the guest told them more about China than they had learned before in regard to matters not generally known.
Felipe hurried the steamer, and she was alongside the Guardian-Mother before five in the afternoon. Mr. Psi-ning had several pieces of baggage, including despatch-bags, which were placed in the finest stateroom on board. The commander had telegraphed for dinner at the usual hour. Mr. Smithers came on board before it was ready, and was invited to join the company. From him they learned that Mr. Psi-ning was in the diplomatic service of the government, and that he would be of great assistance to them in Japan.
The ships had to wait only one day for him; and on Wednesday, May 10, at six in the morning, they sailed for Tokyo, though the commander's original intention had been to go first to Nagasaki. The Blanche's party went on board of the Guardian-Mother before she sailed, with the Italian band. They played to the great delight of the boatmenaround the ship, as well as of those on board. The consul went to the mouth of the river, and took a tug home. It was a frolic all day and till midnight, when the Blanche's passengers returned to her.
It was a smooth sea all the four days of the voyage, even on the Pacific shores; and the Guardian-Mother's people spent the next day on board of the consort. On the third day there was a lecture on Japan in Conference Hall, given by Mr. Psi-ning, who was as familiar with that country as with China. But his discourse must be reported in another volume.
Those who are disposed to follow the tourists through Japan, and then on their long voyage of two thousand miles to Australia, New Zealand, and the Sandwich Islands, will be enabled to do so in "Pacific Shores; or, Adventures in Eastern Seas."