A year in China — Text and Context

Departure from New York, and Passage to the Cape de Verd Islands. Arrival there. The Island of St. Vincent. Passage to St. Paul de Loando. The African Continent. Entrance into the South Atlantic. Arrival at St. Paul de Loando. Bay of Loando. Loando. Fortifications. Population. Language. A Slaver. Coaling the Vessel 1-25

From Loando to Cape Town. Arrival there. Sunday at Cape Town. The Black Southeaster. The “Lions” of Cape Town. The Old Curiosity Shop. The Kaffir College. Public Institutions. The Library. The Museum. Statuary. The Botanical Garden. The Industrial Schools. Population. Buildings and Public Works. The Markets 26-58

From Cape Town to Mauritius. The “Whale’s Feed.” Brilliancy of the Tropical Heavens. The Island of Madagascar. The Isle of Bourbon. Approach to Mauritius. Harbor of Port Louis. Cholera. Early History of the Island. The City of Port Louis. The Hurricane Season. Pamplemeuses. Tomb of Paul and Virginia. The Public Cemetery. The Zoölogical, or Royal Gardens. The Christian Cemetery. Mrs. Newell’s Grave. A Mahommedan Funeral 59-91

From Mauritius to Singapore. The Straits of Malacca. Malacca. The Continent of Asia. Approach to Singapore. Singapore Harbor. The Dubash, Ramasamy. “Doing” the City and Environs. Singapore River. Departure from Singapore. The Northeast Monsoon. Coast of Cochin China. Approach to Hong Kong 92-113

The Harbor of Hong Kong. Love of Country. War Rumors. The War Steamer “Saginaw.” The Cold Weather. Position and Name of the Island. The City of Victoria. Sedan Chairs, and my first Excursion in one. Miss Wilson’s School. Prince Albert’s Death. “Chits,” and “Chit-Books.” Confirmation by the Bishop. The Bishop of Victoria. The Camelia Japonica. Society. Horses and Equipages. “Happy Valley.” The Race-course. Races. The Cemeteries. Forms of Chinese Graves or Tombs. The New-Year’s Festival 114-131

Passage to Macao. The Macao Roads. The Inner Harbor. The Tanka-boats, and Tanka Boat-women. The Landing. Welcomed by Friends. The Peninsula of Macao. Settlement and Population. Macao, the Favorite Residence of Foreigners. The American Consul. Dwellings. Forts. Chinese Graves not enclosed. The Government Park. The Dutch Admiral. Temple of Makauk. Temple of Mongha. The Protestant Cemeteries. The Graves of East India Company Officers. Dr. Morrisson. Chinnery, the English Artist. Romanism. The Casa Gardens, and Camoën’s Grotto. The Island of Tui-mien-shan, or Lapa Island. The Ringing Rock. The Lime-kiln Village 132-150

Passage to Whampoa. The Chinese Pirates. The Bogue Forts. Whampoa. Old Whampoa. Bambootown. Newtown. The Islands. The Dry Docks. Foreign Shipping. “Chops.” “Chop-Life.” Servants. The Little Breakfast. The Women of China. Mode of carrying Children. Boats and Boating. Exercise. Forbidding Aspect of Nature in China. The Tomb of Hon. Alexander Everett. The Bethel “Chop.” Chinese Love of Noise. Ancestral Worship. The English Vice-Consul, and our other Neighbors. Fear of Collisions with Vessels. The Heat, Dampness, and Thunder-storms 151-174

Sail to Canton. Pagodas. Ruins of the Barrier Forts. Commodore Foote. Vessel of a Petty Mandarin. The Imperial Fleet. Boat-Life at Canton. Dutch Folly. The Hongs of the Merchants. The Old Factories. The Shameen and Macao Passage. History of Canton. Walls of the City. Population. Chair-Coolies. Residences of the American Missionaries. The “Lions” of the Old City. The Wan-shau-kung, or Imperial Presence Hall. Crowded Streets. Temple of Literature. The Temple of Mars. The Provincial College. An English Military Road. The Great Eastern Gateway. East and West Street. The Temple of Horrors. The Residence of the Imperial Treasurer. Pavilion of the Five Genii. The Mohammedan Mosque. Street Crowds. My first Sunday in Canton. Marriage Processions. The Business Streets. Beggars. Chinese Officials regarded with Respect. Western Suburbs. Howqua Street. Private Residences of Howqua and Pun-Tingqua. The Dog and Cat Market 175-197

Buddhist Temples. The Temple of Five Hundred Gods. Temple of Longevity. The Hai-chwang-sz, or Honam Joss House. Vespers. A Relic of Buddha. Commemorative Tablets. The Sacred Hogs. Priests burned after Death. The Necessity of Protestant Missions. Missionaries. Mission Schools. Mr. Bonney’s School. Mrs. Bonney’s School. The Feast of the Dragon-boats. Private Gardens of Howqua and Pun-Tingqua. The Fa-ti, or Flower Gardens. Chinese Shops. Shopkeepers. Ushing. Pohing. Carvings in Ivory. Hoaching. Chinese Taste for fine Carvings. Curio Street, and Antiques. Jade-stone. Fans. Suchau Lacquered Ware. Wealth and Opulence of Canton 198-219

Chinese Women, and their Adornments. Use of Cosmetics. Small Feet. Mingqua. Foreign Ladies rarely obtain Access to Chinese Ladies of Rank. Visit to Mingqua’s Family. The Gentlemen permitted to see the Ladies. Mingqua’s Sons. The House. Chinese Etiquette does not allow the Shaking of Hands. Visit to a Mandarin Family. His beautiful Mansion, and the Inner Apartments. The Ladies, and their Salutations. Drinking Tea. Inspection of our Dress. The Furniture, and arrangement of the Apartments. Invitation to Dine 220-232

Removal to Swatow, and Fears of Pirates by the way. Macao in Summer. Summer Evenings, and the Portuguese Ladies. The Estrada-de-Cacilhas. Appearance of Macao when approached from the Sea. Romish Festivals. Corpus Christi Day. Festival of St. John, and the Mummers. Fourth of July Fête at the United States Consulate 233-248

Arrival at Swatow. The River and Harbor. The Country. Double Island, the Residence of Foreigners. The Climate. Continued Heat of the Summer. Mosquitoes. Names given to Double Island. The Chinese Names, with their Origin and Explanations. Temple of Ma-tsoo. A Heathen Festival. The Itinerant Theatre. The Mission Station of the Baptist Board. The Missionaries. Mrs. Johnson’s School. Persecution of Converts to Christianity. Imprisonment of an old Native Teacher. Communion Season of the Mission. Aged Converts. Their Devotion. London Society Missionaries. Difference in the Dialects and in the People. Feuds of the People. The Coolie Traffic. Great Mortality. Graves. Selling of Women. Need of Sanatariums. Ill-Health 249-266

Homeward bound. Amoy. Island of Ku-lang-su. The Mission Chapel and the Rev. Mr. Burns. Success of the Amoy Mission. Persecution of the Native Converts. Dutch Reformed Mission. Carvings of Olive Stones. The Pumelo Fruit. Passage to Fuh-chau. Scenery on the river Min. Places for Firing and Curing Tea. The Farms and Hamlets. The Pagoda Anchorage. Hospitality of Foreign Residents. Sail from the Anchorage to the City. Our Boat and Boatmen. Mansion of Messrs. Olyphant & Co. Situation of Fuh-chau. The City Walls. The Suburb of Nantai. The Granite Bridge. Our Visit within the Walled City. Crowded Streets. Tea Pavilions. A Church. Nanka, or South Street. Curiosity of the People. Residences of the Gentry. Population. The Character of the People. The Boat-People. Flowers worn by the Women. Artificial Flowers. Confucian Temples. Wu-shih-shan, or Black-stone Hill. Extensive and Beautiful View. A Walk on the Walls of the City. Kushan Peak. Kushan Monastery. Graves and Tombs. The Tombs of the Mandarins and Men of Wealth. Paths for Horseback Riding. Promenade amid Graves. The Chinese. Kite-flying. Fuh-chau Marbles. Silver Flowers. Fire Screens. The English Chapel. The Missionaries. Their Schools 267-289

Embarking for the United States. Towed out to Sea. Sea-sickness. Accommodations and Prospects. The Channel of Formosa, and the China Sea. Victoria Peak. The Natura Islands. Great Heat. Squalls. A Sea Monster. Gasper Strait. Anjer. Boats with Ship Supplies. The Straits of Sunda. Anchor for the Night. A Night of quiet Sleep. Entering the Strait. Renjang, or Thwart-the-way Island. Passing into the Indian Ocean. Java Head. Meteors. Sunsets. Brilliant Stars. Trade Winds. A Nor’wester. A Sou’easter. The Bracing Air of the Cape. Sea Birds, the Albatross. The Atlantic Tropics. The Depressing Heat. Nearing New York 290-302

Capture of the Jacob Bell by the Pirate Steamer Florida. Transfer of the Passengers and Crew to the Florida. Chase after another “Yankee.” She escapes. Captain Maffit says he cannot save our Luggage. Excuses himself by pleading want of Room. His Officers permitted to plunder it. The Scene of Pillage. Lieut. Reed and others carrying our Silver and other Valuables into the Ward Room. One Officer selecting Fans from our Things. Another puts on a Hoop-skirt and trips about the Deck of the Jacob Bell. The Pirates so absorbed in Plundering the Vessel as to be oblivious to all else. The Ships drift near each other. Danger of a Collision. Burning of the Jacob Bell. Our Piratical Cruise. All Day Sunday are in pursuit of another United States Vessel. Happily she eludes us. On Monday in chase of a French Vessel. The Pirates board her. Captain Maffit’s Duplicity. Attempt at Civility. Hatred expressed towards the North. Incidents. Chase after the Danish Bark Morning Star. The Pirates bring her to by Firing a Gun. Our Transfer to her. A part of the Remnant of Luggage allowed us finally retained by Captain Maffit. Our Destitution. Sail to the Island of St. Thomas. Voyage thence in the Cunard Steamer Delta to Halifax. Passage in the Arabia to Boston 303-362

The Empire of China, with its immense population, its peculiar customs and arts, the character of its people, so unlike that of the nations of Western Europe, and the imperfect stage of civilization at which it has halted for many centuries, if, indeed, it has not somewhat receded towards barbarism, presents an interesting subject of inquiry and speculation to all who concern themselves with the welfare and future destiny of the human race. The settlement of the Pacific coast of the United States, and the navigation of the ocean by steam, have made China our immediate neighbor, and will bring us into relations with her people far closer and more fruitful, either of good or evil, than the subjects of any European power can have. Emigrants from that populous land have already made a descent upon our Pacific States, and with whatever jealousy or aversion their arrival may be regarded, they will probably from henceforth form a part of the stock from which that region is to be peopled.

The great rebellion which, for fourteen years past, has raged in China with such prodigious waste of human life, is now brought to an end. The empire, delivered from this danger and this drain upon its resources, may now turn its attention solely to the arts of peace. Report ascribes to the present Government a disposition to allow entrance to the ideas and improvements of European civilization. The country has been opened to the teachers of Christianity, and there are signs of a willingness to adopt new and better modes of intellectual and moral training.

All these circumstances concur to make China and the Chinese objects of an enlightened curiosity to our countrymen. Scarce anything relating to that country and its people is destitute of interest to the inhabitants of the United States. In the little work to which this note is prefixed will be found accounts of Chinese manners and modes of life derived from a personal observation, for which the author possessed rather peculiar advantages. She is the wife of an American gentleman holding an official station under the Chinese Government, the nature of which I will briefly explain.

By the treaties which have opened the trade of the empire to foreigners, the Chinese Government engages to employ, at each of the five ports mentioned in the treaties, an American, English, or French Commissioner of Customs, with the necessary subordinate officers, and with a Superintendent at their head, who resides at Peking, near the Court. These Commissioners act only between the Government and foreigners; they are appointed and paid by the Imperial Court, which possesses descriptions of their personal appearance so minute and exact that they are easily recognized, and they make to that Court monthly returns of their official acts, solemnly attested. Vastly more revenue is gathered into the Chinese treasury since foreigners were thus employed than before. The native officers were easily bribed, and the Government received but meagre returns from ports which now yield a large income. So well has the change worked, that nothing would induce the Chinese Government to return to the old system.

The author of the pages which follow is the wife of the Commissioner at Swatow, one of the five ports through which the commerce of foreign lands is admitted into the kingdom. Inasmuch as the Commissioners may be sent, by an order from Peking through the Superintendent, from one port to another, it happens that their residence is often changed; and, as they are treated with great consideration by the Chinese, both they and the persons composing their families have peculiar opportunities for acquiring a knowledge of the country and its people.

Of that advantage the author of the present work availed herself. Her accounts of Chinese manners and habits of life bear tokens of the greatest sincerity and conscientiousness. They are manifestly the precise relation of what was presented to her observation, and are given without the slightest attempt at embellishment, and without even any unconscious coloring. Those parts of the work which relate to the domestic life of the Chinese women will, in a particular manner, engage the attention of the reader.

The closing part of the narrative is varied by an adventure very different from what ordinarily falls to the lot of the traveller. On her return to the United States, for the sake of her health, she was so unfortunate as to fall into the hands of the pirate Maffit, who seems to have taken a particular fancy to her personal effects, and included them among his other robberies. The narrative of her captivity illustrates the indiscriminating spirit of plunder with which this new class of freebooters exercise their profession.

A voyage to China in a sailing vessel is an every-day occurrence, and its monotonous sea-life usually barren of interesting incidents; but taking a steamer, and making a sort of yachting trip of it, as it was our good fortune to do, renders it one of the most enjoyable pieces of sea-travel one can make.

We took passage for Hong-Kong in the _Poyang_,--a new steamer belonging to the mercantile house of Messrs. Olyphant & Co., and designed for navigating the Yangtsz-Kiang, one of the largest rivers of China. Although in appearance greatly like one of our river steamers, she was constructed,--in respect to strength and durability,--more on the model of our best sea-going vessels. She was also most ably commanded by Captain George Briggs, and left the dock at the foot of Tenth Street, East River, on the afternoon of October 26, 1861. Two or three steamers, built and intended for the river navigation of China, had, previous to this time, sailed from New York; but we believe none of them had carried passengers, while the _Poyang_ had, with the women and children, sixteen. On going aboard the vessel we found her deck and cabins quite thronged with people, few of whom were incited by curiosity, but were attracted thither from affectionate interest, to make their final adieus, and to cheer with good wishes those of their friends who were about to leave for that far off land,--

“Beyond where Ceylon lifts her spicy breast, And waves the woods above the watery waste To the fair kingdoms of the rising day.”

The morning had been cloudy, and a slight drizzling rain, which set in a little before the warning bell summoned our friends to leave the vessel, did not tend to make our last farewells the more cheerful. A steam-tug was to accompany us down the Narrows, and the Messrs. Olyphant, with a party of friends, together with several clergymen and some friends of the passengers, remaining on board, we enjoyed their companionship for two or three hours longer, during which time a cold collation was served; and having some missionaries among our passengers, interesting religious services were had in the cabin, when, with much earnest prayer, we were commended to the care of our heavenly Father. The time for the return of these friends having at length arrived, the steamer was stopped, and with many adieus they were safely transferred from the vessel to the tug. Then amid loud cheers and the waving of handkerchiefs we separated; and as the distance was fast widening between us, the colors of each vessel were constantly dipping, and making their last signals of farewell. There was also a general waving of handkerchiefs from the silent group on our quarter-deck, and a straining of moistened eyes to get a last look of the little vessel, whose final disappearance, upon the far-off horizon, told us that we had bidden a long farewell to dear friends and Fatherland.

Our good steamer ploughed swiftly through the billows, and in a short time we were well out at sea, having ample opportunity, before reaching the rough Gulf Stream, to look about and note our surroundings as they affected our prospects for a comfortable or an uncomfortable voyage. The kind and stirring character of our stewardess soon satisfied us as to our cabin prospects, nor did she in the least disappoint our expectations. In all respects we were well cared for, and everything was arranged to make us as comfortable as we could be during so long a voyage. The next morning we were in the Gulf Stream, where we had very rough weather for three days,--during which time, as we expected, sea-sickness made its appearance, but fortunately, in nearly every case, to be of only brief duration. It soon left us to the full and uninterrupted enjoyment of sea-life; but our early recovery we attribute chiefly to remaining much of the time upon deck, and to constant regularity at meals;--the sensible advice, as it proved to be, of a friend experienced in voyaging, and which we commend to all others who may at any time be similarly circumstanced with ourselves. A few of the passengers, however, suffered greatly; and the state-rooms becoming uncomfortable as we entered the warm latitudes, the half-way invalids arranged themselves at their ease in the cabin; some lying down, and others in a variety of attitudes, sitting and bracing themselves against the sides of the cabin, with lugubriously distressed faces, presented pictures of a life on the ocean wave which embodied far more of the grotesque than the picturesque.

We had entered the tropics, and the heat increasing, although we were almost constantly favored with a fine cool sea-breeze, our dining-saloon was becoming too warm for comfort. This was somewhat remedied by resorting to the _punka-frame_,--being a frame, as its name implies, covered with muslin and placed over the table, where at meal-time it was put in motion by the machinery of the vessel, and served all the purposes of a fan. The weather was charming, and we steamed along as quietly as though on a placid river. We had a kind and polite company of passengers, and there being clergymen among the number, prayers were had in the cabin morning and evening, and religious services were held in the dining-saloon every Sunday, to which all were invited. Our experienced and gentlemanly captain and his officers were men to inspire confidence; and the rough passage through the Gulf Stream had fully satisfied us that our vessel was a stanch and firm sailing craft, and also that whatever experience and skill could do for our safety during the voyage, would be done.

On the morning of the 9th of November we sighted St. Antonio, the northernmost of the Cape de Verd Islands. The atmosphere was hazy, and at a distance of twenty miles the island had the appearance of a bank of clouds resting upon the horizon. On closer observation, however, we saw the rugged sides of the mountain steeps; and what had appeared to be a heavy, dark cloud, became the well-defined crest of a mountain, which loomed up in the centre of the island to the height of seven thousand four hundred feet above the level of the sea. We coasted for some time within four or five miles of its rocky, precipitous sides, finding it sublime in lofty peaks, deep gorges, and barren wastes, which, with its shadowy ravines, presented a series of grandly unique pictures. The sea was of the purest aqua-marine hue,--a lovely, tropical sea,--and so clear that one could easily follow the movements of the finny tribe far down in what seemed to be the deepest deep.

The Cape de Verd Islands belong to Portugal, and are of volcanic formation, many of them being nothing more than masses of barren rocks and mountains. They are three hundred miles distant from the coast of Africa, and have a hot and unhealthy climate.

We were to stop for coals at Porte au Grande, the chief port of the island of St. Vincent, and, leaving the shores of St. Antonio, a sail of thirteen miles brought us to the entrance of the fine bay which forms the harbor of this island. On nearing the shore we found the scenery more wildly picturesque in jagged rocks, and wonderful mountain peaks, than at St. Antonio; and it did not require any very great effort of the imagination to transform the singularly castellated and battlemented cliffs into ruined castles and fortresses of the olden time.