CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE CHARLES WILLIAM WASON COLLECTION ON CHINA AND THE CHINESE Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924006072114 Ip , (1 i) SKETCHES FOREIGN SETTLEMENTS AND NATIVE CITY . SHANGHAI By W. MACFARLANE, Reprinted from- the- "SHANGHAI MERCURY." SHANGHAI: 1881. ^ e ^ unishment of flogging, the British Assessors at the Mixed Court have always made it a practice only to consent to this mode of punishment when the offence has been one of brutal violence." As to the punishment of the " cangue," or wooden collar, Mr. Allen again quotes, and vouches for the accuracy of, Mr. Gardner's report : — " As inflicted by the native tribunals, this punish- ment often amounts to physical torture. The wooden frame-work of the collar often weighs as much as 75 lbs. It is kept on night and day, al- most preventing the possibility of sleep, and the convict is exposed to the rays of the sun and pelt- ing rain. Here, again, the humane efforts of my predecessors have been at work", and the punish- ment, as inflicted by the Mixed Court, is entirely moral ; the frame-work only weighs from 4 lbs. to 8 lbs., and the weight rests on the shoulders, and is only borne for six or seven hours during the day; the convict being generally allowed to return at dusk to his home to sleep, and does not leave his home until after his breakfast, between nine and ten a.m. On the collar are strips of paper stating the offence. The convict is never assaulted or in- sulted by the mob. Sometimes he is placed out- side the Mixed Court, and sometimes on the spot where he committed the crime, but always under shelter from the rain and sun. This punishment is adapted in certain cases to the peculiar mental and social condition of the Chinese. Mr. Allen concludes his despatch by saying he had brought the matter to the notice of H.B.M.'s Minister :— " Not on account of any personal feeling, but because it is a matter of importance that such an institution as the Mixed Court should be allowed to be carried on without any opposition on the part of our own countrymen. It has been a difficult task enough to introduce such an innovation among the Chinese, and to show them that reformatory and humane punishments are, in the long run, the most effectual that can be inflicted ; but we have gained our reward in the increased good order of the Settlement, and the confidence of the natives in foreign administration of law. " Sir Thomas Wade, in his despatch to Earl Granville, remarks : — " The Municipal police referred to in Mr. Allen's report are a corps of foreigners very ably handled by a British Superintendent, who, with those under his authority, are supported by the foreign community for the protection of the large cosmo- politan settlement, which is yearly increasing, at the port. The Municipal gaol and station-houses to which the prisoners tried before the Mixed Court are, winch the consent of the Chinese authorities, consigned, are excellent buildings, similiuly provided by the foreign community. In these I am satisfied the Chinese prisoner is as well treated as any foreigner." Mr. Allen having prepared a list showing the number of floggings inflicted on Chinese prisoners at the Mixed Court during the last two years, and the offences so punished by flogging, Sir Thomas Wade says he agrees with Mr. Allen in thinking that, for the of- fences recorded, corporal punishment was un- doubtedly the fittest penalty ; and he adds : — "At the risk of being thought hard-hearted, I must state my belief that, so far from being over- severe, these punishments may be objected to as an error on the side of leniency, for the persons punished are, in general, Chinese whose means of subsistence are theft and robbery, and who, but for the intervention of the foreigner at whose in- stance the Mixed Court was first established, would, if convicted, be subject to far severer punishment in purely native tribunals. ... " I should be sorry to be understood to be an ad- mirer of their Draconian severity. But the Mixed Court, as Mr. Clement Allen justly claims for it, is a first step towards better things, and I join heartily with him in deprecating hasty condemna- tion of the Court. It has done great good during the fifteen years of its existence, and if, as I hope we may, my colleagues and myself eucceed in securing the adoption of some changes we have re- commended in its behalf, its usefulness will be in- creased, not only as affecting Shanghai, its proper borne, but as supplying a model upon which similar Courts may be formed at other ports." Apothe-osis of Liu Sing Kau, God of Peace. THE great ceremony of Dedicating a Temple to the "God of Peace" took place in Shanghai City, on Saturday, the 13th September, 1879. Liu Sing-kau, late Futai of Kiangsu, and District Magistrate of Shanghai in 1860, was by Imperial Decree created " God of Peace," and a temple had to be dedi- cated to his honour by the mandarins and in- habitants of the city and district, over whom he had exercised his powers as an official, and who benefitted by his devotion to duty and his interest in their welfare. As a magistrate he had dealt justice with a fair hand; even though only a civil officer, he won fame in war, for had he not with courage and daring led a party of militia to Pootung, and gained a victory over the rebels? Throughout the whole course of the Taiping Eebelhon his actions showed true perfection of patriotism and love for his people ; while yet in the flesh, he was not passed over without reward, for he was promoted to be Futai of Kiangsu Province ; and while holding that rank he departed this life a few years ago. But like many other great men, his worth only became fully acknowledged after his death; yet it was not too late, for could not his name be handed down to succeeding generations by the story of his good life and brave deeds ? He had secured a niche in the Temple of Fame, (celestial department), for by the easy way the Chinese have of doing things, an Imperial Decree by the Son of Heaven, "him upon whom the dominion of the world has descend- ed," was only necessary for the apotheosis of Liu Sing-kau as "God of Peace;" he had loved peace, although he could also quit him- self gallantly in war, and as " God of Peace," he must have a temple in the city where he formerly held his high post, and his peace- loving spirit will shed a benign influence over the rulers and inhabitants. One curious thing about the new god is that he has to be content with a second hand temple, for the mandarins chose the Temple near the West City Gate, formerly called the Mow-san Temple; the Mow-san idol was removed some time ago to a less commodious temple in the city ; why he had got into disrepute, we don't know ; but at any rate the Temple once occupied by Mow- san was to let ; it was rapidly becoming dila- pidated ; and the mandarins resolved, under Imperial sanction, to repair this Temple thoroughly, and dedicate it to the "God of Peace;" and the great ceremony came off on Saturday in presence of all the mandarins of the district. The chief feature of the day's proceedings was the great procession, which paraded the streets of Shanghai City and also part of the Foreign Settlements. "We resolved to see it ; there was the choice of entirely different pros- ■ pects, — we could see it either in the compara- tively broad streets of the French Concession, or in the narrow streets of the City ; we chose the latter, to which more interest attached, al- though there was the disadvantage that you could not get an extended view of the line of procession. Accompanied by an interpreter and a guide, we entered the City by the New North Gate, about half past one o'clock in the afternoon, and after following our guide through the labyrinth of narrow streets between that 18 A PROCESSION IN SHANGHAI CITY. Gate and the City Temple and Tea Gardens, ■we turned in various directions till ,none but our guide had the slightest idea whether we were going north, south, east, or west ; but by and by after a very long walk, we found our- selves in a long narrow street, evidently one of the principal ones of the City, judging from the appearance of the shops ; the street was literally packed with people ; it was on the line of march of the procession (after it had been marshalled at the City Temple, gone out of the City by the Old North Gate, round several streets in the French Concession, and re-entered the City by the big East Gate); and the people in this narrow street were now eagerly waiting its ap- proach. We got refuge from the crowd by standing inside a large drug store, a substan- tially built house with high brick walls, the frontage unbroken except by a large doorway, and the door was a huge one — the outer part of it being composed of large diamond-shaped bricks cemented together; — the building was evidently fire proof all round. Our guide was apparently acquainted with the shopmen or the master — at any rate we were made welcome to stand inside ; until the procession made its ap- pearance, the presence of a foreigner in the shop was sufficient to attract the notice of the natives, and the shop soon became crowded with them. At abouthalf past two o'clock, the proces- sion approached, and the street, formerly packed so much that one could scarcely force his way through the crowd, is now kept clear by all the people standing inside the large open fronts of of the shops, and in any place where they can squeeze enough room to stand. Hundreds of voices are shouting, yelling, jabbering, laugh- ing; young and old scamper past in a hurry, in eager search for a place to get out of the way; the noise of horses' hoofs is heard on the rude blocks of pavement, and the merry jingling of bells breaks pleasantly on the ear, the sounds become louder and louder, and the excitement of the spectators increases in the same ratio ; till in a few seconds the leaders of the great procession ride past ; they are the Taotai's cavalry, mount- ed on palfreys gaily decked with ornamented saddles and bridles, and the riders are dressed in grand uniform of embroidered silk. A troop of about twenty pass on, two abreast, and barely room for them in the narrow street ; but they ride slowly. They are succeeded by half a dozen men on foot carrying red tablets, with gold characters proclaiming the degrees and titles of the great Liu- Sing- Kau; then there is another troop of small ponies, and in their rear is a crystal-buttoned mandarin, the commander of the Taotai's cavalry. More red tablets are borne slovenly ; and these tablets are the Taotai's. Small mandarins with gilt buttons are next in order, they are mounted on ordinary-sized Chinese ponies, and ride in single file, every man holding aloft a long scroll with letters and ornaments in embroidery of rich and varied colours ; they all cany swords, but instead of having them drawn, or dangling at the left side, the swords are sheathed, and fixed in the rider's waistband at his back, and in a horizontal position. Then folloAv a number of mounted flag bearers, but their small flags are fixed in the back of their waist-bands, like the swords of those in ad- vance. A long pause ensues, the procession- ists lag on their way, and people crowd the street again ; and then there is a scamper- ing and yelling, with loud clattering of hoofs, when four mandarins come galloping past at full' speed; how they could do it in these narrow streets without accident is astonishing. Another pause, and they come again, but the ponies are held in funereal marching order ; two mandarins have each huge rolls, or tubular boxes tied on their backs, they are of crimson with gilt ornaments, and we are told they are for holding signal flags used in battle; then other two small mandarins bear red flags, small square ones, each having a character in A PROCESSION IN SHANGHAI CITY. 19 black on the centre. Another break in the procession, and shopmen and coolies block the street for a while, till two executioners ride up at a good pace and clear the way ; they are hideously dressed, but their costumes are not more black or satanic in design than those of the next two riders ; our interpreter friend called them reporters at first, and we thought of the enterprising members of the staffs of native papers equalling the strategy of a Lon- don reporter, who blacked his face and rode on the head of an elephant from the Guildhall to • Westminster to enable him properly to de- scribe the progress of a Lord Mayor's Show ; but after all they were not reporters— these demon like fellows just past — they were meant to represent messengers to carry tidings of battles ; they, and the executioners before them, were merely impersonations, and our friend has just explained that many of the characters in the procession are merely for the purpose of representing such attendants and subordinates as the great God of Peace should be supposed to have in his yamen ; and the characters are represented by merchants or others of the city who have agreed to take part in the procession. This explanation came in conveniently when there was a long pause, after the messengers galloped past, till a lot of " runners " came up on foot — not running, for " runner " is a misnomer ; — several of them have bamboo sticks, used for flagellating prisoners, and they hold them in their hand so that one end drags on the granite blocks, and makes a grating sound, as one might do with a walking stick. What the meaning of this was it is hard to say. Then follow two symbolical worthies on horseback, and carrying long sticks with silk attached, but not in the shape of a flag or banner, and we only got a glimpse of them — these were messengers between the Emperor and the God of Peace. Music is soon heard in the distance — not far off, for the music was not strong — and we' are told this is the Taotai's band which approaches ; and also informed that they have been under a French instructor. They pass by playing a Chinese tune without beginning or ending — and the strength of the band is four small side drums, two bugles, and four trum- pets. They are followed by the Taotai's Guard or " picked troops '' — the same fellows as we saw when General Grant arrived at Kin-lee- yuen. About twenty or more of them trudge along slowly, each one carrying a long lance, or spiked pole, with small three-cornered flag ; then the martial tread of the men under arms is heard, evidently with heavy boots on, from the noise they make ; they are marching two abreast ; rifles, with sword bayonets fixed, are carried at the slope. The picked troops wear loose blue jackets, and wide trousers ; broad red stripes and facings ; straw hats, with blue silk lining on the upturned rim, and a broad black band round the hat. The first ten or twelve file past in good order, marching well ; but others are gaping round, first at one shop, then at another ; and when they see a foreigner alone in the crowd, that's too much for them ; the picked troops stop and stare at us, with a big broad smile, some making a "left turn " till they have nearly brought the points of their sword bayonets in the faces of people at the other side of the street ; then the fellows in the rear give them a shove on, but curiosity being once directed towards us, the whole . troop as they pass must look round at the door of the drug store. The rear of the guard was brought up by their commander, a crystal-buttoned mandarin mounted on a pony. We had now seen the most improved speci- mens of Chinese soldiery with foreign wea- pons ; and immediately after them came a lot of men bearing all sorts of curious and ancient weapons,' — some ■ resembled "catch poles,'' there were halberts, and spears, and a curious one we noticed particularly was in the shape of a human hand, made in brass, — the clenched 20 A PROCESSION IN SHANGHAI CITY. fist, larger than life size, was on the end of a long pole, and a large pen was grasped in the fist, the pen being thus at right angles to the pole. Then comes a great silk umbrella, em- broidered in most .beautiful design, but the momentary glimpse we obtained of it was not enough to enable us to describe it; it was followed at a short distance by a smaller red umbrella, ornamented but not profusely; and there is a third one in the wake — an old shabby thing in drab-coloured cotton, a very great contrast from the richly embroidered article. A crystal-buttoned mandarin rides slowly past on his pony, with tinkling bells on the harness, and he sits majestically on his huge and clumsy saddle ; he goes at a slow pace, and does not care to risk his own life or endanger the lives of others by galloping in the narrow street, as some have been doing. Another lot of runners on foot, and then an umbrella bearer, his -huge parachute being of pink silk; and then by the cries of the people we understand something good is coming. There is a forerunner shouting, and then chair coolies are seen ; eight of them are carrying a magnificent altar, in the shape of a sedan chair, for burning incense ; it is of beautiful design, the wood work of ebony, or imitation of it, and profusely gilded ; the carving work is most elaborate, and altogether the altar is a most exquisite piece of workmanship. Sandal- wood and incense are being burned on it. Then there are some allegorical representa- tions — the first a little boy on a palfrey, both richly decked with ornaments and embroidery, and then a man on horseback representing some ancient character. A curious squad of men come next, — each one holds out his right arm, bare up to the elbow, and in his skin are fixed about a dozen brass hooks, from which is suspended by four cords a heavy censer, the whole weight being about thirty pounds ; the men put on wry faces — but they pretend that there is a supernatural interference with the laws of gravity, that some god or spirit bears up weight of the censer, and that the hooks don't hurt them. Another break in the procession ; and then a number of men pass by, almost obscured under big straw hats ; they are incense burners who cany variously shaped censers in their hands, and we are told they have to kneel and worship at any temple or idol they pass on the route. Their chin-chinning has probably been the cause of the gaps in the procession ; for as soon as they pass, the street is for a few minutes occupied by coolies carrying vegetables and samshu ! —they were of course not in the programme. Incense burners come again — they had been tarrying in their worship at some place — and then executioners, runners with bamboo sticks, and a red umbrella bearer hurry past on foot. Another crystal-buttoned mandarin appears, and after him come two men on horseback, carrying richly decorated flags and banners — these flags have been pre T sented by the people of Shanghai to the God of Peace, 'and proclaim him to be a God. Then there is a magnificent umbrella ; the ground-work of crimson cloth, richly em- broidered and fringed ; and round the flounces are hundreds of Chinese characters, all em- broidered in blue silk, — these are the names of people who have subscribed to present this umbrella to the great God of Peace. A juvenile band follows the gorgeous umbrella — the band comprising only four urchins, two playing flutes, one striking a hollow piece of bamboo, and the fourth has a triangle, or something of the same kind. Then a lot of shabbily dressed runners hurry past, shouting and yelling, for there is something great behind them — it is a dragon chariot, in which sandal- wood is burned ; and it is carried by eight coolies, like a sedan chair. The sound of a great gong is heard, and the processionists come up quickly, and close together ; the gong beater with powerful arm beats that huge gong .: A PEOCESSION IN SHANGHAI CITY. 21 like thunder; the gong is so large that the man carrying it can barely hold it from touching the ground ; it is indeed a gong fit for a god. The next in order are runners carrying tablets' followed by mandarins on horseback, in elegant robes ; and then four sedan chairs are carried past, each chair occupied by mandarins' secre- taries or seal bearers. Another juvenile drum and flute band, runners, a sedan chair, coolies, bamboo-beaters, umbrella bearers, and small boys, pass in close succession ; and then there are men burning joss sticks, two boys with flutes, and more joss stick burners. Now we have a swellish string band — a private one belonging to some of the big mandarins — there are nearly a dozen men with stringed instruments and flutes, but as they pass now in a crowd without any order, there is only one old man feebly tooting on his flute. More runners and others hurry up, and following them" is another swell string band playing vigourously at some Chinese air. The next thing is one in which the processionists have more interest ; it is a board well covered with sweet meats — not meant for the gods, but for the processionists themselves ; and the last of all the long and glorious procession is a huge sedan chair, decorated with carvings and covered with gilt, every part of it elaborated in the highest degree which Chinese art and skill can attain — this is the chair of the God of Peace, and inside it is his tablet with his name and degrees, — the tablet which is to be placed in his Temple. The chair is borne by eight coolies, and in their wake the crowd of citizens surge to and fro, and thousands keep up a jolt- ing march after the glorious cavalcade. After the great procession had passed through the street where for upwards of an hour we had witnessed its progress, our guide took the lead to show us the way to the new Temple of the God of Peace, and we were assured that we could be there long before the procession reached it, for the great cavalcade of mounted mandarins, troops, runners, um- brella bearers, chair coolies, and brass and string bands, had to march through many of the streets before they would complete their perambulation and arrive at the Temple. In the streets we passed through first, we were in the wake of the procession ; business was being resumed by the shopmen, — they were hanging up their sign-board tablets, which had been taken down to give free passage to the big umbrellas ; workmen were busy — blacksmiths, coppersmiths, comb-makers, ivory-carvers, lamp-makers, embroiderers, shoe-makers, and coffin-makers, — all were busy at their work in the open frontages of the shops ; the crowd in the streets soon became mixed so that they no longer were following in one mass after the procession, but were going to and fro in busi- ness or pleasure, each pursuing the even tenor of his way, calm, undisturbed, and innoffensive ; and the generality of the men on the streets much better dressed, and more respectable like, than those in the crowds in Chinese streets in the Foreign Settlements. We followed our guide through many a narrow street, turning first by the one hand and then by the other, over bridges spanning creeks of dirty stagnant water, through streets with splendid shops, or others with wretched hovels ; and on and on we went, asking impatiently where that God of Peace had fixed his abode, till at length we began to get out into the more open part of the City to the west side, and we knew we would soon be in the open grounds there. In most of these streets we had passed, there was no. sign that anything unusual was taking place in the city ; but occasionaUy we could see down the vista of a narrow street, and at the bottom of it, a mandarin on horseback rode past, or the great umbrellas might appear to be blocking the way, or the big gong be heard like the sound of stage thunder ; we were having a distant view of the procession going in a direction away from the Temple, 22 THE TEMPLE OF THE GOD OP PEACE. while we were approaching at the rate of three miles at hour. We walked on a narrow path by the side of a creek, and on the other side, in garden ground, there were long rows of seats occupied by women waiting patiently for the show. The Temple was now in sight on our right hand, but we had to take a circuitous route till we crossed the creek on a small stone bridge, and then a zig-zag path-way through open fields or gardens brought us up to the building which was formerly the Mow-san Temple, but is now the Temple of the God of Peace. The Temple is one of the most pro- minent buildings in the City, as seen from the wall on the west side. Its exterior formerly was of a dirty, dingy, orange colour, but it is now white-washed; the up-turned corners of gables, the roof, and all its external parts look well, and from a casual observance appear to have been made as good as new. When we get close to it, we see crowds of celestials all round it, — runners have laid down tablets against the walls, and chair coolies and runners are crowding in hundreds. The great man- darins of the district did not join in the pro- cession, but are now sitting inside the Temple buildings, and the crowd of celestials here is largely composed of their retainers who have attended them in their private processions to the Temple. The Temple is of the ordinary design of a yamen ; at the frontage is the lofty porch, with great open doorways ; passing through it, we come to the main court-yard ; in front of us is the Temple, and on either side are long porches ; the Temple is open in front, the stone or brick flooring raised by several steps above the level of the courtyard ; on either side of the Temple are two large rooms, the walls quite bare in the interior, and the rooms evidently not yet quite finished. In these rooms, on benches round the side of the walls, are dozens of mandarins in the official robes of richly embroidered silk, strings of corals and beads and precious stones ; light mushroom straw hats, and pea- cock feathers, with buttons of various de- grees. The chief mandarin present is Lui, the Taotai of the District of Shanghai ; and we also identify the Che-hien or District Magis- trate, Moh ; and also our old Mend Chen of the tribunal in the Maloo ; it was needless to hunt up a list of them all, suffice it to say that all the high mandarins holding civil and mili- tary posts in the district, and many "expec- tants " who have no posts, were there in full glory. In the main court-yard, there were dozens of sedan chairs belonging to these offi- cials — the Taotai's in green cloth, the others in dark blue. All round the porches of the court-yard, there were ornamental lamps hang- ing from the eaves — the lamps octagonal or septagonal in shape, composed of glass, and ornamented with fringes of coloured beads. The paved flooring, the walls, pillars, roof, and everything appeared to be repaired equal to new, — if indeed the most of the work was not new altogether; — never having been in the place before we cannot say what like it was when Mow-san's idol was there; but it cer- tainly appeared that no expense had been spared to make it a fit abode for the new comer. Before we ascend the steps leading to the Temple, we notice on either side a small wall, built with brick, but spotless in its cover- ing of white wash ; the wall rises about eight feet, the lower half is solid, the upper is in trellis work, and in the openings are beautiful figures moulded in blue clay, — some of these figures — of men, animals, and groups — are really beautiful and interesting works of art. In the Temple itself, we find in the fore- ground a huge stand, nearly five feet in height, and on it are placed at the extreme edges two massive candlesticks, — the candles burning are of red wax, about eighteen inches in length, and an inch and a half in diameter ; then on each side further in on the table are two small candlesticks, with red wax candles DEDICATION OP THE TEMPLE. 23 of the ordinary tallow-candle size ; while in the centre of the stand is a large square box in bronze, filled with earth, and two long pieces of joss- stick are burning in upright position. From the roof many small-sized octagonal glass lamps, and four very large square ones, are suspended; the pillars which support the roof are ornamented, and long tablets with large gold letters are hanging in front of them; on the waUs are numerous tablets, and on the roof also, — all round there are gilt letters showing forth the praises and telling of the great Liu Sing-kau. On the wall in front of us, there is a frame work in varnished wood, richly carved ; it forms a niche, and the interior is hung with scarlet curtains, with a green curtain stretched along the top. This is the niche in which the tablet of the God of Peace is to rest. Between the incense stand in front and the altar, there is a table covered with dishes of cakes, chest- nuts, dates, nuts, and sweetmeats; on the right hand side of this table, a clean-dressed sheep is stretched on a four-legged stand, and on the other side of the table there is a clean- dressed pig on another stand, and both car- cases are laid in angular positions, with their heads pointing to the seat of the god; — the fruit and sweets, and more substantial food of mutton and pork is for the God of Peace, but he doesn't touch it, and the keeper of the Temple takes these good things as his per- quisites after they have lain before the god for three days. The procession arrived at the Temple shortly before five o'clock; the great mass of proces- sionistscould not get near the entrance of the Temple for the crowd, and they had to deploy into garden ground all round about. The great mandarins came out and formed in two lines from the entrance of the outer porch to the steps of the Temple proper, and when the great chair of the God of Peace, the last article in the pro- cession, had been brought up through all the crowd outside, the chair and tablet of the great god were earned in between the lines of the mandarins, the Taotai, the Che-hien, and all the others in then: turn, according to their rank, bowing to the tablet, and making obeisance to their new god. The tablet was then placed in the niche prepared for it as described. Fireworks and crackers were burnt, the bands played, and the chin-chinning was carried on all evening. The wax candles in the temple and porches were all lighted, the mandarins feasted, and the swellish private string bands and the old tin-potty brass bands played time about till a late hour in the evening. The dedication of the Temple to the God of Peace was thus acconphshed. We could not afford to wait all afternoon at the Temple to see the whole ceremony carried out, and therefore the latter particulars are from a Chinese informant. As we left the Temple of the God of Peace, and made for the West Gate of the City, we passed on our right hand an old and dilapidated building, which we are informed is the Temple of Kwan-ti, the God of War ; it certainly presented a very shabby and ruinous appearance on the outside ; and as far as a good looking Temple goes, the God of War can't hold a candle to the God of Peace in Shanghai City. The Manila Cock-^it, in Bamboo Town. In our cosmopolitan community there are so many nationalities, and so many different customs are in vogue, that we might expect to see anything here. The Municipal bye-laws are assimilated to the police regulations in England; but in a community comprising nearly all the races on the face of the earth, the Police Act of England, or similar statutes of other countries, can only be imitated in part. Chinese must be allowed to follow their own customs, so far as these do not interfere with the welfare of foreigners, but the western inven- tion of licenses is enforced as a restraint upon some of their institutions, such as public opium smoking saloons ; and their gambling houses are strictly prohibited, the same as lower-class gambling is hunted down at home, while in big clubs it is winked at. But other nationals who have settled here, bring with them their national pastimes, and under license from their Consul, and apparently beyond interference on the part of the Municipality, practice games which would not be tolerated under the Police Act of England. The particular case we have under notice is the Game of Cock Fighting, carried on by Spaniards from Manila. Cock- fighting is the chief sport or pastime of Manila- men, and they carry it on in full swing every Sunday afternoon, in the Cock-pit in "Bamboo Town," north-western part of the American Settlement ; and besides Manila- Spaniards, there are numbers of Portuguese, Chinese, and other nationals among the spectators. A short time ago we visited the Cock-pit, just to see what like a place it was. Bamboo Town is a quarter thickly covered with small houses, wretched hovels they are, chiefly constructed of bamboo, and this fact accounts for the The Cock-pit can, we believe, be name. approached from Tien-dong Koad, (the road to heaven 1) through a long course of small and dirty streets ; a less complicated route is by Chapoo Boad until the west side of Bamboo Town is reached, then by a nar- row path down between two rows of small houses ; the next turn is into a narrow alley, where there is only room for walking Indian file ; this brings us to the back of one of .the rows of houses, where there is a creek of stagnant water covered with green weeds ; the creek is crossed by the most ricketty erection in the way of bridges that could be found hereabout ; the pillars are only bamboo poles, and four or five planks lie over them without any superfluous fixings ; first a single plank, then two along- side, and another two, — these constitute the bridge, and it is not fit to bear two persons at once. On the other side of the creek, on a long and narrow strip of ground, the Manila-men have their cock-fighting ground. The " pit," as it is called, is a bamboo erection, — a sort of "mat-shed." The roof is supported by bamboo poles; the west side only is enclosed with a high fence and screen to keep out the strong rays of the afternoon sun ; all the other sides are open. The arena is en- closed by a low fence, between it and the high fence on the west side there is a small enclos- ure, presumably meant for a grand stand, or private boxes ; the spectators crowd all round, THE MANILA COCK-PIT. 25 leaning over the fence of the arena ; but at the east .side there is a platform or stage erected on bamboo poles; the stage five feet above ground, and reached by a ladder, — spectators are standing on this slim erection, and others crouch below it too. There is other and ex- tensive accommodation for the sports ; an open square is surrounded by seats constructed by bamboo poles fixed horizontally on short piles, and beyond this there is another space under a roofing of bamboo and mate. These spaces are where the cocks are kept, tethered to small stakes in the ground, and the men sit all round on the seats, in the interval after one fight till another match is got up. That day we were there, the sport was said to be dull ; there were only about eighteen fighting birds on the ground, and few of them could match ; the birds were moulting, and hence the small turn out. We were told some days there might be nearly a hundred cocks brought to the pit, and numerous combats taking place. The owners sit on the benches, talking loudly to each other, making challenges or bets ; the talking goes on in Spanish chiefly, but also a great deal of pidgin English is used. The Manila-men are dressed in holiday suits, bright coloured, and checks of the " loudest" pattern ; a conspicuous sportsman amongst them is of altogether different garb, — he is a Parsee, dressed in a long robe of dark grey checked tweeds, and with his curiously- shaped topee stuck on the back of his head; away in a corner is a quiet and apparently disinterested person, a Marwaree, in long white robe, and white turban; beside him an old man with white beard, wearing a Turkish fez minus the tassel, but his blue cotton pants and jacket show he is only an old sailor, and he is more like an Irishman than a Turk ; and there are several "packet-rats" and " beach-combers " of the English mercantile marine, who have been discharged at this port and have lounged about here for many weeks. During the short time we were there, three matches were got up ; but only one came to anything. A challenge being given, the owners of the birds set them down beside each other in the open square, to see if they show a disposition to fight ; and then each owner takes up his bird and holds it out to the other ; if the birds ruffle up the feathers of their neck and show game for fighting, the match is agreed on, and the owners and others helping them proceed to put on the horrible artificial spurs ; for the fighting is not done in a natural way, but with a long steel blade fastened on the right leg of the cock. These spurs vary in length according to the size of the birds, the measure being from the foot to the joint of the leg. The average spur is two inches in length, it is just like the blade of a small knife, bill-shaped at the point, and as sharp as a lance. Some owners have a quiver of such spurs ; they take the leather case from their pocket, select a spur, and then proceed to fix it on the leg of the bird. The blade is furnished with a double haft, which is placed against the leg, and passes on either side of the natural spur ; then great lengths of strong thread are wound round the leg till the blade is firmly secured, and the bird when placed on the gound cannot use the right foot on account of its being so much tied up ; the blade meanwhile is covered with a leather sheath. When both combatants are ready, they are taken into the arena ; the fence round it is lined with people on the outside, and about a dozen Manila-men are inside getting up bets on the contest. In one match we saw, the birds ran away from each other at the first trial inside the arena ; in another, one caved in after the first round; the third fight blasted about ten minutes, which was a most unusual circumstance, as it is said the fights generally result in a kill or a capitulation in the first minute or two. But in this case there was a horrible fight. The backers had been calling 26 A DESPERATE COCK-FIGHT. for dollars for about five minutes, while the own- ers were in the middle of the arena with birds in hand ; the stakes were about twelve dollars, besides outside betting ; the final trial was made, the birds were presented to each other, and each pecked the neck of his opponent, — if they had not done that, it was still time for one owner to withdraw and save his stakes ; but the birds are game fellows, and their owners and the backers shout with glee at the prospect of seeing a good fight, and at their chance of earning or losing a few dollars. The arena is cleared of all but two or three men ; the stake- holder has thrown down the Mexicans on the ground, and with one coin describes a rude circle round each pile of dollars. The sheaths are removed from the spurs of steel ; each owner lasses his bird, and then puts it down on the ground ; and there is great shouting and excitement amongst the spectators, when the poor birds begin their terrible fight for life or death. One is a grey, the other brown ; and both are young Tientsin fowls. They duck down their heads, with their feathers standing on end round their necks like Elizabethan ruffs; then one leaps over the other, and at- tempts to strike his opponent ; they turn again and spring at each other; they jump about, till they have been nearly all over the arena ; and their feathers are flying through the air ; then the grey one gets hold of the brown fowl by the neck and drags his head to the ground, but fails to get above him ; the brown one rises and seizes the grey ; now they have got hold of each other, the bill of one at the back of the neck of the other, and they keep firm hold for a while, dancing round and round, trying to gain the mastery. The grey one throws off the brown, and makes him back up against a fence ; the grey then springs at the brown two or three times ; and the breast of the latter is bare of feathers, covered with blood, and deeply cut. The two birds are getting pretty tired ; they come out to the centre of the arena and take things quietly for a time ; the grey has stuck his head under the wing of the brown one ; the brown one pecks gently at the back of the grey, and thus they go on for half a minute ; then the grey withdraws his head, flies at his opponent, and his opponents flies next ; another halt put in by the strange procedure of the grey, with his head under the brown one's wing ; and finally, after nearly ten minutes' hard fighting has been engaged in, the grey makes a wild spring at the brown, and in flying over him sends the long steel spur into his neck ; the brown one runs away ; his owner picks him up and sets him down in front of the grey again, but the brown again runs off; — the grey is proclaimed victor, and his owner and backers earn a few dollars over him. The brown cock was dreadfully cut, and seemed to be good for nothing but curry ; the grey victor did not appear to have any serious wound at all. Such is a true description of the shocking cruelty practised in the game of cock-fighting, as regularly carried on by these Manila- Spaniards, and under the name of " sport 1" The sight was so sickening that some European visitors turned away in dis- gust. The Birthday of the Moon; in Shanghai City by Night. /~\N the Fifteenth Day of the Eighth Moon,* ^S which is celebrated by the Chinese as the Birthday of the Moon, we availed ourselves of the opportunity of visiting Shanghai City at night, as that night is a great one with the Chinese in worshipping their gods and the burning of incense in the streets and public places of the City ; and on that night the City Gates are open until midnight, whereas on all other days of the year — excepting the eve of the New Year — the gates are closed at ten o'clock in the evening. The Chinese call that particular day the Birthday of the Moon, be- cause according to their legends, the Emperor Ming-Tai-Tso, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, — when out with his army and being sore pressed for want of supplies to sustain his men, — sent out foraging parties, on the Fifteenth Day of the Eighth Moon • but the darkness was at first so great that they could not see where to obtain anything in the fields, until the Moon suddenly shone with great brilliance, and the soldiers were aided by her light to go to fields and gather in crops for food to the army. How they had not looked after this in daylight, does not appear from the legend; that difficulty is ignored for. the sake of the story. The Emperor was so much pleased by the wonderful appearance of the Moon at what the legend makes-believe was an opportune moment, that he ordered the day to be ever afterwards celebrated as the Birthday of the Moon. Another peculiar cus- * 15th Day, Eighth Moon, 5th year of Kwang Su ; 30th September, 1879, A.D. torn still in vogue has its origin in the story of this Emperor's foraging party, namely that it is still the custom in China that any one can go to the fields or to the houses of the farmers on this particular night, and take whatever they please, in the way of grain, vegetables, or food of any kind, without let or hindrance. The foragers of Ming-Tai-Tso's army, on that eventful night discovered a peculiar root, which on trial, after cooking, was discovered discovered to be good for food, and a root to be desired to make one enjoy mutton chops ; that root was the potato. Ould Ireland cannot claim the potato in the face of this legend ; but whether the celestial foragers also found trace of the ancestors of the American potato bug, the legend sayeth not. Another interesting legend is that on the Fifteenth Day of the Eighth Moon, the Emperor Tong- Ming- Wang, of the Tong Dyn- asty, visited the Moon, in company with his secretary, wives, servants, and retainers, and in that luminary they saw a party of young girls, of tender years, who were playing musical instruments and acting tableaus and ancient plays ; and to this legend the origin of Chinese theatres is attributed. These stories are related by a Chinese friend while we walk through the Foreign Settlements to the Old North Gate of the City, and then we enter upon an exploring expedition such as few foreigners would care to undertake, but which was not devoid of interest to a foreigner, and its narration may be of interest to others. Shanghai City is shunned by the foreigners 28 SHANGHAI CITY BY NIGHT. who have settled here ; most of them have perhaps visited it once out of curiosity to see if it is actually as bad as it is called ; and they find there is nothing attractive in it, but many things repulsive, — its narrow streets, and dirty stagnant pools and creeks ; — one visit is enough for most people, and that too in the day time. Well, if there is nothing particularly worth seeing in the day time, what could possess one to go there at night ? Curiosity. Without expectation of seeing anything to repay for the trouble and time spent in the nocturnal per- ambulation of the City, we crossed the bridge over the moat, and followed our guide down the short winding path, bordered on each side by piles of water-kongs, Soochow bath-tubs, and other huge specimens of native pottery of the coarser descriptions ; the path which is a busy scene in day time, with a crowd of peo- ple going to and fro, is now almost deserted ; there are only a few stragglers between the bridge and the gate ; the " old clo' " men, and the curiosity stall keepers, who are to be seen during the day with collections of rubbish by the way-side, are all gone to their hovels in the City. We pass through the first archway, the outer gate, and then are within the circu- lar tower, with the sky for a roof, which is seen at all the City Gates. In front of us is the watchmen's house, — and the guard, by the way, are soldiers of much the same class as the the Taotai's "picked troops." One of them is standing in the open front of the house ; but not standing as a sentinel or watchman ought to stand ; his favourite position most probably is lying down, with a hubble-bubble tobacco pipe to console himself and wile away the time ; but now this watchman is standing, yet does not look very much like being on duty, even although it is the Birthday of the Moon, and a great celebration night. He is standing, stretching out his arms, and yawn- ing, as if he had just got up from a sleep and thought of shutting up shop at the usual time — ten o'clock ; but this is an extraordinary oc- casion, and he has still two hours before him to watch the stragglers passing in and out of the gate. The watchman is duly honouring the great occasion of the Birthday of the Moon, for in the front of his house there stands a small table, and on it are two large candle- sticks, burning huge red-wax candles, and between them there is a pot with a small pile of sandalwood, smouldering away. The Budd- histic sandal- wood is the incense of China, and its perfume is about as disagreeable as the smoke from an opium pipe. We were to have plenty of sandal-wood smoke that night, and other disagreeable perfumes from dirty streets, and therefore we took the precaution to keep up a continual incense burning of our own, the joss-sticks being Manila Cigars. After passing through the second archway, or inner gate, we proceeded along a narrow, dirty street, running parallel with the wall, and in a direc- tion towards the New North Gate. In this street, the houses were all wretched hovels — the most of them only dwellings, the others small workshops, cookshops, and teashops. In almost every one the frontage was still open, and feeble attempts at illumination were seen on every hand ; the shopkeeper who managed to light six wax candles, took the shine out of his neighbours ; but all have sandal-wood burning, though only a stick or two. At one small shop there is an unusual display — bun- dles of sandal- wood, ornaments in paper work in flags and figures of various kinds, piles of sweet meats of all colours ;— these are for sale, and while the dealer gives a pretty good display, comparatively, in the piles of incense and wax candles he is burning at his own ex- pense, it is more of an advertisement than anything else, to attract citizens to his shop and obtain, ere it is too late, the requisites for worshipping the Moon on this auspicious night. At another shop a little further on, there is even a much greater flare up than the SHANGHAI CITY BY NIGHT. 29 vendor of joss pidgin requisites could afford to make at his own cost. It is at a small public teahouse where a lot of natives are sitting round the small tables, drinking tea, and smoking tobacco, and listening to the barbar- ous music of a band — hired at enormous expense for the occasion, and who succeed in making a most infernal din. In front of this shop are two stands bearing small tubs, and from them piles of sandalwood have been raised up two or three feet high ; one of the piles has been burned down, and is now only a bright heap of smouldering ashes, and the other pile has just been fired at the top, and will burn for several hours. There were only a few stragglers in the narrow street, which was feebly lighted by the candles ; and the Moon was half obscured in a mackerel sky, so that the street was rather dark ; the wretched hovels were bad enough under moon- light, but their wretchedness was also half obscured. After a pretty long walk from the Old North Gate, we came to the street which leads from the New North Gate, where there is an open piece of ground, in which three or four new fire wells have just been dug and built up with brick. We then followed our guide through some of the principal business streets of the City, where the best of the shops are situated. All business had been suspended for two or three hours, but many of the shop frontages were still open, where all kinds of lamps were burning brightly, and sandal-wood sending its curling smoke and nauseous perfume upwards to the gods whom the Chinese worship. At the corner of one street, we observed a niche in a wall, where there were various ornamentations ; several candles were burning, and a pot of the all- pervading incense ; small plates of sweet- meats and fruit were also lying in the niche, in front of a picture which represented the God of Happiness ; the offering was being made to this deity, and the sandal- wood which was being burnt bore in Chinese characters a dedication to him. We passed on by public streets, through dirty squares, and over creeks, till we came near the City Temple. Our attention was to be first directed to the Temple of Confucius, but we found it shut up, and no illumination there ; the only thing near it was a hungry cur running about with his nose to the ground in search of supper ; all round by the stagnant pool which surrounds the Tea Gardens, there was scarcely anyone to be seen ; and when we passed into the City Temple, from a side or back entrance, we were disappointed there too, for there wasn't even a tallow candle nor a joss stick burning about it ; a few urchins were enjoying the unusual privilege of being allowed out so late, by playing in the main court-yard of the Temple ; but otherwise there was no one about. There used to be two or three hundred dollars subscribed and spent on celebrations at the City Temple in honour of the Birthday of the Moon, but a subsequent enquiry brought an explanation which is very satisfactory, and shows that the money was being applied with a far wiser discretion than hitherto, for we learned from our guide that the usual fund subscribed by the citizens for illuminations at the City Temple had been devoted by the City Magistrate for the construction of the fire- wells we had just seen at the New North Gate, and for the increase of the number of water kongs throughout the City, for we had noticed too that many new kongs had been laid down at various places. That such precautions are commendable, and likely to prove of good ser- vice, needs no argument for support ; there have been several fires in the City this year, and it is a matter of surprise that they did not make greater havoc than they did. Shortly after leaving the City Temple, we came to the site of one of the recent fires, where about one hundred houses had been destroyed ; it must have been a very big fire, and quite beyond the 30 SHANGHAI CITY BY NIGHT. powers of the citizens to cope with it, and it is a wonder the whole City did not go to ruins. In our further perambulations, we witnessed two or three special displays, but only on a very insignificant scale ; at one place the God of Wealth was being glorified by an array of red wax candles and a large pile of sandal- wood ; and by the side of a bridge over a creek, close to the Eoman Catholic Mission Chapel, there was another stand surmounted by a fiery pile of sandal-wood. The latter, we learned, was in honour of Mow-san, whose idol at one time occupied the Temple near the West Gate, but from which it was recently removed to less commodious premises by the side of this creek, to make room for the God of Peace. In all the streets there were unpretentious displays by the shopkeepers ; people were walking list- lessly hither and thither ; and youngsters were still playing on the streets. We only observed one juvenile group who had got illuminations of their own, and their design was a curious one ; a little celestial of seven or eight years of age had an illuminated representation of some animal, — our guide stretched his imagination and said it was a rabbit, but it might as well have been called a turtle ; — the framework was of bamboo, covered with coloured paper, a can- dle burned inside, and the whole was mounted on wheels, and as one youngster dragged his "show" along the almost deserted street, the silence was broken only by the gleeful shouts of his companions. At the District Magis- trate's yamen, to which we ultimately found our way, there was a considerable amount of incense burning. At the outside of the yamen are the houses of the Magistrate's "runners," and the dingy cells in which prisoners, con- victed of j paltry offences, are confined. All round about there were primitive illuminations in the never-failing red wax ; three or four huge piles of sandal- wood were burning in front of the house of the " head runner," and our guide and friend read on the unburnt sticks of sandal-wood a dedication, to the god who presides over the prisoners, by the District Magistrate, Moh. After walking through some of the open courts of the yamen, where petty mandarins have their residences, we turned to make our way out of the City, and by traversing many a narrow street, by many curious turnings, we at length found ourselves at the New North Gate, and were glad to get out again to the wider streets of the French Concession, and on to the Bund, where there was no perfume of sandalwood ; we thought the journey had not been quite worth the time spent on it, and that the Birthday of the Moon in Shanghai City was a Very poor affair after all. A Morning at the Grand Stand ; and a Sale of pi >ALE OF LrRIFFINS. r | iHIS morning was a lively one on the -*- Eace Course and at the Grand Stand ; besides the usual interesting events in training for the races, a mob of Manchurian ponies were to be sold by auction at the close of the morn- ing's exercises. At earliest dawn, dozens .of ponies were being saddled for trials, and were led round about in the stable-yards by mafoos ; enthusiastic jockeys were ready to mount new purchases in untrained griffins, or racers that have already made their names famous. The course lay encircled by a thin girdle of mist, which on the further side was just heavy enough to obscure that part of the track from the view of those at the Grand Stand or the rails in front of it ; and a grey dimness was all over the City and Foreign Settlements to the east, and the Bubbling Well Eoad and the open country to the north and south. The grass course was stretched out like a carpet — the glistening due, yet undisturbed, made it of a lighter green than afterwards appeared on the tracks where the ponies scampered and df.slied off the- dew. The sun rose quickly, his bright crown of dazzling rays shooting up behind the mist, while his " broad circumfer- ence " in dark crimson was seen through it awhile, till he dispelled the mist and shone in full refulgence. The powing went on with vigour and enthusiasm in the jockeys ; eagerness in the mafoos, not unmingled with pride in those honoured by a place in a field of three or four powing together on the grass course ; the owners 'and other spectators were much in- terested in the performances ; and, for aught we know to the contrary, the ponies enjoyed it immensely. There was some very good racing done in the home straight ; what was accomplished on the other side of the course, we could not see sufficiently well to distinguish the rider, nor pony, nor distance post ; we could but see the dim figure of the rider, and the outline of a pony with flying tail ; they hobble on and on, the distance making the pace seem slow, till they come round the turn and enter the straight, the noise of their hoofs is soon heard, the pony snorting, the rider awhooping, and the "long persuader" is playing whack on the pony's side. They pass in front of the rails like streaked lightning ; and may go round again, or they may pull up and make tracks for the stable, — the pony having done his morning's work, and the rider soon reappears on another. The sports stand- ing at the rails, with stop-watches in hand, are intent in watching all the pows ; and they quiz and chaff the riders as they come off the the course, or the appearance of the mokes is remarked upon, or jokes passed by the more loquacious of the sporting celebrities. The powing goes on all the morning up to about seven o'clock — by which time the sun's rays are more direct, by his elevation above the horizon ; it is then too hot for racing, and the light is too dazzling for the spectators to watch the course. The griffins from Man- churia have been on view all the morning in the three-cornered paddock at the side of the road ; there are ten of them, being led in pairs round and round the small enclosure ; 32 A SALE OF GBIFFINS. they are looked at by probable purchasers, or the curious, and their appearance is criticised. The auctioneer is Mr. H. Meller ; the owner is a celestial from the north. Tls. 1000 were twice offered for the ten ; and twice refused. When the racing is about finished, and some- thing like a hundred sportsmen on the grounds in the vicinity of the Stand, a Chinaman rings a tin-pot bell out on the road, and the voice of the auctioneer is heard : " This way, gentle- men, to the sale of griffins ; this way, gentle- men." His invitation is accepted ; the crowd of sportsmen leave the Grand Stand and its enclosures, and the Stables ; the sale is to take place on the public road, just at the side of the Stables ; the road is not very hard at one side, and is good enough for a trotting path ; the small trees shade off the rays of the sun, and the spectators form in two lines, one line close under the trees at the side of the road, the other in the middle ; and Lot Number One is now led up by a mafoo and trotted on the soft track. Forty taels was the preserve priee for this fawn coloured griffin ; but he did not seem to be much cared for, and he was taken in at the reserve. Number Two was then trotted up ; a mafoo gives him a lash across the hind-legs as he enter's between the lines of the sportsmen, and sets him off as if he was to go to the Bubbling Well in very fast time. " What's bid for the big black pony ? Almost as big as a horse." So cries the auctioneer, and his words are taken up by another, " Al- most too big for a donkey." "A very quiet pony," is the next recommendation ; and as it is uttered the pony gets a sharp cut with a whip from one of the mafoos, he bounds down the track, the mafoo losing hold of the halter, and the pony goes off towards the paddock where he had spent the morning, but was soon secured ; he had shown enough of his action, and was then brought to a stand on the track. " He'll make a fine paper hunter ! Reserve very small— only fifty taels— just enough to pay freight. Fifty taels I'm bid — any advance ?" Another bid was given, and the tall black pony sold for Tls. 55. Number Three, a chestnut, was next brought to notice. " There's only a limit of fifty taels on this fine pony," said the auctioneer ; " the limits are ridiculously small. Is there a bidder for this little moke? Par- ticularly quiet and good tempered." The ma- foos go for the pony at the end of the track, and whip him up smartly, the mafoo leading him has difficulty in keeping him to the track, and the lines of sportsmen break out a little as some are afraid of being trod upon. " Only a limit of fifty taels, — will anyone bid for him ?" "Five!" and a nod or a wink, caught by the auctioneer at once, now his cry is " Fifty-five taels ; the competition becomes brisk and the price rises in fives up to one hundred taels. "Only one hundred taels, I'm bid, — only a hundred, — only a hundred, — no advance ? — one hundred taels!" "Five!" "A hundred and five taels I'm bid— one hundred and five — he's perfectly quiet and good tempered — one hun- dred and five for the first, and second, — one hundred and five, for the third and last time, — going, — going, — gone !" — and the auctioneer whacks his notebook with a twopenny pencil, for he had no hammer, nor anything to strike with one, if he had it ; and the chestnut pony is led off, his purchaser following to have a minute examination of him. " Number Four, gentlemen, a small black pony ; we'll call him small black in contradistinction to the other one. He's also quiet; there's no vice about any of therri. Limit on this fine pony, only fifty taels ; any bid for this little sturdy pony ?" The pony is trotted between the lines, and the mafoos whip him sharply at each end of the track ; the pony does not see any fun in run- ning fifty yards and getting whipped whichever way he goes ; he turns round on the big sports- men next the trees, and they have to back up against the fence to save themselves from the pony's hoofs. Mafoos are remonstrated with A SALE OP GEIFFINS. 33 for whipping too hard ; a jockey suggests some strong expressions to the auctioneer, but he " doesn't like to say that when the public are listening." " Number Pour, gentlemen ; limit only fifty taels, — buy your ponies for the paper hunt season ! Will nobody bid for tins pony ? — pass him by." "Number Five, gentlemen, — another black, taller than the last one. Limit only eighty taels !" "How old is he?" " Not very old." " Forty !" " Only forty taels I'm bid; only forty ! Away with him !" Some of the most portly of the sportsmen went to the other side of the road, as they did not relish the idea of making room for a pony's hind hoofs when he turned off the track. The mafoos were now bringing up the next lot, but behind time. " Come on, hurry up, or I'll give you a dose of castor-oil ;" the pony was then rushed in, and the auctioneer continued, " Number Six, gentlemen, another black one ; limit on this fine pony, one hundred ta'els." Remarks were made about the fatness of the ponies ; some said they had been fed on milk. " They don't look so fat after they're galloped ; it's very soft, and soon comes off in the train- ing. Fifty taels only, I'm bid !" And so on by fives the price rose to Tls. 75, at which the pony was withdrawn, — price to be submitted to the owner. Number Seven, with a reserve fixed at Tls. 100, was bid for up to Tls. 70, and withdrawn. " Number Eight, gentlemen ; — this fine skewbald pony ; limit two hundred and fifty taels !" " What's the limit ?" "Two hundred and fifty." " r, !" "You may call it high. Who wants this good looking pony at that price ?" " One hundred." " One hundred, I'm bid ; one hundred taels for this splendid pony ! One hundred, one hundred and five, — and ten, ten, twenty — one hundred and twenty — trot him up again — a hundred and twenty-five — thirty, — thirty- five — under- stand it is only to be submitted at that prioe — hundred and thirty five — forty, forty-five, fifty, fifty-five, sixty, sixty-five, and no advance ? I'll offer him at that." "Number Nine, gentle- men, a white pony ; reserved at two hundred and fifty taels. One hundred and five, — ten, fifteen — one hundred and fifteen, no advance ?" Reserved. Number Ten, the last of the mob was then trotted up. It was in much better condition than the others — not nearly so fat. " Number Ten, gentlemen ; reserve, two hundred and fifty." "It's very thin," some one cried. Auctioneer — "How much?" "The limits very thin!" cried another. "Is that the price or the pony?" " What's the limit ?" and other cries went all round. "Two hundred and fifty, gentlemen, is the limit;" said the auctioneer, "and he's not got too much fat on him. What am I bid for this splendid pony?" "Fifty" was the first offer, and price rushed up in tens to one hundred and ten, then capped with a five — the last bid of the auction, and it closed by the auctioneer remarking " All right, I'll submit him at thatl" The ponies reserved were afterwards inspected. The owner was present, and the highest bids at auction were communicated to him. Lot Number Ten, a fine grey, was bought at the reserve price Tls. 250 ; Number Nine, at the highest bid, Tls. 115 ; Number Eight at the highest bid Tls. 165 ; and Number Seven at Tls. 75 ; and some of the others were also sold. The Mafoos' Race, oi\_ the Native z 5 ' )CRAMBLE. CHINESE MAFOOS are grooms who take charge of ponies. There are various classes of mafoos, such as those engaged by livery stable keepers, foreign or Chinese ; those in the employ of the merchant or private indivi- dual who can only afford to keep a basket trap and an old thirty-dollar pony ; those who are in the service of the upper ten thousand (dollar) society of our small republic, — who drive Australian thorough-breds, or nicely matched pairs of Monogolian ponies, and are dressed in livery like the uniform of Chinese soldiers with broad facings in bright colours ; and there are the mafoos of the racing stables, who are among themselves divided into two orders, — the mafoo who only grooms the ponies and takes them out to exercise, and the mafoo who is the most important of all his race — the mafoo who rides ponies in training, and dons his master's colours on the fourth day of the Shanghai Eace Club meetings, and rides in the Mafoos' Eace and the Mafoos' Champion Eace. When the training for the races is in full swing, the mafoo who occupies the proud posi- tion of a horse jockey, mounts along with others of his stable, and his master's chief jockey, a gentleman amateur, and they go out at early dawn to train the ponies ; a promising griffin is mounted by the foreigner, and the mafoo is on a tried and fast pony, and they "pow" together, while the work done in fast quarters or half miles is " stopwatched " by the owner and other sportsmen, and by the sport- ing editor who is to give tips for the chief events of the meeting. The mafoos are feather weights, and the time they can put on record with a good pony is remarkable. They are mostly all little fellows, but they are big men nevertheless, for the success of their master's stable is their chief object, and they feel that that success is in some measure dependent on them. On the first three days of a race meet- ing, the mafoos are in high spirits at the stables behind the Grand Stand, and the one who grooms a winning pony feels himself three inches taller every time that pony wins. But on the fourth day, when there are two races for the mafoos themselves, when some of best ponies of the celestial turf are to be run, when the mafoo puts on buckskins or corduroys for his loose drill pants, riding boots for his thick- soled felt shoes, and wears his master's brilliant colours, he would not^ change his state for the best livery that any Bund-lot-holder or Bub- bling Well aristocrat could offer him ; he would not put down his riding whip, and cast off his racing spurs, although he were asked to drive a brougham and the biggest pair of steeds ever seen here. The mafoos who distinguished themselves at the last race meeting bear such euphonious names as Tientsin, Sunling, School, Toad, Cheefong, Chifney, Cheedah, John Scott, Joe, and Jim. When they came into the weighing room, and one by one stepped on the weighing machine, then- looks unmistakeably showed they were proud of their position ; they wore the brilliant colours of the best racing stables, and while the weighing stewards attend- ed to the Fairbanks machine ; the owners of the racing ponies attended to the little Toad THE MAFOOS' EACE. 35 while he was being weighed, and packed him with thin pieces of lead to bring up his riding weight to the required standard; or perhaps they had more difficulty with Cheedah, the fattest and biggest of the mafoos, to get a light saddle, and dispense with the heavy saddle cloth, to bring his weight down ; he looked as if he had been reckless in the training season, and had eaten too much chow chow without any thought of riding weights. The weighing being over, eight ponies were mounted, and the mafoos rode proudly through the Grand Stand enclosure, and faced the Clerk of the Course in his red coat, and the starter, opposite the Grand Stand. The mafoos looked quite like professional jockeys ; Toad is so short-legged that he looked as if he were tied on to the back of his pony ; others sat very well in the saddle, and though the ponies were fractious, they managed them well. The first event for the native riders — the Mafoos' Eace — is once round the Course, or a mile and a quar- ter. After a good deal of scrambling a fair start was effected, and Tientsin riding Wild Gift, went off with the lead, and kept it all the way round ; the rest of the ponies well together, and having a splendid race, making good time. The foreign spectators have been betting on the result, and have almost as much interest in this race as in any other — barring one or two of the chief events of the meeting. The Chinese spectators who line the Bubbling Well Eoad, and all round the Course, and more especially those who have made their way into the triangular paddock, or into the Grand Stand enclosure, have a great deal more interest in this race than in any preceding one, just because the mafoos are the riders. The Chinese on the Road, and at other parts, where they can know nothing of the result of a race, bet on the ponies some- how or other ; they can gamble in their own way on horse racing, although it does not give tbem opportunities for many " dark tricks ; " Eurasian urchins about the Grand Stand make bets in cash, regular betting style, but with some peculiarities of their own — in a former race with four ponies, a young Eurasian offered to back two ponies against the field — only an- other two — for the large sum of five cash 1 In the Mafoos' Eace, therefore, the excitement among celestial spectators is very great, and when the ponies go off there is great shouting in Chinese to the riders ; the race is watched with interest all through, and when the ponies are passing any place on the course, where the crowds of Chinese are greatest, such as on the road by the Defence Creek, parallel with the " Back Straight," the shouting is distinctly heard at the Grand Stand, on the opposite side of the Course. When the ponies are coming down the home stretch, the excitement increases, and two or three dozen excited Chinamen can make more noise over " they come, they come," than hundreds of European sportsmen eould do. Tientsin came in on Wild Gift, winning easily, hands down, and others who were using the " long persuader " on the home stretch, failed to catch the leader ; Tien- tsin passed the winning post amidst great shouting and cheering, and when the ponies pulled up, the owner of Wild Gift went out to the Course, and led in the winner, and Tientsin felt he had immortalised himself. The Mafoos' Champion Bace followed later on in the day, and seven ponies came to the post ; of the riders some had been in the first race, others were not. Tientsin, Toad, Chifney, Flea, Joe, and Jim, each rode 9st. 71bs., but Cheedah rode lOst. 41bs. The entrance fees were $5 each, paid by the owners of the ponies, and the stakes divided thus : — five-eighths to the win- ner ; two-eighths to the second rider ; aad one- eighth to the third. Tientsin, the previous winner, now rode Wild Glen, and Bed Bobin, Cheedah rider, and Tajmahal with the little Toad up, were the only ones he had to fear ; Bed Bobin had a heavy weight — by the scale 36 A MIDNIGHT ALARM OP FIRE. of weight for inches, and his rider's heavy- weight, he conceded 231bs. to Wild Glen ; and the latter was expected to win. Tientsin knew that, and he showed well in piloting Wild Glen to the front and cutting out the work in the Back Straight; but Eed Eobik is a splendid pony, Cheedah a first rate jockey ; the leader was challenged, caught, and passed ; a splendid race home resulted in Eed Eobin beating Wild Glen by a length ; and Cheedah gained the high distinction of being Champion of the Mafoos until some one turns up to beat him. He was as proud of it 'as though he had won the Derby at Epsom. > P IDNIGHT A LARM OF f IRE. AT home one of the earliest ideas of life in the Celestial Empire is gained by pictures and narratives of the conduct of Chinese in their attempts to extinguish a conflagration. We remember a Sunday school magic lantern exhibition, — the profits^pf which were devoted to the missionaries who "live at home at ease," — where a representation was given in a dis- solving view of a fire in a Chinese City, and the Celestials were struggling to extinguish a fire which was raging in a pagoda,— pagodas very seldom go on fire, — and the amateur celestial firemen were represented as practising the most foolish and futile efforts to put out this fire by carrying water in cups and saucers, and other small vessels, the con- tents of which, — by a stretch of the imagina- tion on the part of the juveniles who witnessed the grand dissolving view, — they were supposed to throw upon the burning pagoda. But such a scene as that was a very poor repre- sentation of what a fire in a Chinese quarter really is, and of course it did not include the best half of the scene which we witness frequently here, — the work of our Volunteer Eire Brigade, or the noble exertions of the grand and imposing Mih-ho-loong Hook and Ladder Company, whose motto is " Say the word, and down comes your house." We have had many big fires here, — on a recent occasion nearly one thousand houses were burned down on the French Concession, — but it is not al- ways at the biggest fire that the most fun is to be seen ; for in such a case as that referred to, those who went there to see it and obtain par- ticulars necessary for a description, did so at the risk of death by sunstroke — the sun at over 100° E. in the shade, add to that the flames from a thousand burning houses, and zeal for close observation of what was being done was nowhere to found. A great deal depends on the time at which a fire breaks out ; if it is in the day time the fire has no chance, it is put out before the fire bells have been rung three minutes ; if it is at five or six o'clock in the morning, the fire fiend has every- thing in his favour, for most of people are sleeping then; but if the fire is discovered at midnight or one o'clock in the morning, it might as well have been in day time, for most of people are then just turning in, few have gone to sleep, and the first peal of the fire bell makes hundreds of foreigners turn out to see the fire. A great deal, too, depends on the A MIDNIGHT ALAEM OP FIBE. 37 weather, for if there is not a breath of wind blowing, it is very aggravating to turn out to a small affair where there is no chance of its assuming interesting and exciting proportions, and a small fire at midnight comes to be reckoned as a fraud and a delusion, as it is scarcely worth going to see. On Sunday morning, about one o'clock, the fire bells were tolled at the police stations, — the first time they had been heard for two months at least, — and in a few minutes the noise of hurrying feet was heard on the streets ; the alarm just came at a time when people were ready to turn out, for the majority of the foreigners are generally "turning in" about that time. The site of the fire was in the Hongkew Settlement, and the fiery pillar was visible from the English Bund, while the reflection in the sky could be seen from any part of the foreign settlements. The Fire Brigade of Shanghai is composed of Volunteers, in separate companies with a steam engine attached to each company, and thereis a healthy rivalry which acts as a stimulus to the firemen to see who will be on the ground first. The fires most frequently occur in the French Concession or in the south western part of the English Settlement, and the French firemen have the best start in such cases as these; while the Hongkew Company with No. 2 Engine, have more than a mile to come; but all the companies are so very smart in turning out that when the dis- tance to be traversed by the respective engines is anything like^ equal, the race to the fire, if it cannot actually be called a dead heat, is only won by a length. The Hongkew Company had the best chance on this occasion, for the fire was in the Seward Boad, north of the Hongkew Creek, and their engine house is on the Broadway. Within five minutes after the bells had sent forth their first peals, firemen in their uniform — red jackets, and big helmets, and heavy top boots — were to be seen running along the English Bund and down the Broadway ; or the less agile members of the Brigade rode in ricshas, and the midnight ric- sha coolies, the most wretched specimens of humanity, did the running for them. Number 2 Engine was soon dragged out of its shed, and the coolies stationed in charge of it had the fire lit and steam was already up; the fire was only a short way in a direct line from the engine house, but there being no roads running west from the Broadway at this part, a long round about journey had to be taken before the engine was got to the Seward Road bridge over the Hongkew Creek, and it had not been there long before the Victoria Engine was down from the English Bund. But the fire was only a small affair, and only one Engine No. 2 was called to play on the fire, the Victoria Engine being stationed at the Creek to feed the No. 2 Engine, which was dragged along the rough road within a few hundred yards of the fire. Other steam engines, the "Deluge" and "Torrent," were turned out, but were stopped before they came to Hongkew. The fire was confined to a huge stack of reeds, situated in the heart of a number of small Chinese houses ; the reeds were blaz- ing furiously at first, but the police force from all the three stations — Central, Hongkew, and Louza,. — were there with extincteurs and the fire was soon under control. There was not a breath of wind, else the bamboo shanties all round would have fed the flames ; one small house was on fire, but the part of it next the straw stacks was knocked down and policemen with extincteurs were inside, and soon put out the smouldering embers on the caves. This house which was half demolished presented an extraordinary scene inside ; part of the brick wall had been knocked out, in extinguishing the fire in the woodwork of the window and door ; the roof was only supported by two or three wooden posts, and very little would have brought it down altogether. It was only a small house, of one room, partitioned into two 38 A MIDNIGHT ALARM OF FIRE. parts; the furniture was lying on the floor all smashed to pieces ; a four legged lable, covered with tea cups was tottering over, as one leg had been knocked away ; the floor was covered with a heap of straw, some frame work of wood, and a pile of bricks and mortar ; a police officer was inside, and with him a native policeman, who did the heavy work in carry- ing an extincteur on his. back, while his su- perior officer directed the hose to the burning roof; and such a struggle they had to get over that heap of bricks, straw, and furniture, al- though the light of the blazing stack make the room quite clear. The Chinese who had occupied the house had not yet given up hope of saving furniture, for more than half a dozen of them were struggling in the back of the room, where there was evidently a door, — or perhaps an opening just then made, — and they were frantic in their efforts to save some of the sticks that were lying in the confused heap on the floor before the police with their extincteurs and heavy boots had smashed everything to pieces. The crowd round 'the fire had assumed pretty large proportions, hundreds of celestials were in the Seward Eoad, kept back by the police, and many foreigners had found their way through curious alleys from the Broad- way, or by following the fire engines, and were now congregated round the pile of smoulder- ing straw, expressing in forcible terms then- opinion that the thing wasn't worth coming to see. The celestials, of course, carried lanterns in their hands,— or at least the most of them did, and they were noisy and excited in push- ing each other about, some stepping into pools of water or falling over heaps of mud ; and when the police drove them back in a crowd, their retreat was one of disorder and con- fusion. The Seward Eoad at this part is not yet made, the Municipal Council having been baffled by a Chinaman who refuses to sell them a bit of land, and therefore the road was one of roughest bits of ground for any crowd to assemble upon. The Chinese lan- terns were certainly useful for more than the Chinese, and some foreigners were to be seen going about with lanterns which they had borrowed from jinricsha coolies. When the engines were set working, a strong jet of water played on the burning stack till all ' the fire was extinguished, and the whole affair was over in a very short time ; the foreigners soon retraced their steps on home- ward tracks, wishing they had not come out to see a pile of reeds blazing without a breath of wind. The Performances at a Ch INESE [EATRE. A CCOBDING to a legend which is known -^*- to every Chinaman, the Emperor Tong Ming Wang, of the Tong Dynasty, visited the moon in company with his wives, concubines, and all his retinue, and they were there en- chanted by witnessing a host of young girls acting tableau s ; and to this wonderful legend- ary expedition of Tong Ming Wang is attri- buted the origin of what exists to this day as the Chinese theatrical performance of ancient historical plays and modern comedies. In. all the towns and cities of the Empire, theatrical performances are conducted either by travel- ling companies or in regularly established theatres. When the Chinese congregate in any foreign part, — such as San Erancisco, — they .have their own theatres there too. In this large community of Shanghai, where, in the native City and the Foreign Settlements about 250,000 celestials have their abode, the native theatre is a great institution, and is patronised on a very extensive scale. There are at present, we believe, four large theatres in the English Settlement, and one in the Erench Concession, which are in full swing every day. The natives therefore have no lack of amusement of this particular kind ; and though the performances seem passing strange to a foreigner, the Chinese take great delight in them. The theatres are open nearly all day, and from seven o'clock in the evening till midnight, and during all the performances, especially in the evening, the houses are crowded. Some of the theatres employ about 125 actors, all males, and the principal pro- fessionals, who have made some fame in their own sphere, are thought a good deal of by the people ; but the large proportion of the young men and boys brought on the stage are only of the lowest order. We visited one of the theatres last night — the Chin Kwai Yuen in the Fnhkien Eoad — and now give a description of what we saw there. Our party was made up of three or four Europeans, and a Chinese gentleman who acted as interpreter. The theatre is a large square building, stand- ing off from the side of the street, and the approach to it is by a broad alley, the two-storeyed shops and tea-houses on either hand being lighted up, and the frontage of the theatre itself illuminated ; tbe Fuhkien Eoad is crowded so densely with Chinamen, that it is difficult to walk along amongst them, and the entrance to the theatre is also crowd- ed — jinricshas and sedan chairs and their coolies being the chief obstructions. The loud beating of gongs, the singing or rather screaming of actors, and the laughter of the celestials inside, are heard as soon as we come to the entrance, and our friends are fully convinced that the fun is already going on "fast and furious." In the hall or lobby, there are a number of Chinese attendants, the box office and cloak room are amalgamated, and are in form more like a small shop, with a large counter, than anything else. An at- tendant led the way to a private box, over- looking the right hand side of the stage ; the box had to be engaged a couple of days before hand, and was fitted up in tolerably decent 40 THE CHIN KWAI YUEN. style ; to reach it we had to ascend a rather shaky stair-case, and wali through the front and right galleries. The area or pit of the theatre is marked off in a square surrounded by wooden railings ; the space is filled by five rows of small tables, and five or six in each row ; each of these tables is sufficient for the ac- commodation of four persons, who sit on small wooden chairs. The whole of this part was packed full with Chinese ; judging by their appearance the majority were merchants, or shopkeepers, or at least in tolerably good cir- cumstances ; they were all well dressed, the dark purple cloak or jaeket being the general array. Outside the rails, there is a space round three sides of the building for a cheaper class of seats, and the occupants were one mass of blue cottons. In the galleries, which are only of small breadth, part of the left hand side was occupied by one or two private boxes and the rest was laid out with small tables and chairs; the front gallery, of considerable length, and greater breadth than the others, had no private boxes at all, but had one row of the tables as the " front seats," and behind them a passage through which we had passed, while further baek, and more elevated, there were several rows of tables. The right hand gallery was chiefly composed of private boxes, and the one reserved for our accommo- dation was close to the stage, and about ten feet directly above the side of it. All over the house, the tables were furnished with fruits — pears and oranges; saucers full of roasted water-melon seeds ; small green cups for tea, which we drank a la Chinoise ; and ver- milion coloured sheets of paper, on which was printed the programme of the day's perform- ances. Space is reserved between all the rows of tables, and a small balcony is fixed in front of the private boxes, for the use of the servants who continually keep running about with huge black kettles, from which they pour the hot water on the tea leaves in the small green cups, and then it is ready for drinking ; or to renew a supply of fruit, or to supply paper lights — for on every table there are the large hubble- bubble tobacco pipes of brass and some of silver ; — none of the foreigners in our party had any objection to the a Id Chinoise as long as it was the tea, or fruit, or cakes, or even the hubble-bubble pipes that were to be tried ; but when the coolie came round with a handful of heavy cloths, soaked in hot water, and steam- ing, he could not get any foreigner in our box to take one and use it as the Chinese do, to wipe the perspiration off their hands and face. The stage is a wooden platform, standing four feet above the level of the floor of the house, and two huge pillars stand at each of corner in front of the stage, for supporting the roof; but they are also made use of for very primitive gas fixtures in the way of foot lights, and two or three brackets project from the pillars giving the light of a few burners to the stage, others to the gallery, and others to the pit; the rest of the house being tolerably well lighted by gas. The pillars are also utilized in another way than for gas fixtures, for about fifteen feet above the stage, a horizontal bar is fixed in them, on which acrobatic performances are given. As seen from the front, there is a large ornamental board stretching across the pillars, and on it there are in huge gilt letters the name of the theatre. There is no scenery about the stage; the back of it is only a partition, composed chiefly of panels, in carved wood. In the centre is a large pier glass — mirrors are charms for the Chinese, but whether this one is meant for a universal charm to all present, we don't know ; it is more likely that it is there for use rather than ornament, for the actors change their robes and head-dresses in front of it, instead of retiring to do that off the stage. A number of Chinese scrolls, in ver- milion with gold letters, are hung on the partition ; and two prominent objects are the American clocks, which are hung up, one "on A POWERFUL ORCHESTRA. 41 each side of the pier glass, and one clock going much faster than the other. On either side of the panelled and ornamented wall are two doors, one for the entrance of the actors to the stage, and the other for their exit ; they are open door ways, hung with curtains that once were bright in colour, but now are sadly in need of a wash. Above the clocks, mirror, and ornamented panels, there are four pictures, the only native "works of art" about the stage, — they are not very large pieces, each about four feet square, and the two flank ones are representations of trees and flowers, with a very hazy, grey, watery sort of look about them ; the two subjects in the centre are possibly historical scenes, for they are groups of figures and bits of landscape wonderfully mixed up. The middle of the stage is covered with a carpet which might once have been in the parlour of a foreign resident ; it is now rather thread-bare, and has been patched with canvas in the centre. At the various comers of the stage, and all round it, there are small tables and chairs lying about, handy for utilization in the production of the wonderful stage effects which are to be presented. The band consists of seven or eight old men, who sit around two tables at the back of the stage, and with drums, gongs, cymbals, flutes, and pieces of hard wood, they were able to make as much noise as any other band on the face of the earth. The leader of the band sat there with a small drum, fixed on the top of a stand, the drum being made of sheep-skin stretched over a circular frame of wood, about twelve inches in diameter ; he beats this curious drum with a small stick — just like a chor>stiek or a pencil ; while he is beating slowly with the right hand, he has two oblong pieces of rosewood in the left hand, and beats them by shaking his hand, one piece being held firmly and the other is loosely attached with a string ; but when the leader comes to a part where he is to make a supreme effort, or to do his very level best in making a terrific noise, he throws down the rosewood crackers — (analogous to the negro minstrel's "bones" — and with a chop stick in each hand he knocks thunder out of that small sheep-skin drum. Behind the leader, an old man stands beating a gong, — he stands because he could not beat the gong if he was sitting down ; but he omits no opportunity of taking it easy on his chair, if his gong music is not required for a minute or two. This gong genius is no doubt weU up to his duty, and he looks as if he considered his part of the per- formance the most skilful ; at any rate he can strike hard enough, and that seems to be the main thing ; he can also strike so as to give one distinct peal, instead of the long booming sound produced by the vibration of the gong ; he strikes hard, and then puts his hand on the gong, which stops the sound instanter. An- other bandsman beats the cymbals, and makes a clattering noise in a most miscellaneous manner. Four fiddlers sit round a table and play their curiously shaped instruments with great power — as far as infernal noise is concerned ; a musical friend thought they were playing the same tune all night, and we guess he was pretty correct. An Irishman once said he did not know whether he could play the violin, because he had never tried ; but we think anyone could play as well on a Chinese fiddle the first time he tried it as the bandsmen of the theatre did ; an amateur could certainly play something more like sacred, operatic, or dance music the first time he tried, but he might not be able to come near the celestial "orchestra in head- splitting noises. The man with the gong also makes himself useful at times in producing a loud noise by striking two pieces of hard wood ; and another old man shuffles about the stage, at one time shifting the chairs and tables, and again taking part in the performance of the 42 THE CHINESE PLATS. band ; his part, too, was highly intellectual — he held a piece of hardwood in the palm of his left hand, and struck it with another stick he wielded in his right ; this old , man shuffled about so listlessly that in spite of the tre- mendous noise he seemed to be half asleep. Occasionally, when there was a cessation in the uproar, some of the bandsmen enjoyed a smoke out of long bamboo-stem tobacco pipes ; in fact they did not seem to care much whether they all played together or not, for even when they were executing some grand transcription, one of the head fiddlers would stop all of a sudden and not resume until he had filled and lit his pipe, and we thought that it was an improvement,— it would certainly have been more pleasant if they had all followed his example. The plays presented at the Chinese Theatres are chiefly historical, and some of them go on for years before being completed ; the whole his- tory of a dynasty is acted in one play, and part of it given every day. But they have also pieces which are more like the comedy of two or three acts, although they make such pieces all one act, and the whole play is presented without the adventitious aid of scenery ; the costumes are studied, and the characters make up their styles with a considerable amount of skill ; the dialogue is the main thing, and the spectators stretch their imagination to make up for the want of scenery. The remark made by Sir Philip Sydney in regard to the English drama and the stage in 1583, was applied to the Chinese by Sir John Davis, and it is certainly an appropriate one: — "Now you shall have three ladies walk to gather flowers, and then we must believe the stage to be a garden. By and by we have news of shipwreck in the same place ; then we are to blame if we accept it not for a rock. Upon the back of that comes out a hideous monster with fire and smoke, and then the miserable beholders are bound to take it for a cave ; while in the meantime two armies fly in, represented with four swords and buck- lers, and then what hard heart will not receive it for a pitched field?" The play bill of the Chin Kwai Yuen, for Friday last, was a fairly representative one ; it included a portion of an ancient historical play, a trial, a comedy, a farcical piece, an- other comedy, and finished up with a historical play. The actors at this theatre were all from Tientsin, as is the case also with other 'three of the" native theatres here, and a fifth, one is conducted by Soochow actors. When we entered the theatre about nine o'clock in the evening, we found that the piece then on the boards was the trial of a man on the charge of murder. The judge was dressed in a richly embroidered robe of blue and white silk; he wore a long white beard coming down on his breast, but neither his whiskers,- beard, nor moustache fitted well, they hung loosely about his face, and though these hirsutical appendages imparted a patriarchal appearance to the actor when seen at a distance, it was comical enough to see him close at hand, when one could see through between his whiskers and his cheek. The judge's head-dress was a richly embroidered cap, and he wore curious wing- shaped things standing right out from the side of his head. His felt shoes were enormous, in the thickness of the soles, — about three inches, painted white, and the toes as bluff as the square bow of a native boat. The old judge stalked about the stage in a dignified manner, reciting something with a shrieking voice, and his attendants joined him in his declamations, but all their shouting was drown- ed by the band behind them. The runners and other attendants were dressed very much the same as the subordinates and runners of a native magistrate are,— there was nothing out of place in their appearance ; about half a dozen small boys wore the conical red hat, just exactly the same as we have seen in the retinue of the Taotai or the District Magistrate. A GHOSTLY COMEDY. 43 The prisoner who was being tried had no- thing whatever to say for himself ; lie was in charge of two runners, who made him he down on the stage before the judge who appeared on his bench — three small chairs and a table thrown together ; — and after the trial was hur- ried through, the judge doing all the speaking, the prisoner was dragged up by two runners and his hands bound behind his back. In this way he was led out at one door of the stage and in at another — he had gone from the judgment hall to the place of execution, and now the two men who had charge of him were black villainous-looking fellows, wearing hideous masks. The wonderful scenic effects which stretch the imagination were again put together — in the shape of two chairs, and an upright post, to which the prisoner was tied for half a minute, and then an executioner flourished a tinfoil sword, dropped a dirty red bag — the culprit's head — on the floor, the old culprit fell down all his length, and was then picked up and carried on the shoulders of four men off the stage, with full power music by the band. No time was wasted by unnecessary details such as scene 'shifting ; the band only gave us a moment's relief by stopping their music, and one of the old bandsmen took the opportunity to light his tobacco pipe ; then the leader re- sumed beating his drum, — the gong, cymbals, and fiddles all went hard at work again, and the actors in the next piece came on the stage. This was a comedy in which, as explained by our friend, there . was a good deal of interest. A young married pair first came on the stage and sat down beside each other without saying a word. They were plainly dressed, and their reputation as actors was not of much account, for they had nothing to do but to sit there- quietly. A third party came in who was the chief character in the play; he was a pro- fessional thief, and he makes a visit to the decorous couple with the avowed intention of stealing something from them. This old thief was shabbily dressed, a thread-bare black gown covering him from head to foot, and tied with a girdle of white cotton; his felt shoes were worn out, the soles becoming very thin ; he wore a long black moustache, his face was disfigured by red paint on his forehead and chin, the tip of his nose shone brilliantly, while under his eyes and over the bridge of his nose, there was a layer of white plaster ; he had no queue visible — he was either completely bald, or wore a scull cap very neatly adjusted ; at any rate there was not a hair to be seen on his head, and his red cap was too small to stay on as there was nothing to hold by ; his whole appear- ance was most grotesque. He came forward to the footlights, and sang there for a long time, creating great amusement amongst the audi- ence, for he was bouncing about all his smart thieving tricks, and telling them that he was to steal something from the young lady ; he was sure he could do it without detection. He then turned to the quiet husband and wife ; conversed with them in a half singing half chanting tone, telling them a great lot of lies about himself, and eunningly obtaining in- formation from the lady as to where she kept all her valuables, money, jewels, and rich clothing; and immediately afterwards he tells the audience that he has stolen several things from her. Two men then come in to protect the house ; they were the ghosts' of the ancestors of the family ! Ghosts ! they were more like sea monsters than anything else. They were short in stature and each wore em- broidered robes in variegated colours ; one had long black hair, and the other white hair hanging down his back ; but the most remark- able things about them were their heads — such monstrosities, more dolphin-like than human ; their heads were about half the size of their bodies, with earrings like hand-cuffs ; and each ghost carried in his right hand a huge drum stick. The thief pretended to be unaware of 44 THE GHOSTS AND THE THIEF. their presence, and the ghosts moved about the stage, touching the tip of the old thief's n»ise with the leather ball of the drumstick, ■which made the thief sneeze and look as if he v, as getting suspicious of coming harm. The hcud ghost then took a dog chain off his ■waist, and lassoed the thief -while the latter was singing of his exploits ; the thief fainted and fell do 1 .™, and the master and mistress of the house were screaming with terror, while the band played their level best ; the ghosts exhibited their muscular power by lifting up the thief and carrying him off the stage, and reappeared at the entrance in a few moments, with the thief sufficiently recovered to walk on his own legs. Then the ghosts summoned others of their fellow-countrymen, who were soon crowding the stage, and among - them was the fellow who acted the part of judge in the former play, and here again he ap- pears as a judge, but in a different garb this time. The tables and chairs are shifted about by one of the supernumery bandsmen, and a bench is once more thrown up for the ghostly judge. The thief performs the kotow before him, and a few words from the judge are all that are necessary for the trial and condemnation of the accused. The sentence this time is flogging, and a small stout boy, dressed as a runner, with a conical red hat, comes forward with a bamboo stick, — a long, thin, and flat piece. The two ances- tral ghosts throw the thief on the stage face downwards, and the runner has meanwhile stripped himself of everything except his pants, and shows a muscular arm which makes the thief shaky. The runner seizes the bamboo stick with both hands, and pretends to give the thief a very hard blow, while the thief yells and rolls about as if suffering great pain. The ghosts let go their hold of the thief, and the latter gets up to his feet, and beckons to the runner that he wants to speak to him ; the two then move off to the side of the stage by themselves, and the thief bribes the runner not to strike hard but to give the re- mainder of the blows as gently as he can, — the thief in this part showing by the movement of his hands what he means, and the runner eagerly accepts some papers from the thief, and nods as much as to say that he would make it all right. The judge during all this time is sitting on his bench motionless and speechless. The thief goes down on the floor without fear of his flogging, and the runner now lets the bamboo only touch the thief gently ; — the proceedings being a caricature of what is frequently done at the Mixed Court here, and the representation evidently took well with the audience. The thief having been subjected to the sham Hogg- ing, is released; the ghostly court adjourns, and the thief and the quiet man and wife are left on the stage ; the thief was supposed to return to them the articles he was supposed to have stolen ; and the parties were so well pleased over this that they invited the old villain to stay with them. Thus ended the amusing comedy, and the actors made their exit. After this comedy, a farce was performed which seems to be a favourite with the Chinese theatre-goers, for we had seen it performed before at another theatre in the Canton Eoad, and now it was produced at the Chin Kwai Yuen, and on both occasions the spectators seemed to enjoy it very much, for they were kept in roars of laughter ; but the worst feature of it is that the dialogue was of such a nature as cannot be laid before European readers. The actors were a lame man, , his doctor, and servants, and a concubine and her father and mother, or other aged relatives; ami the only thing we care to describe about the piece was the style in which the female was made up. As we have already remarked all the actors of the Chinese stage are males ; the actor who has to take a female part, however, AN ACTOE IN FEMALE DBESS. 45 can make up very well in attire, and assume a feminine tone of voice, so that the deception can scarcely be detected. The actor always appears with the small feet of the Chinese lady, and this is secured by the device of making- wooden blocks to which his ordinary- sized feet are strapped in an angular position, while the wood is cut so that the bandaged ankle is a true representation, and the small shoe of painted wood is exactly like the most diminu- tive silken shoe that encases the cramped toes of the fairest "tottering lily." The actor thus standing on pegs represents a rather tall female — taller than the generality of Chinese females are ; he walks about the stage with the real tottering gait of a small- footed female ; in fact it is not imitation on his part, for his own natural feet being strap- ped in an unnatural position to the blocks of wood, he can walk in no other way. The pseudo-female actor was dressed in very rich and showy garments, — the wide trousers of purple cloth were not particularly attractive, but the jacket with deep border in beautiful embroidery was really a fine article. His face was naturally brazen, but the applica- tion of rouge made his cheeks look like those of a female, painted to the extreme, as females, Chinese and others, do ; his lips were painted a brighter red than they naturally were, and he showed a fine pearly set of teeth. The fore- head was large, the wig being worn far back, the jet black hair parted in the middle, while the artificial decorations, by the hair being twisted in fantastic shapes at the back of the head, and stuck with jewelled hair pins, and the rose-shaped, yellow-coloured, ornaments covering the ears, were all true to the utmost as a perfectly made up head- dress of a Chinese lady. The actor who took this part seemed to be one of the principal ones, and there is no doubt that he showed a considerable amount of skill. But this ' is enough for this piece ; the quarrel with the old man and his concubine was not an interesting subject. Another play in one act followed, and there were only two actors ; they had the stage to themselves for about half an hour, and their performance was wearisome, although not al- together devoid of amusement ; but we were told the dialogue was a very interesting one to the natives. It represented the domestic life of a blacksmith and his wife, who were first on loving terms with each other, then quarrel- ling, and making up again. The wife came in first, very plainly dressed, and without ever saying a word, she sat down on a small stool, made of bamboo, and only about ^four inches square. An ordinary wooden chair, — Chinese imitation of the foreign style of a common kitchen chair, — was standing on the stage, a few feet in front of the silent spouse of the blacksmith; but who could ever have supposed that that plain article of household furniture, standing all alone, was meant for scenery or spectacular effect ? When the old woman was handed a long piece of bamboo, by one of the supernumerary bands-men, or a scene-shifter perhaps, and she began pushing that bamboo stick slowly backwards and forwards under the chair, we tried to stretch our imagination as much as possible, but were unable to guess what she was supposed to be doing. Oh, her husband was a black- smith, our Chinese friend told us, and the old woman was working in his shop, drawing out and in the bar of the fire-box, for the Chinese having a curious substitute for the bellows of the village blacksmith, as their box-furnace is worked by pulling out and shoving in a wooden bar, or bars, which by some arrangement or other creates a flow of fresh air to fan the flame. The woman kept on at this monoton- ous occupation, with slow music by the fiddlers, for more than five minutes, and then her husband came in and walked about the stage with rather an operatic air, singing not very 46 A DOMESTIC COMEDY. unpleasantly if he bad not kept it up so long, for he had more than ten minutes of it, during •which time his wife had left the fire-box, removed her miniature camp-stool, and sat down in the centre of the stage with her back to the spectators, the little finger of her right hand in her mouth, and looking regularly dis- consolate. After the blacksmith had had his say, he sat down on — a brick. The wife then rose and took an empty bowl and a pair of chop sticks from a table, lifted her stool over beside her husband and there sat down, while the village blacksmith placed his right hand on her shoulder, and looked very pleasantly at her when he saw the rice-bowl and chop sticks. They went through the motions, which is as much as any actors do in having a dinner on the stage, and then the bowl and chop sticks were taken away by a member of the orchestra. A quarrel took place, and very loud screaming words were used on both sides ; they rose simultaneously and the blacksmith picked up his seat — the brick — and threw it at his wife's head ; but she was as smart as the catcher at a base ball match, and catching the brick she threw it dpwn on her husband's feet, after which he pretended to have his corn3 very severely in- jured. There was a good deal of yelling over this little domestic riot, but it was soon over, and they sat down again beside each other as pleasantly as ever. Another quarrel occurred, and the offensive was this time assumed by the better half, who gave the blacksmith a slight push, and as he had only a very precarious seat 0T1 the brick, he rolled backwards on the stage. When this second quarrel was pro- ceeding, a man came in hawking wearing ap- parel, and the blacksmith bought a new suit of clothes for himself and made his exit from the stage, his wife following him in a very slow and unconcerned manner, and the specta- tors saw them no more. During the whole time occupied by the preceding piece, preparations were being made on the stage for a grand historical representation — the concluding part of the evening's performances. The orchestra had to remove their tables and chairs from the back to the right hand side of the stage, in order to make room for the erection of a grand piece of scenery — the most magnificent thing in its way which was produced that night. Throughout the evening we had noticed a heap of wooden frame- work and canvas lying at one corner of the stage, and fully expected that it was to be utilised for something or other. Some of the bandsmen and other scene-shifters set to work to put these wooden frames together, while the gong-genius laid down his musical instrument, and, climbing up on the top of a table, put one of the American clocks a quarter of an hour forward, to bring it up to the hour indicated by the other time piece — eleven o'clock. The stage- carpenter and his subordinates, with assistants from the orchestra, first put up one piece of wooden frame work which was exactly like a "punch and judy " box, and ether two or three smaller pieces were placed alongside of it, each separate piece being constructed with four or more upright posts, and numerous cross-bars and supporting brackets ; the whole had a front elevation of about ten feet in length, and eight in height ; and the frontage was covered with canvas, painted dark green, with flowers and figures in lighter colours — the green water-proofs of two or three jin-ric- sha coolies would have made a better bit of scenery. A box something like a dovecot was fixed on the top of one of the frames, and in another a large pole was placed resting on the stage and towering above the frame-work and canvas ; a good deal of hard work was required to get all the pieces fixed together. The " punch and judy " box was finally surmounted by a square frame with an arch- ed piece of bamboo attached to the front A STAGE PALACE. 47 bar, and from it a piece of canvas was hung, which completed the representation of a grand arched window or doorway; another canvas- covered frame was placed in. front of the whole erection, and possibly it was meant for a range of steps, or a balcony, — in fact it might have been meant for a garden or any- thing else ; at any rate the upper half of the "punch and judy " box was left open, except that a loose curtain hung over it, and it was evidently meant for a window or doorway. And what did all this rickety pile of wood and canvas represent ? Why, it was a palace, of course ; and an imperial palace ! After it had been all put together, the actors of the last comedy were just making their exit, — the band had settled down in their new position and seemed to be making more noise than ever— (for they were now right in front of our box) — and the actors in the concluding piece came on the stage. We were told it was to be an historical play; the first part of it certainly wasn't, but we had seen the same sort of thing in Chinese historical plays before — a curious mixing up of acrobatic feats, tumbling somer- saults, sword exercise, fighting, singing, and everything mixed together. The first lot of actors who now came in were four acrobats, who went through a lot of manceurves, striking attitudes, and moving about the stage in a manner somewhat approximate to certain movements in dancing a Scotch reel; and they were singing all the time. They afterwards tumbled somersaults, and one of the chief actors was the same as had appeared in the farce as a small footed lady ; he still wore the artificial small feet, and he showed con- siderable ability as an acrobat when he tumbled somersaults and lighted on the awkward wooden pegs which represented the small feet of a Chinese lady. Another actor came carrying in his hands a small wooden board— it might have done for a knife board — and he went through some very strange evolu- tions ; he laid down the board on the stage, in an angular position in front of the palace, and then drew himself up in a peculiar attitude and walked over the board; his dress was a very strange mixture of bright colours, and he wore a white mask, with black beard and moustache; what he was meant for we don't know, and it took some considerable time before we discovered what he meant by lifting about that wooden board. The tumblers having retired, four young men came in, carry- ing the body of another on their shoulders ; in coming forward they all walked over this mysterious board, and then went up in front of the palace, and shoved the fellow they had on their shoulders in at the " punch and judy" box window ; he had barely room to get through it without bringing the whole erection down, but he soon re-appeared behind it and walked out at the door by which he had half a minute before been carried in. The old white-masked fellow picked up his board and walked out too — his board was meant for a bridge! Another acrobat then came in, and kicked about on the stage for some time, throw- ing his feet very high in the air till he touched his toes with his hand, he kicked himself about at one corner of the stage, struck a bold attitude, waved his arms about promiscuously, rushed to another corner, and went through the same jumping and kicking performance. Then other four acrobats came in, threw them- selves about on the stage, tumbling somersaults and jumping over each other; the one with the small feet "brought down the house" when he walked round the stage on his hands; two tables were next placed one above the other at the pillar at the left hand side of the stage, and two tables in the same way at the right side; two of the acrobats went to each side and scrambled up the tables, and got on to a hori- zontal bar fixed between the pillars, the four of them going through various feats on the bar all at the same time, and they descended one <:; * ACEOBATIG PEATS. after the other by throwing back somersaults from the top of the tables, — corning down on the stage with great force, and almost breaking it down. They next had a small table placed on the stage by itself, and the four made a rush at it, tumbling somersaults over the table without touching it, and then made their exit. Well this was all very well for acrobatic per- formances, but what was the imperial palace there for? We were anxious to see something of this piece which they called an historical play, but it was now about half-past eleven, and the band had given us head-ache. The white-masked fellow came in again with his board and laid it down with solemnity, he was followed by four men who crossed his plank and climbed up the front of the palace, and went down through the roof; one of them re- appeared at the top, hung a red bag — meant for a head — on the big pole, and then he tumbled a somersault from the top of the palace wall ; his comrades came out by the "punch and judy" box part of the palace, and one of them was carrying a female with dishevelled hair, — she was lashed to his shoulders with ropes. This looked something more like a play. While the palace was thus entered by three or four fellows, several of the old men from the band, and others on the stage, had to come and hold the framework steady, else the whole palace would have toppled over ! The ruffians who stole the female ran out at one door and in at another several times; three of them were armed with tinfoil swords, and the burden-bearer — the one who carried the female — was protected by them ; he did not seem to have a very heavy burden, and the female was most likely only a bundle of rags. Another party of four or five armed men came to the palace, and seeing the red bag hanging on the pole, one climbed up and threw it down, tumbling a somersault after it ; others entered the palace and rushed out again raising a hue and cry, and they set off in pursuit of the other party. The offending party came on the stage again, and the white- faced fellow laid down his board for a bridge to • let them pass over, but lifted it so that the others could not overtake them. The oppos- ing parties increased in numbers, and kept rushing on to the stage and off again, at times half a dozen or more would engage in a fight, and brandish swords and spears, dancing about the stage, and kicking up an awful row ; the acrobats would come in and tumble somer- saults in the middle of the opposing armies; and they kept up this sort of thing so long, without any appearance of coming to a crisis, that at a quarter to twelve o'clock we left them to fight it out. JHE piTY OF ^HANGHAI ; ITS STREETS, TeMPLES, J^risons, and Gardens. A VISIT to Shanghai City is of very great -^*- interest to a foreigner when he has a Chinese friend with him who knows everything about the place, and although most foreigners here have been in it once or twice, there are very few who can say they have seen every- thing in it that is actually worth seeing, for many a one may only take a listless walk through some of its streets, pick up a few curios at the stalls, and getting disgusted with the whole place, leave it as soon as he can possibly find his way out, — which is rather difficult to do sometimes, — and vow that he will never go within its walls again. On a Sunday afternoon, we made up a party of three or four foreigners, and two Chinese friends — one of the latter knew the labyrinth of the City streets as well as a London hansom cab-driver knows the way from Cheapside to Picadilly ; and the other, who acted as in- terpreter, was a highly intelligent Chinese gentleman, educated at Yale College, U.S., and is proud of being a naturalized American citizen. We entered the City at half-past two o'clock in the afternoon, — and a beautiful day it was too, — fine, clear, and the roads dry. The early winter is always the best season for exploring the City, because its sanitary state is then less obnoxious than in the heat of summer weather. The day was therefore in every respect favourable as far as the auspices were concerned ; it was the seventeenth day of the 10th Moon ; whether it is set down in the Chinese Calendar as a favourable day for making a journey we don't know ; at any rate we did not consider that much at the time, but from what we saw we were convinced that the day was a special one with the Chinese, for the city seemed to be en fete, and one might go twenty times without seeing so much as was crowded into our visit extending over two and a half hours. We entered by the New North Gate, and at once proceeded towards what are known as the Tea Gardens. In our way thither ■ we had to traverse about a dozen narrow streets, some leading south, others west, east, in fact all directions ; first we passed through a long street lined with good shops and ware- houses on each side; then by the side- of a dirty stagnant creek, with shops on one hand; over a small bridge and along narrower streets, with the sky almost obscured from view by the wooden and canvas signboards and ornamental tablets stretching from one side of the street to the other ; then over another bridge ; through narrow and crowded streets, till we came to more open ground by the side of a creek, where there were crowds of licensed beggars, — male, female, old, maimed and blind, and each of them holding out a basket with a few cash in it, while the poor creatures implore every passer by to give them cash ; — the blind ones know when a foreigner passes, by his heavy tread, and the noise of hard heeled boots on the rough granite blocks, for a Chinaman might walk over them in his felt-soled shoes with- out a blind man knowing that he passed. We never saw any of these beggars getting anything from a native, and when a foreigner 50 THE AMUSEMENTS OF A gives them anything, he is sure to be followed by dozens of them all the way through the City — a mistake which we avoided, at least at this stage of the journey. The ground here is more open, and on both sides of the creek there is room for celestial showmen and acrobats, fortune tellers, and gamblers ; but further on when we come to the large pond surrounding the old Tea House, there is quite a large market square, or "garden" as it is called; on this occasion every part of it was occupied, and the scene almost as lively as Hampstead Heath on a Bank Holiday. A casual glance was all we had time to give them, but it was sufficient for our purpose. The first performer whose proceedings attracted our notice, was an old man, who was surrounded by about fifty celes- tials of all ages and both sexes ; the old show- man had monopolised a small strip of ground by the side of the- creek, and the eager spectators crowded round the performer on all sides, but still preserving a limited open space for him. He was a man who looked as if fifty years had passed over his head ; his hair was becoming grey, and precious little tail left ; he was stripped bare to the waist, but had on as much thread-bare blue cottons, — their original colour bleached out of them, and new only a mass of patches, — in the shape of wide, very wide trousers, that would have made suits for two or three men ; his old felt shoes were in a very dilapidated state, and the excessive amount of cotton rags he wore for stockings, made his ankles of elephan- tine proportions. He now walked back and forwards on his strip of ground, throwing his arms about like a maniac ; he smote his breast with his right hand, then with his left, stretched out both arms, and clenched his fists ; walked round this way, and then dropped his arms ; walked round again with his hands hanging down, while he was looking anxiously for cash to be thrown into his gramd; he then made a great effort, which was about all he could do — he picked up an iron bolt, that any child might have lifted, threw it down, sticking it into the earth, and once more went on the walk round. He was a fraud, and though the celestials might be content to look at him all .day doing that, it is not probable that he made much wealth by it. Near by, there was a small booth or tent, of bamboo and canvas, inside of which about half a dozen Chinaman were sitting. The proprietor of this concern was a fortune teller and phrenologist. The old patri- archal humbug sat at the back of the tent; behind him the extravagant pictures of some Chinese worthies were hung in paper, on the canvas ; in front of the fortune teller was his small table, with writing material, joss-sticks, and other paraphernalia ; and all round about there were eager observers, listening to the wonderful man reading the fortune of a well-to- do native, and watching the movements when the phrenologist placed his fingers on the bumps of his customer's cranium, then put on a long and sage countenance, and uttered profoundly wise sayings ; put forth his hand to draw in the wealth just deposited by his constituent, while the latter tabled another five cash, and was determined to hear more of his fortune, at any expense. When we had passed the fortune teller, we came within sight of the "garden" where the most of the shows were being held. There were about half a dozen peep-shows, in foreign style, the large ornamental box standing on a table, and the little peep-holes in the box through which the celestials peered and wit- nessed the wonders of the world ; several of the peep-shows had a decided appearance of foreign manufacture, in the showy glass cases with which they were surmounted, with pictures of .palaces or international exhibition buildings, but we did not turn aside to see what they were. There was one old man there, amongst a crowd of itinerant fruit sellers and confec- tioners, whose little game for obtaining cash m exchange for roast chestnuts was rather CELESTIAL VANITY PAIR. 51 peculiar ; he held in one hand three spikes of bamboo about six inches long, and to the end of one of these sticks a red silk thread was attached, but the sticks were so held that there is as much chance of winning in the " three card trick " as in cboosing the bamboo with the thread ; he manipulated for our benefit by picking up a cash and placing it on one of the sticks, then pulled the stick out, but it had no thread, repeating the trick several times, some- times placing the cash on the stick with the thread attached, and at other times putting it on the wrong ones ; then shifting them about till it was impossible to tell which was which ; the evident arrangement heing that a celestial paid a few cash for a trial, — if successful he got a few roast chestnuts, and if unsuccessful, why then he didn't. In this Celestial Vanity Fair, there were numerous stalls for the sale of sweetmeats, pears, oranges, and cooked sweet-potatoes ; stalls loaded with toys ; stalls covered with classical literature; stalls of curios, with anything on them from valuahle jade stone ornaments to old nails and champagne corks. Hundreds of natives were loitering all over the place, many of them patronizing the peep-shows ; the con- fectioners and sweetmeat stall-keepers appear- ed to be doing a good trade, if we judged by the piles of cash lying on their tables ; but the open air performances of the acrobats, where there was no compulsory payment, where there were very few cash tossed into the ring, and where the sending round of the hat would Lave been the most effectual method of dispersing the crowd, — it was there that the natives gathered in the largest numbers. Near to a small temple or joss house, on the east side of the Tea House lake, there was a crowd of people, and on looking over the shoulders of some of them, we could see that the attraction was gambling with dice ; but near by there was another and much larger crowd, surrounding a couple of acrobatic per- formers, who were marching to and fro, striking peculiar attitudes, and evidently pre- paring for the execution of some feats of strength, tumbling, juggling, or some other mountebank tricks ; but they were too much like the old man already described, making] a great pretence and doing nothing, so that a momentary glance was all that we gave them. The joss-pidgin seemed 'to be at a discount in this Vanity Fair, for in the small Temple a few red wax candles were burning at the shrine, but there was no devotee there save the old man in charge of the place. We next turned our attention towards the old Tea House and its artificial lake ! Such a dirty dub of stagnant water to be called an artificial and ornamental lake ? The small expanse of filthy water with a skimming of green weeds on the surface, is enclosed by a wall coming up to the level of the ground round about ; the lake, pond, or dub, is about thirty yards square, and in the centre stands the Hu-sing-ting, a public Tea House, and which may be called the best and most airy institution of its kind in the City, as it is in a comparatively isolated position, but still there is nothing very refreshing in its situation, — the surrounding stagnant and fetid water makes its position little better than if it was in a small street with cook houses on every side of it. The Tea House is approached by a long and zig-zag viaduct, which we are told was built fifteen hundred years ago ; each pier is composed of two columns of grey granite, standing about three feet apart, on their top is laid a transverse block, and from it to a similar block on the next pier, three huge slabs of the same ever- lasting rock are laid, forming a narrow path- way; the whole bridge being provided with low railings of strong woodwork, which must have been a work of more modern days. Granite blocks also form the foundations on which the Tea House is built, but the house is not nearly so old as the bridge. This Tea 52 VANITY FAIB. House is a fair specimen of Chinese architec- ture, but only on a small scale ; it covers a very limited area, and rises to the height of two storeys, surmounted by a highly ornamental roof; in the lower apartment, there are nothing but windows between the supporting pillars, the windows being of that peculiar transluscent substance which the Chinese used in all their houses for glass until the glass of the western countries was introduced to them, and which substance they still prefer to use in many cases ; the wooden frame work against which the glass is placed in small squares, and the opague whiteness of the glass in the sun light, gives a good appearance to the celestial arrangement in windows ; when lighted in the interior by the ancient rush lights in red wax, the illumination must have a beautiful effect, — the old Tea House, would then look like a big lantern. The place was evidently shut up on the occasion .of our visit, so we followed the line of the zig-zag viaduct till we had gone over the "lake " from the south- east corner to the north-west, and landed in a small, narrow, and dirty path, unpaved and covered with mud puddles even in this dry weather. A few steps brought as out of that disagreeable part of the " garden " into a very small street, and while passing along we were amused at the display in one shop — it seemed to be a regular theatrical property store, such as is to be seen in the purlieus of Drury Lane, — only the costumes and paraphernalia were celestial and not barbarian. Here there were all kinds of ancient weapons, — some real, others only tinfoil imitations, — masks, wigs, and fancy dresses that might be of service at a masquerade ball or at amateur theatricals. Our guide led the way, and though we then thought we had seen all the amusements of the Celestial Vanity Fair, we were mistaken, for he led us into another " garden," only a little to the west of the Tea House and lake, but which was not in view before. Business and pleasure were here combined, it was a regular fair ; at one place there were hundreds of bird cages laid out and piled above each other in rows ; the Mocking Bird was the most largely represented species, and there were also many Bock Miners, and other birds which can be taught to speak ; hundreds of pretty little birds, — names unknown to us, — were to be found there in their small wooden cages ; their chirping and singing would have been merry enough if they had only done it by turns, but the aggregate of their musical notes forcibly reminded us of ornithological ex- hibitions at home, or of the bird stalls in Leadenhall Market. In a small public tea house, — the lower tea-room all open door- ways, — where there were numerous customers sitting at the tables, bird cages were to be seen on almost every table, and the house appeared to be a regular mart for the sale of birds. Other kinds of business was being done at other parts of the grounds, where they were great displays of toys and useful as well as ornamental articles in carved wood, laid out on mats on the ground. Our guide fancied one small wooden box, — circular, and with a glass lid, — which he purchased for eighteen cash. At another of the stalls, all the toys were com- posed of lead,— tiny articles of household fur- niture, tea services, steamboats, junks, and numerous other things in miniature, all of native manufacture, and many of them wonder- fully well done ; we' could easily have identified the steamboat or the junk, but one small curiously shaped thing was a mystery, and we asked what it was meant for? It was oval in form, had an odd number of legs, —about half a dozen,— neither head nor tail, but three or four spikes stuck out from each side; the back painted in coloured stripes. This was meant for a crab, and a friend sug- gested to the toy dealer that he ought to attach a label to each of them to let people know what they were meant for ; but of course the VANITY PAIR. 53 celestial toy dealer could not appreciate the joke. Close by the toy stalls, and lining a pathway on either side, there were numerous sweetmeat stalls kept by confectioners who had taken up their stand there for the day, while an itinerant cook might also wait there for a short time and cater to a hungry celestial, and then move off with his cook-shop to some other place. The book stalls were also here, and one was more a display of " fine art" than of literature, for though the stall-keeper had a large pile of pamphlets, his speciality was in the sale of pictures of mandarins, painted in water colours on white paper ; and various specimens of these native works of art were laid out on the dry ground with four stones on the corners of each picture to pre- vent them being blown away. The pictures were of the commonest description, not worth a cent, and we guess the print-seller did not do much trade either with natives or foreigners. At this side of the square, too, there were two or three different crowds watch- ing the gestures of acrobats ; in one ring, there were four performers, but neither of them able to do anything further than kick up their legs till they touched the toe of their boot with their hand. Another old man was trying to get up a sensation by beating a small gong, while he had half a dozen or more long seats formed into a square for the convenience of those who honoured him with their patronage ; the seats were already nearly all occupied, and the old man walked back and forwards beating his gong, but there was nothing to be seen which could give the slightest indication of what was going to come off ; a small boy tried to trade amongst the occupants of the seats by going round with a bundle of sewn pockets, — which the celestials wear round their waist, — but he couldn't trade ; the occupants of the benches did not sit down there to spend money, and we guess if the showman requested them to give him a slight contribution towards de- fraying his expenses or for the support of his family, they would clear out at once, and go round to some of the other open-air shows ; they seemed to be enjoying themselves for the time at least, and sat their quietly smoking long bamboo pipes, and had no other thing to engage their attention than to re-fill their pipes when a few puffs spent one " fill ; " they were of th» poorer class, coolies probably, and if we had offered five cents to anyone to carry a parcel, — we would have had the whole crowd offering their services. After leaving the acrobats and stall-keepers of the fair, we proceeded on our journey through the streets of the City, but had not gone very far before we came to a street corner where a wood carver had his shop, and some of our friends, who were now on their first visit to the City, were anxious, to see some of the curios and to take with them a souvenir of their visit. The small corner shop was quite open on two sides, and on the counter in front were displayed, in a smaU glass case, orna- mental and curious articles, which were speci- mens of the workmanship of the natives em- ployed there, and some of whom were at that time engaged in their skilful labour over the carving of some piece of wood, in beautiful de- signs, with great intricacy and delicacy of finish, requiring much time and labour, — and the whole article when completed only to fetch a few cents. In the glass show case, there were several ornaments carved in olive stone, others in ivory, bamboo, and walnut-shell ; the majority of them were small images of Budd- histic appearance, while there were also minia- ture junks carved in olive stone and in bamboo ; the walnut-shells were engraved all over with representations of Chinese land- scape, with temples, pagodas, and figures of celestials. Any one of the small articles could have been bought at from fifteen to twenty-five cents, and one of our friends traded with the manufacturer of graven images to the extent of 54 AN ITINERANT COOK. half a dollar, receiving a joss or idol, a junk, and an engraved walnut-shell for that sum, while others of the party bought a few of the curios also, and the celestial artificer seemed very well pleased at doing such a big trade. "While we were at this shop, for only two or three minutes, quite a large crowd of the natives gathered round us, and the narrow street was completely blocked ; one old native who was going home from the fair with some toys in his hand, — a little drum, and a minia- ture jin-ric-sha, — had some difficulty in press- ing his way through the crowd, but he held his purchases high and aloof from his greasy fellow-citizens in case they should be broken, and his little boy be deprived of the pleasure of disturbing his neighbours by the drum being smashed. Before we had got clear of this crowd, an itinerant cook came along the street ; it is bad enough to meet a sedan chair in the narrow streets, or a coolie carrying a couple of buckets of water, or two jars of samshu, but the itinerant cook with the whole of his ap- paratus on his shoulders is even more awk- ward to pass. Every one here of course has seen the itinerant cook or confectioner, but for the benefit of home readers who never have seen one, we will describe his compendius ar- rangement in bamboo, earthenware, charcoal, and cooking utensils, which he carries about with him from place to place. This portable cookshop is somewhat comical in appearance, but it is a good specimen of Chinese ingenuity. It stands on four peices of bamboo, like the legs of a long stool, and they are joined in pairs at the top to another piece ; in front, several pieces of the same useful material are formed into a quadrant-shaped bracket upon which a box is placed ; inside the box is an earthenware fire pot or brazier, with an opening in front of it for fanning the fire ; charcoal is the fuel, and the box contains a day's supply, while over the fire box is a large round vessel of tin, in which anything can be cooked ; in rear of the stand, other pieces of bamboo are twisted upwards and form a quadrant similar to that in front, and upon them is placed a frame containing four or five drawers ; and surmounting the whole erection there is a double rack for hold- ing bowls, cups, and saucers. In the forward bracket, under the fireplace, the cook keeps a supply of firewood ; in the rear, under the drawers, he has an empty bucket, used for obtaining a fresh supply of water ; in the drawers, he has rice, potatoes, fruits, and all the requisites for cooking. The space be- tween the four-legged stand is open, and when on the move the itinerant cook puts his right shoulder under the cross bar fixed to the top of the four legs, lifts the whole concern quite easily, and goes along, while he heralds his own approach by striking a hollow joint of bamboo with a longitudinal opening in it, and this substitute for a gong is a fixture on a front leg of the stand, the sound produced by every stroke being of loud and grave tone. These itinerant cooks are very numerous in the City and in the Chinese quarters of the Foreign Settlements, and their occupation seems to be a good one for those engaged in it. When we had passed the cook, we moved on a little fur- ther till a medical friend had his attention at- tracted by an exhibition at the door of one of the small shops — a couple of trays full of human teeth. [This was at a dentist's shop, and we went in to see how he did business. The dentist showed us the instrument with which he operates on the jaws of the natives, — such a clumsy, rusty pair of iron forceps we never saw before ; they were more like the tool with which a farrier extracts nails from a pony's hoof than anything else ; there was no doubt that he would be able to pull out the biggest tooth in the head of any native with them, if he only once got hold of the tooth, but the danger would be that he might pr.il out two or three at one time. He said he charged the natives from fifty to one hundred cents for ex- A BUDDHIST PEIEST. 55 tracting a tooth ; if he got that price for each of the teeth in the pile on the trays, and could turn out as many within the next year, he would make a small fortune. In one corner of his shop there was a large square couch, which looked something like the couches upon which the celestials recline when they smoke opium ; probably it was used for this purpose by the dentist when he had toothache himself, if not oftener, and when his patients we're to be operated upon with these clumsy iron for- ceps, he would require to have them strapped down there. The old dentist was quite well pleased to see us taking an interest in his pro- fessional affairs, and re-echoed our " chin-chin'' when we took leave of him. We were making slow progress towards the City Temple, which was one of the chief items on the programme of our excursion, but we were not far from it now; and before entering upon a description of the Temple, there is only one character we will mention — a Buddhist priest. While pass- ing along one of the narrow and dirty streets, we saw the wretched figure of a human being crouching on a small curb-stone ; his dirty yellowish gown "indicated at once that he was was a priest, and when we came closer to him we noticed that he wore a band of brass en- circling his head ; his dishevelled and matted hair concealed the part at the crown of his head, but over his forehead this brazen rim shone brilliantly, and was the only good look- ing thing about him. He squatted down in the gutter, with his legs completely obscured by his long robe; his arms lay folded, with his hands on his knees ; his face was hag- gard, misery and wretchedness imprinted on every feature ; he had not washed his face for dear knows how long, but if he had only done so, and shaved the bristles off his chin, his physiogonomy might have been transformed into one of tolerably decent appearance. By the side of a blank white wall, and extending a couple of yards from where the squalid priest sat in the mire, there were two rows of printed pamphlets and tracts ; his whole wealth was nearly exhausted in the cash which he placed on these pieces of paper to keep them from blowing away ; but in one corner, — the one nearest him of course, — he had piled a few cash, probably the proceeds of the sale of his literature, or perhaps the dona- tions of some of the passing crowd. The blind and maimed beggars were not so pitiable speci- mens of humanity as this poor and wretched devotee of Buddha. When we came to the City Temple, or the Temple of the City God, we entered it by a side way, — there are three or four thorough- fares leading into it, — which brought us at once in front of the shrine, but we will describe the buildings and all their curious adjuncts, as if we had approached by the main entrance. The Temple is dedicated to the City God, or Spirit believed to have charge of all the other Spirits who have once been embodied in citizens of Shanghai, and the Temple is of great antiquity. The City God is head of the Spiritual Kingdom of Shanghai; and he is the Oracle which is consulted by the citizens when they wish advice about any private or business affairs. The Temple is in tolerably decent state of repair, as the citizens annually pay certain contributions to the District Magistrate towards the expenses of the Temple and for the purpose of keeping it in repair. The Temple buildings cover an area of about thirty yards in breadth by one hundred yards in length. The outer gate is surmounted by an ornamental roof, like three or four roofs piled on the top of each other, — the sloping eaves of the lower part extending furthest, and the others diminishing in order, till the top part is only a very small one, but all are highly ornamented with turned- up corners and images stuck on the tiles. The gate itself is a big clumsy door in two leaves, painted with figures of mandarins. The wall of the outer gate way is of great breadth, — orrather 56 THE TEMPLE OE THE CITY GOD. there is a house on each side of the archway. A small court-yard lies between this entrance and the main gate ; and we ascend one or two steps to it. The building here stretches from side to side of the Temple grounds, and rises to a considerable height ; the door way is very spacious, and the doors, roof, and everything much the same as at the outer porch. Inside this building, there must be several rooms down stairs, and the topside as seen from the main court-yard is an open stage for the performance of theatricals on certain great feast days at the Temple; the highly ornamented roof is the canopy of the stage, and the actors while performing would look directly forwards to the main building of the Temple, containing the shrine. The main court-yard is spacious, the whole area paved with granite, and on either side there are terraces under long low roofs of the plainest construction. The Temple proper occupies the east end, and is not a very large building ; there are two small apartments flanking the main one, and the latter is a large and lofty hall, and from floor to the roof full of idols and tablets. In external appearance, the building is of the ordinary Chinese style, with ornamental roof and turned up corners ; there are numerous inscriptions in large gilt characters on the front of the build- ing, as well as over all the gateways ; but as we only gave the place a hurried visit, we had not ■ time to get these trans- lated for us. On going inside the great door way of the Temple, the first things that meet the eye are four idols placed on the level of the floor and against the wall at the right hand side, with red candles burning in front of them. These represent the runners of the City God ; they are dwarfish in the limbs, but the heads are of very large size, and while the bodies are painted black, the faces are of a bright red, the upper lip carefully blackened, eye brows complete, and though clumsily carved, they are not very hideous after all. Over our heads, there are two war junks, sus- pended from the roof ; they are flat-bottomed, and from what can be seen of the sides, they appear to be tolerably correct models ; they are painted black, and are very dirty looking, and doubtless have a deck load of dust. These are the war junks of the City God. In front of us, and towering aloft, the huge idol of the City God rests on a throne of great size, orna- mented at the sides with red tablets and gold characters, curtains and scrolls hang from the top, and it is rather difficult to see what like the idol really is ; only one thing is visible — the large, broad, red-painted face. The throne is surrounded by a wooden railing about five feet in height ; inside it on either side there are three large idols, the one next the rails about six feet high, the next one more elevated, and standing forward nearer the throne, while the third is larger still, and comes up close to the corner of the throne occupied by the great idol of the City God. The three idols on the other side occupy similar positions ; these idols, representing attendants, are as black as they could be, and their shoulders covered with dust. Inside the rails, and directly in front, there is a high stand, apparently made of iron rods, on which red wax candles are burned, the top of the stand being a series of three or four rods, rising in tiers, and each one has a large number of spikes for sticking the .candles on, — the whole of them being smeared with red wax. An old man was standing inside attending to the candles, In the front part of the railing, there was a large and very richly ornamented censer, and before it a long cushion lay on the ground. When we entered the Temple there was no one there save the attendants, but an old wo- man came in and knelt down on this cushion, bowing her head very low, though she could not strictly perform the kotow — by beating her forehead on the ground— as she could not throw her head down between the cushion and the censer. She knelt there for three or four WOEKING THE ORACLE. 57 minutes, and then took a piece of bamboo, a large joint, which was standing there beside the censer, and winch she shook with consider- able energy, the hollow bamboo containing a large number of long thin pieces of the same material, and each piece bore characters in Chinese. She selected one stick and then, paying four cash to an attendant, handed him the stick, upon which he selected a correspond- ing strip of yellow paper from another bamboo- quiver, and read to the distressed devotee the characters on this piece, which was the reply of the City God to the enquiry on the stick the woman selected. The poor woman again went down on her knees, again shook up the small sticks in the joint of bamboo, selected another, paid four cash more, and received another com- munication, through the attendant, from the God of the City. The small bamboo sticks were all numbered, and each number corre- sponded with those on a quantity of strips of yellow paper, about 2 in. by 10 in., which the attendant kept. The writings on these strips of paper are quotations from ancient poets ; if the strip selected by the devotee contains good sayings, that is taken as a favourable reply from the City God on whatever subject the devotee may have wished to consult the oracle ; it might be a business affair, or a family affair, and if she wanted to do anything, she would consult the oracle, and adapt her conduct ac- cording to the guidance received by this mani- pulation of bamboo sticks and strips of yellow paper. By the side of the censer, a long and capacious piece of bamboo was fixed up as a collection box, and on the advice of our Chinese friend, all the foreigners in our party made a small contribution by dropping coin into this box, upon which the attendant seem- ed quite pleased. Our presence in the Temple had been noticed by idle celestials outside, and as they now crowded into the Temple we thought it time to clear out, for we did not wish to cause any commotion which might in- terfere with the devotions of the poor woman before the shrine. After leaving the main building of the Temple, we came out to the large open court- yard, near the centre of which stands a huge bronze censer, said to be 3,000 years old. It is used for burning the gold and silver sycee — paper representations of shoes of sycee — as offerings to the City God. The censer stands about 'six feet high, and the main part of it is a large hollow globe, with opening at the top ; in this goblet the joss paper is burned. The top of the censer is composed of a smaller ornamental globe, resting on flying brackets • which come up from the sides of the orifice of the larger globe. On the sides of the large globe, there are thousands of Chinese characters, which are still quite clear and sharply defined. Near to the censer, there is an ornamental building, with carved columns in marble, and surmounted by richly carved blocks; the small roof too is profuse" in ornaments and decorations ; this marble sepulchral-looking erection encases the Tablet of Stone on which is engraven, in very small characters, the record of the life of the City God. The whole of the columns and other parts in marble are richly carved, and curious shaped griffin figures, a mixture be- tween a bull dog and a lion, are seen at the base ; at other parts of the court-yard, in front of the main building and at the gate-ways, there are also figures of wild animals couchant, and evidently very ancient pieces of sculpture. The court-yard was like a busy market square ; in fact it seemed to be a special rendezvous of itinerant cooks, fruit hawkers, itinerant cobblers, and petty chapmen of all descrip- tions. At the sides of the court-yard, there were stalls where the tradesmen had taken up a permanent position for the day ; a restaurant keeper had quite an extensive business, and kept one man cooking sweet potatoes over a charcoal fire, while another was roasting chestnuts in a 58 THE CITY GAOL, AND "HEAD THIEF." *big pan of black stuff, sand and. molasses, over another fire ; the gate- ways were almost block- ed with small trades-people and hawkers, One curious old man took up his position close in front of the marble shrine which enclosed the Tablet of the City God ; he had a small stall for the sale of fruit and toys, but his chief attraction- for the natives was — a wheel of fortune, with some peculiar celestial arrangements worth describing. On a small board, he had circle marked off in about thirty six sections ; each section was a long thin strip, and alternately they were • painted red or white, while at the inner end there were marks corresponding to the spots on dominoes, and in the whole circle there were three sections of each different kind. From the centre, an upright post bore on a pivot a long bar, equal to the diameter of the circle, and it swept round the whole radius, while to one pole of the bar was attached a needle, dangling by a bit wire. Bound the centre post there was a great variety of small porcelain toys and curious articles. The httle game was played thus, — a guile- less native puts say three cash on the section marked with three dominoe spots, and then sets the swinging bar on the move ; if the needle attached to one pole comes to rest on either of the three sections bearing three spots, the native wins and receives as his prize the porcelain article opposite the sec- tion on which he piled his wealth ; the money can of course be increased, by placing four, five, six, or up to twelve cash, on the respective sections ; and the chances against the specula- tor are twelve to one. From the City Temple, we proceeded to the yamen of the Che-Hsien, or District Magistrate, Mob, — the special object of our visit being to see the gaols attached to the yamen, where prisoners under sentence of death are confined. Before entering the outer gate of the yamen, we observed a small cell at one corner, where about a dozen dirty faces were pressed close to the big wpoden bars that form the front of the cage-like cell ; they were peering through the openings, watching the movements of celestials as they passed, the only thing they could do to relieve the monotony of their confinement. These prisoners were only incarcerated for a few days or so, on very paltry offences, and the chief part of their punishment — that of being exposed to public gaze — was the thing they appeared most to enjoy. On entering the large gate-way, we came into a wide court- yard, in front being another gate leading into the chief buildings of the yamen ; on the right there were some small houses occupied by runners and retainers, on the left we saw part of a range of small buildings, which we afterwards went through. The second gate- way of the yamen was ornamented by pictures on the wood-work of the door, numerous inscrip- tions and proclamations posted on the portals ; while a clothes line stretched from two pillars on either side, and blue cottons and grey shirtings were hanging up to dry ; but they were certainly not very ornamental bunting for a mandarin to pass under when carried in his sedan chair into the interior courts of the yamen. "We had obtained permission from the mandarin in charge of the gaols to visit them, and we first called at his quarters, but found he was not at home ; however, one of his servants was aware that we had permission, and he led the way to a small house occupied by the " head thief," and the latter conducted us over the cells. The "head thief," is the oldest prisoner, not in years, but in crime ; he had been convicted of some offence and put in a long time as a prisoner before he got pro- moted to be " head thief," and in that position to fulfil the duties of senior warder. He was a a middle-aged man, strongly built, and quite pleasant in appearance ; he wore a plain suit of blue cottons, with black jacket, and black skull cap, without any official in- PRISONERS IN HEAVY CHAINS. 59 dications about him ; we were disappoint- ed in this respect, for we fully, expected that the "head thief" would have some pecu- liar uniform of his own, or at least a circular patch on his back proclaiming his exalted rank. The range of buildings mentioned as on the left of the large court-yard, are the gaols, and in the front part, the small houses are occupied by gaolers and runners. The " head thief " occupied one of these front rooms, and when he received us he led the way through a passage to the back of the range of houses, where we found there was quite an extensive area occupied by smaller houses in squares, and the prisoners were kept there in squads of from twenty to thirty. The first ward to which we were conducted was that occupied by long term convicts and those under sentence of death. As soon as the " head thief " turned the key in a gate, which admitted us to the interior, we heard the jingling of heavy chains, and such a scene as was then presented to our view will never be effaced from our memory. We were now inside a small square, — at the side by which we had entered was a low wall ; in front and on each hand there were some small houses. About twenty prisoners were in the court-yard. One of them was engaged in try- ing to patch up some worn out garment, which he had spread on a rude bench stand- ing near the centre of the yard ; another was tearing the cotton padding which had lined the old garment, evidently to make it up again for a winter coat ; several of the prisoners were sitting down in front of their cells engaged in plaiting straw — some making hempen sandals, other ropes and cash- strings. A good number of the wretched inmates walked about doing nothing; some remained inside their cells. All the pri- soners were in irons, the least that any one had were heavy rings round the ankles, and six or ten inches of heavy linked chain between them ; those who were at work necessarily had their hands free, but the prisoners who were walking about were loaded with chains, and some much more so than the others. The majority of them had heavy handcuffs, and similar ornaments on their feet, with a chain from their feet to their hands ; some were chained hand and foot, and a long chain fixed round their body, attached to hands and feet, and also round their neck, while an iron bar about twelve inches in length was fixed in the chain from the prisoner's neck and lay across his breast in a most uncomfortable manner ; the chains still allowed them a limited freedom just sufficient to walk in very short steps. One prisoner was doing hard labour in 'a pecu- liarly tantalising manner. He was loaded with chains on hands, feet, body, and neck, while a heavy piece of wood, about five feet in height was attached to his right foot, by a short chain, and the top of the log of wood was chained to his neck by a longer piece of chain which would just let the log out to arm's length ; but he was obliged to keep it hitched up on his shoulder by another chain, for if he allowed it to fall he would be dragged down with it. The wood was very hard and heavy, evidently the trunk of a young tree, about two inches in diameter, and he would have to keep it with him all day and sleep with it all night ; he was the newest arrival in this gang, and had to do his turn with the log of wood as the others had done before him. Some of the prisoners looked cheerful enough, and they had full liberty to smoke in the court-yard, as a good many of them were doing. We looked in vain to see Moh-lee and Ko-ching-gee, the two Shansi men who murdered a Shanghai mountebank, in a tea house in the Maloo nine months ago ; they paid $150 to the father of the murdered man and satisfied him ; how much they paid to satisfy the mandarins is unknown ; but it is a notorious fact that prisoners are confined just so long as their friends can be squeezed ; set at liberty if 60 FOUE CTJLPBITS EXECUTED. a sufficient sum is paid ; or executed if they are unfortunate enough to be without any money or friends. That is said to be the case with most of the Chinese officials, and the Maloo case evidently shows it holds good in this province too. The prisoners in this ward included murderers, robbers, thieves, adulterers, and some convicted of other of- fences ; and some of them were within the last week of then.' life, for since our visit four we then saw have been executed outside the South Gate of the City. They were, we believe, the ones whom we saw sitting plaiting the straw' — one was a pirate who had committed murder and robbery at Min-hong, and his head would be exposed at the scene of his crime; another culprit had committed the unpardon- able offence of robbing a mandarin's residence ; and two were said to be the pirates who robbed an opium shop in the English Settlement nine months ago ; about a dozen pirates from the lake district had committed the robbery, but only two were captured. They now sat on a heap of straw, and worked away slowly ; they looked wretched and miserable in the day time, and what a night these men would pass, for their cell was a long narrow space, with four small stools standing up amongst the dirty straw which covered the floor of earth, — a wretched- stall that was not fit for beasts of burden. They worked all day in plaiting and twisting straw, they lay on foul straw all night, but only four times did they pass through their monotonous work of the day, only four times more did they sleep in that wretched stall, until that early morn when the man- darin sent them in a special supply of food- such is the strange mode of intimating to the .doomed man that his hour has come,— and on that fourth day, two of the culprits received their last meal and were taken out to the South Gate and decapitated by the executioner's sword. When two had gone, the others must have felt apprehensive, and not without cause; two days elapsed, and other two culprits were executed. The executions take place at the order of the Imperial Board of Punishment. After a pri- soner has been convicted, the District Magis- trate of Shanghai sends a petition to the. Taotai of Shanghai, who forwards it to the Futai of Sunkiang, and the latter reports to the Board of Punishment at Pekin. An Im- perial Edict is issued through that Board, and sent back by the same round about way to the District Magistrate ; until he receives it, he has no idea what is to be done with the pri- soner, but when the order is sent for the exe- cution of the prisoner, the District Magis- trate must see that it is carried out within two or three days, and he never allows any one to know of it till the morning of the event. It is therefore almost impossible for a foreigner to know of such an affair till after the occurrence. We have been told that mandarins sometimes send the doomed man samshu to drink two or three days before hand, to give him a hint ; at any rate on the fatal morn, a signal is given of which there is no mistake, the mandarin send- ing to the culprit a special supply of food, consisting of a dish of fried pork, another of boiled lamb or mutton, and three bowls of rice. He cannot touch either of them for excitement, and does not get time even although he was prepared to eat the whole lot, for he is drag- ged off to the execution ground in haste, with a small flag stuck on his back ; and if he re- fuses to walk, he is tied to a bamboo pole, and carried by coolies. The mandarins and mili- tary officers are present at the execution ; they generally number about twenty, all mounted on ponies, and they ride round in a circle making as much noise as they can by clattering of hoofs and tinkling of bells, until some small crackers are set off, at which signal the execu- tioner cuts off the head of the prisoner with one fell swoop of his sword. In the first cell we visited, we gave a small ANOTHER WABD OP THE CITY GAOL. 61 contribution for the benefit of the prisoners, being informed that that was customary on the part of foreigners when they are privileged with being shown through the place. The "hard labour" man, who was loaded with chains and burdened by the log of wood, was the recipient, on behalf of all the others, not only in this cell, but in other cells also. He at once handed the money to the " head thief," who gave it to one of his subordinates ; we were assured that the prisoners would get the benefit of it in the shape of some dainties, — rather unusual for them, — or perhaps tobacco. On leaving the ward, the prisoners chin-chinned our party, some of them shaking their hands at us, a la Chinoise salutation, and which they could do quite well with their handcuffs on, in fact it came all the more natural to them. In passing on to the next department of the gaol, we went through some houses where runners and others were killing time by playing dominoes, and gambling in other games ; we also observed a small joss-house, which is for the prisoners worshipping their gods. The Becond ward we visited was like the former one, — a small square, partly surrounded with small houses which formed the cells ; the prisoners here, too, were lounging about the small court-yard, all more or less burdened with iron decorations on their ankles, arms, and necks. One man had the tantalising log of wood attached to his right foot by a chain, like his brother in the other ward, but this second one was not quite so heavily laden with iron, and his log of wood was lighter ; it was only fastened to his ankle, and not to his neck, so that he was obliged to keep hold of it always in his right arm, to prevent it dragging on the ground. He seemed to have a full appreciation of his comical situation, and no doubt considered the log of wood a great nuisance ; the other prison- ers smiled at him when he moved about with it, as they were past that sort of hard labour. Many of the inmates here were engaged in making straw ropes, sandals, and at other work smiliar to their confreres in the first ward. One part of the buildings was a cook- house, a pretty large, but very empty-looking, dingy, earthen-floored apartment. A boiler was built up in brick, but the fire was out, scarcely any cooking utensils were to be seen, and away in the far-off corner sat the discon- solate cook, for he too was a prisoner; he sat there with his arms folded, and his legs drawn up under his chair, but still one could see that they were uncomfortably attached to each other at the ankles ; he was evidently very miserable in his confinement, at least he did not look very pleasant. All the prisoners in this and also in the other department were dressed, not in prison garb of any uniformity, but in the most extraordinary _ masses of rags and patches, — scarcely a piece of blue cot- ton about them more than half a dozen inches square; the patches were of the all- pervading blue cotton, but the colour dif- fered according to the age of the respective pieces, and the amount of wear and tear they had gone through ; the patch work was also of the rudest description, and it seemed as if every one had to be his own tailor; a large amount of strings were necessary to keep the garments together, and matted pieces of cotton padding stuck out here and there all round their coats and breeches ; they all seemed to have plenty of clothes on, and most likely they had to keep them on night and day, for it would have been a laborious task in the case of some of the prisoners to have to tie all their rags together every morning so as to get them to hang round them somehow. Outside this second ward there was a small garden, t a little flower plot only a few yards square, and surrounded by a not very high wall. It wa» the most pleasant part of the whole establish- ment, for there was a large plot of the yellow Chrysanthemum in full bloom ; the prisoners 62 THE MANDARINS' PRIVATE TEA GARDEN. keep this garden in order, and it may afford an opportunity to the more intellectual convicts to study botany. We only visited the two wards described, and then took our leave of the "head thief," thanking him for his kindness in showing us round ; he had been very courteous, and now he bowed and shook his fists as we went away, going the first three steps backwards, and bow- ing to him. From the Chie-Hsien's yamen, we retraced our steps to the City Temple, and on to the Private Tea Garden, open only to the man- darins. On our way, one thing that attracted attention, and which we had never seen before, was worthy of remark, — at the doorstep of a house in one of the streets, there was a celestial washing his face, and quite a crowd of aston- ished citizens around him I This Tea Garden is decidedly the most pleasant spot in the whole City of Shanghai, and its beauty is of no ordinary nature ; the artificial devices in the construction of rockeries, ponds, the orna- mental buildings, and the trees and plants, give it quite a charming appearance, more especially in the summer time, when the trees are in full foliage ; and though it is rather bleak in the middle of winter, it has still its charms, being so much different from the dirty and crowded thoroughfares of the City. In the sum- mer time, it must form a very enjoyable re- treat for those who are privileged to resort to it. As far as we are aware, there is only one day in the whole year when this private retreat of the mandarins is open to the citizens ; that is on the 15th day of the 3rd Moon, and on that day last year (May 5, 1879), we visited this garden. It was then crowded excessively with citizens of all classes, and the great attraction was what would correspond, in western ideas, to a floral exhibition. But the show was unique in that there was only one kind of plant exhibited, the Aglaia Octo- rata ; the chief characteristic of that plant is that there are numerous varieties, but ex- cept to those who are very well versed in the botany of China, it is impossible to see any difference between the specimens ; the plant consists of a few long grass-shaped blades, of very delicate and graceful form, with a small flowering stem shooting from the green blade ; it requires the very keenest perception to de- tect the varieties, and in the examination of this plant the Chinese generally, and especially those who are of a botanical turn of mind, take the greatest delight ; but probably the most of them at the show did not know anything of botany, and were only there out of curiosity, because they could get there but once a year. We remember that at every stand in the tea houses, where specimens of the plant were ex- hibited, there were dense groups of celestials, eagerly looking at the small flower pots, with the graceful, green-leafed plants in them. So dense was the crowd in the garden that day, that it was impossible for any one to see what like the place was, and the narrow pathways under arches of rock, or over small bridges, or up rugged steps of granite, were blocked with celestials in blue cottons and silks, fans in every hand, and every tongue jabbering, so that it was the best course to beat a retreat, and set down the garden as an object for inspection on some future date. On the occasion of our present visit to the city, we obtained permission to go to this garden, and accordingly we made it the last item in our afternoon's excursion. The entrance to the garden is reached by some very narrow and mazy paths, from the public garden which surrounds the old Tea House already described ; our guide evidently knew the way as well as though he lived on the spot, but it would almost defy any of our company to find the way back again. The way by which we entered, is a very narrow doorway in a wall, — the aperture not more than six feet in height, and two in breadth ; a knock on the plain deal door, was answered by a voice from within, a short jabbering followed, between our guide and ARTIFICIAL EOCKEEIES. 63 the guardian, and the small door was thrown open, when we saw a feeble old man before us, who welcomed us to visit the place ; the door was locked behind us, and for a good half hour, we had the garden to ourselves. We first entered the pavilion, a building which is of the same shape as the chief building of a temple ; it is only one large room, open in front, and while sitting inside, the greater portion of the garden is in view before you. There are numerous tables and chairs here, for use in taking a quiet cup of tea ; the walls are hung with painted scrolls of celestial land- scapes and waterscapes, ornamental carved panel work, and lettered tablets ; on the back wall there is a niche containing a water- colour daub of a portrait, representing the City God ; and from the roof there are suspended a great number of ornamental lanterns, made of foreign glass, set in carved framework, and some of them hung with fringes of beads. In front of this pavilion you have a full view of the immense artificial ridge of rocks, with palm trees, willows, etc., in the foreground and on the slopes of the ridge, while ferns and long spear-like grass, grow from the crevices of the rocks ; the ridge is surmounted by trees in life, though now bare of foliage, and also what at a distance appear to be rude pillars of rock, but are really fossil trees ; a small octagonal pavilion, open all round, the ornamental roof resting on pillars of wood, stands on the highest corner of the ridge, and further back there is a terrace of small houses, the front of which range is elaborately constructed of doors and windows. When we leave the chief building, we walk round by one end of it, and find there is a small square pond here, the boundary wall being fantastically shaped of water- worn rocks ; the water is however covered with a skimming of green weeds, so that we have to exercise faith when we are told that the pond is full of curious fish; and reeds rise up to a great height by the side of the pond. The walk round this corner is paved with small pebbles and chips of porcelain ; the walls on the left hand contain niches, enclosed with plate glass, and inside there is trellis work in white plaster, while in every diamond, square, and octagonal space formed by the trellis work, there are miniature figures moulded in blue clay, and some of them are very interesting studies, — where in a few ounces of blue clay you may have an emperor and his army of three soldiers ; or a temple, pagoda, and priests ; a mandarin on horseback; an old man playing a flute; and with each of them a small bit of landscape, a shoulder of a hill, a tree, or bridge thrown in. The next thing on the walk, or over it, is a small archway of rocks. The stones seem to have been taken from some mighty water course, as they are worn and scooped out, and while piled above each other to a great height, cemented with blue clay, their configuration is fantastic in the extreme. On the other side of this archway, we come to another spacious sitting room, furnished as a tea drinking saloon. Beside it there is a- long white wall, under cover, and built into this wall there are several tablets, some of flint stone and others of slate — all of them being covered with Chinese characters, and some of these mural tablets contain the names of the people who contributed towards the construction of the garden. The greater portion of the wall, however, is taken up with a grand fresco, — a panoramic view of the country from Shanghai City to Loong-hwa ; the work is now sadly spoilt, in some parts by the plaster coming off in scales, at other parts by disrespectful and ill-mannered foreigners writing their names over it with black lead pencil, some of the auto- graphs being in a very large scrawling hand — a very detestable practice which is observed by foreigners, Englishmen especially, whenever they have an opportunity of scratching their names on any place which is seldom visited, of difficult access, or of special interest to visitors. 64 A GEAND FRESCO. The fresco is very much obliterated, but there is still enough of it to be seen to make it an interesting study. In the left hand corner, there is a representation in bold outline of the City Wall, in the back ground there is the placid Hwang-poo Eiver, with three or four great junks with broad sails, and at the right hand, the most perfect object in the whole panorama is a representation of Loong-hwa Pagoda ; the foreground had evidently been occupied by a representation of the outskirts of the City, and the fields between the City and Loong-hwa, but the work of the celestial Angelo is desecrated, and this portion of it is almost completely destroyed. After ascending a rudely shaped flight of granite steps, with walls of rugged rocks on each hand, we come to the top of the artificial ridge of rocks. Here we rest for a time and enjoy a cigar in the small pavilion ; and among the interesting objects we examined were a petrified column, standing about twelve feet high, which was evidently a fossil tree, and the grain was quite distinct; another column, of honey-combed rock, formed by white pebbles embedded in alluvial soil, which now had a chalk-like appearance, — the pebbles being extracted all round, the column present- ed a surface of indentations ; a third geological curiosity was in the shape of a boulder, render- ed smooth by the action of water, and having a hole worn through it ; — when you struck this stone gently, a musical sound, grave but very pleasant, was produced; and besides those mentioned there were other curiosities of a simi- lar kind to be seen. This quiet little garden of flowers, trees, and rocks, and its pavilions, would be a splendid attraction if it could be transferred to the grounds of the Crystal Pal- ace, for in the way of artificial rockeries it beats anything at Sydenham. "When inside it, you see nothing of the dirty City which sur- rounds it, and our party at any rate considered it was well worth visiting. From this garden, we went as straight to the New North Gate as is possible, considering the irregularity of the streets; and after having seen many strange sights, and learned something of celestial life within the walls of Shanghai, we completed our afternoon's excursion in exactly two hours and a half. The Tin-Ric-Sha, and its yOOLIE. ©«M5«9KtV»- THE prisoners sentenced at the Mixed Court have a wide variety of punishments over their head, and the Magistrate either imposes a fine, orders a flagellation with bamboo sticks, the cangue, imprisonment in the court gaol, in the police cells, or hard labour in the chain- gang ; and either of these punishments, or a good many of them combined, may be awarded to the prisoner. The punishment of the cangue, is the wearing of a wooden collar by the prisoner for a certain number of days, generally only a few days, but in some cases extending over a month. That wooden board is the most awkward and uncomfortable thing,— at least it looks like it,— that a fellow could have round his neck. It measures about two feet square, and is divided in two parts which are separated when the collar is to be put on or taken off; but when on, the pieces are securely dove-tailed and the prisoner cannot remove it himself. The board is attached to a chain ; which is also wound round the prisoner's waist, and perhaps half a dozen of the fellows may be linked together when sitting in the cages at the entrance .to the Mixed Court, or when they are taking exercise in the yards of -any of the police stations. It is a very common mode of punishing a thief to place him in the cangue and chain him up in the vicinity of the place where he committed the theft ; he will have to stand there all day, for he is chained so that he cannot sit down without strangling himself, and a native emissary of the police force will keep an eye on him and bring a supply of chow chow rice to him. Thieves are often chained up this way in the settlements or in the outskirts, and have to remain at their post as a terror to evil doers for eight or ten hours a day, being taken home to the police stations at night. An incorrigible thief was once chained up at a garden on the Bubbling Well Eoad, and he got hold of something which enabled him to file through the link of his long chain, although, like all the thieves which are put out by themselves this way, he was hand-cuffed. He made his escape across country, with the wooden collar still on and two or three yards of chain hanging about him, and being thus heavily handicapped he was easily caught by some natives who had thought they would make a good thing of it by capturing him. The wooden collar is covered with strips of paper, bearing in Chines© characters the name of the prisoner and the offence for which he is being punished, which is meant to be a part of the punishment, and a warning to others ; but most of the professional thieves who wear the wooden collar look as if they were quite reconciled to it. The prisoners who are sentenced to long terms generally go through the mill by getting flog- ged, exposed in the cangue, and then drafted into the chain-gang. Some of the prisoners are sent to the chain-gang for two or three months and others for longer periods, some for two years. There are incorrigibles that are hardly ever out of the gang, and are dis- posed to spend the whole of their lives in it. The majority of the gang are of the coolie class, and habit and repute thieves ; but we THE CANGUE AND THE CHAIN GANG. 89 have seen cases where native merchants, and natives who held comparatively good situations, were sent to the chain-gang for serious offences such as embezzlements, frauds, and theft of large sums. The chain-gang is so called from the fact that the Municipal Council utilize convict labour by making the prisoners do most of the road work in the settle- ment, and the prisoners are yoked together in large teams, and attached to huge street rollers. The Council also employ a large number of coolies for road work, as the prisoners in the chain-gang are so much attached to each other that they have not sufficient freedom to do all the necessary work. The chain- gang therefore is chiefly employed in drag- ging street rollers, and while so engaged they are under the charge of a foreign constable and two or three native constables. The filling up of the foreshore of the Bund has been a big job for the Municipal Council's coolies and the chain-gang, and there the squads of prisoners have plenty of work for their huge iron rollers. The chain-gang fellows are all dressed uni- formly in drab-coloured drill cloth, and the trousers and jackets are all marked with a Chinese character, which means that the wearer is a prisoner. In regard to boots and hats the widest varieties are allowed, and some of the convicts show their pride by wearing polished foreign boots, while others wear hempen sandals, others felt shoes, and others go barefooted. The hats are of all sorts and sizes, both native and foreign styles. On a wet day, nearly everyone in the chain-gaing has an umbrella, and as the street roller is dragged slowly along by the team of celestial convicts covered with straw-thatch water-proof coats, and tattered and torn paper umbrellas or demo- ralized cotton ones, the whole team presents a very strange sight. These fellows in the chain-gang are as happy as the day is long ; their work is light, and infinitely better than coolie labour ; they have plentiful supplies of chowchow rice, are well housed, they need have no thought of the morrow, and as they jog along in their chains, watching all the sights on the Bund, they must feel that they are better off than jinricsha or wheelbarrow coolies ; many of the latter may envy their countrymen in the chain-gang, and take steps to secure an appointment in it ; while those already in the gang will resolve to return to it when their present term expires. A Trip on the Vang-tsze-kiang ; From Shanghai to Hankow, WHEN Marco Polo visited Cathay and be- held the Great Kiang, or Yangtsze-kiang, the impressions which were then formed in his mind, and afterwards given to the world in his wonderful book, still remain true in many parti- culars. He speaks of it as the greatest river in the world, which was in one sense true when he called it so, as the new World and its mighty rivers were then unknown. He said the Great Kiang "is in some places ten miles wide, in others eight, in others six, and it is more than a hundred days' journey in length from one end to the other." The length of the Yangtsze is known to be about 3,000 miles, and though you can now do 600 miles of it, to Hankow, by steaming four days, and 320 miles from Han- kow to Ichang, in two or three days, when an occasional steamer runs to that furthermost treaty port, — we guess the rest of the voyage in native boats would occupy several weeks, if not nearly all of the hundred days. The breadth of the river is said by some writers to have been over-stated by Marco Polo, but we do not think this is the case. The course of the river has changed since the great Venetian traveller sailed on its bosom ; its banks are con- tinually changing, and places which are narrow now might once have been very wide, or vice versa. The greatest width which is mentioned by Marco Polo is ten miles, and near the mouth of the river, there are still ten miles from the mainland shores, but there are the large island of Tsung Ming, and the smaller one Bush Island, in the centre of the river. From the rapidity with which the islands have grown there, by the enormous depositions of mud brought down the river, these islands must have been much smaller, even if they were in existence then, and there is no saying how wide the mouth of the river might have been in the days of Marco Polo (1274, A. D.), for in speaking of its great width he does not men- tion any particular part of the river. As to the trade on the river, Marco Polo says:— "I assure you that this river flows so far and tra- verses so many countries and cities that in good sooth there pass and repass on its waters a greater number of vessels, and more wealth and merchandize than on all the rivers and all the seas of Christendom put together. It seems more like a sea than a river." These statements cease to appear as exaggerations when we bear in mind the two facts that at the date of Marco Polo's writing, China was more prosperous than now, and the fleets of "Western nations were insignificant compared to what they are now. In the " Middle Kingdom," Dr. Williams says : — " The assertion that there is a greater amount of tonnage belonging to the Chinese than to all other nations combined does not appear overcharged to those who have seen the swarms of boats on their rivers ; though it might not be found strictly true." Where Marco Polo estimated the vessels at ports on the Great Kiang in thousands and tens of thousands, they can be seen at the pre- sent day in hundreds and thousands. He says he saw 15,000 vessels at one city (at the junction of A TRIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. 91 the northern section of the Grand Canal with the Yangtsze, according to Col. Yule's notes) ; and he was told by " the officer employed to col- lect the Great Kaan's duties on this river that there passed up stream 200,000 vessels in the year, without counting those that passed down ! " The 15,000 sail at the mouth of the Grand Canal would not be beyond the range of probability in the heighday of China's glory ; and the 200,000 vessels a year does not appear an exaggeration even now to any one who has sailed on this great river and passed through the fleets of junks and smaller boats which crowd its waters. For many years, since the Treaty Ports were opened on the Yangtsze, steamers have plied regularly upon it and at present there are four companies running twelve or fourteen steamers in almost daily succession from Shanghai to Hankow. In May, at the opening of the tea season, about twenty large ocean steamers go up to Hankow to load. The traffic on the Lower Yangtsze is therefore very large, although the trade of some of the treaty ports has not developed so well as was anticipated. During last year the total number of steamers entered and cleared at Hankow was 692, and their tonnage 671,120 ; and of steamers and sailing vessels 1,323, tonnage 733,335. In the autumn of 1879, Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co., resumed their trade on the Yangtsze, after having withdrawn for twelve years by agreement with another shipping company, who on their part withdrew from the southern coast line. The s.s. ■Kuny-ico was the pioneer boat of the new line, and there is this much remarkable about the vessel herself, — she was the first steamer ever built entirely in Shanghai; the rolling of the plates was the only thing done at home. She was built by Messrs. Boyd & Co., Shanghai, who have also built the second boat of the line, the Fuh-wo, and have a third and larger one in hand. We described the launch of the pioneer boat, the Kung-wo ; we described her trial trip ; and on her sixteenth trip to Hankow, we had the pleasure of being a passenger, and of seeing much and learning a good deal of the Lower Yangtsze and the many interesting places on its banks. The Kung-wo is commanded by Captain Popp, who has had long experience on the river and a more genial and courteous commander could not be found. We left Shanghai about five o'clock on the morning of the 23rd March last, when we were awakened by the shouting on board the steamer and on the wharf, and the cry of the mate " Let go," as we left our moorings. There was no inducement for rising so early, and we resolved to sleep on till we were past Woosung ; and the movement of the steamer was so steady that we might have thought we were sleeping ashore. The next waking we had was by the song of junk oarsmen while the Kung-wo passed througha fleet of junks at Woosung; the swinging song of the junkmen was loud and long, and the screeching of some voices bad enough, still it was not very unpleasant after all, and junk after junk passed, as we could tell by the song of one crew dying away, and another grow- ing louder till they seemed to be shouting at the cabin window ; then the noise died away, and anon we heard it louder than ever, as the junks passed in succession, and all their crews sang or yelled the same swinging oarsong. So close were they tb at some of them must have been nearly run down ; quite a large fleet of junks had been right in the fairway of the channel. The song of the junk oarsmen passed like a dream, and by and bye our slumbers were again broken by hideous, un- earthly groans ; we could stand it no longer, for the cries of the leadsman, "N-o-o-o g-r-o-u-n-d ! " "And, a qua-tah , sev-in ! " and such like were more than anyone could sleep under, at least for the first time he tried it ; so that, when two and a half hours on our journey we got up, were soon on the hurricane 92 A TEIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. deck, and gazed in wonder and admiration at the mighty Yangtsze before us, and against whose strong current the Kiiny-wo was ploughing her way at good speed. When we first came on deck, we were near Lao Point, and remembered that we had been this length before when on the trial trip. " Where's that point ? " " On the port bow ; don't you see that dead tree in the centre of the clump ? " " Why, there's any amount of trees there, but we don't see the dead one ; and we don't see why you call that a point ; '' and we consoled ourselves by see- ing, in an old pocket sailing directory, that the point is very difficult to distinguish when going up river. The appearance of the river banks — a thin green streak bordering the broad ex- panse of dirty brown water — seemed to meet the Irishman's description of scenery : " Gin- tlemen, on the right you'll observe— nothing ; and on the left a great deal less ! " On the port side, the right bank of the river, there is the mainland ; on the starboard side, there is Bush Island ; and after we go further up the river widens, for we have passed Bush Island, and on the north side the thin green border is more distant than before. Surely that is the mainland on the north, and now we see the broadest part of the river ? No, that's only Tsung Ming Island, and there's a big river on the other side of it,— the North Entrance of the Yangtsze. The general aspect of the river, looking ahead, is an immense expanse of water, stretching away to the horizon before us, and it looks as though we were steaming up hill. The river is thickly studded with junks and smaller craft, and away in the distance, they appear only as small black specs. There is a long dark cloud of smoke wafted across the river from the steamer Wuhu, the biggest steamer on the river ; she could be identified by her huge black funnel, though nothing else were seen, and sometimes she appears pretty much all funnel and smoke, her hull being of the same colour as the muddy water; when she takes the Langshan Crossing, we see her broad- side, and again when in direct line with her we see nothing but her funnel and trail of smoke. We overtake one small steamer bound up deep- ly laden ; and another steamer passes down towards Shanghai ; there were thus four steamers in sight of each other here, and hun- dreds of junks and smaller native craft. These latter are chiefly fishing boats ; the fisher- men go out with nets and lay them all over the river as thick as they can crowd them, and the water appears thickly dotted with small black specs, which are the bamboo stakes attached to the fishing nets, and by which they are buoyed ; and hundreds of fishing boats are cruising about, laying out nets or hauling them in. The steamer goes right through a crowd of nets, and as a rule the nets go under the steamer without being damaged; but occasionally, and we saw an instance of it, the bamboo stakes get caught on the bow, the nets become entangled there, and the steamer has to be slowed down to cast them off, for a big bamboo stake across the bow would impede the progress of a steamer against a strong current. After we pass the end of Tsung Ming Island, we can barely see the mainland on the north side of the river, while away astern we look on the North Branch (42 miles in length), which leads out to sea, and down the other branch of the river, by which we have come up. An idea of the mighty expanse of water then in view fore and aft, cannot be conveyed in language, it has to be seen to be realised ; three quarters of the horizon are bounded with water, and the words of Marco Polo are certainly appropriate when he says "it is more like a sea than a river." Although the river is of enormous breadth, the navigation is very difficult in this neighbourhood, for the channel is only about a quarter of a mile in breadth. Confucius channel is comparatively close to the south or right bank of the river ; and there A TBIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. 93 are numerous land marks on the south bank, between Lao Point and Plover Point, which if they are not of any special interest, their names at least indicate how little serves for a distinguishing mark for the trained eye of the pilot. There's Forked Tree,— which stands out a little from those around it, and is dis- tinguished by two forked branches ; One Arm Tree — which has one branch standing out like the arm on a guide-post ; Great Bush— a tree with a bushy head, like a shock headed Japanese student in the distance ; and Seven Poles — which are erected at a Chinese temple. The navigation of the river between Plover Point on the south and North Tree on the north side of the river, is more difficult than at any other part of the Lower Yangtsze. The channel from the Acteon Buoy to the Centaur Buoy is only about two ship's lengths in width, and has steep banks on either side ; after we come to the Centaur Bank, the channel, still very narrow, takes an angular course across the river to Langshan, and this is called the Langshan Crossing. When passing the Ac- teon Buoy we see in the distance the Langshan Pagoda Hill, on the north side of the river, and away inland from the south shore tliere are three small hills, which we take to be the Muirhead Hills. As we approach Langshan, " we observe that besides the hill with the Pagoda on it, there is another close beside it ; both are marked on the chart, the Pagoda Hill as being of 376 feet, and the other a few feet higher. For lack of any more striking objects in the range of vision, we watch these hills and try to make out of what configuration they really are. At first they seem to be two hills joined in one, with only a small ravine half way down between them ; one hill seems perfectly hemispherical, and the other conical ; then they open out till we can see through between them, and the river appears to wash round and round their base ; but when we come up abreast of them we find there are really three hills, a long distance between the 876 feet one and the other that beats it in elevation by four feet only ; and they were not islands at all, but all three on the mainland, though quite close to the bank of the river. On Langshan Hill, the pagoda rises out of a clump of trees on the summit, and on one steep side of the hill a belt of trees extends down to the base ; that side of the hill is dotted with white buildings, — temples most probably, — and the face of the hill next the river has no trees, but some white buildings ; while the third side which comes into view is a rocky precipiece. The largest of the hills is quite barren, and is capped with a low square of white buildings. The pagoda is very ruinous in appearance. After taking the Langshan Crossing, the channel is comparatively close to the north bank of the river; here there is a land-mark called the North Tree, and a beacon also. Steamers always leave Shanghai for Hankow early in the morning, so that the dangerous channels we have now safely navigated may be passed in daytime ; and on the return voyage to Shang- hai, steamers anchor at the North Tree over night, or time their speed so as just to reach it at daylight, as they cannot take the Langshan Crossing and the other dangerous channels below ' it in the dark. In passing the North Tree this time, we were comfortably anchored at the saloon table for tiffin. While steaming onwards and keeping close to the north bank of the river, we had the first distinct view of the agricultural pursuits of the Chinese, as hitherto the shore was too far off to see anything except the trees, and here and there the roof of a small thatched hut. Along the bank there are cultivated fields, extend- ing inland for a quarter of a mile at some places, at others a less distance, and the back ground is closed in with thickets of bamboo and clumps of trees which preclude us seeing further into the country. The small houses of the farmers are scattered here and there, some 94 A TRIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. gathered in groups and forming small villages ; the houses are chiefly built of bamboo wicker work and mud, although some have brick walls and tile roofs, but nearly all of them have their roofs thatched with reeds and straw. At some places, celestials in blue cottons stand on the bank of the river, and relieve the monotony of their toil in the fields by gazing awhile at the passing steamer ; and over the green fields you see blue specs here and there, which are the patient labourers stooping down to their work with the hoe, or some other celestial implement of a similar kind. For several miles we keep close to this shore, and the scene is the same all along. The bank of the river is about fifteen feet above the level of the water, and quite perpendicular, — a clay bank which is continually being washed away by the strong current. Now and then we pass the mouth of a creek, choke full of small boats, and a long way up the creek there are hundreds of boats, as we judge by the bare masts which is all that is to be seen of them ; they are stranded in the creek, and are waiting for a rise of water to take them into the in- terior. Grave-mounds are also very numerous along the bank, some of them within a few feet of the river, on a falling bank, and when the water rises in summer floods the celestial re- mains will have a watery grave. At four o'clock in the afternoon we passed the town of Kiang-ying, on the south shore, where there is a pagoda some distance inshore ; and mud forts- are erected on the top of the low hills which rise on each side of the swamp and creek leading up to the town. It was quite cold in the evening, there was nothing of interest to be seen, and we stayed inside the saloon. Now we may say a few words about the leads-" man, the man at the wheel, the crew, and the Chinese passengers. There are six Manilamen on board, of the rank of quartermasters, whose duties are to take turns at casting the lead, and at the wheel. There are chain platforms on the port and starboard bows, in ■which the leads-man stands when casting the lead on either side as may be ordered by the' pilot. The Manila quartermaster gets inside the chains, and has a Chinese sailor to pull in the lead for him. The quartermasters varied not so much in personal appearance as in voice ; it was not at all unpleasant but rather somewhat roman- tic to hear one man calling out the depth of water found, while another at the same work gave such unearthly yells that he would wake anyone from sleep and make the hair of your head stand on end. None of them, however, came up to Mark Twain's description of the man on the Mississippi boat, who sings out " No sound, no ground, no bottom to be found, with a long, long, pitch, pine, pole." The Manilaman cries " N-o-o-o g-r-o-u-n-d," and the way he drawls out the " o " in the first word, and grinds the " g-r" in the second, is perfectly hideous and unearthly. Or when he finds a bottom at seven and a quarter fathoms, he shouts " And a qua-tah, sev-in ! " singing the first word with a peculiar drone, then hurrying on to the " sev," and drawling out the last syllable as long as the lead line. " And a half, sis," (six), "Deep sis," "By the mark five," "Deep four," and halfs and quarters for each of them, are all given with distinguishing pecu- liarities, but which are too difficult to express in print. We never got into water shallow enough to hear him call "By the Mark Twain." In the wheel-house on the hurricane deck, the Manilamen are seen at the wheel, two of them together, and when the pilot calls out the course to be steered one of the men at the wheel repeats it, with " sah " (sir) at the end of everything. " Nor. east and by east," says the pilot, and the wheelman responds "Nor. east and by east, sah ! " " Steady! " " Steady, sah ! " The crew, with the exception of the Manila quartermasters, are all Chinese sailors, and they work well, although there is A TRIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. 95 not very much for them to do on a river steamer. The Chinese passengers enjoy a trip on the river immensely ; they have a large saloon filled with sleeping bunks, three deep, — and about 150 passengers in the one saloon ; there are other smaller apartments with only six bunks in each. The steamer takes about 200 native passengers, and while some are booked through from Shanghai to Hankow, the most of them are for way-ports, and dozens come in at one port and go out at the next, so that on the round trip perhaps 1000 passengers may be carried. The Chinese passengers on the river steamers travel as cheaply as any one possibly could do ; it is questionable if there is such cheap travelling in any part of the world. A Chinaman pays $5 for a passage from Shanghai to Hankow, of nearly 600 miles, less than a cent per mile ; it occupies four days, and during all that time he is supplied with as much chow chow as he can take ; if that isn't cheap living and cheap travelling we don't know what to call it. But more than that, there is no restriction on the amount of baggage which a Chinese passenger can take on board, free of charge ; as most of the passengers from port to port are bent on little commercial ventures, everyone generally has about a ton of baggage with him. At midnight we reached Chinkiang, the first treaty port on the Yahgtsze, and anchored alongside the hulk Orissa, an old P. & O. boat ; and where from early morning till 9 a.m. we discharged cargo, and at the latter hour proceeded on our voyage. Our brief stay at Chinkiang on the upward voyage, and a few hours' stay, on the way home, was sufficient when the two were put together, to convey some idea of the beautiful situation of this port. In the morning when we lay alongside the hulk Orissa, near the north bank of river, we could see little or nothing ; after we got under- way, the whole scene opened to our view \ but on the return journey when we came into port on a bright afternoon, we had a first rate opportunity of witnessing the fine scenery, and we will therefore from memory describe it as approached from the west. The most attrac- tive object in the scene is the high conical rock known as Golden Island, but which no longer is an island, being connected with the shore by low ground, occasionally flooded. The rock is surmounted by a small open pa- vilion of circular shape ; and on a cleft in the side of the rock, near the summit, stands a seven-storied pagoda, now in ruins, stripped of all its ornamental work, and its crumbling stones moss-grown. Several temple build- ings, some painted white and others red, lie round the base of the rock, and to the west or shore side. The tall, fantasti- cally shaped rock, with trees growing here and there in its clefts, and the old ruinous pa- goda, stand in bold relief against the barren range of hills which roll on from the west, and between which and the river there is a broad alluvial plain ; the channel of the river is said to have once been over on the other side of this plain and close to the base of the hills. A large barren and rocky hill forms the end of the range, and a steep and rugged es- carpment descends to the bank of the river, while from the water's edge up the steep rock, and away over and along its ridge there is an old brick wall, — a part of the wall of the an- cient city of Chinkiang. Substantial and well built white mansions are seen on the rising slopes of the hill facing the harbour ; the. most prominent of the buildings being the British Consulate; while the foreign settlement, a good- ly range of white bungalows, stretches along the shore, sweeping round to the base of another hill which closes in the further side of the harbour. This hill is surmounted by walls and forts, and another hill seen at greater distance has also a cap of white-washed walls. Looking in over the foreign settlement, we see the old city of Chinkiang or all that remains 96 A TEIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. of it, nestling at the base of bills which rise up on every side, and zig-zag walls are seen rising over rugged spurs, steep ascents, and along the ridges. A hill at the back of the the city is surmounted by a fort, and red triangular flags are waving over the walls ; if we judg- ed from the bright array of flags, the celes- tial war paint, we should say there were enough there to be a terror to western nations ; but although Ohinkiang is admirably situated for erection of fortresses, there did not ap- pear to be any in existence that would be cap- able of making resistance to an invading force. The harbour, opposite the bund, is occupied by several hulks, alongside of which the river steamers discharge their cargo, and there are numerous native craft about, particularly at the mouth of the Grand Canal, which is full of junks. On the opposite shore, there is a long range of dilapidated white cottages of foreign design ; these we are told were built by foreigners when they first settled at Ohinkiang, but the foreign settlement is now on the city side or right bank of the river; a large number of native houses, small hovels with thatched roofs, extend along the left bank beside the old foreign residences, and the whole place there has a ruinous and dilapidated appearance ; but still there are signs of traffic on this side too, for a very large number of papicos are moored here ; the papico being a boat considerably smaller than the large trading junk, but still large enough for river and coasting trade. Away far down the river we get a glimpse of the large hemispherical island, known as Silver Island, which stands out of the water like a huge bee hive. It is covered with rich foliage, and white temple buildings are seen amongst the trees, and glistening in the rays of the setting sun. Of such islands as Silver Island, Golden Island, the Little Orphan, and other places on the river, Marco Polo remarks :— " There are at many places on this river hills and rocky eminences on which idol monasteries and other edifices are built." Then in his quaint style he adds regarding any place he is describ- ing : " The people are idolaters, and subject to the Great Khan, and use paper money." Ohinkiang is about 150 miles from the mouth of the Yangtsze, on the right bank, and the southern section of the Grand Canal enters the river to the east of the foreign settlement. This port was captured by the British in 1842; and the Taiping rebels occupied the city from 1853 till 1857 and it was utterly destroyed by them ; even now the desolation is apparent, for although the foreign settlements and foreign trade on the Yangtsze have brought new life to the place, the native city will never be what it was before the rebels destroyed it. The best description ever written of Ohinkiang, and a very interesting one indeed, is that by Mr. Laurence Oliphant, the historian of Lord Elgin's Mission to China and Japan in the year 1857-9. Lord Elgin's mission ascended the Yangtsze to Hankow, and several days were spent at Ohinkiang (in September 1858), just after the rebels had deserted the place. Mr. Olirhant explored the ruined city, and also visited the monastic island rocks, of which he gives interesting particulars, and from which we will quote a few sentences. The first view of Silver Island is thus described: — " Presently we sweep round a bold projecting bluff, and Silver Island opens to view, with its quaint tem- ples embowered in autumnal foliage ; then- white walls are gleaming, and their frowzy priests are basking in the midday sun. Beyond, a noble reach of river curves beneath the swelling hills which rise from its margin, then- summits crowned with the irregular wall of Ohinkiang, and their slopes strewn with the debris of that once populous city ; while in the dis- tance, as though rising from mid-stream, stands a precipitous rock called Golden Island, with its tall pagoda pointing to the skies. The A TRIP ON THE YANG-TSJZB-KIANG. 97 scene is of such surpassing interest and beauty that it rivets our gaze." Of his visit to Silver Island he says :— " The island itself was little more than a tumulus rising out of the centre of the Yangtsze to a height of scarce two hun- dred feet, covered with the richest foliage, at this season of the year a blaze of fiery tints. Its highest point was still crowned with a small edifice, pagoda-shaped, but which con- tained nothing more interesting than the somewhat unimaginative inscriptions of the British sailor :— most of these 'bore the date of August 1842." Golden Island is thus de- scribed : — "As we approached it we discover- ed, to our astonishment, that it was no longer an island. Flourishing cabbage-fields now oc- cupied the space marked on the chart as a channel with four fathoms of water in it. We landed on this recently-formed peninsula, and walked across it to the rock. Climbing up the steps hewn out of the living stone, we reached the base of the pagoda, shorn now of those external decorations which once rendered it celebrated, but still standing, a. battered monument of its own departed glory, and of the beauty by which it was surrounded. Hea.ps of unsightly ruins marked the spot where once was grouped a picturesque collection of tem- ples and pagodas. Sir John Davis thus des- cribes the impression produced" upon him by a distant view of it, obtained years before : 'The celebrated Kinshan, or Golden Island, which, with its pagoda, and the ornamental roofs of its temples and other buildings, looked like a fairy creation rising out of the waters of the Kiang. This picturesque place is celebrated all over China.' " Steaming onwards from Chinkiang, and leaving its picturesque island rocks, and white buildings shiniag on the face of the hills, we find on the right bank of the river a rich al- luvial plain extending away to the base of the receding range of cloud-capped hills. On the north bank, we pass the mouth of the Grand Canal which leads to Peking; there are a large host of junks in it, and a foreign-built steamer, a small paddle-wheel revenue cruiser, owned by the mandarin in charge of the en- trance station of the Canal, and who might correspond to the official who was at this same place interviewed by Marco Polo,— the man who collected the duties of the Great -Khan, and who told the Venetian traveller of the 200,000 vessels that went up river in one year. The mandarin's yam^n at the mouth of the Canal is a prominent buildiug, comparatively speaking, for all the other houses near it are very small. The town situated near the mouth of the canal is named Kwa-chow, and a few miles further up is the city of Yang-chow, and which can be seen from the top of the hills at Chinkiang. After steaming a few miles, we see' ahead of us a very large fleet of small boats, with square white sails shining brilliantly in the bright rays of the noon-day sun ; and still further ahead we see the bank of the river lined with a forest of junk-masts, which are laid up at the salt-junk station of Eching. This place is also a passenger station for the river steamers, where native passengers are taken on board, but no cargo is ever taken for these stations, as they are not treaty ports. While we were approaching Eching, we ob- served a small open boat pushed out from the crowd of junks, and coming down the river towards us ; an old man stood in the stern, and worked a pair of oars with great vigour ; a very strong current was in his favour, and the boat came down at a high speed. Another old man in the boat held a long- bamboo pole in his hand, and the Ewo flag (Jardine, Matheson & Co.'s), the St. Andrew's "cross on blue ground, was flying from it. The old man waved his flag in a frantic manner,' as if he desired to stop the steamer to warn her of danger from torpedoes or a pop-gun on a salt junk. The officer on deck wondered what the devil was wrong with 98 A TRIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. the old standard bearer, for lie was a long way down from the place where passengers are usually taken on board. The steamer was slowed down, to see what the old man wanted ; the small boat passed by on the starboard side, severely tossed on the waves caused by the wash of the steamer, and the oarsman and the standard bearer both fell on their backs in the bottom of the boat, the one nearly losing his flag and the other his oars. The old man with the flag, as soon as he recovered himself, — and when his boat was washed close up to the bank of the river, and the steamer was at a stand-still, — commencd shouting in Chinese to the compradore of the steamer, and the officer on deck shouted to the compradore to ask the old fellow what he wanted. "What do you think he meant by making all this fuss, endangering his life, and stopping the steamer ? He said he only came down to tell us that there were some passengers up at the station waiting for the steamer ! As we steamed ahead, the officer held up a broom handle and shook it at the old fellow in the boat, the gesticulations meaning that he ought to be bambooed; while the old fellow looked disappointed and' must have thought that his well-intentioned efforts were not appreciated. In passing the junk station of Eching, we saw that the junks were laid in tiers of six or eight abreast, and they lay along the bank for such a great dis- tance that it was impossible to count them ex- actly, but on a rough guess there were at least 800 of them. A native builder had several junks drawn upon the beach in front of his yard, and a large number of men were engaged repairing them. We stopped opposite the junks for a few minutes and several boats came alongside, from which passengers were taken on board. All the steamship companies trading on the river are represented at Eching (as well as at other similar passenger stations) by small Chinese houses where the passengers are booked ; in front of these shipping offices there are look-out stations, which consist of four long bamboo poles, rising to a considerable height, and a ladder leading up to a platform on the top of the poles, where the look-out man goes up to watch for steamers approaching from Chinkiang or for others coming down the river ; and from the top of each look-out perch, the flag of the steamship company is flying. Be- sides the shipping offices, which are small white- washed cottages, there is a long range of low-built, houses stretching along the bank of the river, but almost hid from view by the forest of junk masts. The boat which we described as coming down the river to meet us, was the first in which we noticed a provincial difference from any boats seen on the lower reaches of the Yangtsze, or on the Whangpoo at Shanghai. The yuloh, for sculling, was the only oar we had seen used any other place (except the long oars and poles used in junks), but here at Eching, oars of another shape are used ; in the larger boats, there are three or four oarsmen, but in a small boat there is only one, some- times a man, but perhaps more frequently a woman ; the oarsman stands in the stern of the boat, looking forward, and works a pair of oars, by pushing them backwards and forwards before him ; the oar is made of a long narrow plain board, lashed to a pole, a handle stuck on the end of the pole, and the oars meet and cross each other before him. Leaving Eching and its salt junks, our course up the river for hours brought us through innumerable fleets of small boats, the only remarkable thing about them being that their sails were very white and appeared to be quite new, whereas the most of the boats further down the river had dirty, black, tattered and torn sails, some of them having only a mass of rags and patches stretched on bamboo ribs, and of little use for holding the wind. On the right bank of the river, there is a great expanse of green sward, where natives have been stacking reeds, and A TRIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. 99 the bine cottons are clotted over the fields like scare-crows. There are also large herds of buffaloes grazing, and the stooping celestials toiling on the field are barely distinguishable from young buffaloes, except that one is blue and the other black. At short intervals along the bank, there are dip-nets for fishing,— the dip-net so well-known to everyone here, but which strikes a stranger as the most peculiar mode of catching fish ever invented ; the large net is suspended from'a horizontal frame of bamboo poles, and by means of a lever it is lowered into the water or hoisted up, and when a fish has come into the net it is scooped out by a small net on the end of a long pole ; but although we saw hundreds of these nets, and natives hoisting them up every now and then, we never saw any one rewarded with success, or having occasion to use the scooping-out net ; they toiled all day and caught nothing. Several boats are seen loading reeds, and others afloat are like huge stacks of reeds on the water. On the right hand a range of hills is seen dimly through the mist ; and by and bye the hills come out more distinctly; there are three ranges rising one behind the other ; and on one hill seen a great distance off, there is a pinnacle like the cairn of stones on Birnam or Dunsinane, but on examination by a field- glass, it is seen to be a large pagoda. The range of hills on the left hand, is still a few miles from the right bank of the river, but instead of the green plain between us and the hills we have undulating ground, covered with trees and brushwood. The opposite mountain ranges seem to close in upon the river a long distance ahead ; a prominent and rugged hill in the range on the left hand is Single Tree Hill, which stands at a bend in the river, and the Yangtsze sweeps round its base. The hill takes its name from the large tree which stands on its summit ; and near which there is also a small square tower. From Single Tree Hill, a mud flat or alluvial plain extends for miles, and it is thickly covered with herds of buf- faloes ; young boys are gamboling on the green plain, or riding on the backs of the buffaloes while the latter move slowly over their pasture ground ; there is a young boy in blue cottons for every buffalo on the ground ; the great big animals move about altogether heedless of the little boys perched on their backs, and can scarcely be conscious of their existence there, except that now and ,then the boys may give them a whack with a stick. A fleet of boats loaded with stacks of reeds pass down the river, with the boatmen lying on the top of the stack, which is built up nearly to the top of the mast ; the reeds are built on planks and project over the sides of the boat ; no oars can be used, and the mast is buried in reeds so that no sail can be set, but no sail is required, for the huge stack presents such a broad surface to the wind that the boat is sent onwards at good speed. The next object of interest is Mud Fort, thirty- eight miles from Chinkiang. The fort stands on low ground on the left bank of the river ; it con- sists of a large square enclosed by a wall of brick and mud, and the only objects seen over the wall are a large four-legged stand for a look out station, and several triangular flags hoisted on poles are flying in the breeze. Opposite this fort, on the right bank of the river, there are several ranges of small hills, coming out at right angles to the course of the river, with steep precipices of limestone rock ; there are also forts on the summits of the hill next the river in each range, and forts in the horse- shoe valleys formed by the base of the hills. None of the forts appear to be of great strength, but their situation is good, and a few guns mounted in them could command the river. On the hills and between the forts there are well made roadways which lead over the hills, presumably for the accommodation of. the gal- lant celestial soldiers when they desire to retreat, as it is the first care of the Chinese 100 A TRIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. military engineer to make a good back road for retreat from every fort before be tbinks of erecting tbe battery. We bave pleasant sail- ing in a fine open reacb above Mud Fort, where we pass through myriads of wild duck floating on tbe bosom of tbe river ; now and then a covey of them rise and fly further up the river, rest again on its waters and come down on the swift current ; and as the steamer ploughs on through the dirty brown water, but which before us is almost covered and black with game, the birds float down till they are a few yards from the bows, and then rising they fly further up the reach, only to settle again on- the water and take another sail. If there had only been some keen sportsmen on board, armed with good duck guns, they could bave shot hundreds of birds, but tbe difficulty would be to rescue them from the water after they were shot. A story was here told of a passen- ger on a former trip who tried to shoot duck at this part of the river ; he fired with a revolver at a crowd of birds on the water some distance ahead ; they all rose, but one black speck re- mained on the surface, and the sportsman shouted with delight that he had killed at least ' one of them ; but when the black speck came nearer and passed close by the s steamer it was seen to be a decayed plant, nothing more nor less than a cabbage. From nearly opposite Mud Fort there is a channel or ' cutoff' which goes right up to Nanking ; it is a fine channel of deep water, but rather narrow for large steamers ; it was used at one time by tbe river steamers, but so many junks were in the way, and a few of them sunk, that the Chinese authorities prohibited the use of this channel by steamers, so that the junks bave it all to themselves now. At four o'clock in the afternoon of the second day of our trip, we came in sight of a bold headland on the left bank of the river, with a tall pagoda on its summit. This is directly opposite the city of Nanking, and the pagoda occupies what would be a very good sight for a lighthouse ; in fact if the monastic tower now in ruins were converted into a lighthouse, it would be of more service- in tbe future than it has ever been in tbe past. When we come up nearly abreast of the pagoda, we observe that, it stands on the very extremity of a long range of hills, not of great height, and of very irre- gular configuration. There are five or six small hills to the south-west of the pagoda hill, all surmounted with forts, — these fortified hills are all flat on the summit, and naturally adapted for works of defence ; all we can see of tbe forts, however, is simply the white walls standing on the summits and facing tbe river ; whether they are strong fortifications, it is impossible to tell by a distant view of them ; but one thing is quite evident that their position is one of great advantage. The slopes of the hills are covered with blue smoke curling slowly and fantastically in the still air ; the smoke rising from fires where the natives are burning charcoal at the base of the hills and along their slopes. On the flat ground between these hills and the river, there are numerous conical erections shining in the sun, and at first sight they looked like a cantonment where celestial soldiers might be camping out ; but .any such idea formed at first sight was rudely shattered when we discovered that they were nothing more nor less than heaps of reeds. So much for the left bank of the river opposite Nanking. As we approach the ancient city, we have on the right bank the continuation of a broad flat plain between the river and the cut off from Mud Fort ; all of which plain is covered with buffaloes grazing or celestials stacking reeds ; and just at the corner before we come to the mouth of the cut off where it joins the river, we noticed a variation in the animals on the pasture, for the pilot pointed out a donkey, calling it a "buffalo with a cross on its back," and near by there was a herd of black pigs, A TEIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. 101 which he called " Irish policemen from Donny- brook fair." We now have the first view of the wall of the ancient and far-famed city of Nanking,— the splendid "southern capital," now desolated and ruined, a city from which the glory is departed never more to return. The wall is of great height, built of dark blue bricks, blackened by the storms of centuries ; it rises over the spur of a hill and stretches far away in a mountainous region, visible here and there on the brow of a hill, and then lost to view in the valleys ; a wall of 23 miles in circumference and enclosing several large bills, with peaks rising to the clouds ; and at the base of which, but now hid from view, stands all that remains of the great city, — what was once perhaps the greatest city in the world. In the foreground between the river and the wall are the remains of what might once have been a flourishing suburb ; now there is only a small bridge of one arch, with a little tower on the centre of it, and the roadway over the ' bridge is covered with turf, and the stones are green with moss ; a few brick cottages stand here, one with walls painted white, a door painted yellow, and two windows painted black, but not a living soul about the place ; and beside the cottages there are some dila- pidated huts of bamboo and reeds. Two Chinese gunboats are anchored in the river, close to the shore ; and they appear to be Foochow specimens of the naval power of China. We pass close to them ; the few guns seen on deck are of small calibre, and on the first boat two or three coolie-like Chinamen are leaning over the bulwarks, while on the other boat three celestial warriors are perform- ing acrobatic feats on the jibboom. A little further up, a mud and brick fort, covering a large square, stands close to the bank of the river, with a wall of about 20 feet in height, full of embrasures ; and flags — the usual triangular blood-red flag — are waving from poles inside the fort. A look-out post, erected on four poles and consisting of two platforms, with ornamental roof, is all that is to be seen over the wall. On the west side of the fort, a small tower is built into the wall, and outside the fort there is a large open court, and surrounded by a small wall, the gateway leading into the court yard being close to the river— the gate itself is of iron and foreign in style, but the usual celestial portals of red poles and an ornamental roof with turned up corners stand over the gate. Further up the river bank, there are four or five small cottages, used as booking offices for the native passengers on the river steamers, and a boat load of pas- sengers are already alongside our steamer, and clambering in at the large port hole on the main deck, frantic with excitement in regard to their luggage, of which there is an enormous quantity. A short stone pier comes out into the river, nearly opposite the fort, and on the extremity of the pier there is an old rusty field gun, lying on the stones, and only worth its weight in old iron. A few minutes' stay is made until the Chinese passengers are all on board, and then we go ahead again. The city wall is seen to extend for miles along the right bank, but gradually receding till it is lost to view amongst the far-off hills. Inside the wall, as far as we could see there was high ground, — a small ridge close to the wall,— while over it the heights within the extensive circumfer- ence were seen, some prominent points being crowned with fortifications and towers. For a brief moment we catch a glimpse of the roofs of houses in a thickly built corner at the base of one of the hills, which showed the position of the city itself. While on the homeward voyage, there was no particular incident at Nanking worth men- tioning, except that about twenty Chinese passengers disembarked, and they half-filled one large boat, the other half of that boat and two other large boats were full of luggage, so that there were two and a half boatloads of 102 A TRIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. boxes and baggage for twenty passengers, or about half a dozen boxes for each passenger, — and all conveyed at less than a cent per head per mile. Some of the baggage fell into the river, and there was great excitement in rescu- ing it. When eight or nine miles above Nanking, we passed the mouth of a creek, full of boats, which leads up to the city ; two or three miles further up the river we passed a small island rock, with a white walled joss-house on it ; and here for the first time we saw an example of raft navigation • on the Yang- tsze ; the opportunity was a very favourable one, for although we saw dozens of rafts further up the river, on this first one certain manoeuvres were being carried out which we did not afterwards see at any other place. These rafts are composed of a large nTimber of trees or poles lashed together ; they are brought down chiefly from the Tong-ting Lake, above Hankow ; some of the rafts go as far as Shanghai, others are broken up at Chinkiang, and the wood sold there, and taken by canal or river to various places, the poles being used for house-building and some of them also for junk-building. The poles are from twenty to thirty feet in length, and there are such a large number of them lashed together that the raft has a draught of six or . eight feet, while its breadth varies from ten to to twenty ; each section is just the length of the poles, but four or five such sections are generally attached together, forming one long raft ; and in some cases, the rafts are of enor- mous size, perhaps a dozen lengths of poles, and of considerable breadth. On the top of the raft, matsheds are erected for the accom- modation of the raftsmen, and the larger rafts have the appearance of floating villages, al- though the top of the raft is only about two feet above water. On this first raft we saw there were more than a dozen small huts, in two rows, and which would accommodate a large number of raftsmen and their families. While we were watching it, an incident oc- curred which showed the peculiar manner of navigating these rafts on the shallow waters. A small boat was sent out from the raft, with a tow line of twisted bamboo fibre, and when the boat was about 200 yards from the raft, down stream and a little to the right side of the river, a drum or tom-tom was beaten loudly on board the raft, at which signal the men in the boat threw overboard a huge piece of wooden frame work, about ten feet in length and four in breadth, and which is called a "drake." They sunk this " drake," and then all hands in the raft were called to work at a windlass, by which they took in the line and pulled the raft up to where the " drake" was sunk, and in this manner they managed to clear the raft of a shoal on which they were in danger of being stranded. The windlass is a clumsy reeling machine, worked round an upright post. The next point of interest on the river is Wade Island, a long mud fiat, named after Sir Thomas Wade, H.B.M.'s Minister Plenipoten- tiary at the Court of Peking, and who accom- panied Lord Elgin, as Chinese Secretary, during the trip up the Yangtsze in 1858, and after which event, we suppose the name was given to the Island, as we find other islands on the river which also boar the names of members of Lord Elgin's suite ; "Oliphant Island" below Kiu- kiang being named after Mr. Laurence Oliphant, the historian of Lord Elgin's mission. Late in the evening, when fifteen miles below Wuhu, we passed " The Pillars," — two large conical rocks which stand out of the water, near either shore. These miniature " Pillars of Hercules" have been called by some one " thegate of the Yangtsze ;" but as Captain Blakiston remarks, "you might as well have a gate halfway up a carriage drive." "The Pillars" are near the city of Tai-ping, where the Rebellion broke out, and the whole district here is famous for the A TRIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. 103 exploits which took place in it during the pro- gress of the Tai-ping Rebellion. We arrived at Wuhu about half-past ten o'clock, on the- second day of the voyage, and an- chored in mid-stream, towards the north bank. Nothing was seen of the town of Wuhu, on the south bank, except a large pagoda whose outline was dimly visible under the moon-light, and of the town itself its location was only dis- tinguishable by several lights along the shore. The pagoda at Wuhu was destroyed by the Tai-ping rebels, but we were told it has since been repaired. On the homeward voyage, we again passed Wuhu in the dark, so that we had no opportunity of seeing what like the place is. Wuhu is 460 miles from Woosung, and from the Customs reports we learn that the tides are perceptible at this port from the middle of December to the end of April (during the low winter level of the river), and the rise of tide varies from six inches to two feet. We only made a short stay at Wuhu to discharge Chinese passengers, who went off in large boats, taking an enormous quantity of baggage with them ; and just about as many passengers and as much baggage came on board, the shouting and yelling of the passengers and boatmen alongside the steamer being some- thing dreadful, the more so as it was dark and they did not see very well what they were doing, so that those already in the boats had to keep a look out in case some fellow still on board the steamer did not throw his boxes on their heads. The oars of the boats differed from any further down the river, in that the oarsmen sat down on a cross seat in foreign style, and pulled two long and heavy oars ; although the boats were large, clumsy, and heavy-laden, the oarsmen pulled with a long and strong pull, and the boats with their noisy freight quickly disappeared, going across the river to the town ; and the Kung-wo was soon underway again. By the morning of the third day, we had passed Point Haines, Pan-tze-chi, Two Fathom Creek, Walled Vil- lage, the passenger station of Ta-tung, and then came Fitzroy Island. Opposite this island, a remarkable sight was witnessed on the left bank of the river. An embankment, of consid- erable height above the surrounding fields, lay from the riverside away inland in an angular direction, and the ridge was thickly covered with coffins, laying close side by side, and in two rows ; some of the coffins had been long exposed to the weather, and the thatch on them was nearly worn away, but others appeared to have been recently covered with straw. The sight of coffins above ground is a common one, in almost every field they are to be seen here and there ; but we never saw a large collection of them exposed on the top of a bank in this way before. Along an extensive low lying meadow on the right bank, there was an in- numerable herd of buffaloes grazing, and we had some fun watching one buffalo who came careering along the bank of the river, at times coming to a dead stop and staring wildly at the steamer ; perhaps the red funnel was the object of his wonder and admiration, though he couldn't see very well how to get at it. The steam whistle was blown, and the buffalo went racing wildly over the plain, causing consider- able commotion among the herd; then he would stop and look round, till on hearing another blast of the whistle, he threw his tail in the air and rushed off for the hills at the other side of the plain. In the channel here between Fitzroy Island and the left bank, several boats were being "tracked" upstream; a long bamboo fibre rope is thrown out to coolies and boys on the bank, and they pull the boat up against wind and current. Further up the river, there's a pretty view on the left bank; a broad creek comes out at right angles, and looking up it you see a host of junks and small boats ; while at the base of a hill not very far distant, and up to which the water way leads quite straight, there is a large village; and 104 A TEIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. away in the distance at the base of another hill there is a range of white houses which form a bright spec in the picturesque landscape. After passing Tai-tze-che Eock, with its joss house and beacon poles standing out of the centre of the river, we approach Hen Point, a difficult and dangerous part of the river, where a nasty turn is made, the north bank sweeping round in quadrant form, and the south bank coming out to a sharp point, while from the south bank three quarters of the bed of the river is full of sunken rocks, and on one of which the steamer Kiang-loong was lost on the 2nd March, 1873. While yet a great distance off (as far probably as the Prodigal Son was when his father first saw him), the pilot notices that a raft is stuck on the top of the Kiang- loong wreck, for the wreck was never cleared away, and part of the steamer is still hanging about the rock. The raft was a pretty good mark to warn the navigator of the dangerous rocks, and a raft or something else better suited should be kept over the rock always ; there is only a beacon on the north bank. On the stranded raft, there were about half a dozen houses ; no one was seen on board, but the raftsmen were evidently still there, for some of them had just been hanging out blue cottons to dry ; so that in their weary waiting for a rise of water they had so far forgot themselves, or become so unlike their brethren, that they had actually been washing their clothes. The story of the Kiang-loonq wreck is that she was drawing ten feet, and went full speed on a sunken rock nine feet under water. From this rock to the south bank, or three quarters the breadth of the river, there is a series of low rocks. When the wreckers were salving the Kiang-loong, having recovered most of her cargo, they were told by a Chinaman that, up to twenty-three years before 1873, there used to be a sampan buoyed over these rocks, and an old man on board exhibited a feeble light at night, a paper lan- tern of course. These precautions were for the benefit of the junkmen, and the man who kept the boat was recompensed by receiving from every salt junk which passed one hand- ful of salt. But by and bye, the junkmen failed to appreciate the services of the old light-keeper, and they first neglected and then refused to pay the small handful of salt to him, so that the old man gave up his philanthropic post, unmoored his sampan, and sailed away, leaving the rocks without any signal of danger to the navigator. The sunken rocks were not discovered, although foreign steamers had traded on the river for years, till the Kiang-loong made the discovery and was lost in doing so, becoming a total wreck. Such was the story told us by an offi- cer of the Kung-wo, who was one of the salvage party at the wreck of the Kiang-loong ; but if the rock on which the latter vessel was lost was unknown until she struck upon it, there must have been a general knowledge of the rocky bar which crosses more than half of the river here, for we find it referred to in Mr. Oliphant's history of Lord Elgin's Mission, is 1858, or 15 years before the wreck. In regard to Hen Point, and the "48-chang or 180 yards' passage," Mr. Oliphant says : — " The river is here barred more than half across its width by rocks which rise out of it like step- ping-stones.'' On the occasion of our trip, in March, the rocks were all submerged ; and it is difficult to see how in September, 1858, (as in that month the river should be at a high level) Mr. Oliphant could have seen the " rocks like stepping stones," unless they have now sunk much lower than they were in that year. He continues : — " It is called the Lan-kan-ke, or " Bar-river-hen,'' and derives its name from the following legend, as graphically narrated to us by our communi- cative pilot : — ' In former days the scenery at this place was very beautiful and romantic, gigantic rocks being strewn over the surface of A TRIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. 105 the country. One day a bonze saw in a dream a quarrel arise between the beneficent spirits of the air and those whe resided in the rocks. The presiding spirit of these was a rock in the form of a hen ; and the result of the quarrel was, that, to give vent to their spleen, the rock- spirits determined to block up the passage of the river. In pursuance of this ill-natured design, off started the hen-rock, followed by all the rocks in her train, when the priest awoke, and, peceiving what was occuring, with in- finite presence of mind commenced crowing like a cock. This so fascinated the leading hen-rock that her progress was arrested in mid- channel, on which the goddess Kwan-yin was invoked; then the people subscribed together, and while the hen-rock was thus enthralled by the well- sustained crowing of the priest, they succeeded in cutting her head off: this effectually checked the progress of herself and attendant rocks, and there they remain to this day !" In the reach above Hen Point, the river is a little less than half a mile wide, and here the banks are much steeper and higher than at any place further down, where the river is broader. There are extensive brickfields and limekilns on the right bank, before we come to Jocelyn Island. We were now approaching the city of Ngan- king, capital of the Province of Ngan-Whei. A Chinese sailor came and reported to the officer then on the bridge that " Passaga hab got too muchee bokasa ; wanchee two piecee flag !" which being interpreted meant that the passengers for the provincial capital had so many boxes with them, that two boats would be required, and two of the Ewo flags had to be hoisted as a signal to those at the pas- senger station to send out two boats. The city stands on the left bank of the river, and just before coming up to it, we passed a large number of floating villages on rafts, with their bamboo fibre ropes drawn up on the shore and fixed to stakes. There is a fine broad sandy bank, like a sea beach, and on it a large num- ber of children were playing. A splendid view is obtained from the river of the Pagoda of Ngan-king, the finest one of the many to be seen on the Lower Yangtsze, if not now the finest one in China, it being in a good state of repair. The pagoda is octagonal, and eight stories high, the walls painted white, and the balconies and the turned-up roofs on each storey are all of a yellowish brown. The pagoda towers above the centre of a large block of buildings,, which rise in terraces from the river bank, some with whitewashed walls, and others painted red, and all having orna- mental tile roofs ; these buildings are temples and other houses connected with the "idol monastery.'' The pinnacle of the conical roof of the pagoda is surmounted by six huge balls, decreasing in size in their order upwards, and between each ball there is a .circular fram e work of iron. The lowest ball is seen to be of very large diameter, and the others above ■ it decrease in size till the smallest one on the top looks like the size of a cannon ball. Ropes or guys stretch from the pinnacle rod above the highest ball, coming down in graceful fines to the corners of the roof ; these ropes are strung with small bells, and larger bells are suspended from every projecting corner on the many ornamented roofs of this beautiful building ; and as we glided past the pagoda and came to anchor quite near it, a gentle breeze kept the hundred bells swinging to and fro, and their mercy jingling broke very pleasantly on the ear. The city of Ngan-king was for three years in possession of the Taiping Rebels, and some severe fighting took place round its walls. It was captured by Li Hung-chang (now Viceroy of Chili), who made his fame dur- ing that rebellion ; Ngan-king is his native city, and his mother still resides there. The Imperial troops having been baffled many a time in attempting to capture the city by mak- ing breaches in the walls, the Pagoda which is 106 A TEIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. outside the city walls was made use of by Li- Hung-chang ; he shelled the city from the top of the Pagoda, and on account of the facility which the sacred edifice thus afforded the Imperial troops, the Pagoda was thoroughly re- paired and is kept in good repair still, and may be considered a monument to Li Hung- chang more than anything else. The city wall comes round to the river, passing behind the Pagoda, and stretching away up the river bank a great distance, but there is a considerable space between it and the river, — a space broad enough to have a small suburb of a double row of houses outside the wall. On the long sandy beach there are a large number of big boats, loaded with reeds, and many stacks of reeds are on the beach ; hundred of celestials, men, women, and children, are running about, and most of them engaged in unloading the boats or building the stacks of reeds. The walls of the cottages on the top of the bank, and some protection walls, show the marks of former floods, the highest water mark being about 30 feet from the present level of the river. A small range of cottages of a modern foreign style are con- spicuous by the whiteness of their walls and their generally neat and tidy appearance, — one of them especially approaching to something stylish in verandahs and green-painted blinds ; — these are the shipping offices for booking native passengers, for Ngan-king is only a pas- senger station, and not a port open to foreign trade. The opening of these passenger stations is owing to a stipulation in the Chefoo Con- vention, although it is still unratified. The "two piecee flag " brought out two big boats for our native passengers and their tons of "bokasa"; and here again there was a pro- vincial peculiarity in the boats and the manner in which they were propelled ; the oarsmen stands up on one side the boat, and works a long oar, fixed by a piece of leather to a pin on the other side of the boat and which serves for a row-lock. In going ahead under full steam,- we see that for about one mile up the river bank from the Pagoda, the scene is the same all along, — hundreds of boats drawn up on the beach, huge stacks of reeds, and bundles of the same stuff scattered all over the ground, a range of small white cottages on the top of the bank, and the high and grim-looking city wall behind them ; while inside the wall there is nothing to be seen except here and there the orna- mented roof of a temple, and aloft there are several kites flying in the air, with which the children or perhaps the old men of the city are amusing themselves. Then the city wall, at a corner about a mile as we roughly judged from the Pagoda, goes inland from the river, mounts over rising ground, and winds round some of the small hills within its circuit till it is lost to view. Away in the background there is a high mountain range with craggy peaks, only dimly seen through the hazy atmos- phere. Ngan-king is a great military post, and while taking a last look at the city as we were fast leaving it behind, we were struck by the appearance of a large square block of buildings outside the city walls on the west side ; the buildings were decidedly of foreign style, and they stood on a slight eminence surrounded by a strong brick wall; a small chimney sent forth a column of black smoke, and the buildings appeared to be a small arsenal. Another prominent building near this corner of the city is a richly ornamented Chinese house standing on high ground, and surrounded by a high circular wall of brick ; it is possibly the residence of a mandarin, and in its fine airy ! situation commanding a view of the reaches of i the river both above and below Ngan-king, and j also of the vast tract of country stretching away to the hills, it is a more desirable residence than any one likely to be found inside the city walls. We. experienced a slight sand storm this A TRIP ON THE YAKG-TSZE-KIANG. 107 afternoon, just a little after leaving Ngan-king, but it was not of much account. About five o'clock in the afternoon, we passed the town of Tung-hu, on the right bank ; a dilapidated and ruinous eight-storied pagoda, and some temple buildings are all that are seen inside the city wails, the town itself being hid from view. Then there are great tracts of flat ground on each side of the river, with herds of buffaloes grazing, and little boys in blue cottons perched on their backs. While there is a great extent of meadow there is also plenty of cultivated patches, most of them with young green crops, — wheat probably, — and here and there a yellow patch, of rape-seed plants, relieved the monotony of the green fields. The sun went down "in a blaze of luxuriant dyes," and the full moon shed her soft lustre on the mighty river, a streak of silvery light stretching from the right bank to the port bow of the steamer, while the dark shadow of the hull, masts and funnel lay across to the further side of the river. When passing the range of hills on the south of the river near the Poyang Lake, a beautiful scene was witnessed. The full moon rested her " broad circumference " over the summit of the hills, and lurid flames, like a wall of fire, were seen leaping up the slopes of the hills, in zig zig directions, and spreading further and further till the whole hill side seemed to be ablaze ; the brilliant illumination of the mountain range being produced by the fires lighted by celestial charcoal burners. The entrance to Poyang Lake, and the little Orphan Eock several miles further up the river, were seen with all the weirdness of moon-light, but a much better view was obtained on the return journey. Poyang Lake is a very large expanse of water lying to the south of the Yangtsze, in the province of Kiang-si, and re- ceives all the drainage of the rivers of that pro- vince, which it discharges into the Yangtsze. It communicates with the river by a long and comparatively narrow neck of water, three miles long and one mile broad, and debouches its clear waters into the muddy flood of the Yang- tsze at the city of Hu-kow. On the right bank of the river below the confluence of the Lake waters, there is a long range of sand hills, which rise higher and higher till those rolling inwards towards the Lake form a very bold range, but unlike the others they are partially covered with green vegetation, and with rocky ravines. Away far into the Lake, and barely visible except on a very clear day, a huge rock stands out of the water, — another of those " rocky eminences with idol monasteries," as Marco Polo culls them. This one is known as the " Big Orphan ;" and its brother the " Little Orphan " is a rock of the same kind some dis- tance away, — the latter on the river and the former on the Lake. The city of Hu-kow has a very romantic situation ; the most striking feature is the high rock rising from the waters of the channel between the river and lake, and the summit of the rock is fortified, and contains the residences of some big mandarins. Down behind the rock lies the city, and the range of hills already spoken of stands in the rear. On the opposite side of the channel from ; the city of Hu-kow, the Lew-shan, or " Mule Mountain " rises to a height of about 5,000 feet. The Little Orphan Eock stands in the mid- dle of the Yangtsze, the fantastic rock tower- ing to the height of 300 feet above the river level. As seen coming down river, there are three or four small blocks of buildings, rising t higher and higher behind each other, and each ; range standing on a narrow cleft of the rock. The other sides are bare, perpendicular, and rent surfaces of grey rock. Early on the morning of the fourth day of our trip, we arrived at the treaty port of Kiu- j kiang, of which the old native city and the foreign settlement stand on the right bank of the Yangtsze, 445 miles from Shanghai. When approaching the port, there are various objects of interest on the bank of the river, — 108 A TBIP OX THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. the foreign cemetery, a small bill with pagoda, two or three small round forts outside the city walls, the wall itself riding over a rocky spin- close to the river bank, and extending onwards towards the foreign settlement, where it sweeps round-and inwards away from the river. The most prominent object inside the city is a very tall pagoda, now in ruins. The foreign settle- ment as seen from .the river forms a fine range of bungalows and two-storeyed houses of neat design, embowered amongst a profusion of beautiful green trees, and lines of trees also extend the whole length of the bund. On ac- count of the extraordinary rise and fall of the river during a year, it is necessaey to have a bund wall of great height and of very substan- tial construction. From Customs reports we learn that on the 11th January 1878, the level of the river was 37 feet below the level of the bund, and during several days in August of that year the water was one foot above the level of the bund ! Several hulks lie moored in the river opposite the bund, for steamers discharging and loading. There is. a good amount of foreign and native trade at this port, and it is chiefly noted as the depot for the famous King-te-chin porcelain; At the western extremity of the settlement there is a creek full of native boats, and on the other side of it, ou the corner of an alluvial plain stands a small Chinese settlement chiefly devoted to the boat-building trade ; a lot of native boats are lying about on the bank, bottom up, some of them put in that position for re- pairs, others fixed permanently, at least as long as the planks hold together, to serve for a house : the ricketty shanties on the bank at this corner are ruinous and miserable. After leaving Kiukiang, there is a fine view ob- tained of the bold range of mountains, between which and the river there is a vast alluvial plain, covered with buffaloes, ponies, and China- men. The highest peaks of the mountains are about 4,000 feet above sea level, and amongst the slopes of this range the foreign residents of Kiukiang have good sport hunting wild boar. The next point of special interest on the river is the passenger station of Wu-sueh, 25 miles from Kiukiang, which is an important place in the native salt trade, and the large salt godowns form a striking contrast to the small hovels of which the rest of the town is composed. Wu-sueh is on the left bank, and the river there is only about a quarter of a mile broad, but of extraordinary depth, soundings of thirty fathoms having been obtained towards the right bank at the base of the hills. From this point we enter upon the grandest scenery of the Lower Yangtsze. Opposite Y, T u-sueh, the first of the hills on the right bank are small and hemispherical, a large group of them lying close together, with deep ravines be- tween ; behind these small hills a higher range is seen, and behind it again still higher peaks rise boldly against the blue and cloudless sky. A large hill, with steep slope full of gullies descending down to the water's edge at the narrowest part of the river, with a small village at the bottom of one of its ravines, has a very imposing appearance ; further up the river a shoulder of. this hill slopes gradually down till the base forms one side of a small round valley, with two or three hills rising on the other sides, and behind them still higher peaks_ Another hill of most remarkable configuration on the right bank of the river, is in the form of a long ridge running in the same direction as the river, and the slope coming down to the river is composed of about twenty deep furrows and ridges. The groups and ranges of hills extend for nine miles on the right bank till Split Hill is reached ; and the most re- markable feature of these hills is that, — on those next the river at least, — every available inch of ground is under cul- tivation, the industrious and economical celes- tial farmers having cut out terraces on the hills from base to summit, wherever it was possible A TRIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. 109 to do so, and all the hill sides are covered with little terraced patches of cultivation. While on the one hand there is this extensive and varied mountain range, on the north side or left bank of the river the scenery is also very imposing. For the first mile or two above "Wu-sueh, there is low lying flat ground, and a bold range of hills is seen some distance in- land, and rolling onwards till it closes in upon the river further ahead. By-and-bye we come to a point where the hills are quite close to the river on both sides, and the appearance of those on the left bank is most remarkable. In the foreground there are several red sand hills, with slopes like the face of a pyramid, and behind them there is the bold and rugged range of rocky hills, full of precipieces, and the slopes covered with huge boulders of a blueish tint. Among some of these hills of Hupeh, mining engineers have been prospecting for coal, but with little success as yet. A large amount of limestone rock is in these hills, and along the bank of the river there are numerous lime-kilns, the kilns being formed by huge baskets of bamboo wicker work. Split Hill is of remarkable appearance. The face of it is a sheer precipieceofrockat a point where the river makes a sharp bend, and the side of the hill first seen is terraced from base to summit with patches of cultivation. After turning Split Hill, the river sweeps round till it is like a semi- circular bay, and the right bank a sandy beach. Up from this crescented bay there is a beauti- ful expanse of green and yellow fields, and the further side of the valley is closed in with a small hemispherical hill, terraced round and round from base to summit, and as neatly done as though it were a Christmas cake. Further on, after passing through this bend of the river, terraced hills are seen on one side and rocky hills on the other, this romantic and grand scenery continuing to present new charms and additional features of interest for miles still further up the river, till at last the rocky ranges on the left bank recede inland and a broad expanse of flat ground lies between them and the river. When we approach the city, of Kee-chow, on the left bank, the Euined Fort which stands in the river about 150 yards from the corner of the city wall, is the first object which attracts our notice. The fort evidently must at one time, probably not long ago, have been con- nected by land with the city, although now the strong rolling currents sweep round it. At the level of the river when we saw it, the rock on which the fort is built was barely visible ; all that remains of the fort itself is a large mass of solid brick work, then standing twenty feet out of water, and the side against which the current breaks is semi-circular while the other walls are square. On the top of this ruin, the Imperial Customs officials have placed a red-painted tri- pod with beacon, and between the three legs of the stand there is a small box which at first sight did not appear big enough for a dovecot, but which is the only shelter provided for the light-keeper, and we could scarcely have be- lieved that a man could have got into it unless we had seen an old Chinaman coming out. The wall of the city of Kee-chow is quite close to the river bank, mounting over a rocky knoll at a corner opposite the Euined Fort, then ex- tending up the river bank for some distance, and sweeping round behind two or three small hills which are included in the city boundary of moss-grown brick and mortar. The city ap- pears to be a pretty large one, and away to the right the houses are densely packed. At the corner outside the city wall, and shaded by the small hill, stands a white joss-house, with a large camphor tree behind it ; at nearly all the Chinese joss-houses this tree flourishes in pro- minent position. Further up the river a creek goes round by the wall, and on the bank of the creek a large suburb stands, the most promi- nent building being of the design of a manda- rin's yamen. 110 A TRIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. On a fine broad sandy beach, some miles above Kee-chow, an interesting sight was witnessed, being no less than a travelling theatrical company, who had pitched their tents on the left bank of the river. The main building was fixed up by a large number of huge poles stuck in the sand, and cross beams between them supported a platform or stage which was next the river, and about ten feet above ground ; the pit of the theatre was on the further side, and all enclosed with canvas. Around this large tent were many smaller ones, probably the sleeping quarters of the theatrical troupe, or possibly the big show had several satellites crowding round it, just as a travelling circus at home is accom- panied by small penny shows. The ap- proach of the steamer brought a crowd of several hundred celestials out on the beach ; and on the platform in the end of the large tent we could see the actors in all their gorgeous robes, pushing themselves half way through between the torn canvas to see what the matter was. The appearance of the actors at that part of the tent at once indicated that the elevated stage was at that end. Some of the actors were very gorgeously dressed in bright-coloured robes, and apparently done up for emperors, generals, and mighty big mandarins. It was a puzzle to understand how the approach of a steamer could have brought all the people out of the theatre, but still it did so, and the only thing that can be inferred is that, if the play was actually proceeding at the time, it did not say much for the interest or excitement of the piece if the red funnel of a steamer was a greater attraction. The only noise we heard from the shore, save the playful shouting of children, was the beating of a gong by the only member of the orchestra who stood to his post. The next affair which attracted notice was a raft ashore high and dry on a shoal, towards the south side of the river. This is frequently the fate of the raftsmen, so that is well that they have houses on board, for that same raft we now saw had been stranded for several months, and would remain there more than six weeks longer till the water rose by the summer floods. A raft stranded in the middle of the Yangtsze all winter and spring is not a very pleasant situation for those on board ; and some of the raftsmen, if not all, are obliged to remain on board, else the raft would soon dis- appear bit by bit. On this one we saw there were signs of life, for blue smoke was curling upwards from a small stove-pipe chimney in one of the huts. Towards sunset on the fourth day • of our trip, and when entering on the last hundred miles of the journey, we witnessed the finest scenery of any part of the Yangtsze between Hankow and the sea. In the last hour before sunset, after passing the Euined Fort and the old city of Kee-chow, the scenery was charming indeed. A series of small hills extends along the left bank, beginning several miles above Kee-chow, and terminating at the bend, of the river opposite Cock's Head. These hills are arranged in groups, and each succeeding group seemed to be a duplicate of the one just passed; if there was any difference at all, it was only that they appeared to grow more beautiful as we glided past them. The hills are of no great height, — only a few hundred feet to the sum- mits of the highest of them ; they are set in horse-shoe groups, with a little round valley formed at the base of four or five hills ; the bluff rocks which come close to the river's edge, — and which are cut by the current, showing the high water mark, — are about a hundred yards apart ; the small hills next the river are back- ed by slightly larger ones, and still larger hills close in the further side of the valley. The slopes are terraced and cultivated at some parts, at others they are covered with shrubs ; here and there a peach tree is seen in full bloom ; and nestling in the cosy shaded nooks A TRIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. Ill at the base of the hills, a few cottages of bam- boo and thatch, or occasionally of brick, show that each quiet valley has its own peaceful tillers of the soil. The flat ground between the hills is all under cultivation, coming out to the bank of the river and occupying the full breadth between the rocky bluffs ; the crops show their soft green blades only a few inches above ground, and look like a carpet ; the green patches next the river are on the lowest level, and yellow plots of rapeseed rise behind them, with green fields again in the rear, and covering the whole of the valley up to the base of the furthest hill. We passed about half a dozen groups of hills, forming as many small valleys of this description, and as we remarked at the time, " What a pity there are not some such lovely spots about Shanghai." While we had this fine scenery on the one hand, the prospect before us was delightful. Cock's Head is a bold rocky eminence standing on the right bank of the Yangtsze, at a point where the river takes a sharp turn, and when viewed from a distance the outline of the rock re- sembles a cock's comb. The face of the rock, as seen when coming up the reach, is a sharp rugged line descending to the water ; the side next us, and back from the perpendicular face, is a very steep slope covered with trees and brush- wood; the summit of the rock, about 500feethigh, is also covered with foliage. Near the bottom of the slope, and almost hid amongst the trees, stands a small white joss-house. As we ap- proached Cock's Head, the setting sun gilded the bosom of the Yangtsze, so that the water was not seen in its real colour of dirty brown, but shone brilliantly in reflecting the rays of the sun. Foreign and native craft lent a charm to the scene, and a striking contrast was pre- sented between steamers and rafts. The Chi- nese Merchants' Company's steamer Kiang- yung, a paddle-wheel boat of the American river style, all brightly painted, came down the river and passed us on the starboard hand; her decks crowded with Chinese passengers looking at the Kunq-ico ; and the decks of the Kung-ivo crowded with Chinese passengers watching the yellow paddle-boat sweeping past us ; and from the bridge of each vessel, white handkerchiefs were waved as friendly salutes between the officers. The Kiang-yung had just passed, when we saw ahead of us, in the reach beyond Cock's Head, first one, then another, a third, and again a fourth raft or floating village of bamboo huts coming down the swift- rolling current. A minute or two later, we were pass- ing the huge rock, and looking upwards at the sheer precipiece of 500 feet. Our attention was called to a hermit's cave in the face of th e rock, and sure enough there it was, — an arched entrance, and in the opening we could see a rudely-built hut of bamboo and mats, elevated a few feet from the bottom of the cave, and a three-stepped ladder leading up to the hut. "Is there really a hermit living there?" "Yes, I have seen him ; he sometimes comes out and sits on the rock fanning himself." "How does he get his food?" "Oh, he can walk on a narrow ledge round to the joss-house at the other side of the rock." While the hermit and his cave were the subjects of conversation, we looked through a glass, and saw an extremely narrow ledge in the rock, by which it would be possible, but not very safe, for a person to make his way from the cave round to the other side of the rock. The high-water mark on the face of the rock seemed to be only about fifteen or twenty feet above th'e level of the river that day, but we were assured it was between.thirty and forty feet ; and the hermit's cell was about fifty feet above the highest water mark on the rock. It was but a brief moment that elapsed while we were passing the rock, and besides the cave there was something else to occupy our attention, for the steamer's whistle was blown several times, so that we might hear the echo, and the loud and long blasts of the 112 A TEIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. whistle were clearly echoed ; but the whistles and their echoes did not fetch the hermit out to see what the matter was ; he had never heard the song "Whistle and I'll come tae ye my lad." We were looking towards the face of the rock, and had forgot all about the float- ing villages, but though the whistles and echoes were loud enough, we just then heard excited shouting in Chinese, and looking down from the port side of the hurricane deck we saw the four rafts coming sweeping past us at a ter- rible speed ; they were all in a crowd and seemed as if they would smash against each other ; the raftsmen were all " on deck,'' some with long poles and oars in their hands, though neither poles nor oars were of any use on the breast of such a current ; others were running about on the rafts as excitedly as though they " expected every moment was going to be their next ;" the rafts and their huts, — quite a small town on the four of them, — swept past at a good distance from our steamer, and the cur- rent took them just as if they were to be dash- ed on the rocky face of Cock's Head ; but no, they could not have touched the rock although they had tried, for the peculiar set of the cur- rent took them close to the rock but still quite safely past it, and the huge rafts and all their superincumbent huts and trappings rushed on- wards to the broad reach below. Eocks, hermit's caves, rafts, and echoes, were nothing compared to what followed. We had just passed the rock, when we were delighted with most frag- rant perfumes which were wafted on a gentle breeze, and casting our eyes eastward we beheld a lovely sight. From Cock's Head, a range of hills sweep round till they come to the river's edge nearly a mile further up the river. Be- tween the right bstok and the base of these hills, there is a beautiful and fertile plain, which lay there covered with lovely green crops, and behind this green carpet rose the steep slopes of the hills, which from base to mid-way up were literally white with peach trees in full bloom ; and from these myriads of blossoms, shining in the last rays of the setting sun, came that sweet-smelling fragrance which so delighted us. The scene as above described closed the fourth day of the voyage, and next morning we found ourselves at Hankow, the Kung-wo being moored alongside -a hulk in front of the bund. We made a stay of about 36 hours at this port, but the writer, being then invalided, was unable to go ashore, and therefore cannot say as much about Hankow as he would have liked, having only seen it from the river ; most of the time was pleasantly spent in the com- pany of Hankow gentlemen. The foreign set- tlement of Hankow extends along the left bank of the Yangtsze for about half-a-mile, and has the finest bund of any port in China ; the bund wall being of extraordinary height, which is rendered necessary on account of the great rise and fall of the Yangtsze during a year. The river here is nearly a mile wide, and there' is a difference of about 60 feet between the lowest winter and the highest summer level of the water. When we were there (in March) the river was 13 feet above the lowest level of the previous winter, and still from the hurricane deck of a steamer you could not see level with the roadway of the bund. The massive wall of masonry, with sloping base, is ascended from the hulks by long bridges and gangways, which rise and fall with the flood. On the bund there is an avenue of tall green tre es, and behind it a range of fine buildings standing in gardens or " compounds." The river Han joins the Yangtsze to the west of Hankow ; on the other side of the Han stands the town of Han-yang, and on the south side of the Yang- tsze is the city of Wu-chang-fu, the capital of the province of Hupeh. This latter city has a very picturesque situation, the town itself and its pagoda standing on the slopes of a small hill close to the river bank, while the city wall sweeps away round over high ground, to the A TEIP ON THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. 113 base of hills in the rear of the city. A large fort, said to contain 400 guns, stands on the bank east of the city, and directly opposite Hankow. The back ground is occupied by a bold range of hills, on one of which there is a large Pagoda, and we presume it is the site upon which Captain Blakiston stood when he witnessed the panorama of mountains, plains, rivers, and lakes, which is thus described by him in his book " The Yangtsze : " — " Hankow is situated just where an irregular range of semi-detached low hills crosses a particularly level country on both sides of the main river in an east and west direction. Stationed on Pagoda Hill, a spectator looks down on almost as much water as land even when the rivers are low. At his feet sweeps the magnificent Yang-tsze, nearly a mile in width ; from the west and skirting the northern edge of the range of hills already mentioned, comes the river Han, narrow and canal like, to add its quota, and serving as one of the highways of the country ; and to the north-west and north is an extensive treeless flat, so little elevated above the river that the scattered hamlets which dot its surface are without exception raised on mounds, probably artificial works of a now distant age. A stream or two traverse its farther part and flow into the main river. Carrying his eye to the right bank of the Yang-tsze one sees enormous lakes and lagoons both to the north-west and south-east sides of the hills beyond the provincial city." While we were at Hankow, the large fort on the opposite side of the river presented a very gay sight, as its long yellow walls, full of embrasures, were covered with a great array of brightly coloured flags. We have since heard of a curious accident to this fort, which puts one in mind of the story about the walls of Jericho. It is said that when the American gunboat Monocacy visited Hankow this summer, and when the Viceroy of Hupeh came from Wu-chang-fu to visit- her, a salute was fired in his honour, which had a most disastrous effect on the fort. The vibration of the air caused by the firing of a few blank charges, half a mile or more from the fort, is said to have broken down a large portion of the walls of the fort; perhaps the foundations had been damaged by floods, but at any rate it does not say much for Chinese forts. We left Hankow about eight o'clock one evening, and arrived at Kiukiang next morn- ing ; Ngan-king was passed about twenty- four hours from Hankow, and Cbinkiang reached in another twenty ; we left that port after a few hours' stay, and steamed slowly so as just to reach the North Tree and Langshan Crossing at daylight ; and we ar- rived in Shanghai eight and a half days from the time of starting. The voyage down river, with the strong current in favour, is made very much quicker than the upward voyage. The fastest time in which the voyage from Hankow to Woosung was ever done, we believe, was by the Glenartney, one of the tea steamers in 1879, the time taken for the 600 miles being 37 hours ; but then she made no stoppages. Eiver steamers generally do it in about 60 hours, but a large portion of the time is spent in stoppages at the way ports ; and it takes about 100 hours for an average passage up river from Shanghai to Hankow. Having included in our narrative of the upward voy- age the description of some places seen on the way down, there now remains nothing to add except to conclude the sketch with an acknowledgment of thanks to Captain Popp and the officers of the Kung-wo for their courtesy during the trip. ■■ .- - ■ ,,'."■- ■ . ■ ■ : . ■■ ■ ■■ . ■ . ... ■ . ■ . ■ ■;.;■■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ . ■ - ■ ■ . ,,,— '..