Chapter XVII: The Coral Island of Sikayana (13)

The isthmus which unites the Portuguese settlement on the peninsula with the mainland, is barely a quarter of a mile in length by 500 feet in breadth. Formerly there was a wall built right across the centre of this tongue of land, which marked the limit of the colony. Here Chinese sentinels used to march to and fro to protect the Flowery Kingdom. This, however, did not prevent the "_Macaoistas_," as the inhabitants of Macao are accustomed to call themselves, from making frequent excursions and pic-nic parties to the mainland and the adjacent Chinese villages. On 22nd August, 1848, however, when the then governor of Macao, Dom Joao Maria Ferreira do Amaral, while riding along the narrow part of the isthmus, was set upon by a couple of armed Chinese, torn from his horse, and beheaded, his skull and hand being carried off by the murderers, the Portuguese pulled down the wall and destroyed the adjoining Chinese fort, so that not a vestige of either now remains. The government of Macao insisted on the murderers being delivered up, as also on the restitution of the head and hand of the victim, but after the lapse of a year the authorities received an official notification that the murderers had been discovered, and on confession of the crime had been executed at Shunteh. The head and hand of the unhappy Amaral were delivered to the Portuguese officials by two Chinese commissioners, and solemnly interred with the other remains. In the course of the correspondence with reference to this matter[125] between the Chinese and Portuguese authorities, it appeared that, owing to certain stringent regulations he had laid down, Governor Amaral had long been marked out for destruction by the Chinese population of Macao. The chief complaint against him was that he had profaned the graves of their ancestors in the suburbs of Macao, and had constructed new streets right through them. Every attack of illness, every unlucky speculation, every unexpected mischance, which happened to any of the Chinese residents in Macao, was ascribed to the vengeance of those spirits, whose repose had been so wantonly violated for such an insignificant purpose. The Chinese have no regular cemeteries for their dead. They inter them anywhere about the township, simply marking the spot with a stone or an inscription. At the new-year's festival these graves are adorned in the most gaudy manner, none, not even of the poorest, being neglected in this respect. This pious feeling for the dead is in singular and rude contrast with the indifference with which the Chinese regard the misfortunes of their neighbours, and the cruelty with which mothers expose their new-born children, or even leave them to die.

The trade between Macao and the mainland is very active: in the quarter of an hour that we were upon the isthmus there passed at least 60 men loaded with goods or provisions, moving to and fro to the settlement. Among these there were also sedan-chairmen, conveying back to the neighbouring villages such of the better class of Chinese as had been doing business in the city. The effect of warlike rumours from Canton and the Pei-ho had meanwhile become apparent among the European population of Macao. The insecurity of life and property increased daily. No one could venture to go a mile or two beyond the city. Even a beautiful pic-nic house, erected by the foreigners on "Green Island," close by the town, whither during peaceful times frequent excursions were made by European residents with their families, had been for months empty and gutted.

The Praya Grande, or rather the shady promenade, at its eastern extremity serves as a rendezvous for the gay world, and on Sundays, when a band of music plays here, one can scarcely pass through the crowd.

The Portuguese, who even in their native country are not a handsome race, lose still more in their physical qualities by the unscrupulous manner in which they cross with the native races. This circumstance makes the contrast still more apparent of simple, graceful, pale ladies of the Anglo-Saxon race, who now and then appear between the ugly dark natives. In the evening, towards sunset, these lovely creatures make their appearance in their sedan or other chairs in the Campo San Francisco, there to enjoy the cool evening sea-breezes. A great number of sedan porters halt here with their precious burdens, and elegantly-attired cavaliers saunter about, striving by amiable phrases and flattering remarks to elicit a smile. While these vehicles form the commonest mode of conveyance, we also saw there but few saddle-horses, and only one single carriage, the property of a rich brownish native, baronized for the amount of 40,000 dollars, and who thought by this means to display his taste, his luxury, and his nobility!

We had heard so much of certain wonderful singing stones, on a large island opposite the inner part of the harbour, that several of our party made an excursion thither. Neither natives nor indeed Europeans could give us any explanation of this singular phenomenon, but all hold that the stones must contain metal in some certain proportion, while electricity and magnetism would do the rest. The naturalists were accompanied to this mysterious spot by M. Von Carlowitz, Dr. Kane, and a Chinese physician, Dr. Wong-fun. The estimable and highly-educated Wong-fun had graduated as Doctor of Medicine in the University of Edinburgh, and had afterwards enlarged his experience by practising some time in the United States, since which he had practised the healing art with great success upon his own countrymen. A European in intelligence and education, he was still a Chinese in external appearance, and wore, as formerly, a long tail. Probably Wong-fun adhered to this ancient custom in order the more readily to indoctrinate his fellow-countrymen with European ideas.

Some small Tanka-boats, in which, as already mentioned, only two persons can be accommodated at once, and which are exclusively managed by women, conveyed our party over the bosom of the inner harbour to the opposite shore. We then proceeded through a beautiful valley, covered with rice fields, and traversed in its entire extent by a mountain torrent, which is dammed off, and drives a number of Chinese mills with the small water-courses. In the background of this valley lies the mysterious spot. The marvel itself presently became visible in a large expanse of syenite rock, greatly resembling that in the Oderwald of Hesse. Some of these have been tilted on the others, and the hard syenite resounds when struck with a hammer, just as a block of marble or basalt vibrates when struck, with a bell-like sound. These musical blocks therefore are but little interesting, unless that the Chinese make use of them to sculpture the figures of lions and tigers to adorn the entrances of their temples.

After a stay of two days in Macao, the naturalists returned to Hong-kong, where they had to devote the little time that would elapse ere the frigate sailed to sorting and packing the collections, and arranging for their transmission: for the manipulation of packing is, as Humboldt well remarked, as important as actual science in such undertakings. That naturalist confers but a small boon on science, whose only care is to collect, but who takes no pains to preserve, the fruits of his labour, by an exact indication of the place where found, and such special particulars as may prevent mistakes, and by carefully guarding against damage to the objects about to be sent, while on their way.

The kind reception and hospitality of our new friends in Hong-kong remained undiminished to the very last moment of our stay. We were fairly overwhelmed with attentions of all sorts, each apparently striving to make us forget the unfavourable circumstances under which we visited the Empire of China.

The steamer _Hong-kong_, early on the morning of 18th July, towed us out through the narrow Eastern Straits, the Ly-e-num Pass, and the Ta-thong-wun Channel, into the open sea. As we passed alongside the English frigate _Nankin_, carrying the broad pendant of the amiable and excellent Commodore Stewart, our band played "God save the Queen," while the English ensign was dipped, by way of parting salute. A little further on the Chinese Comprador, who had supplied the _Novara_ with provisions daily during her stay, had stationed himself in his boat to give us a parting farewell with a roar of gong-gong, while innumerable rockets whizzed and exploded in the air.

We found a tolerably high sea outside, but a fine fresh S.W. breeze, under which we rapidly increased our distance from the shore. In like manner as when we entered, we had now in getting out to thread our way among thousands of fishing-boats sailing about in couples, which cruise about to a distance of even 50 and 60 miles to sea. The steamer which towed us through the narrow Eastern Channel, and had us just four hours and twenty minutes in tow, charged the amount of 300 dollars (L63), so that each minute of towing cost rather over one dollar. After making a tack towards Lemma Island, in order to avoid the dangerous Nine-pin rock, the wind sprung up from E.S.E., so that we were enabled to lie our proper course, and by sundown had cleared _Piedra bianca_.

With fine weather and a fresh S.W. monsoon our voyage was so speedy, that by 2nd July we were in the latitude of Formosa, but without being able to distinguish the high land, either on the Chinese coast or on that island, and by 23rd July we were off the Saddle Islands, at the mouth of the Yang-tse-Kiang.

Just as we reached this, the door, as it were, through which we had to enter, the weather chose to change with the utmost suddenness. Calms and contrary winds, coupled with the powerful current of the mighty river, sweeping through the islands, prevented our further advance, and on the 24th we had to cast anchor near the easternmost Saddle Island. Close to us on every side were numbers of other ships equally unfortunate with ourselves, while the spectacle of the steamers, pursuing their course without feeling any obstruction, filled us with envy. We had taken a Chinese pilot on board, and by 25th July were in sight of Gutzlaff, a small islet of rock 210 feet high, the best land-mark of the "Son of Ocean," and just before sunset anchored off the outer bar. We now had fair breezes, and without further obstacles passed over the bar in from 30 to 33 feet water, which in bad weather, however, is exceedingly dangerous. We were still out of sight of land; even the islands we had already passed sank below the horizon, and still there was nothing visible but an unbroken expanse of yellowish-red water, which reflected with the utmost brilliancy the rays of the sun. A light-ship moored to a sand-bank, and a wreck on another sand-bank, are, after leaving Gutzlaff Island, the sole land-marks by which the pilot can hope to keep the channel, which is only from one to two miles wide in this vast shoreless river estuary. Indeed the entrance of the Yang-tse-Kiang is regarded as one of the most difficult feats for a large ship. With favourable wind and weather, the _Novara_ cleared without accident the 47 miles between the bar and the place where the Wusung falls into the Yang-tse-Kiang, and on the evening of the 26th July dropped anchor in front of Wusung. The navigation presented little that was interesting, yet each man involuntarily felt a thrill as he reflected that he was sailing in the current of the longest river in China, whose source lies thousands of miles inland at Khukkunor, among the Mangolians.

As we neared Wusung, signs of life began to be visible on the river itself; tall three-masters were passing, bound in or out, and scores of Chinese junks with their peculiar rig and build. Far above the light-ship the shore first became visible, low, flat, scarcely above the level of the river, but green and fertile. A Pagoda of the well-known form of the Porcelain tower of Nankin and a few lofty trees enable the pilot to take the bearings of the channel at this point. Only the land on the left is actual mainland, the shore on the right being the coast of the island of Tsuning, lying at the mouth of the river. At the mouth of the Wusung, this southern arm of the Yang-tse-Kiang, as formed by the above-named island, is about six and a half nautical miles in width, and a little higher up is further narrowed by Bush Island to a width of four miles.

The first inhabited spot at the junction of the Wusung and Yang-tse-Kiang is the wretched filthy village of Wusung, which owes its importance solely and exclusively to the opium boats, which the merchants of Hong-kong and Shanghai used to station here in the stream, in order more readily to sell and deliver to the Chinese that forbidden article. Thus the natives took on themselves the responsibility of opium smuggling, while the foreign merchants became thereby involved in a conflict with the Chinese Government. The opium sold per month from the ships stationed at Wusung amounts to from 2500 to 2800 chests, in value about 500 _taels_ (L150) per chest (L375,000 to L420,000).

The mouth of the Wusung is the entrance to Shanghai, which lies about 12 miles up the Wusung or Shanghai river, but in consequence of a mud-bank is only accessible to large ships at spring-tide. Nankin lies up the Yang-tse-Kiang 180 miles from Shanghai, the channel being so deep that even a frigate may sail close up under its walls. Six hundred miles distant from the embouchure of the Wusung lie the three immense cities of Wu-chang, Hang-iang, and Shan-Keu, containing 8,000,000 inhabitants, the central point of the internal commerce of China; and about 400 miles further up are the first rapids of the Yang-tse-Kiang, which completely prevent all further navigation. Up to this point the mighty river, like the Mississippi, the Rhine, or the Danube, may be navigated by river steamers, without the slightest danger or difficulty. What an enormous trade, what a tremendous development, will ere long be witnessed here, so soon as, in accordance with the stipulations of the Tien-Tsin and Pekin treaties, English ships, freighted with goods and necessaries of all sorts, shall steam up this most splendid of rivers and its tributaries, and the inhabitants of the far interior shall become acquainted with the products of European industry, and in exchange shall export to Europe innumerable articles of new and valuable trade. For it is the greatest service of the merchant that he not alone opens new channels of commerce, and by increased exportation of the fabrics of his native land tends to build up his power, but that he civilizes foreign nations, and enriches science and industry with innumerable fresh acquisitions.

The larger ships usually lie at anchor at the little Chinese village of Wusung on the river of that name, just where it falls into the Yang-tse-Kiang, and here accordingly, owing to the hostilities, we found upwards of twenty ships of war of various nationalities at anchor. Among others the powerful American steam-ship _Minnesota_, and the French frigates _Audacieuse_ and _Nemesis_, an imposing spectacle in these distant regions, and to which the half-ruined Chinese fort on the tongue of land between the Wusung and the Yang-tse-Kiang, with its couple of wretched cannon, presented a tragi-comic contrast. Numbers of Chinese boats, from the smallest cloth-awning _sampan_ propelled by one man with a paddle to the large junk with fifteen masts, and sentences painted along the bends, were cruising in every direction. Ere long a Comprador found his way on board, who according to custom undertook to provide the frigate with everything she required.

Commodore Wuellerstorff purposed proceeding with the frigate to Shanghai; but as it would be necessary to wait for a fair wind, or else to engage another steam-tug, implying a delay of several days, the naturalists were permitted to avail themselves of the opportunity offered by the Comprador's boat to proceed at once to Shanghai, which voyage we were two hours and a half in performing.

While the number of European merchantmen that we passed, some lying at anchor in front of Wusung, others sailing up or down stream, was quite surprising, yet the sight of the river at Shanghai far surpassed all expectation. Here, close packed together in a channel rather narrower than elsewhere, was drawn up tier after tier of shipping, a quite impervious forest of masts, athwart which at intervals the large warehouses of the European merchants indistinctly loomed, lining the banks on either side. The newspaper lists at the time of our visit gave the names of no less than 102 large American and European merchantmen in the Shanghai River, in addition to which there were upwards of a thousand native junks lying in the stream with their short crooked masts, the most convincing evidence of the commercial importance which this place has attained within the short space of time that has elapsed since by the Treaty of Nankin in 1842 foreign factories were authorized to be erected here.

On the shore the flags of the Consulates of the more important sea-faring nations fluttered gaily in the breeze from lofty flag-staffs on the top of the imposing buildings. Hardly had we landed ere we were surrounded by an ungainly crowd of Chinese coolies, who with their bamboo staves began such a serious battle among themselves for the right of carrying our baggage, that it was only by the interposition of the police that several were not left on the spot severely wounded.

The intelligence that there was in Shanghai not a single house of entertainment, such as we understand by the name of "hotel" in Europe, was the less agreeable, as the dwellings of the resident Europeans, where, under ordinary circumstances, strangers are received with the utmost hospitality, happened at present to be occupied by the officers of the numerous war-ships, as well as by members of the two embassies. The only place where we could be received was what is known as the Union Hotel, a den in the fullest sense of the word, in which we passed one of the most uncomfortable nights we ever remember. Myriads of mosquitoes, the true blood-thirsty "gallinipper," loud-shouting drunken seamen, dogs howling, intolerable heat, which not even a tremendous thunder-storm that broke forth during the night could assuage,--such were some of the amenities of our reception, which, despite our exhaustion, utterly precluded sleep. With unspeakable longing we watched for the dawn of the morning, and, thanks to the hospitality of our new friends, we were in the course of the day fortunate enough to be released from this hideous abode.

The _Novara_ did not remain long behind us. A few days later, on 29th July, she sailed gallantly up in an hour and a half, from Wusung, on the top of a spring-tide, and with favourable breezes, and on reaching Shanghai was welcomed with pride and delight by the German residents here--the first ship-of-war of a first-class German power that had ever been seen in the river Wusung.

FOOTNOTES:

[112] The analysis of these hieroglyphics, by which abstract ideas are sought to be expressed, is extremely interesting. Thus a heart with the badge of slavery over it represents "anger;" a hand, and the sign for the middle, signifies an "historian," because it is his duty not to lean to either side; by the sign of uprightness and motion is represented "government," because it must always observe probity in the transaction of affairs; to indicate the idea of a "friend" two pearls are represented side by side, because friendship is as rare as two pearls, exactly resembling each other! The well-known French missionary Huc, in his valuable work on the Chinese Empire, gives a variety of most interesting particulars respecting the Chinese language.

[113] A very abstruse treatise upon the preparation of the Chinese ink is contained in the important labours of the Russian Embassy at Pekin, relating to China, published in German by Dr. Abel and Mecklenburg, Berlin, F. Heinike, 1858, vol. ii. p. 481. The information is borrowed from a small treatise which was written in 1398 by a certain Scheu-zsi-Sun, who had been for thirty years engaged in the fabrication of the India ink. The author therein mentions how, after he had tried every known method, and every substance usually employed, without attaining any result, he at last put them all on one side, mingling only pin-soot with glue together, and diluting this mixture with but hot water, again kneaded it thoroughly, and thus succeeded in getting an ink "black and lustrous as a child's eyes." According to another method, India ink is prepared, besides pin-soot and lime, of a sort of tincture, consisting of the following various pigments,--pomegranate-rind, sandal-wood, sulphate of iron and copper, gamboge, cinnobar, dragon's-blood, gold-leaf, musk, and glair. This tint is said to be remarkable for preventing the glue from getting spoiled by age, or the colour changing, and may be thus kept for any length of time. 1/2 lb. of glue and 1/4 lb. of this colouring matter are the proportions for one pound of pin-soot. However, only a very small portion of the different materials used seems to possess the power ascribed to them, and many are used out of mere prejudice, and not at all to the advantage of the ink prepared.

[114] This custom is of remote antiquity in Oriental countries, as witness the circumstances attending the birth of Ishmael, and also of several of the children of Israel.

[115] Many European residents at Hong-kong and Shanghai have Chinese mistresses _bought_ in this way, who are bound to live with them only so long as their masters choose.

[116] The title of this work is:--"_Notices sur le vert de Chine et de la teinture en vert chez les Chinois, par Natalis Rondot, imprime aux frais de la Chambre de Commerce de Lyon, a Paris, 1858._"

[117] The Chinese of Shanghai called the plant _Li-lu-schu_, and the substance obtained from it _Gah-schik_.

[118] We give the following translation of one of these proclamations: "Listen, O listen, ye detestable barbarians! We, patriots and honourable subjects of the reigning dynasty, wish to hold up a mirror to you, that ye may see what ye are doing, and what like you are! Only in speech, and in no other respect, do ye differ from wild beasts! We have understanding, we observe laws and commandments; but you are blind and dumb, and will not receive advice. You must--there is nothing else for it--you _must_ be cut off to the very last man!... Since you first came to the MIDDLE KINGDOM, you have done all that you can to destroy us; you have shot at us from your ships; you have poisoned us with opium, you have erected devils' houses (churches) within the walls of the city! Nay more, in order to hold your horse-races, you have profaned graves, and not suffered the dead to rest in peace! Insatiable as sharks, greedy as a set of silk-worms upon a mulberry tree, the more you get the more you want. Even our most trifling profit you have taken to yourselves. Now, however, the cup is full, Heaven in its wrath has decreed your destruction,--our people shall cut you off with divine weapons of fire. Hearken now, O people, to the four following rules for the extermination of the barbarians: All barbarians must be beheaded, that our reproach may be removed, and our Middle Kingdom be no longer insulted. So runs the order of the leader!--To none other shall any disaster happen, no one shall be molested. Whoever strikes back, shall himself be struck.... The day of vengeance shall be secretly appointed. We shall circumvent the barbarians with treachery, we shall fall on them unawares, and destroy them. Natives who are in the habit of attending their schools, or of serving them, or of trading with them, must leave them and return to their old pursuits. If they remain, then the subjects of the exceedingly beneficent dynasty as well as the barbarians, the diamonds and the hailstones, shall be destroyed together.... After the destruction of these hideous hordes, their possessions shall be distributed among those who have distinguished themselves on the day of battle. So runs the order of the leader!"

[119] Yeh, as is well known, has since died in imprisonment at Calcutta.

[120] In front, Canto X. v. 25; XII. vv. 79-80. On the back, Canto VI. vv. 95, 131, and Canto VIII. v. 42.

[121] Even these four dollars sustain a reduction during the first year, since the emigrant must for the first year pay one dollar a month to defray necessaries, partly provisions, partly clothes, supplied to him to the amount of $12, before his departure.

[122] J. F. Crawford, Esq., British Consul-General at the Havanna, in an official document respecting the number of Chinese imported in the course of one year into Havanna proves that in the case of the Peruvian ship _Cora_, 117 out of 292 coolies perished owing to bad water. In one single year (1857) 63 ships, of 43,933 tons, cleared from Chinese ports for the Havanna, with 23,928 Chinese labourers, of whom 3842, or above 16 per cent., died during the voyage.

[123] We give in the Appendix the original text of one of these contracts, which the Chinese emigrants have to sign preparatory to their going on ship-board, together with a translation, and shall leave the reader to judge whether those are very far wrong who denounce the system as but another form of slave-trade.

[124] The cruelty and injustice with which the poor Chinese emigrants are treated, have repeatedly had the most appalling consequences. The "_China Overland Trade Report_," published at Hong-kong, under date 28th February, 1861, gives the particulars of one such tragedy, which had shortly before occurred on board of one of these emigrant ships. On 22nd February, the American ship _Leonidas_ sailed from Canton for the Havanna with a number of coolies on board. Near what is known as the Macao passage, a tremendous noise was suddenly heard in the between-decks. Two of the mates, on descending to inquire into the cause of the disturbance, were attacked with knives and severely wounded. Meanwhile some of the coolies had overpowered the captain and his wife, and had inflicted on them several dangerous wounds. However, the crew ultimately succeeded in driving all the coolies into the hold, though not till after the 29th had been passed in constant fighting. In their desperation they sought to set fire to the ship, by preparing a regular pyre of combustibles, to which they set fire. Ere long, however, the smoke became so intolerable in the hold, that they themselves speedily made every effort to extinguish the fire. The ship returned to Canton. Out of 250 coolies, 94 were dead, of whom some were shot, some were drowned, some suffocated. Singular to say the French man-of-war _Durance_ refused to render any assistance. Other accounts speak in the highest terms of the efforts of a German missionary to put a stop to this practice of kidnapping, dignified by the name of emigration, it having not unfrequently happened that young Chinese were openly carried off to Macao, and there as openly sold. This is the more readily credible, inasmuch as the Chinese are most desperate gamblers, and after they have lost all they possess, think nothing of staking their personal liberty. Thus, a short time since, the son of respectable parents in Sunon was sold by the Emigration Society at Macao for 40 dols., and it was only by the most unremitting efforts of the German missionary already mentioned that the wretched lad was re-purchased for L60, and thus escaped a terrible destiny. Two other Chinese were shipped at the same time, the bargain in their case being recognized.

[125] See "Chinese Repository," vol. x., of October, 1849.

XV.

Shanghai.

Duration of Stay from 25th July to 11th August, 1858.

A stroll through the old Chinese quarter.--Book-stalls.--Public
Baths.--Chinese Pawnbrokers.--Foundling hospital.--The Hall of
Universal Benevolence.--Sacrificial Hall of Medical Faculty.--
City prison.--Temple of the Goddess of the Sea.--Chinese
taverns.--Tea-garden.--Temple of Buddha.--Temple of Confucius.--
Taouist convent.--Chinese nuns.--An apothecary's store, and what
is sold therein.--Public schools.--Christian places of worship.--
Native industry.--Cenotaphs to the memory of beneficent
females.--A Chinese patrician family.--The villas of the foreign
merchants.--Activity of the London Missionary Society.--Dr.
Hobson.--Chinese medical works.--Leprosy.--The American
Missionary Society.--Dr. Bridgman.--Main-tze tribe.--Mission
schools for Chinese boys and girls.--The North China branch of
the Royal Asiatic Society.--Meeting in honour of the Members of
the _Novara_ Expedition.--Mons. de Montigny.--Baron Gros.--
Interview with the Tau-Tai, or chief Chinese official of the
city.--The Jesuit mission at Sikkawei.--The Pagoda of Long-Sah.--
A Chinese dinner.--Serenade by the German singing-club.--The
Germans in China.--Influence of the Treaties of Tien-Tsin and
Pekin upon commerce.--Silk.--Tea.--The Chinese sugar-cane.--
Various species of Bamboos employed in the manufacture of
paper.--The varnish tree.--The tallow tree.--The wax-tree.--
Mosquito tobacco.--Articles of import.--Opium.--The Tai-ping
rebels.--Departure from Shanghai.--A typhoon in the China sea.--
Sight the island of Puynipet in the Caroline Archipelago.

Shanghai, or Shanghai-Hein (the city near the sea), is divided into the Chinese city proper, enclosed within walls twenty-four feet in height, and the foreign quarter, which has been laid out beyond the walls since the year 1843, and is as much distinguished by elegance as by comfort. Old Shanghai, only accessible by three of the six gates with which it is furnished, contains 250,000 inhabitants in a superficial area of nine Li, or about two and one-third English miles, and, including the population of neighbouring towns, who are constantly flocking to and fro, about 400,000. The streets are filthy and singularly narrow, so much so that occasionally it is difficult for two men to pass each other, the small cross streets vividly recalling Venice, or the "lanes" of London. It is with difficulty, and only by a constant succession of cries and hearty buffets, that the bearers of merchandise can force their way through these intricate passages, and find their way to their destination. The houses, for the most part one and two storeys in height, usually consist of shops on the ground-floor, each with a flaming superscription in gigantic characters, which, the better to arrest the curiosity of the passers-by, is generally hung diagonally across the narrow street. The living throng, which throughout the entire day surges to and fro here, is so immense and so various that it leaves upon a stranger an impression even deeper than that made by the crowds and bustle of Piccadilly or Regent Street, on a fine day in the height of "the season." The grotesqueness and filth of almost everything that meets the eye rather adds to the singularity of the spectacle, and while the visitor on the one hand speedily finds ample justification for extricating himself from the din and confusion, he nevertheless encounters at every step some new object of attraction and absorbing interest.

Entering the city through the east gate, on whose walls, by way of example to the multitude, are suspended in sacks and wicker-work numerous skulls of rebels and murderers, on whom justice has been done, we find ourselves in China street, one of the principal streets of Shanghai, and in which are most of the best class of native shops. It is however no wider or cleaner than the other streets of the city, and might be termed a "lane" with far more propriety than a street. We were conveyed within the lofty, gloomy "enceinte" of the walls in the sedan-chair of the country, after which, under the guidance of Mr. Muirhead, an English missionary, who in the kindest manner had offered to be our _cicerone_, we proceeded to stroll through the town.

Close to the east gate we entered a book-stall, in which were heaped up immense piles of stitched books. A number of Chinese in white nankeen jackets, their foreheads smooth shaved, and each with a "tail" behind dependent to the heels, started forward to inquire the strangers' wants, and minister to them. Our inquiries however were by no means merely dictated by the desire to gratify a silly curiosity. A learned countryman, Dr. Pfizmaier, one of the profoundest of Chinese scholars, had intrusted us with a list of fourteen rare Chinese books, the purchase of which seemed to us specially desirable, and we accordingly made every exertion, with the assistance of our companion, himself well acquainted with Chinese, to crown our search with success. With one exception we succeeded in purchasing the entire catalogue, and therewith gladly brought to an end our wearisome stay of upwards of an hour in the close steaming book-shop, exposed the while to a more than tropical temperature.

Chinese authors are, it must be allowed, terribly prolix in the treatment of their subjects, and instances are by no means uncommon in China of works, especially those of an historical nature, extending to from forty to fifty volumes! Thus, for example, the "Seventeen Historical classics" consists of 337 parts:--"Mingschintschuen" (History of the most renowned ministers and statesmen), of thirty volumes:--"Singpu" (Lives of remarkable persons), of 122 parts:--the "Encyclopedia of Matuanlin," with its additions, even reaches the immense number of six hundred volumes!![126] Books are generally far from expensive in China; for a few dollars, comparatively, one may, owing to the cheapness of labour and of cost of production, purchase quite a large supply of ordinary literature.

Adjoining this book-shop is a public bath establishment, where for 16 copper cash[127] (rather less than 1_d._ sterling), one may get a vapour bath, while six cash more are paid for keeping custody of the habiliments. The bath is far from being elegant or comfortable, but when one reflects on such extraordinary cheapness, it seems as though the very utmost had been attained. It consists of a large apartment, filled with steam, which is from time to time renewed, by dashing hot water upon stones, maintained at a high temperature, while ranged in readiness all round are a number of tubs of cold water for cooling the bather. In one of these establishments about thirty persons may bathe at once, and as John Chinaman, despite his filthy manners, is passably clean about the body, as testified by the pains he is at with his head and hands, these places are as extensively patronized as they are greatly needed.

Our next stoppage was at a pawnbroker's, an institution which, to all appearance, has been far longer in vogue in China than in Europe, and is made great use of by the wealthy as well as the poorer classes. In the Celestial Kingdom, the same custom prevails as with us of pawning the winter habiliments in summer, and summer apparel in winter; and this not so much for the sake of the money borrowed upon them, as to have them kept in safety and carefully preserved, especially in the case of costly furs. In China the usual advance is of one half the value, upon a very low computation of the article pledged, for which the monthly charge is ten cash per 500, or twenty-four per cent. per annum. Whatever has not been redeemed at the end of three years, or of which the interest has not been paid, is put up to auction and knocked down to the highest bidder, the proceeds going to the benefit of the establishment. The utmost per-centage allowed by law is three per cent. a month; but it must not exceed two per cent. in winter, in order that the poor may be enabled to redeem the articles pledged. The broker gives a ticket for the articles pledged, which have a definite value, and may be sold in the street. Thieves find these establishments very handy for disposing of their plunder, as they deface or destroy the pawn-ticket so as to prevent the rightful owner from regaining possession of the stolen articles. When a pawnbroker sustains any loss through theft, or the outbreak of fire on his premises, he must make good to his customers the value of the destroyed articles that had been left with him as pledges. If, however, the fire has broken out in the house of a neighbour, he is only bound to pay one half of the loss he may sustain. The establishment is managed by fifty individuals, whom the concourse of people flocking in to pledge or redeem property keeps in constant activity.

Considering the notorious and openly avowed indifference everywhere manifested throughout China for the poor, the sick, and the unfortunate, the number of charitable institutions to be found in all parts of China is very surprising, all which, as has lately been proved, do not owe their origin to the introduction of Christianity, but had been in a flourishing condition for a long time previously. Thus in several of the streets of Shanghai, we came upon hospitals for children and foundlings ([Chinese character(s)]), of the latter of which the one we visited was founded by voluntary contribution so far back as 1710. This humane institution has a landed property of about 30 acres, by the produce of which, as well as frequent public collections, it is supported. In 1783, this orphan hospital was amalgamated with an asylum for old and decrepit persons, and others incapacitated for labour, and one wealthy Chinese gentleman provided 3000 taels[128] for this praiseworthy object, but somewhat later this joint plan was abandoned, and the Orphan Asylum remains to this day self-supporting, while the poor, the sick, and the aged are relieved every month at the Custom-house out of funds specially set apart.

At the period of our visit we found thirty infants in the building, who had been deposited by their mothers in a basket suspended in a recess at the entrance. After the new-born child has been deposited, a signal is given with a bamboo-stick, after which the receptacle is turned inwards and the innocent without delay taken charge of. Each child has its own wet-nurse or attendant.

The building is lofty, roomy, and passably clean, but the children, one and all without exception, have a sickly appearance, and seem to suffer much from eruptions and affections of the eye. There was not one child above two years of age. It is worth recording that every one of these children was of the female sex; their male offspring, even when illegitimate, the mothers seem much less disposed to part from. It frequently happens, moreover, owing to the low considerations in which the female sex are held, that even legitimate children of that sex are occasionally committed to the silent receptacle of the foundling's basket.

We inquired of one of the overseers what was the destiny of these unhappy children when they grew up, but could get no satisfactory reply. We were informed that they were occasionally adopted as children by those who had no family. But more extended inquiries leave us rather inclined to believe that these poor waifs of humanity constitute a not inconsiderable contingent to that unhappy class of beings who, carefully brought up, clothed, and fed by speculative foster-mothers, are at a suitable age sold for concubines to the well-to-do Chinese.

One very remarkable charitable institution, for which there is no parallel in Europe, is the Tung-jin-tang ([Chinese character(s)]) or Hall of United Benevolence, founded by a number of philanthropists in 1804, for the interment of the poor. This establishment, through its legacies, donations, and voluntary contributions, speedily became so wealthy that it has been enabled to take up, in addition to its original business, other objects of a not less humane nature. It pensions poor widows of respectable families with 700 cash (about L1 8_s._) per month; it presents persons above 60 years of age, if sickly and unable to work, with 600 cash (about L1 4_s._) a month, and provides, free of charge, wooden coffins, as also digging implements, for those who are too poor to inter their dead relatives. Another humane occupation of the society is the interment of coffins containing dead bodies, which used to be exposed on the bare ground in various parts of the city. Finally, it was the intention of the founder of this charitable institution, so soon as the money should permit, to erect schools for the poor, to provide warm clothing in winter for the helpless, as also to buy up animals destined for the slaughter-house, and set them at liberty again.

The proceedings connected with the direction of the institution are transacted in public, and the managers for the time being are bound to furnish for each year a detailed report[129] of the management. This humane institution has since its foundation undergone many reforms, and at the period of our visit was confining its sphere of usefulness to three main objects: 1st, The pensioning aged and broken-down persons of both sexes, with 600 cash a month. These however were not supplied with the money, but were for the most part taken into the house itself, or at least supported through it. 2nd, The dispensing free of charge of various so-called universal medicines, for headache, stomach-complaints, fever, diarrh[oe]a, spasms during the unhealthy season (June to October). On the 3rd, 8th, 13th, 18th, 23rd, and 28th of each month (that is, on every date ending with a 3 or an 8), during the continuance of the sultry, damp, unhealthy season there was also provided for the sick and poor, gratis, advice from Chinese physicians in the great hall. 3rd, The furnishing coffins for the interment of those who died without means, or on payment in part by families not altogether penniless. In one of these extensive magazines we saw a coffin bearing the number 1084, which was just coming into requisition. During 36 months 1000 coffins and upwards had been supplied to poor families for the interment of their dead! As we were leaving the building, we remarked in the principal apartment a large quantity of paper, partly written upon, partly in shreds, all heaped up. On inquiry as to the object of this collection, we were informed that it was for no industrial purpose, but solely to be ascribed to the profound respect the Chinese have for every sort of writing. They regard written leaves as positively holy, and are particularly careful that no written paper shall chance to fall into improper hands, that might make a wrong use of it. For this reason the society pays for every pound of old waste paper which the poor of Shanghai pick up in the street and bring to the Institution three copper cash, and when the pile has attained a sufficient height it is set on fire at a particular season.

Built in close proximity to this "Hall of United Benevolence" is the sanctuary of the medical profession, or, as Mr. Muirhead translated for our benefit the gigantic Chinese inscription over the portal, "the sacrificial hall of the medical faculty." This is a temple erected at the expense of the nation to a celebrated Chinese physician, whose stature, in an easy, erect attitude, cut in wood the size of life and richly gilt, is erected upon a platform somewhat resembling an altar. Part of the drapery consists of gigantic leaves, while his folded hands clasp a lotos-flower. In front of the image is placed the inscription: "The shrine of the spirit of the King of Medicine." Above the idol are the following words in Chinese, cut in the stone and gilt, "The divine husbandman and sacred ruler!" and thereafter, "For all ages the instructive teacher."

This renowned physician had, it seems, instituted many experiments on himself with new healing remedies, and according to popular belief had attained to an exact knowledge of all that was going on in the human frame, so that he could point out the seat of the malady by simply placing a piece of common window-glass upon the pit of the patient's stomach, and looking into it!

Adjoining this College of Health is the city prison, or Tschi-hin, in which, when we saw it, were confined about 100 prisoners in the various wards. In that set apart for the worst class of criminals, we saw about 40, heavily shackled and manacled. Three of these were confined in low wooden cages, about three feet in height and width, and four feet in length, and fastened to each other by iron chains running through. These men also wore iron rings on their feet. One of these unfortunates was sentenced to 70, and each of the other two to 60, days of such durance, without being suffered for one moment to come out from the cage, which was placed on the ground, and like a hen-roost, was provided with perches running through it, so as to interfere still further with freedom of movement. Their food consisted of rice and vegetables. According to their own showing, these three were sentenced to this terrible punishment in consequence of some affray, but we had reason to believe that some more serious matter was the real cause of their having this penalty inflicted on them. We gave the unhappy wretches a few pieces of silver. Each hastily secured the donation in a corner of his cage, and seemed in his forlorn condition doubly sensible of the value of a metal whose influence, especially in China, is so powerful, so all-pervading, and so infallible.

One very peculiar institution is the Wei-kwan, a sort of Council Chamber, situated on the N.E. side of the city between the walls and the river, in which all matters in dispute between mercantile men are adjusted, and in conjunction with which is a temple in honour of the goddess of the seas (Tien-Mu). In the centre of the council-room is a large elegantly-shaped iron pan (Schang-Lu), in which the merchants and seamen frequenting the hall burn slips of paper, on which are written the wishes of those making their offerings. Also money, fruit, &c., are here sacrificed, and Chinese mariners, whose "junks" have come unscathed through a storm, or have been preserved, make their thank-offerings in the shape of elegant little models of their ships, which are placed in various parts of the building. This hall was founded in 1270 by the Sung dynasty, on a site where certain Chinese believed they had observed that the tumultuous tide of the Whampoa river gradually lost its violence, as it approached the spot, a phenomenon which to them seemed of marvellous significance. Under the Yuen and Mui dynasties the temple was repeatedly plundered and burnt to the ground, but was rebuilt through the influence of a Tao-priest. In 1735, an imperial edict ordered the observance of certain religious ceremonies from time to time, an example which has been followed to the present day.

Directly facing the goddess of the sea (called also Kwan-Yin, Queen of Heaven),[130] who is represented by a life-size figure placed at the bottom of the apartment, a large stage is erected, on which Chinese dramas are represented for their entertainment from 10 o'clock in the morning till nightfall.

In one part of the immense pile of buildings there are also provided dwellings for such Chinese merchants as visit Shanghai from the interior of the kingdom, and have neither friends nor relatives in the city with whom they can take up their residence, for public taverns are in China only frequented by the very lowest classes. We entered one of these Chinese hotels, which we had come upon during our ramble, and inspected the eating-rooms and bed-rooms, which are usually situated on the first floor. The usual charge is from 100 to 140 cash a day for board (4_d._ to 6_d._), and from 20 to 40 cash for lodging (1_d._ to 2_d._). The gloomy, filthy, cavernous aspect of each room makes even a moment's stay intolerable. The victuals supplied consist chiefly of rice, vegetables, and fish. In the interior, board and lodging in these taverns is very much cheaper, and the well-known and highly meritorious English missionary Dr. Medhurst, who, in 1845, traversed, in the dress of a Chinese, a large portion of the silk and tea districts, relates that the customary charge for supper, bed, and breakfast next morning altogether amounted to 80 cash only, or about 3-3/8_d._![131] In the streets of Shanghai, the eating-houses are greatly out-numbered by the tea-houses, where one gets a cup of tea for 6 cash (1/4_d._). These, like our own cafes, are laid out with little tables, stools, and benches. As soon as a guest enters and takes his seat, a Chinese attendant brings a cup, throws into it the proper quantity of tea-leaves, and pours boiling water upon it. After the lapse of a few minutes the hot light yellow liquid is hastily swallowed, but avoiding the leaves which are swimming on the surface, and usually serve for a second or even a third infusion. These tea-houses are crowded with visitors throughout the day, who sometimes transact business here over a cup of tea and a pipe of oiled tobacco, sometimes resort hither to wile the time listlessly away.

The chief place of amusement, however, of the native population of Shanghai is the Tea-Garden (Tschin-Huang-Mian), or temple of the Emperor, which contains numerous gardens laid out in Chinese fashion, and booths of all sorts, besides the attractions of jugglers, singers, actors, soothsayers, musicians, and mountebanks, all driving their respective avocations. The whole scene is eminently characteristic of the grotesqueness of Chinese taste. Artificial canals and tanks filled with green stagnant water, redolent of miasmatic effluvia, amid which the Lotos opens its lovely white blossoms, quantities of zig-zag bridges with beautifully carved balustrades, islands with artificially constructed rocks and grottoes, subterranean passages, flags of all shapes and sizes, bearing the most bombastic inscriptions--such are the chief attractions of a Chinese People's Garden, every large town boasting one such, erected at the expense of the State, in which from early morning till late in the evening a vast crowd of human beings is incessantly surging to and fro, intent on pleasure, dissipation, or profit. The rabble, however, have not access to every part of the Tea-Garden, a certain portion being set apart for the recreation of the chief officials of the city (Tau-Tai). This portion, shut off by a lofty wall, is elegantly laid out, and is made attractive with all manner of dwarf trees nursed with great care and expense, besides the usual grottoes, artificial hills and precipices, pavilions, &c. Hither the head magistrate occasionally resorts to pass the warmest hours of the day, and dozes away undisturbed by the cares of his onerous responsibilities. All the public gardens of China present almost the identical features of the one we visited; a park without artificial islands and wooden bridges, without canals (in lieu of paths), without pools of stagnant water thickly covered with the broad leaves of the _Nelumbium_, would, in the eyes of a Chinese, be deprived of its chief pleasure and its greatest attraction.

Close to the Tea-Garden is the largest Buddhist Temple within the city walls, in which throughout the day the over-credulous Chinese kneel before their idols, and with many reverences murmur their set formulas of prayers. Like everything else in China, even religious observances are regarded from the most practical point of view. They think they have done enough when they have gone through a certain round of outward ceremonies. The condition of most of the temples, the utter neglect of some, and the various employments of others, indicate that the Chinese either has no sense of the sanctity attaching to such places of devotion, or else attaches but little value to the act itself. The men rarely enter the temples. It is only the women who, to satisfy the cravings of the heart, have recourse to invoking the Deity. Frequently one sees a worshipper approach the attendant sitting in the porch of the temple, in order to get their horoscope calculated by him for a few cash. For this purpose she shakes with eager devotion a box of bamboo-cane filled with thin wands, until one of these wands springs out. The words inscribed on each wand furnish the oracle-expounder with an infallible sign, by which, after consulting one of the books of Chinese wisdom spread out before him, he is enabled to pronounce the answer of the divinity to the prayers preferred by the poor dupe. The most prolific source of revenue of the temple and its ministrants, consists, however, in the sale of the gold and silver tissue paper,[132] which plays so important a part in the worship of the Chinese, and owing to their zealous and frequent use are heaped up in immense piles, for consumption by fire in a gigantic furnace.