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 a[322] population 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, and[323] while 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.[324]
"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 to[325] pay 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 native cash, 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 in[326] pieces, 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 ............