Chapter XVII: The Coral Island of Sikayana (15)

We next had an example of the custom, already mentioned, of wiping the face with a hot damp towel, one of the attendants dipping a rather thick piece of linen cloth in a tub of hot water, which was then wrung out, when the cloth was presented to the Mandarin, who, without in any way interrupting the conversation, from time to time wiped the perspiration from his brow.

The Tau-Tai had a well-made, handsome figure, pleasing, rather intelligent, features, a round, smooth, delicate face, without any trace of beard, eyes as usual drawn up at the outer corner, small elegant hands, and beautifully tapered fingers, with very long nails. His dress was very simple; he wore, for the sake of coolness, a shirt made of thin bamboo shoots, with a long, yellowish, loose surcoat, white drawers, and, instead of the usual Chinese shoe with its high cork soles, or white thick gaiters, he wore light shoes of European make. His head was covered with a cone-shaped straw-hat of very fine texture, with a red tassel and blue knot in the midst, and a dark green peacock's feather, extending horizontally backwards.

Business over, a table was covered, and the Tau-Tai invited to partake. According to the Chinese custom, only confectionery, preserves, and fruit were handed round. The liquids consisted of sherry, liqueurs, Chinese wine or Samschoo (made from rice and imbibed from cups in lieu of glasses), and green and almond tea. The Mandarin drank to all present, and seemed to take more to sherry and Maraschino than to his own native drinks. The slim liqueur bottle, with its neat gilt label and the thick cork stopper, seemed especially to attract his attention.

After a few commonplace observations, the Tau-Tai once more turned the conversation upon Austria, and remarked he had never before heard of that power. Mr. Meadows endeavoured to prompt the memory of the Chinese official, produced Muirhead's universal geography translated into Chinese, turned up therein the section relating to Austria, and handed the book to the Tau-Tai, who had the entire passage read to him by one of his attendants, that he might "get up" the country from which the strangers had come who were seated on his left and right hands.

The inquisitiveness of every Chinese now displayed itself in a series of inquiries as to the principal products and articles of export of the Empire, and he expressed a hope he should ere long see more of the "Austrian Mandarins" in Shanghai. The _Novara_ travellers on their side with a patriotic pride, readily pardonable under the circumstances, endeavoured through the medium of the Government interpreter to leave the best possible impression of their native country upon the mind of the Tau-Tai, by giving a glowing description of the Austrian Empire, its natural advantages, and its people. Of numbers the worthy man seemed to have no definite idea, for the remark that the Empire contained (1st August, 1858) very nearly 40,000,000 inhabitants seemed greatly to astonish him, although this is probably barely one-tenth of the population of the Chinese Empire.[152]

Just as the Tau-Tai was preparing to set out on his return, a tremendous tumult was suddenly heard in the street. It seemed like a popular insurrection, and servants were forthwith sent out to ascertain the cause of this unexpected shindy, who came back presently with the intelligence that an English sailor had struck a coolie of the suite a blow on the face with his fist, so violent that he was seriously injured, and was bleeding profusely. The Tau-Tai made his appearance on the portico. As soon as the injured man saw his master approaching, he flung himself before him imploring aid, and exhibiting his face streaming with blood, and the wound gaping open. The Tau-Tai ordered the man to rise, and delivered him to the Chinese police. Occasionally when a Chinese receives a wound in a quarrel of this nature he will abstain from wiping off the blood-stains from his face for weeks together, finding, it should seem, some satisfaction in being able to exhibit them. This done, the procession resumed its march. In front strode a man who from time to time administered a sounding thwack to the gong, after which he rushed through the streets bawling like a Stentor, that the people might crowd on one side and leave the Tau-Tai space to pass unobstructed. The rear was brought up with police, catch-poles with long bamboo poles, and the executioner with his axe--the never-failing attendant on such occasions,--who accompanies it, however, only as a sort of allegorical personage, to impress upon the yelling crowds around the consequences of disobedience, and of rebellion against constituted authority.

The only important excursion we made from Shanghai was to the Jesuit Mission of Sikkawei, twelve miles distant. Our excellent host, Mr. James Hogg, of the well-known firm of Lindsay and Co.,[153] and Consul for the Hanse towns, to whose great kindness we are deeply indebted, was so kind as to order his pretty little yacht _Flirt_ to be got ready for our accommodation, and we set off, accompanied by the heroic Mr. Gray, of the American house of Russell and Co., who lost one foot while fighting against the Tai-ping rebels before the very gates of Shanghai. As the Europeans are in the habit of using these pleasure-boats as residences during their visit to the interior, so as not to be dependent upon the somewhat uncertain hospitality of the Chinese, they are provided with every accessory to comfort, being fitted with a neat cabin, a small library, boudoir, berth-cabin, &c. They usually carry an immense spread of canvas, and during calms are propelled like the native boats with one big oar from the stern, which serves at the same time as a rudder. The sail up the Wusung, in which upwards of a hundred sail of merchantmen, and above a thousand junks, were lying at anchor, was very interesting. Many of the junks lying off the Catholic cathedral of Tonka-du displayed a flag with a white cross on a black ground, in token of the religious faith of the crew. Here also we saw for the first time some Siamese ships, built in Siam, for the most part on European models. Of these we counted eleven. By way of ensign, they had an elephant rather nicely drawn, sometimes on a red, sometimes on a blue field, according to the fancy or the taste of the owner. These vessels have Siamese crews and English captains, and are armed with ten or twelve cannon, so that his Siamese Majesty can at a moment's notice use his little fleet of merchantmen for warlike purposes.

The channel, 200 or 300 fathoms wide, which unites the Wusung with the internal network of small rivers, is called the Wuang-Po, a designation which some authorities assume to be the name of its constructor, while others maintain that it is derived from _wong_, yellow, and applies to the colour of the water, just as Whampoa, near Canton, signifies the yellow anchorage. Nothing has so much contributed to that immense activity of commerce, which we marvel at among the Chinese, as their vast canal system, the introduction of which was pursued with such energy in the 7th century.[154] The innumerable artificial canals, with which the whole north of China is intersected, and which by their admirably planned system of arrangement unite all the lakes and navigable rivers of the Empire with each other, make it possible to voyage through every province of the Empire without having once to leave the boat. They atone for the great want of good roads, and even make the absence of railroads less perceptible in a country where the value of labour is so unprecedentedly low.

As soon as we leave Shanghai behind, with its immense commercial fleet, the scenery beyond becomes tame. The banks on either side are low, and far as the eye can reach not a single hill is to be seen, not even a rising slope--nothing but a flat alluvial soil, every inch of which seems diligently tilled, or otherwise made useful.

After we had sailed several miles in the _Flirt_ we came to a branch of the great canal, where we shifted into a smaller but not less elegant boat, the property of Mr. Gray, which drew less water, and in which we were to reach the Jesuit mission. At this season, however, owing to the lowness of the water, navigation was only continued with great difficulty, and notwithstanding the astonishing dexterity with which our worthy Lau-tu (the old chief) conned our craft through the sharp bends of the river, we were at last compelled to halt, and perform the rest of the distance, about two miles, on foot.

We now found ourselves strolling through fields planted with rice and cotton, through cabbage and vegetable gardens, occasionally even over graves, which rose in mounds here and there along our path. Sometimes in the distance we could descry small villages and solitary farm-houses.

In Sikkawei we found about twenty Jesuits, French and Italians, all of genuine Chinese appearance, with heads half-shaved, long queues stretching to the ground, loose yellow clothes, and velvet shoes with thick cork soles. This had a striking, almost theatrical effect. We were ushered into the reception-room, and there offered refreshment. The conversation soon became brisk, which added to the singularity of the scene, as the seeming Chinese, sitting in a circle round the table, and smoking perfumed tobacco out of small long-stemmed pipes, began, in fluent French or liquid Italian, to discuss Paris, Naples, Vienna, or politics and art.

This Mission is supported by the Propaganda of Rome, as also by voluntary contributions. About 80 pupils, chiefly children of poor parents, are instructed in the Chinese language and literature, in reading, writing, arithmetic, and drawing, and in the tenets of the Roman Catholic faith; on the other hand, little anxiety is manifested for their instruction in French or English, or in providing them with any practical mechanical instruction. In this mode of education the main object seems to be to enable the students more readily to reach the highest offices in the state by imparting to them a thorough grounding in Chinese literature, and by these means to ensure for them religious influence and protection. Accordingly, strenuous efforts are made to increase the number of scholars, and in order to facilitate this aim, as in the case of the Indians of Central and Southern America, their observance of various heathen rites is connived at, as, for example, the worship of their ancestors, the ceremonies at the death of a relation, &c. &c.

One branch of art, in which some of the scholars have, owing to their having naturally a turn for it, attained considerable proficiency, is wood-engraving. In the church attached to the Mission are shown a number of altar-ornaments, chiefly figures very beautifully carved in wood, the work of a Jesuit of Spanish extraction, whose talent and enthusiasm seem to have laid the foundation of this school of image-carvers. In what is called the model-room are numbers of figures and busts designed by the practised hand of the brother alluded to. Here too are some heads of the Saviour, very beautifully executed in clay by the Chinese scholars, as also Madonnas, busts of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and the Emperor Napoleon III. These are doubly extraordinary, when we remember the slight instruction and very scanty assistance bestowed on them while in course of execution; their actual value however is small, for at present, as none of the Jesuits in the Mission have any very decided taste for the art, instruction in it has almost entirely ceased.

The achievements of the present members of the Society of Jesus, in China, suffer greatly, measured by the standard of what was accomplished by their renowned brethren in previous centuries; one looks in vain for the high attainments, the self-sacrificing zeal, the practical talents of other times, and Sikkawei, with its present spiritual occupants, cannot leave a very pleasing impression on any unprejudiced Catholic. There is an utter lack of all those qualities which once formed the renown and the title to admiration of the Jesuits in China. One looks for, but fails to find, a library corresponding to the dignity of the Mission, or mathematical or medical instruments, or a chemical laboratory: in lieu of these there seem to prevail a deficiency of Christian toleration for these unmistakeable adjuncts of true education and enlightenment. At all events, we judged as much from a remark made by the brother who accompanied us round the building, who spoke some words in Chinese to the gaping crowd of long-tailed scholars, who kept pressing upon us, and then turning to us, observed in French,--"I have informed our pupils that our present guests are Roman Catholics, and therefore _true_ Christians, because we occasionally have English visitors at the Mission, and they are heretics." Apparently the intolerant padre was reckoning without his host, for there were several Protestants among the party!

Throughout the province of Kaing-su there are at present 80,000 Chinese Catholics, that is to say, who profess Catholicism, though having but a very superficial idea of its spirit and its reality.

In returning to our boat we availed ourselves of the mode of conveyance in most common use in China, the sedan-chair, or couch. The ordinary sedan-chair differs little in exterior form and interior arrangement from those still occasionally used in some of the out-of-the-way, old-fashioned towns, both of Germany and England. Owing to the extreme cheapness of labour, the least well-to-do classes of Chinese are able to avail themselves of these convenient conveyances, the use of which is doubly agreeable in such a hot climate. Indeed, long journeys are very frequently made by this mode of transport. As a rule, the sedan-bearers get over from twenty to twenty-five miles per diem, charging for that distance one dollar, in addition to their food, consisting of tea, rice, vegetables, and cakes. Baggage and merchandise of all sorts are conveyed by coolies, each carrying with ease 110 _catties_, equal to 146 lbs. With such a burthen he will trudge over lofty mountain passes, and without much effort will cover thirteen miles a day. If special dispatch is required, the burthen must be reduced one-half, when the coolie, keeping at the trot, will get over double the distance in one day; what is gained in speed being lost in power.

On our return to Shanghai, we visited the celebrated six-storied Pagoda, Long-Sah, which is traditionally said to have been erected about A.D. 250, during the period of the Three Empires. Of all the Pagodas hitherto known, not even excepting the well-known specimen at Canton, it is the best preserved, and forms one massive, wide quadrangular tower, about 150 feet high, arranged in six stories, one of which has running around it a richly carved balcony. The pyramidal roof has turned-up angles, to which are suspended bells, which when agitated by the wind give forth their music. From the highest story, to which access is obtained by a stone staircase, there is a rather agreeable, pretty extensive view over the country, and its cultivated surface, stretching away till, at 200 miles from Shanghai, to the north and north-west, rises a range of mountains, of which of course not a glimpse is to be seen hence, the prospect in this direction having no defined limit. This panoramic view gives an excellent idea of the characteristics of a Chinese landscape, the various methods of cultivation, the situation of the valleys, and, above all, the ceaseless tide of traffic, as evidenced by the almost innumerable artificial water-channels which intersect the country in every direction. Quite close to the Pagoda is a Buddha temple, the well-known Lung-hwo, erected A.D. 230. Of the seventy Buddhist and Taouist temples of the province this is the largest and most beautiful. The rear of the edifice is adorned with countless figures, sometimes of colossal dimensions, in wood, plaster, and porcelain, richly carved and gilt. There is also a female statue among these Chinese saints, the attitude strongly suggestive of a Madonna.

This temple is plainly in connection with the Pagoda, and the various small chambers behind it seem to have been destined for the accommodation of priests and devout pilgrims. According to an old Chinese tradition this temple owes its erection to the following circumstance:--a queen from the south, who had anchored her boat one night in the Whampoa Channel near Wusung, suddenly beheld a light shoot up amid the tall grass, and rise towards heaven, in consequence of which she gave orders for a temple to be built on the site.

One of the most interesting episodes of our stay at Shanghai consisted in a genuine Chinese banquet, given by a wealthy native merchant, named Ta-ki, a warm friend of all foreigners, in honour of the Austrian Expedition. The huge invitation cards, written, according to the usual practice of the country, in Chinese characters upon blood-red paper, and folded in envelopes of the same brilliant hue, were sent round to the residences of the guests some days beforehand.

At 8 P.M. the feast began. Ta-ki's house, like those of all the wealthy Chinese, is surrounded by a massive wall, six or seven feet in height, and painted white. After passing through a narrow gateway, the visitor finds himself at once in the usual apartments. These were adorned for the occasion with large coloured lanterns, which despite their numbers shed a mild and most agreeable light.[155] Along the walls, which were richly gilt, hung quantities of sententious native maxims, written with Indian ink, sometimes in Chinese characters, sometimes in Tartar, on white or yellow rolls of paper. The greatest attention appeared to have been paid to the preparation of the reception-room, whose form was a rather narrow oblong, in which at the far end was erected a platform, where a strolling company acted Chinese theatricals. The musicians sat on the stage. The company belonged to one of those innumerable wandering troops which are engaged for a day or two now by the community, now by wealthy Mandarins, to give some theatrical representations, which it seems must in China form the accompaniment of every important event, whether joyous or sorrowful.

At those performances which are given in public, the multitude is admitted gratis, and of this privilege they avail themselves to the utmost. Each man selects the best seat for himself, on the street, in a tree, or on a roof. Mandarins, however, and rich private individuals have their own little stage scenes in the interior of their usually spacious mansions, in which from time to time they have theatrical representations for the amusement of a small circle of friends. Some Mandarins even go the length of having their own players, who receive regular annual pay, and form part of the household.

Notwithstanding the very extensive collections of Chinese plays, with several of which the learned classes of Europe have been made acquainted by the valuable labours of Julien, Bazin, Remusat, and others, there are but a very few of true literary value. The plot of most of them is exceedingly simple, the actors themselves specify the characters they are to play; between each scene there is usually a lack of connection, and frequently the most telling scenes and situations are marred by the most arrant trash, or the coarsest jests. Only a very small number of these rise above the level of the buffoonery of former ages, and judging by the accounts given by travellers, who have been present at such entertainments in even the large cities, including Pekin itself, the dramatic art would as yet seem to be in its infancy in China.[156] The company which was assembled in the hospitable mansion of Ta-ki, to do honour to the members of the _Novara_ Expedition, was not calculated to impress them favourably with the scope of the Chinese drama. The piece appointed consisted of events in the ancient history of China, for which Chinese dramatic poets have a special predilection, owing to the abundance of material from which to choose, although the multitude seem to have but little sympathy with it. Even our host, who spoke the Canton-English, as it is called, could give us but little explanation or enlightenment as to the plot, and contented himself with repeatedly remarking that the piece related to "old, old times!"

Notwithstanding the universal custom, according to which women are not permitted to enter a theatre, so that even the female characters have to be played by men dressed to represent the part, the majority of the present troupe were girls of from 14 to 20 years of age, who, stained red or white, and elegantly arrayed, appeared mostly in Mandarin dresses on the stage. The most outrageously absurd of the scenes were those most in favour with the numerous domestics who, besides the invited guests, formed the audience. Thus, there was a roar of laughter when a nurse entered with a child in her arms, which had the face of an old soldier, with grey beard, whiskers, and moustachios. They sang a long, rather melancholious ditty, and then retired, without there appearing to be the slightest connection between this and the following scene. We noted the evident predilection of the Chinese actors for a high-pitched falsetto tone of voice when speaking, which, by the way, must render their assumption of female parts much more easy, and on the present occasion they probably were desirous of giving us a specimen of their skill in this accomplishment. The music on such occasions is, if possible, even more discordant and monotonous than the delivery, and is not confined to merely accompanying the couplets, but continues to play during the intervals till the ear is utterly wearied.

At the close of each act a large board covered with a red cloth was brought on the stage and placed beneath the feet of the actors; on this the steward of the house placed a present for the troupe about four dollars' worth of copper _cash_, which was forthwith carried away. This was apparently the only intimation to most of the spectators that a piece was ended, and a fresh one about to begin.

After these theatrical representations had lasted about an hour and a half a long pause ensued. One longed to escape outside into the fresh air, to get rid of the wearying sensation of the performances, and the stifling heat which prevailed in the room. The guests were at liberty to walk without obstruction through the various apartments of the extensive residence, and accordingly stumbled upon rooms which are usually, as it were, hermetically sealed to a foreigner, viz. the apartments of the women. Ta-ki carried his hospitality even this length, and presented us to his wives, as also to his grey-haired mother, seventy years old, for whom he showed the utmost love and respect. Ta-ki's wives, four or five in number, had "assisted" at the theatrical performances, each seated on elevated seats expressly prepared for them, and behaved with the greatest courtesy and ease of manner. They seemed not to have the slightest thought of showing off, or of tittering or joking with the strangers. All were attired in silk, and most tastefully decorated with jewels; all had the usual painfully distorted small feet, which greatly interfered with their powers of locomotion. They did not attend at the banquet, but had their food served in the private apartments.

For supper the quondam theatre was converted into a banqueting-hall. But there was no long wide table set out as in Europe, only small four-cornered tables covered with red cloth, at each of which three Europeans and one Chinese took their seats; the duty of the latter being to do the honours to his companions in the name of the host, who took his seat beside the Commodore, and to minister to their comfort.

As it was the object to give us the most accurate idea possible of a genuine Chinese repast, everything was eliminated which could in any way interfere with the design, and we had accordingly to begin with dessert and conclude with the soup, as also to convey the various descriptions of food to our mouths with thin strips of ivory ("chop-sticks"), instead of knives and forks.

The peculiarity of Chinese usages, so directly opposed to those of Europe, became likewise strikingly apparent in the course of the meal. And as in China the mark of courtesy is to keep the head covered instead of removing the hat, so the place of honour is on the left hand; the ancestors are ennobled instead of the descendants (which is at once more sensible and more economical); the characters in writing run from right to left instead of the reverse; the mourning colour is white instead of black; the natives carefully extirpate every sign of a beard, instead of cherishing it as a symbol of mature, dignified manhood; thus also meals begin with the food with which we terminate ours, confectionery and fruit. When we were all seated, each table was forthwith covered with a profusion of the most varied dishes on beautiful plates of stained porcelain, and while we were still engaged in attempting to discover the mysterious ingredients of these, the Chinese who was doing the honours at our table was exerting himself to select and lay before us the most dainty morsels of each dish. In performing this part of his functions he thought only to act with more care and attention, in drawing each of the twain chop-sticks between his own lips and withdrawing them before he fished up a fresh piece and laid it on our plate! The dexterity with which all Chinese use these chop-sticks, which are usually made of ivory, ebony, or bamboo, borders on the marvellous. In their hands, held between their fingers, they become like a pair of pincers, with which they can pick up the smallest objects, and can eat rice-grains, beans, or peas as easily as they can separate the flakes of a fish from its skin, or remove the shell of a hard-boiled egg.

As to the ingredients of the dishes presented, we must frankly avow that by far the greater number were utterly unknown to us, for the Chinese cuisine, oddly enough, sets great store on making the materials unrecognizable, and altering their natural flavour by various recipes and culinary mysteries. According to the inquiries which we made of our carver, our host seemed so anxious to fulfil to the letter his promise to give us a real Chinese repast, that he had resolved on not sparing us a single one of the rarer dainties of Chinese epicures. Thus we not only had swallows' nests, lapwings' eggs, and steamed frogs, but also roasted silk-worms, shark-fins, stag and buffalo tendons, biche-de-mar, bamboo roots, sea-weed, half-fledged chickens, and various other natural delicacies. The table was supplied at least three times with fresh delicacies, and we believe we do not exaggerate when we estimate the number of different dishes at not less than half a hundred. Meat of all sorts was at a discount, and was served up in small morsels ready carved;[157] on the other hand, rice and vegetables were presented in every imaginable form. During the meal one young girl, who had played a part in the dramas, was incessantly occupied with filling for each guest a very small cup with a warm beverage distilled from millet, thus carrying out the code of Chinese civility, that the cup should never be suffered to be empty, and therefore, that however little has once been drunk it must forthwith be replenished. Of the juice of the grape the Chinese make no use, although there are many districts in the country which are eminently adapted to the growth of the vine. All the native drinks consist of nothing but poor-flavoured, highly-perfumed drinks, chiefly distilled from millet and rice, and known by the general name of Samshoo, although this name is solely applicable to that obtained from rice, which somewhat resembles arrack. After the meal is over there are no spirits presented, but only tea, usually the common green tea, or else a tea prepared from almonds. The Chinese are, on the whole, a very temperate people, and even their passion for smoking opium is rather a vice among the masses of the coast provinces and the large towns, than of the interior of the kingdom. During the banquet, as well as after it, there were further theatrical exhibitions, but the guests, who had been sufficiently wearied with the first of these, preferred to retire quietly to their own residences, and, seated in a rocking-chair on the delicious verandah, to recall all the peculiarities of the entertainment at which they had been present.

The rites of hospitality to strangers were not, however, limited in fulfilment to Ta-ki, since the various consuls settled at Shanghai, as well as several of the English, American, and German merchants, invited the members of the Expedition to dinner-parties given in their honour, each vying with the rest in refined courtesy. An especially pleasant memory attaches to one indication of this feeling, the spontaneous offering of a number of Germans to our commander and his associates. We were sitting in the house of Mr. James Hogg, the Hanseatic Consul, when from the garden there suddenly arose a serenade of men's voices, singing German melodies. Surprised and deeply affected, the entire company rose from table and strolled into the garden, but the serenaders were concealed behind a group of trees, and as they withdrew, singing, the last cadence of a thrilling patriotic song was heard melting in the distance!

The Germans already constitute a by no means inconsiderable portion of the foreign community of China, and it is painful to observe what slender encouragement and support their energy and industry have as yet met with from the various governments of Germany. The number of Bremen ships which visited the harbour of Shanghai has of late years equalled that of the United States, and would be very greatly increased if the German mercantile community and the home-shippers to the Chinese market could depend upon protection such as the English and French can rely upon. The German States, such, for instance, as the Hanseatic Towns, Prussia, Oldenburg, have indeed unsalaried Consuls here, but the shrewd, material Chinese people require something more than an empty intercession--they require to be convinced by an unmistakeable physical ability to back these representatives. Many a crying injustice, which the helpless German merchants and ship captains have to put up with without hope of redress in the various ports of China, would not and dare not occur if but a single German ship-of-war were stationed in Chinese waters. What the effect is, under similar circumstances, of even one single small boat was well illustrated by Mr. Alcock, formerly the English Consul at Shanghai,[158] who with a small English brig blocked the mouth of the Yang-tse-kiang, and did not suffer one single "junk" of the many hundreds stationed in the river to put to sea under threat of firing into them until the Chinese Government had paid attention to his demands, and surrendered for trial by an English tribunal the murderers of an English missionary. The bare menace of closing the river sufficed to secure the Consul in his rights, and he speedily saw his various demands complied with. Only a month or two later a Bremen captain sustained such severe losses through the wilful act of the Chinese Government that he had to sell his ship, the energetic protest of his Consul to the native authorities meeting no other attention than an insulting chuckle over the powerlessness of the German empire.

In consequence of the Treaty of Pekin securing to Europeans the unobstructed navigation of all canals and rivers throughout the Celestial Empire, the trade with China is becoming so rapidly developed, that some remedy of this sort is imperatively needed,--if German commerce and industry would avoid receiving a serious check, if she would not be supplanted by other and more fortunate nations, in the endeavour to avail herself of the great alteration for the better in the facilities for trade in China.

The activity and energy of the English in opening up new outlets for their native manufactures were here astonishingly visible. Hardly are the ratifications of peace exchanged, opening the most important rivers and harbours of the Empire to free commerce with the subjects of England, ere the country has been surveyed and explored in every direction. A number of English merchants ascended the Yang-tse-kiang as far as Hang-kow[159] (mouth of trade), a city containing several millions of inhabitants, which, in consequence of its extraordinarily advantageous site, has already been described by Huc as the chief emporium of the 18 Provinces, and whence all the foreign trade radiates into the interior. Others undertook a land journey from Canton to Hang-kow; a third company ascended the Pei-ho and visited Tien-Tsin, while yet a fourth were contemplating the formidable undertaking of boating it up the Yang-tse-kiang from Shanghai to Hang-kow, whence they thought of penetrating via Thibet into British India.[160] Already information has been obtained from a variety of these excursions, which were undertaken specially in the interests of commerce, such as justify the most glowing expectations as to the trade with the Yang-tse-kiang and the Pei-ho.[161] Hang-kow promises to be a most important depot for the exportation of tea, while Tien-Tsin promises to be not less important as an entrepot for the importation of manufactures of every description. By the opening of these two additional harbours, Shanghai and Canton will fall off in their ratio of increase hitherto, but general commerce will on the whole receive a new impulse.

To the merchant and shipper, the latest intelligence from China as to the enormous development of commerce and trade at numerous spots of the Central Empire, hitherto undisturbed by European civilization, must be positively astounding. It is a rich mine of the most valuable material, which the _China Overland Trade Report_ and the _North China Herald_ presents to its readers, rendered doubly valuable through the influence of that Freedom of Speech, which makes every mercantile nation participate in the very latest information as to these experiments and their results. For, so far as concerns our present direct intercourse with China, a time must come, when more accurate notions will penetrate into even Austrian commercial circles as to the wants of a population, and the natural wealth of an empire, which embraces a superficial area of 3,000,000 square miles, with a population of 400,000,000 souls, and whose entire foreign commerce already amounts to L36,000,000, apart from the impulse which recent events must lend it.

Notwithstanding the immense variety of natural products of the Chinese Empire, the chief articles of export hitherto have been tea and silk, and we shall therefore confine our attention to a few important particulars as to those two articles.

The introduction of silk cultivation into China, one of the most ancient industrial pursuits of the Empire, is due, if we are to believe a native legend, to the consort of the Emperor Hwang-te, who reigned B.C. 2640. The first mention of the mulberry tree and of silk occurs in the Schoo-kiu,[162] "the Book of exalted solid learning--the Book of Books," as it were, a collection of the most ancient historical annals of the Chinese Empire, which was compiled B.C. 484, by Confucius, from the memoranda of former writers of history, as well as from the information furnished by ancient monuments. Even empresses in those halcyon times did not deem it beneath their dignity to collect mulberry-leaves and feed the silk-worms, while various treatises were composed by imperial pens, respecting the cultivation of that most useful plant. The interest taken in silk-rearing by these the highest personages in the Empire, has remained unbroken to our own day, and quite recently a Chinese governor enriched the already copious literature upon this subject with a comprehensive work, written with the laudable object of stimulating the inhabitants of the silk-producing districts to a more extensive and improved system of silk cultivating.

The two best species of mulberry, those which are best adapted for the consumption of the worm, are: "Loo" (_Morus alba_), with long leaves, little fruit, and firm roots, which flourishes chiefly in North China, and "King" (_Morus nigra_), with narrow leaves, more abundant fruit, and altogether a hardier plant, which grows chiefly in the South.

According to old Chinese notions, there are eight different species of silk-worm, which spin their cocoons at various periods[163] of the year between April and November.

The chief silk districts lie in the northern part of the province of Tsche-Kiang, and the principal silk marts are the following cities: Hoo-chow-foo, Hang-chow-foo, Keahing-fu, Nantsin, and Shoo-hing, which lie in a sort of semi-circle about 150 miles from Shanghai.

The silk is not grown in China by wealthy landed proprietors, and "thrown" in huge establishments, but by millions of husbandmen, each of whom calls but a small patch of land his own, and plants it with mulberry trees, thus, like the bee, contributing his own share towards increasing the universal stock. During the season specially devoted to the silk-worm, old and young, lofty and lowly, throughout the silk districts, are busily and earnestly engaged night and day in tending the worms and winding off the silk. When the crop is being gathered in, the chief merchants send their agents to all parts of the chief silk districts, in order to collect and buy up these small quantities (varying greatly in value, as may be readily imagined), and depositing them in regularly assigned warehouses, where they can be sorted according to quality. This done, the silk is packed in bales of 80 _catties_, or about 106 lbs. weight, and conveyed to Shanghai for sale, where it is once more subjected in each mercantile house to the examination of the special "silk Inspectors," or "Testers," after passing through whose hands, it is sorted according to quality for shipment to Europe.

Three distinct qualities of raw silk are known in commerce, viz. Tsatli [Chinese character(s)], Taysam [Chinese character(s)] (the big worm), and Yuen-wha, or Yuen-fa [Chinese character(s)] (the flower of the garden). These three leading descriptions are again subdivided into a great number of sorts, which are usually known by the name of the trader, or his "hong" (business).

The annual production of silk in China is estimated to amount to from 200,000 to 250,000 bales, or from 20,000,000 to 25,000,000 pounds' weight. This, however, is a very superficial estimate; that silk cultivation, however, must be enormously developed in China is obvious, not alone from the immense home consumption of the article, but also from the circumstance that, notwithstanding the immense increase in exports during the last ten years, the price of silk has not merely remained stationary, but is on an average absolutely less than at a period when barely one-fourth of the quantity now exported found its way to England and France. The price of silk is usually reckoned in Taels,[164] on the estimate of a bale averaging 100 lbs. English. Between Shanghai and London the bale loses on the average three per cent. in weight. There is also usually an allowance made of 15 per cent. for cost of transport and incidental charges from Shanghai to any English port.

On the average only one-fourth of the entire quantity of silk produced in China, or about 6,000,000 lbs., is exported annually, of which by far the largest quantity, perhaps as much as nine-tenths, goes to England and France. In 1843-44, the total export from all China was only 5100 bales. In 1859, the export of raw silk from Shanghai alone was 75,652 bales!

Besides the raw silk there are annually exported from China a large quantity of silk-stuffs manufactured in China, crape shawls, &c. &c., to the value of from L400,000 to L500,000, the majority of which find a market in the United States.

The social condition of the Chinese silk-spinner is not less deplorable and poverty-stricken than that of the workmen of Europe, who are similarly engaged in the preparation of this costly article of luxury. As in Lyons, in Spitalfields, or among the Silesian Mountains, the Chinese silk-weaver lives and dies in the most abject misery, and the delicate and beautiful fabrics of his loom are produced in a wretched hut of such mean dimensions, that he is sometimes compelled to dig a hole in the soil in order to find room for the treadle. However, the Chinese weaver appears in so far better off than the same handicraftsman in Europe, that he has less to dread from the severity of the climate, and can purchase more food, even though his remuneration be smaller, than the weaver can possibly do in Europe, owing to the much higher price of even the commonest necessities of life.

The recent revolution in Chinese foreign relations will exercise a permanent influence on the silk culture of China, and, considering the exceedingly low rate of wages in that country, the time cannot be far distant, when one may purchase Chinese silk in Europe more cheaply than home-grown silk, when manufacturers will find it more profitable to purchase this most important raw material in China, than in Italy or the South of France. Acute business men in Hong-kong and Shanghai assured us that it only needed an impulse from without to increase the silk manufacture of China tenfold, and supply the annual demand for silk of the entire globe, which, if we are to believe encyclopedias and such like authorities, amounts to from 12,000,000 to 15,000,000 lbs. What makes Chinese silk especially suitable for the European market is its possessing in great perfection the two chief qualities of substance and colour, while, on the other hand, it is inferior to that of Europe in the fineness and glossy feel of its fibre. In Europe the silk is wound off from a limited number of cocoons, whereas in China it is left to the discretion of the workman to spin it from few or many cocoons as he pleases. Hence results that inequality and unevenness in the texture of the thread, a defect which cannot possibly be remedied by after-manipulation, and which accordingly completely prevents its employment in the manufacture of the more costly fabrics. This drawback, which is the main reason why Chinese silk does not rule the European market, will however admit of being remedied without any difficulty, so soon as the silk districts become more easily accessible, by the introduction of European labour and machinery, when this valuable and costly product will gain materially both in fineness and suitability.

Only a few years since German and Austrian merchants attached but a small value to Chinese silk as suited to our market, and it seemed to them a positive absurdity, when any one spoke, as we ourselves repeatedly have done from a profound conviction of its truth, of the future influence exercised over the silk markets of the world by the influence of this Chinese raw material. Now-a-days we hear that there is scarcely one single silk factory which can hold its ground, unless, in addition to French and Italian silk, it imports Chinese silk, while the demand for that material increases from year to year, and has very probably not yet attained the one-hundredth part of the development of which it is susceptible.

Tea (_Cha_[165]) ranks next to silk among the articles which have raised the trade with China to such an importance. The cultivation of the tea plant is of far later date than that of the mulberry tree, and its leaves, although used by the Chinese as a curative from the third century of our era, only came into general use, as providing a universal drink, towards the end of the sixth century.[166] Statesmen and poets sounded the praises of the new beverage, and while the one employed this excellent and beneficial gift of nature to fill the treasury by the imposition of a tax, the others chanted the praise of the plant in their hymns and songs, and thus, probably without intending it, contributed to increase the revenue of the Government.

"Tea," writes one of the older Chinese authors, "soothes the spirit, softens the heart, dispels languor, restores from fatigue, stimulates the intellect, and arouses from indolence; it makes the body lighter and more brisk, and quickens the faculty of observation."

The tea plant first attracted the attention of Chinese naturalists in Wu-yi, or, as the English term it, the Bohea[167] district, which enjoys to this day a great reputation for the exquisite quality which grows on its hills.

At present the cultivation of the tea plant extends northward as far as Tang-tschao, in the province of Shantung, southward as far as Canton and Kuang-si, and westward as far as the province of Yun-nan. As, moreover, the tea plant likewise abounds in Japan, the Corea, and the Loo-Choo Islands, as also in Chusan, Tonquin, and Cochin China, we may assume that it flourishes over about 28 deg. of latitude and 30 deg. of longitude, within which it can be cultivated without being affected by severe alternations of temperature. That part of North China, however, which lies between 27 deg. and 33 deg. N., seems on the whole to furnish the finest sorts,[168] where the mean annual temperature ranges between 61 deg.7 and 68 deg., and in which fine weather with a rise of temperature follows upon a heavy rainfall; the latter being as necessary for the speedy and luxuriant growth of the leaves, as the former is for eliciting their fragrance and other valuable qualities.

To form an idea of the enormous amount of tea which is annually cultivated in China, it suffices to remark that, after deducting the immense quantity consumed, there are more than 70,000,000 lbs. exported annually.

It is not our intention to give a disquisition upon the cultivation and preparation of the tea, the drying (_poey_), roasting (_tschoo_), perfuming and colouring of the leaves, in short, the long tedious process to which this valuable article of commerce is subjected from its collection on the fertile green slopes of the bush-covered hills of Bohea, till its arrival at the port of shipment in a form suited for exportation. We prefer here to confine our attention to a consideration of those experiments which have recently been made in China with respect to tea cultivation.

There are of the tea plant an almost endless variety of qualities, but only two species, viz. _Thea viridis_ (green tea), and _Thea Bohea_,[169] and even these two have such few points of difference, that quite lately they were described by Fortune as one and the same species. Thus, too, it has been asserted in our own day that the green and black varieties of tea sold in Europe do not, as is universally supposed, belong to two different species of tea, but that the difference of colour, shape of leaf, flavour, &c., is exclusively due to varieties in the mode of preparing them for the market, and that the manufacturer is able to make from the leaves every description, black or green, which is required in commerce. Thus in the celebrated tea district of Ning-tschan, where in former days black tea was exclusively grown, there is now procured green tea from the same species of plant, apparently because its cultivation pays better, while the quality remains in its olden repute.

The black tea, which constitutes four-fifths of the entire export to England, is grown of a particularly fine quality in the district of Kien-ning-foo in the province of Fo-kien, and is known to commerce by a variety of names, chiefly derived from the localities in which it is grown, or those of their proprietors. On the other hand, the green sort selected for exportation is chiefly met with on the slopes of the chain of hills between Che-kiang and Ngan-hwui. Besides those descriptions actually prepared on the spot where they grow, there are also an immense variety of teas manufactured in Canton from all sorts of black and green tea. The tea-growers of Canton are reputed to colour their green teas artificially, by sprinkling them with a mixture of Prussian blue and pulverized chalk, after which they subject them to a rolling motion for a considerable time in heated copper pans.[170]

One most important element in tea cultivation is the method adopted to impart a certain bloom, an artificial fragrance, which it does not possess in the natural state. This process of "scenting," as it is called, which is practised exclusively for the foreign market, is termed by the Chinese _Hwa-hiang_. The flowers which are used for imparting this fragrance, and the growth of which, like the invisible fields of odoriferous herbs near Cannes, in the South of France, forms a most important branch of cultivation near Canton, are chiefly _Jasminum sambac_, _Jasminum paniculatum_, _Aglaia odorata_, _Olea fragrans_, _Sardenia florida_, orange-blossom, and roses. The method of "scenting" consists simply in placing a definite quantity of the flower-blossoms, varying according to the strength or feebleness of the odour, in juxtaposition with about 100 lbs. of dried tea-leaves, where they are suffered to remain from 24 to 48 hours. Thus 40 lbs. of orange-blossom, 50 lbs. of Jasmin, 100 lbs. of _Aglaia odorata_, are reckoned the equivalent respectively of 100 lbs. of tea-leaves. The extraordinary costliness of these fragrant blossoms[171] has caused a very general suspicion to prevail, that the leaves thus "scented" are afterwards adulterated with large quantities of the common teas. And as it is an ascertained fact that 60 lbs. of such tea can impart a similar fragrance to 100 lbs. additional by merely mixing the two together, without any apparent diminution of fragrance, it seems more than probable that similar admixtures, very possibly in a still more profitable proportion, are being silently carried on every day in the warehouses of the tea districts.

Since the suppression of the East India Company's monopoly, and the opening of the Five Ports, tea has somewhat fallen in price, but has in consequence gained in far greater ratio in respect of quantity shipped. The value of a picul of tea is at present about 18 or 20 taels (L5 12_s._ 6_d._ to L6 5_s._), so that the pound costs 1_s._ 1_d._ to 1_s._ 2_d._ Notwithstanding the unexampled cheapness of hand labour (60 to 70 cash, or 2-1/2_d._ to 3_d._, per diem), it is not possible to procure _good tea_ below this limit, although the various descriptions vary extraordinarily in price according to their quality and the districts they come from. The lower classes in the tea districts purchase for themselves the raw unprepared leaves just as they are plucked, for about 1_d._ per pound, and as it takes about 4 lbs. of the fresh leaves to make 1 lb. of dry leaves, it may be calculated that the tea, as drunk by this class, must cost from 4_d._ to 5_d._ per lb. Moreover, it is customary to add some of the less costly descriptions, more especially in districts at some little distance where the tea plant is cultivated.

The first historical document referring to the introduction into England of tea as a beverage, is an Act of Parliament in the year 1660 (the year of the Restoration). At that period China tea cost sixty shillings the pound, which of course limited its use to a very narrow circle. At present there are 30,000,000 lbs. imported into England[172] annually, or more than one half of the entire export from the Central Empire, the consumer in London paying about 3_s._ per pound on the average.

Of late years attempts have been made to cultivate the tea plant at the foot of the Himalayas, in Java, and in the United States. In Hindustan, whither only a few years ago that well-known and enlightened gentleman, Mr. Robert Fortune, dispatched 24,000 plants, selected from among the finest tea districts, the experiment has already proved successful, and even remunerative. The cost of growing is about 10-1/2_d._ per lb. for one description, which fetches 2_s._ per lb. in the London market. That grown in Java has hitherto been viewed with disfavour in Europe, but in a few years more it must make its way. The result of the experiments in the United States we have yet to learn. Mr. Fortune, who was intrusted by the Patent Office at Washington with superintending the introduction of the tea cultivation into the Southern States, and who in virtue of many years' scientific researches in China may be regarded as an authority upon this subject, is of opinion that the possibility of cultivating tea in the United States does not admit of a doubt, since the plant not only successfully resists frosts, but even, in a measure, benefits by them, it being a well-known fact that it flourishes better in the northern than the southern climates of China. It is questionable, however, whether its cultivation can prove remunerative in a country where labour is still so exceptionally high. Will the tea plant repay the immense cost of cultivation, and compete successfully with the product of China? The next few years will settle this question, if it be not choked by this unholy fratricidal war, which is raging within the freest and most glorious confederacy of modern times.