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Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat

by Edmund Roberts · English · Gutenberg #44075 · 1,009,082 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat

Author: Edmund Roberts


        
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EMBASSY TO THE EASTERN COURTS OF COCHIN-CHINA, SIAM, AND MUSCAT ***

  EMBASSY
  TO THE
  EASTERN COURTS
  OF
  COCHIN-CHINA, SIAM, AND MUSCAT;

  IN THE
  U. S. SLOOP-OF-WAR PEACOCK,
  DAVID GEISINGER, COMMANDER,
  DURING THE YEARS 1832-3-4.

  BY
  EDMUND ROBERTS.

  NEW YORK:
  HARPER & BROTHERS.

  1837.




Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1837,

In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the Southern District of
New York.




  TO THE
  HON. LEVI WOODBURY,
  THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,

  BY
  HIS FRIEND AND FELLOW-CITIZEN,
  THE AUTHOR.




INTRODUCTION.


Having some years since become acquainted with the commerce of Asia and
Eastern Africa, the information produced on my mind a conviction that
considerable benefit would result from effecting treaties with some of
the native powers bordering on the Indian ocean.

With a view to effect an object apparently so important, I addressed a
letter to the Hon. Levi Woodbury, then a Senator in Congress from the
state of New Hampshire, detailing the neglected state of our commerce
with certain eastern princes, and showing that the difference between
the duties paid on English and American commerce, in their dominions,
constituted of itself a very important item in profit, in favour of the
former.

Subsequently to this period, Mr. Woodbury was appointed to the
secretaryship of the Navy, and consequently became more deeply
interested in the success of our floating commerce.

Scarcely had his appointment been confirmed before the melancholy news
arrived, that the ship Friendship, of Salem, Mass., had been plundered,
and a great portion of her crew murdered, by the natives of Qualah
Battu.

As an important branch of our commerce to the pepper ports on the
western coast of Sumatra was endangered, by the successful and hostile
act of these barbarians, it was deemed necessary that the piratical
outrage should be promptly noticed by a national demand for the
surrender and punishment of the aggressors.

About this period, the U. S. ship-of-war Potomac was nearly ready to
proceed to her station on the western coast of South America, by way of
Cape Horn, but her destination was immediately changed for the western
coast of Sumatra, accompanied by instructions to carry into effect the
measures of government against the inhabitants of Qualah Battu.

As our government was anxious to guard against any casualty which
might befall the Potomac in fulfilling her directions, it resolved to
despatch the United States’ sloop-of-war Peacock and schooner Boxer, to
carry into effect, if necessary, the orders of the first-named vessel,
and also to convey to the courts of Cochin-China, Siam and Muscat,
a mission charged to effect, if practicable, treaties with those
respective powers which would place American commerce on a surer basis,
and on an equality with that of the most favoured nations trading to
those kingdoms.

A special or confidential agent being necessary to carry into effect
the new measures of government, I had the honour to be selected for
that duty, at the particular recommendation of the secretary of the
Navy.

The summary chastisement of the inhabitants of Qualah Battu, and the
complete success of Com. Downes, in the performance of the duties
assigned by government, rendered a visit from the Peacock to that
place unnecessary, and thus left the objects of the mission more fully
open to a complete and minute investigation. How far they have been
faithfully accomplished, I leave to the candid and impartial judgment
of those who peruse the details of the Embassy, in the following pages.

At the period of my visit to the courts of Siam and Muscat, American
commerce was placed on a most precarious footing, subject to every
species of imposition which avarice might think proper to inflict, as
the price of an uncertain protection.

Nor was it to pecuniary extortions alone that the uncontrolled hand of
power extended. The _person_ of the American citizen, in common with
that of other foreigners, was subject to the penalties of a law which
gave the creditor an absolute power over the _life_, equally with
the property, of the debtor, at the court of Siam. As an American,
I could not fail to be deeply impressed with the barbarity of this
legal enactment, and its abrogation, in relation to my own countrymen,
detailed in the Embassy, I consider as not the least among the benefits
resulting from the mission.

With the courts of Siam and Muscat, it will be seen, I was enabled to
effect the most friendly relation, and to place our commerce on a basis
in which the excessive export and import duties, previously demanded,
were reduced fifteen per cent.

If in the attainment of these benefits some sacrifice of personal
feeling was at times made for the advantage of American commerce, the
dignity of my country was never lost sight of, nor her honour jeoparded
by humiliating and degrading concessions to eastern etiquette.

The insulting formalities required as preliminaries to the treaty, by
the ministers from the capital of Cochin-China, left me no alternative,
save that of terminating a protracted correspondence, singularly marked
from its commencement to its termination by duplicity and prevarication
in the official servants of the emperor. The detail of the various
conversations, admissions and denials, on the part of these eastern
ministers, in the pages of the Embassy, exhibits their diplomatic
character in true, but not favourable colours.

The unprotected state of our trade from the Cape of Good Hope to the
eastern coast of Japan, including our valuable whale-fishery, was
painfully impressed on my attention in the course of the Embassy. Not
a single vessel-of-war is to be seen waving the national flag over
our extensive commerce from the west of Africa to the east of Japan:
our merchantmen, trading to Java, Sumatra and the Philippine islands,
are totally unprotected. The extent of this commerce may be estimated
from the fact that there arrived in two ports in Java during one year,
one hundred and one ships, the united tonnage of which, amounted to
_thirty-eight thousand, eight hundred and seventy-seven tons_. To this
may be added the whale-fishery on the Japanese coast, which likewise
calls loudly for succour, and protection from the government. The
hardy whaler--the fearless adventurer on the deep--yielding an immense
revenue to his country, amid sufferings and privations of no common
order, certainly claims at the hand of that country, protection from
the savage pirate of the Pacific. Among this class of citizens too,
we may look for those bold and determined spirits who would form the
bulwark of our national navy. The protection of this important and
prolific branch of commerce is, in every point of view, a political
and moral advantage. I indulge the hope that it will become the object
of special legislation, and that the hardy sons of the ocean, while
filling the coffers of their country, may enjoy the protection of her
flag.

The various tables relative to exports, imports, currencies, weights
and measures, in the various places visited by the Embassy, will, I
trust, be found greatly beneficial to the commercial enterprise which,
yearly, extends from the Cape of Good Hope to the China sea. They
have been compiled in some instances from direct observation, and in
others, from the best authority which could be obtained. While it has
been my special object to render the pages of the Embassy a guide
to the best interests of commerce, I have not been unmindful of the
claims which the general reader may have on a work embracing a view
of that interesting quarter of the world, the eastern and southern
portion of the eastern hemisphere; its natural scenery, productions,
language, manners, ceremonies, and internal political regulations,
will be found in the Embassy. The picture may not be at all times of a
pleasing character; it has rather been my object to give the original
impression, than to decorate it with any factitious colouring. When
visible demonstration could be obtained, I have always resorted to
it, in drawing my conclusions; and in those cases in which this best
auxiliary was denied me, I have given the testimony of travellers from
other countries, who preceded me in visiting the courts touched at by
the Embassy, and whose details have received the sanction of the world.

The abject condition of morals among the inhabitants of the Indian
ocean, will naturally interest the philanthropist: while rejoicing in
the high moral tone of society which distinguishes his own happy land,
he will look with an eye of compassion on those regions where the
worship of the Supreme Being gives place to the mysterious idolatry of
Budha, or the external ceremonies of Confucius.

The searcher after literary information will find in the account of
the literary institutions of China much interesting and useful matter
for observation and reflection. In relation to the strictness of her
collegiate examinations, and the high grade of learning necessary to
secure their honours, some useful hints may be derived to our own
collegiate institutions.

In the appendix will be found a curious literary document in relation
to the aborigines of the Malay peninsula, particularly of the negroes
called Semang, accompanied by specimens of the Semang language in two
dialects, for which due credit has been given in the Embassy.

The philologist will doubtless receive this accession to the common
stock of inquiries into the origin of language, with considerable
gratification. A philosophical investigation of the relationship
existing between the varied families of the earth, and their common
origin, may perhaps yet be based on the analogy existing between their
language and dialects.

The phraseology of the epistolary document from the Sultan of Muscat
to the President of the United States, with that contained in the
letter from Tumbah Tuah to Captain Geisinger, at Bencoolen, furnishes
specimens of that figurative and high-wrought diction, for which the
Oriental nations are distinguished.

As I am about to undertake another voyage to exchange the ratifications
of the treaties alluded to in the Embassy, to form others in places not
yet visited, and to extend, if possible, our commerce on advantageous
terms, still farther east than India or Cochin-China, I beg my readers
will consider the present volume as a prelude to much further and
varied information to be derived under more favourable auspices--more
intimate knowledge of eastern forms--and that caution which should ever
be the child of experience.

In concluding my introductory remarks, I would freely acknowledge
my obligation to the works of those authors who have preceded me in
visiting the nations to which the Embassy was directed. I deemed it
important that no useful information, from whatever source derived,
should be withheld from my countrymen. Wherever ocular or audible
demonstration could be had, I have recorded the facts as they were
presented, in the most simple and unadorned manner; I had not in
view the flights of rhetorical composition, but the detail of useful
intelligence.

My country claimed at my hands, the faithful fulfilment of arduous and
responsible duties. If, in the information furnished in the Embassy,
her requirements have been accomplished, my ambition is satisfied.

  E. R.




CONTENTS.


  CHAPTER I.
                                                                  PAGE

  Sailing from Boston; Arrival at St. Jago; Description; Exports;
  Great Drought; Fogo; Fortifications; Sailing for Brazil;
  Description of the Coast; Harbour of Rio and Distant Views; the
  City; Public Garden; Boto Fogo; Botanic Garden; Population;
  Public Buildings; Senate and House of Representatives             13

  CHAPTER II.

  Sailing from Montevideo; Description of the Island of Tristan
  D’Acunha; St. Pauls; Engano; Arrival at Bencoolen and
  Description                                                       29

  CHAPTER III.

  Sailing from Bencoolen; Arrival at Crokatoa and Forsaken
  Islands; Scenery; Beautiful Submarine Garden; British Frigate;
  Arrival at Angier; Sailing from Angier; Bay and City of Manila;
  Buildings; Population; Provisions; Labour                         39

  CHAPTER IV.

  Manila, continued; Calzada; Sea-Cucumber; Cigar-Factory at
  Binondo; Exports; Duties; Weights and Currency; Exchange;
  Imports; Luzon; Cavité; Hurricane; Lago de Bria; Pina; Indian
  and Buffalo; Visits to the Alcade                                 51

  CHAPTER V.

  Departure from Manila: Cholera; Cape Bolina; Chinese Vessels;
  Pilot; Macao; Linting, Village; Whampoa; Jos Houses; Sacrifice;
  Arrival at Canton; River and Boats; Description of Canton; Great
  Idol Temple; Legend of the Jos House; Religious Ceremonies;
  Minor Temples                                                     63

  CHAPTER VI.

  Budhism; Tombs of Ancestors; Ceremonies; Origin of Tumuli or
  Tombs; Sacrifices to Confucius; Pan-Hwny-Pan; Infanticide;
  Charitable Institutions; Government Gratuities                    75

  CHAPTER VII.

  Description of Canton; Sacking of the City; Place of Honour;
  Mourning; Compass; Materials for Buildings; Houses; Principal
  Offices; Duties and Penalties of Governor; Fires; Governor’s
  Salary; Division of Power                                         89

  CHAPTER VIII.

  Literary Institutions of China; Examinations; Schools; Teachers;
  School-room Ceremonies; Colleges; Domestic Commerce; Population
  of the Provinces; Imports; Exports                               109

  CHAPTER IX.

  Early Commerce of China; American Trade; Hong-Merchants;
  Translators; Linguists; Foreign Factories; Style of Living;
  Manufactories and Trade; Physicians; Egg-Boats; Manufacturers;
  Mechanics; Population of Canton                                  123

  CHAPTER X.

  Weights and Measures; Money Weights; Commercial Weights; Opium;
  Opium-Smokers; Mantchou Dynasty                                  135

  CHAPTER XI.

  Death; Ceremonies of Imperial Mourning; Population of the
  Chinese Empire; Knock-head Ceremony; Beggars; Cat and Dog
  Market; Dr. B. and the China-man; Barbers; Dress of the Chinese;
  the Dragon God; Slavery                                          147

  CHAPTER XII.

  Climate of Canton and Macao; Meteorological Averages; Departure
  from Canton for Macao and Linting; Macao; Population;
  Superstitious Ceremony                                           162

  CHAPTER XIII.

  Sailing from Linting to Vung-Lam Harbour, in the Province of
  Fooyan, or Phuyen; Government of Shundai; Assistant Keeper of
  Vung-lam; Letters to the King of Cochin-China; Catholic Priest;
  Deputies from Shundai                                            171

  CHAPTER XIV.

  Present of a Feast to the Embassy; Description of Arrangement;
  Deputies of Hué; Extraordinary Demands--Refusal to Forward
  Despatches to the Emperor; Letter of the Envoy to the Minister
  of Commerce; President’s Letter; Unconditional Requirements of
  the Deputies                                                     189

  CHAPTER XV.

  Suspension of Intercourse; Failure of Mission; Departure of
  Embassy from Vung-Lam Bay; Envoy’s Titles; Mode of Husking
  Rice; Tombs of the Dead; Fishing Boats; Absence of Priests and
  Temples; Superstitions; Wild Animals; Mandarins’ House; Mode of
  taking Leave; Government of Cochin-China; Grades of Rank         213

  CHAPTER XVI.

  Passage from Cochin-China to the Gulf of Siam; Arrival at
  the Mouth of the River Menam; Packnam; Procession to the
  Government-House; Reception; Governor; Siamese Temples;
  Interview with the Siamese Foreign Minister; Prima Donna; Feats
  of Strength; Siamese Females; Fire at Bang-kok; White Elephants;
  Embalming; Shaving-head Ceremony and Feast; Fox-bats             227

  CHAPTER XVII.

  Presentation at the Palace of Bang-kok; Description; Royal
  Elephant; White Elephants; King of Siam; Great Temple of
  Guatama; City of Bang-kok; Temple of Wat-chan-tong, and Figure
  of Budha; Banyan Tree; Fire-feeders; Missionaries                253

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  Chinese Junks; Mechanic Arts of Siam; Amusements; Dancing
  Snakes; Annual Oath of Allegiance; Description of the Capital;
  Embassy from Cochin-China; Education in Siam; Palace             271

  CHAPTER XIX.

  Procession to the Funeral Pile of Wang-na, or Second King;
  Origin of Budhism in Siam; Sommona Kodom; Atheistical Principles
  of Budhism; Budhist Commandments; History of Siam; Government;
  Titles of the King; Officers of the Government                   289

  CHAPTER XX.

  Ancient Laws of Siam; Legal Oaths; Punishment for Debt;
  Divorces; Population of Siam; Stature and Complexion of the
  Siamese; Division of Time; Boundaries and Possessions of Siam;
  Marine of Siam; Imports; Inland Trade; Currency; Treaty of
  Commerce; Table of Exports                                       305

  CHAPTER XXI.

  Departure from Bang-kok for Singapore; Singapore; Commerce;
  Bugis; Maritime Laws; Departure from Singapore; Straits of
  Gaspar; Island of Java; Population of Java; Clothing; Dying;
  Stamping; Fruits; Birds                                          319

  CHAPTER XXII.

  Batavia; Burying-Grounds; Servants’ Wages; Academy of Arts;
  Departure from Batavia; Arrival at Angier; Departure from
  Angier; Red Sea; Arrival at Mocha; Turkie Ben Al Mas; Palace of
  Mocha; Currency at Mocha; Transparent Stone; Colour of the Red
  Sea                                                              336

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  Departure from the Red Sea; Cape Rosselgate; Arrival at Muscat;
  Blind Beggars; Fin-back Whales; Bedouin Arabs; Pearl Islanders;
  Arab Houses; Currency of Muscat; Naval Force of Muscat           351

  CHAPTER XXIV.

  Departure from Muscat; Arrival at Quintangony and Mozambique;
  Exports from Mozambique; Imports; Departure from Mozambique;
  Arrival at Table Bay; Cape of Good Hope                          365

  CHAPTER XXV.

  Algoa Bay; Imports; Population of the Cape of Good Hope; Public
  Institutions; Newspapers; Departure from the Cape; Arrival at
  Rio Janeiro; Departure from Rio Janeiro; Arrival at Boston
  Harbour; Statistical Table                                       386

  APPENDIX.

  Various Documents connected with the Work                        403




EMBASSY TO THE EAST.




CHAPTER I.

    SAILING FROM BOSTON--ARRIVAL AT ST.
    JAGO--DESCRIPTION--EXPORTS--GREAT
    DROUGHT--FOGO--FORTIFICATIONS--SAILING FOR BRAZIL--DESCRIPTION
    OF THE COAST--HARBOUR OF RIO AND DISTANT VIEWS--THE CITY--PUBLIC
    GARDEN--BOTO FOGO--BOTANIC GARDEN--POPULATION--PUBLIC
    BUILDINGS--SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.


The Executive having, in the year 1832, resolved on an attempt to place
our commercial relations, with some of the native powers of Asia, on a
sure and advantageous basis, orders were issued to prepare the United
States’ ship Peacock, and the schooner Boxer, for that special object.

The commanders of these vessels were required to visit certain ports
on the southeastern coast of Asia, and to make a general report on
the condition of our commerce, in relation to its security from
piratical, or other hostile acts in the Indian seas. I was honoured by
the President of the United States with the station of special agent
or envoy to the courts of Cochin China, Siam, and Muscat, for the
purpose of effecting treaties which should place our commerce in those
countries on an equality with that enjoyed by the most favoured nations.

The Boxer, having orders to proceed on a voyage to Liberia and from
thence to join the Peacock off the coast of Brazil, left Boston harbour
about the middle of February, 1832; and on the following March we
sailed from the same port, in the latter-named vessel, for Rio Janeiro;
having on board F. Baylies, Esq., whom we were carrying to that place
on his way to Buenos Ayres, to which Republic he had received the
appointment of chargé d’affaires from the government of the United
States. No circumstance, worthy of record, occurred until the eighth
day of April, when at daybreak we discovered the isle of Sal, one of
the Cape de Verds, and ere evening closed, St. Nicholas and Bonavista
appeared in sight. We lay to on that night under the lee of Mayo and on
the following morning cast anchor in the roadstead of Porto Prayo, in
the island of St. Jago.

The customary salute of thirteen guns, given to the town, was
immediately returned with a corresponding number. Of the weather,
considering the season, we had no reason to complain. The thermometer
ranged between 40° and 72°, rarely exceeding the one or falling below
the other; the lowest point, when we passed St. George’s Bank, being
37°, and the highest, at the time the northeast tradewind first met us,
being 71°, in latitude 19°, and longitude 26°. The barometer ranged
from 29°, 97′, to 30°, 45′.

The most perfect order and regularity prevailed on board the ship, in
every department of duty; each individual having his duties so defined
as to prevent confusion among the crew, should any of the seamen be
called suddenly to quarters, or to make, take in, or reef sails.
Among the acquisitions most useful and instructive, were an excellent
library, presented by the government to the officers, and a second
selection of books, purchased by the officers and crew, jointly. It
was a gratifying sight to behold men who might, otherwise, have been
occupied in relating idle stories, singing immoral songs, quarrelling,
or creating a mutinous spirit among their fellows, drawing useful
information from the great sources of knowledge, and extracting from
the page of history, at the same time, a fund of information and a code
of morals.

The Cape de Verd islands belong to the kingdom of Portugal, and are ten
in number. They were discovered by Noel, in the year 1440, and contain
a population, as follows: Sal, four hundred; Mayo, two thousand five
hundred; St. Vincent, three hundred and fifty-six; St. Nicholas, five
thousand; St. Jago, thirty thousand; Fogo, ten thousand; St. Antonio,
twenty-four thousand; Brava, eight thousand; Bonavista, four thousand;
St. Lucia, uninhabited; total, eighty-four thousand.

[Sidenote: CAPE DE VERDS--EXPORTS.]

Among the principal articles of export from the abovementioned islands
is orchilla, a species of lichen. It is used for dying any shade of
purple or crimson, and is superior to the same kind of moss found in
Italy or the Canaries. This vegetable product glitters, as a sparkling
gem, in the royal diadem of Portugal, having been monopolized by the
crown, to which it yields an annual revenue of $200,000. The right
of purchase claimed by the crown, allows only five cents per pound.
Were it not for this unjust monopoly, orchilla would readily sell at
twenty-five cents the pound. It is exported to Lisbon, and there sold,
by the agents of the royal trader, to foreign merchants, who re-export
it to their respective countries. Salt is produced at these islands,
in large quantities, and furnishes a considerable article of export
for the United States’ markets; being used for the salting of beef,
butter, &c. Heavy cargoes of it are exported, principally by Americans,
to Rio Grande and La Plata, for the curing of jerked or dried beef,
which finds a ready sale in the market of Havana. It is also purchased
by American sealers to salt the skins. In the list of fruits on this
cluster of islands, the red and black grape are conspicuous. They
furnish, converted into wine, a considerable article of internal
commerce. St. Antonio alone, says Mr. Masters, of Sal, produces,
annually, from fifteen hundred to two thousand pipes of wine. Owing to
the ignorance of the inhabitants in the process of fermentation, it is
of ordinary quality, generally unfit for transportation, and may be
purchased at the rate of ten or twelve dollars per pipe.

If there be truth in the often-repeated assertion, that volcanic
countries produce the best wines, Fogo will export, at a future day,
a very superior article. Since the year 1827, coffee, nearly equal in
flavour to that of Mocha, has been cultivated with success. Previously
to that period, the crown had laid an almost prohibitory duty on the
importation of this article from its empoverished islanders, in order
to encourage the agricultural produce of its more extensive southern
possessions, in the vast territory of Brazil. Every planter, now, looks
on his plantation as a source of increasing profit, and within five
or six years, coffee will become the leading article of commerce from
the Cape de Verd islands. It now realizes ten cents per pound. The
remaining articles for export, are hides, skins, goats, and asses.

We found the inhabitants, on several of these islands, suffering
extreme distress from a want of provisions, occasioned by a failure in
the periodical rains, for two successive years. At Fogo, many died from
starvation. The inhabitants of this island have, long since, annually
exported ten or twelve small cargoes of corn to Madeira, and in this,
their day of suffering, the inhabitants of that sister-island received
them by hundreds with every mark of kindness and attention. Some small
relief was likewise administered from the Peacock.

The whole appearance of the Cape de Verds, in consequence of this
long-continued drought, was exceedingly arid; the grass assumed a
dark brown colour, similar to that which may be seen on our western
prairies, when a fire has passed over them. Nothing green was visible
in the vicinity of Porto Praya, save in the deep valleys, lying on the
outskirts of the town, where some moisture yet remained, and where
water was obtained for the suffering population.

[Sidenote: PORTO PRAYA--FOGO.]

The town of Porto Praya, is situated on an eminence of considerable
height, and may be approached, in front of the harbour, by two roads;
the one being on the eastern and the other on the western side. These
roads exhibit marks of great labour, bestowed in their construction;
they have been, for the most part, blasted out of the solid rock, and
extend up the side of a precipitous hill. Forty-five pieces of cannon,
of various caliber, pointed towards the roadstead, serve, at once, as a
fortification to the town and a protection to the harbour.

Vessels bound to Western Africa, South America, or the East Indies,
generally take in refreshments at this port, which affords a safe
anchorage for vessels at all seasons of the year, excepting the month
of September. During this month it is visited by a violent gale from
the south, that would place in the most imminent danger any vessel
which might seek for security beneath the bold and rocky precipice that
rises in many places, nearly perpendicularly, one hundred and twenty
feet above the shore.

At the summit of this rocky acclivity is the plain on which Porto
Praya is built, and where a large open square, from which three or
four streets diverge, serves as a market-place. Within this square
is a building used for a jail. On its eastern side are situated the
governor’s house and a church; the latter being the only place for
religious worship in the town.

At the request of the governor, Capt. G. and myself paid him a visit.
We were received with courtesy and affability. He is of noble family,
not quite thirty years of age; and on this occasion was bedecked
with six orders of merit, which he frequently gazed on with apparent
satisfaction and delight. The houses here are generally built of
stone: those facing the public square are two stories in height, and
well stuccoed; on the western side, many of them commodious, well
finished and furnished, and fastidiously neat in their appearance. A
gallery, resting on a precipice seventy or eighty feet high, extends
along their rear, and commands a prospect of neat gardens, securely
walled in, and laden with tropical fruits, vegetables, and flowers. We
observed several negro girls, in the valley beneath, drawing water for
the inhabitants of the town, and, with well filled jars, winding their
way up the side of a zig-zag and dangerous path on the hillside. As the
eye followed their ascent up the fearful height, from which a false
step would have dashed them in pieces, we could not but admire the
seeming ease with which they balanced their vessels, and the apparent
disregard of danger displayed by them as they frequently bent, in
wanton sportiveness, over the projecting crags of the precipice.

The population of Porto Praya is said to amount to fifteen hundred or
two thousand, nineteen twentieths of which are black or of doubtful
origin. As a suitable return for the hospitality we had received
from the inhabitants, a supper and dance were given to them on the
quarter-deck of the Peacock, which was fancifully decorated with
evergreens and flags; that of Portugal holding a conspicuous station.

We found fish in abundance in the waters around Porto Praya, and by the
help of a seine obtained a good supply, among which we found the mullet
and red grouper. Two lancet-fish were also taken: these singular fishes
are furnished on each side of the tail with a weapon resembling the
spring lancet, which they use both in defence and attack. The date-palm
flourishes in the valleys, and all the intertropical fruits may be
obtained in abundance in their proper season, and vegetables at all
seasons.

Having replenished our diminished sea-stock, we sailed from Porto
Praya on the thirteenth of April. After clearing the roadstead, we
had a clear view, to the west, of Fogo; its towering altitude rising
thousands of feet above the bosom of the ocean in which its base was
laid. This ocean-mountain bears evident marks of its volcanic origin.
Volumes of smoke were seen issuing from its numerous craters, so long
as its bold outline was distinctly defined. Ere sunset, the Cape de
Verds were completely hid from the view, and we stood south, inclining
to the eastward, until the eighteenth, when we reached the latitude
of 3° 31′ north, and 21° 41′ west longitude. We now shaped our course
more to the westward, and on the nineteenth, being in latitude 2°
22′ north and 22° 8′ west longitude, we took in a light breeze from
the south and east, and crossed the equator on the twenty-second, in
longitude 23° 30′. The usual ceremonies of a visit from Neptune, which
not unfrequently terminate in quarrels and fights, were judiciously
dispensed with. An attempt was, however, made to play a trick on the
uninitiated, which for a short time afforded much mirth and amusement.
A hair was placed across the centre of a telescope-glass, and handed
round, for the purpose of _seeing_ the equatorial _line_; but a young
midshipman having obtained another glass, _in which he could not see
the line_, the trick became at once discovered. To make some amends
to the crew for the loss of their usual frolic on crossing the line,
a modicum of good punch was served out in the evening, when it was
found that out of the whole number there was one-eighth (or twenty-one
men) belonging to the “total abstinence” society; a proportion which
I suppose to be as large as could be found among the same number of
landsmen.

With pleasant breezes and moderate weather, we proceeded on our course,
keeping the ship one point from the wind, so that a foretop studding
would draw. At day-dawn on the third of May, we discovered Cape Frio,
and at ten o’clock, A. M., the Sugar-loaf at the entrance to the
harbour of Rio Janeiro. From the time we discovered the cape until the
following evening, a most perfect and, to us, annoying calm prevailed.
A brisk gale at length sprung up from the southwest, accompanied by
thunder, lightning, and rain: so stormy, dark, and tempestuous was
the evening, that we only occasionally obtained a glimpse of the
fine revolving light on Raza island: at intervals, a vivid flash of
lightning would disclose to us the Sugar-loaf mountain and a small
twinkling light at Santa Cruz. The bearings of the principal points of
land having been obtained, before the evening closed, notwithstanding
the war of elements, we dashed onward in fine style under three
topsails. As we came abreast Santa Cruz, we were hailed, and answered;
but not heaving to, three guns were fired, followed by the burning of
as many “blue-lights.” We now proceeded up the harbour, and cast anchor
at ten o’clock. The city was saluted the following day, and the salute
answered by an equal number of guns.

[Sidenote: RIO DE JANEIRO--HARBOUR.]

The seacoast from Cape Frio to Rio is remarkable for the boldness
of its features, possessing various obtuse peaks and mountains; but
southward of the harbour is a remarkable range of hills, presenting a
rough profile of a human countenance lying with its face upward. It is
formed by a table-mountain and two jagged hills: the resemblance is so
striking at the first view that no force of imagination is necessary to
complete the picture.

No one can enter this harbour without admiring the beautiful panorama
which is spread before him. At the entrance, called the Pao de
Assucar, the celebrated granite peak is seen, piercing the clouds,
at an altitude of thirteen hundred feet, and the prospect is every
where varied and magnificent. Nature seems, here, to have spread a
banquet for her adoring admirers. Every spot is covered with beautiful
flowers; even the rocks are festooned with various parasitical plants,
which exhibit a perennial bloom. The harbour is surrounded with wooded
hills, studded here and there with a chapel, a venerable church, or
a beautiful villa. The imagination has free scope to picture forth
scenes of bliss in the numerous valleys, where peaceful cottages lie
partially concealed amid groves of orange and lemon, lime and citron.
On the bosom of this spacious harbour may be seen, tranquilly reposing,
the vessels of all nations; and the water is dotted in every direction
with boats issuing from the numerous inlets and islands, from the
first blush of morn to dusky night, laden with passengers for the
city-market and the shipping. These boats are managed by slaves. This
harbour, called by the natives Nitherohy, was discovered on the first
day of January, 1531, by De Souza, and named Janeiro, or January river,
as he supposed it to be an outlet to a great river, from the extent
of its bay. It will probably ever retain, as at present, its name,
notwithstanding the extreme absurdity of calling a bay a river: for it
was soon ascertained by discovery, that no large body of water emptied
into it.

The city of St. Sebastian, better known to the commercial world by the
name of Rio de Janeiro, lies on the southern shore, skirting the base
of several prominent hills and occupying the valleys between them; from
Boto Fogo to its western extremity it measures nearly eight miles. The
most conspicuous buildings are the numerous churches and chapels--the
bishop’s palace--the theatre--and the royal palace, fronting the
harbour, at the great landing for boats and vessels from Rio Grande,
the town on the opposite shore. The streets, regularly laid out,
intersecting each other at right angles, are not more than twenty feet
wide, and wretchedly paved. The sidewalks are narrow and inconvenient
for a town thronged with people. The houses are generally built of
unhewn granite, and are from one to three stories high; they are
furnished with balconies, which are much resorted to by the ladies, who
seldom visit the streets during the daytime, excepting in sedan chairs,
when they attend to their devotional exercises.

Owing to the extreme heat of the climate, the encumbered state of the
streets, and a due regard to the Portuguese custom which forbids their
walking abroad during the day, the ladies of the city take the evening
for visiting. In beauty, elegance and accomplishments, they sink in the
comparison with their neighbours of Buenos Ayres and Montevideo.

The houses, excepting those occupied by the richer classes, are dark,
narrow, and filthy; and if this Augean stable be not cleansed from the
accumulated filth of ages, ere the cholera shall visit it, thousands
will be swept away.

A stranger is surprised, in passing through the streets, at the immense
number of shops which occupy the ground floor of nearly every house
in the city; yet there are said to be but few failures among their
occupants. The extravagant price charged for every article, retail, may
perhaps account for this fact.

One of the most celebrated objects of curiosity in Rio is the
celebrated aqueduct, which is seen winding its way from the Corcovado
along the base of many hills, intersecting the streets with its double
arches, and passing over the roofs of houses to the various fountains,
which are constantly thronged with negroes, carrying jars of water
to the dwellings of their masters for culinary purposes--the kitchen
being, in many cases, in the upper story, while the ground-floor is
occupied for magazines or stables. At some of the fountains are stone
troughs, for the use of the negro washer-women, which are constantly
thronged with them, making most vociferous cries: a greater confusion
of tongues could not have been heard at the dispersion of the builders
at Babel; for there is a mixture of all the languages of Africa, from
Senegal to Angola, and from Da Lagoa Bay to Zanzibar--with Portuguese,
Spanish, French and English, and various Indian languages: making, in
the sum total, an olla not to be surpassed by the Lingua Franca of the
Mediterranean, or the bazars of British India.

[Sidenote: RIO--SLAVERY--POPULATION.]

Every kind of labour is here done by slaves; the heaviest burdens are
dragged by them on ill-constructed drays over a rough pavement: some of
them (principally criminals or runagates) are seen chained in various
ways, and bending under the weight of packages too heavy for their
strength.

Slavery appears here in all its worst features and most disgusting
deformities. Notwithstanding blacks may be seen at the altars,
administering the rites of religion,--as commanders of companies or
regiments, or as custom-house officers--yet poor friendless creatures
(white and black) are seen at every step, nearly naked, covered
with loathsome diseases, badly fed, having only the steps of some
church-door or the pavement for their bed, or lying exposed to the
intense heat of a tropical sun.

I visited many of the churches, but found them sadly shorn of their
former splendour, having in them only a few aged priests, and,
excepting on particular days, a very limited number of devotees: the
passers-by rarely lift their hats and make the sign of the cross, as
they were wont to do, when passing the sacred doors; the same neglect
is apparent when the vesper-bell strikes a few slow and solemn sounds
at the decline of day. Formerly, when its tones were heard, every
kind of labour and amusement were instantly suspended, every head was
uncovered, a silent thanksgiving offered to the Giver of all good for
mercies received during the day, and His divine aid and protection were
implored for the ensuing night. Now, almost every species of religious
observance has departed, in the overthrow of a notoriously debauched
and overgrown priesthood.

The population of Rio is estimated from one hundred and twenty to two
hundred thousand, of which a very large proportion are blacks. No
correct census has yet been taken, owing to the jealousy of the people,
who suppose that the object of government is to impose, in such an
estimate, a capitation tax. There is a great admixture of blood among
them, from the jet black African with his curly wool, to the pure white
with flaxen locks.

The _French residents_ are numerous, if a traveller may judge from the
names on the signs, and the endless _Parisian nothings_ exposed for
sale in the Rua d’Ovidor and the Rua d’Quitanda. Here and there are
interspersed English, German, or Italian names. Since the abdication
of the late emperor in favour of his little son Don Pedro the second,
and the breaking up of his splendid court, numerous carriages have
disappeared, and only a few humble volantes or cabriolets are seen
drawn by two mules, or perhaps by a horse and a mule.

The _National Museum_ is situated on each side of the Campo
d’Acclamacao, and is open to the public on Thursdays. It occupies at
present but three rooms, having been sadly plundered of its contents by
Don Pedro. The specimens of minerals are numerous and scientifically
arranged; but the entomological department is meager, considering the
immense numbers and beautiful varieties of insects for which this
country is so justly celebrated: there are many private collections
in the city which far surpass this, in numbers and brilliancy. In
addition to the abovenamed department are several cases, divided
into compartments, showing, in miniature, implements of trade and
manufactures.

The _Senate House_, on the opposite side of the square, is a very plain
edifice, badly built, and propped up in every direction with long
pieces of timber.

On the day when the minister of the interior delivered in his budget,
I visited the _House of Representatives_. The gallery and four private
boxes were crowded. We occupied one of the latter. There were about
seventy members present, highly respectable in their appearance,
although some were of a doubtful white, and others quite black. They
were dignified in deportment, graceful in action, and spoke with great
fluency.

_Education_ has made great progress throughout Brazil within the last
fifteen or twenty years. Beside several Lancasterian schools, supported
by government, to which are admitted, gratuitously, children of all
colours, (slaves excepted,) primary schools are to be found throughout
the city; and private schools also, in which are taught the higher
branches of education. There are also a _surgical_ and a _medical_
academy, an academy of fine arts, and ecclesiastical seminaries.

[Sidenote: SCENERY--PUBLIC GARDENS.]

The city has two public libraries; one of them contains between sixty
and seventy thousand volumes, in all languages. The other is at the
Convent of St. Benedict. I visited that institution when the librarian
was absent, but was amply compensated for the tiresome walk up the
steep hill, on a hot day, over a very rough pavement, by the beautiful
views exhibited in every direction. There, were seen mountain, hill,
and dale, cultivated and in a state of nature--an ocean, a bay, a
river, and on their surfaces were floating noble line-of-battle ships,
merchant vessels, and an abundance of little skiffs. At my feet lay
the city, with its busy throng, and at every important point were
fortresses and castles, showing forth rows of formidable cannon. The
day shone forth with great brilliancy; not a cloud was seen hanging
over the Payo d’Assucar, the Corcovado or the Tejuco; numberless
vessels were seen far at sea, pressing for the port, under a cloud of
white canvass, during the continuance of the breeze. On the left lay
the palace of St. Christovao; and, in the far west, a noble range of
hills, terminated by the spiked tops of the organ mountains, rendered
the picture enchanting and unrivalled. At the foot of the hill is the
arsenal; being deficient in room, the wall of the convent, on that
side, was taken down, and the rocks being blown away, a secret entrance
was discovered under the church, so ingeniously contrived as to be hid
from observation--it appeared like the rocks in which it was formed.

_Public Gardens._--On the bay shore, commencing near the Praya or Beach
do Flamingo, is a pleasant garden, surrounded by a high wall, and
guarded at its various entrances by soldiers. It is much resorted to
by the inhabitants after sunset. The avenues are of good width, well
gravelled, kept clean, and are finely shaded by native and foreign
trees, and with hedges of flowers indigenous to the climate; but the
pure and wholesome breezes, and a view of the bay, are obstructed by a
mound, thrown up unnecessarily high, to protect this retreat against an
ever-rolling surf.

Looking to the right at the further extremity of the beach, along
which is a range of good houses guarded by a high granite wall, lies
the beautiful Gloria hill, having a small white turreted chapel, Nossa
Señora de Gloria, or our Lady of Glory. It is of an octagonal shape,
lies partially concealed amid noble forest and fruit trees, and is
adorned with hedges of myrtle, interspersed with jasmine: and there,

    “Weak with nice sense, the chaste Mimosa stands,
    From each rude touch withdraws her timid hands;
    Oft as light clouds o’erpass the summer glade,
    Alarmed, she trembles at the moving shade,
    And feels alive, through all her tender form,
    The whispered murmurs of the gathering storm;
    Shuts her sweet eyelids to approaching night,
    And hails with freshened charms the rising light.”

I was much gratified with two visits made to the Botanic garden,
situated about eight miles from the palace. The first visit was by
water, as far as Boto Fogo. From thence it is probably three miles
by land over a tolerably good road, lying principally amid mountain
scenery, the Corcovado being on the right.

This mountain, on its eastern side, is one immense mass of granite,
rising perpendicularly to the height of two thousand feet. On either
hand are plantations and gentlemen’s villas. The road was overhung
with various fruits--the coffee-tree showing its red berries and the
cotton-tree its yellow bulb; or, having burst its outward covering,
displaying the contents of its little pod, as white and pure as the
new-fallen snow; the hedges were beautifully decorated by the hand
of nature with roses, myrtles and jasmines, intertwined with a great
variety of creeping plants. On the left, we passed a small brackish
piece of water, called Lake Frietas, formed by an encroachment of the
sea; which, in heavy gales and during high tides, forces itself over
the sandy barrier between the low lands and its waters.

We arrived at noon--an unpropitious hour, for the garden was shut until
three, in the afternoon. Being desirous to employ our spare time to the
best advantage, we strolled on several miles farther to the seabeach,
through sandy plantations, covered entirely with pine-apple, then in
a green state and very small. Our toil was unrewarded, as we did not
obtain a single shell, (the shore being too sandy,) nor did we see any
object worthy of note.

On our return, we visited the garden, and found it a delicious retreat
and in fine condition. The broad wide avenues are kept in neat order
and lined with trees of various kinds. A fine stream of water conducted
from the adjacent mountains, along neat canals, over pebbly beds,
passes through the garden and divides the compartments of exotics from
the avenues. The servants in attendance explained the endless variety
of trees, shrubs and plants, and permitted us to take specimens of
every thing we fancied.

This delightful spot is situated at the base of the Corcovado, on a
rich plain, fronting the little lake and comprises about seventy acres.
Here are many square plots of ground, containing altogether about six
acres of tea, both black and green, of which there are said to be ten
or twelve varieties. The plant is in height about ten feet, and bears
a small, delicate, white flower; it was in a healthy and flourishing
condition. The dried tea may be obtained in the city. The amboyna and
cayenne cloves grow here; the former being much more fragrant than the
latter. We also found the nutmeg--cinnamon of several kinds, pepper,
pimento, cardamoms, the camphor and sago palm, the bread-fruit in full
bearing, many varieties of the anana or pine-apple, the orange, limes,
sweet and sour lemons, citron, the mamoon, marrow or mamee apple, the
mango and delicious mangusteen of Java, the jack and the shaddock, the
banana, the plantain, the calambolla, &c., &c. The last is a sub-acid
fruit, of an oblong form and light straw colour, when ripe; it is
deeply grooved or ridged with sharp edges and is very refreshing and
agreeable to the taste. A beautiful arbour of a square form, having
vacant openings in imitation of doors and windows, stands in the centre
of the garden, furnished with a table; it is a place of great resort
for pic-nic parties and is ascended by artificial steps, made of the
green-sward.

The situation of Boto Fogo impresses every one who visits it, most
agreeably--it is a delightful retreat from the hot and unwholesome air
of the city and is, like the Praya Flamingo and the Gloria hill, the
residence of many respectable foreigners. The little bay, fronting the
pretty sandy beach, seems like a tranquil lake embossed in magnificent
mountain-scenery. Having replenished our partially-exhausted stock of
sea-stores, and the commodore being with the squadron at La Plata, we
were compelled, reluctantly, to proceed to that place and set sail
accordingly, on the twentieth of May. The situation of our squadron
at La Plata, arose out of difficulties which existed between the
Argentine Republic and that of the United States, consequent upon the
unlawful and unfriendly capture of American vessels, sealing among the
Falkland islands, by order of Vernet, the governor; and from the proper
and spirited conduct of Captain Duncan, commander of the Lexington,
in removing the colony to Montevideo, and thereby, most effectually
cutting off all further depredations upon our commerce.

[Sidenote: MONTEVIDEO.]

We received the customary assistance of boats, from the various men of
war, in towing the ship out of the harbour. As we passed the British
line-of-battle ship Plantagenet, the band of musicians struck up
our national air of “Hail Columbia.” On the thirtieth, we made St.
Marys, being the northern cape at the entrance of the river. A brisk
breeze the day following, accompanied with misty weather, wafted us,
at midnight, within four miles of the isle of Flores, on which we
found an excellent revolving light--and the weather clearing up, we
saw the dull light which crowned the hill called Montevideo. Sail was
then shortened to maintain our position until daylight; but in the
course of three hours, a strong current running out of the river, had
forced us into four and a half fathoms of water, on the edge of the
English bank. We anchored, on the second of June, in the roadstead
of Montevideo, near the United States’ ship Lexington. On the next
morning, we again sailed, with a strong easterly gale, for Buenos
Ayres, and at noon anchored in three and a half fathoms of water, off
Pinta de India, in thick weather and a bad sea. In the afternoon, it
became sufficiently clear for us to obtain a glimpse of the tops of
some trees; sail was again made and on the fifth, we came too, in
the outer Balissas, near to the United States’ ship Warren, under
the command of Acting-Commodore Cooper, and the schooner Enterprise,
commanded by Lieutenant-Commodore Downing. Having landed Mr. Baylies
and family, and taken in provisions for our voyage across the South
Atlantic and Indian oceans, we sailed on the nineteenth, and in four
days arrived at Montevideo. As we passed to our anchorage ground, H.
B. M. frigate Druid, A. R. Hamilton, commander, complimented our flag
by her musicians playing “Hail Columbia,” which cheered our hearts and
created a kindly feeling in us towards our English brethren. Many years
previous to this visit to La Plata, I had resided many months at Buenos
Ayres, and had become acquainted with a number of worthy men and lovely
females, who then shone with great brilliancy at the Tertulias, in the
Bolero and Pas-a-pie, but time had changed the faces and condition of
the living--death had been busy among all classes and many a friend
and acquaintance had gone to the eternal world, amidst the various
revolutions. The splendid churches were shorn of their ornaments and
a few solitary priests, superannuated and on the brink of the grave,
were seen tottering through the deserted aisles and cloisters, where
hundreds had once been, and where the resounding of my own footsteps
now made me start, and look back to see if any of the departed had
returned to wander within their former haunts, and deplore, though they
were wont to be called holy, their numerous imperfections. A regal
government has now given place to one of another stamp; but the great
number of armed men in the streets and about the public buildings, have
divested it of much of its republican character. A Protestant church
is now erected, and English names are frequently seen over the doors
of buildings where once a foreign merchant was not permitted to dwell.
To me, it seemed like traversing a vast sepulchre--so many had closed
their eyes in death, while others appeared like spectres of former
days. It was like a city once in ruins, but which had been freed of its
incumbrances, and was again ushered into light and life, peopled by a
new generation.

Montevideo also had met with unparalleled sufferings from the time
that it was besieged by the British to the present hour. The beautiful
cathedral was disfigured by marks of cannon-balls--the walls were
partly demolished--the gates broken down--the cannon removed, and not a
solitary sentinel was on the lookout from the battlements; the streets
were broken up, and full of unsightly and dangerous holes. Death, the
all-consuming hand of time, and squalid poverty, had laid a whole city
in ruins; it was like a vast cemetery; for all I once knew had been
swept away; even their names had been obliterated for ever. I therefore
left it, better satisfied to wander ten thousand miles over a trackless
and stormy ocean, than to remain in a city whose former inhabitants
were spread in dust amid its ruins.




CHAPTER II.

    SAILING FROM MONTEVIDEO--DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND OF TRISTAN
    D’ACUNHA--ST. PAULS--ENGANO--ARRIVAL AT BENCOOLEN AND DESCRIPTION.


Agreeably to orders from the navy department, the commander of the
Peacock was required to proceed to the west coast of Sumatra, to
ascertain whether Commodore Downes had obtained redress for the murders
and robbery committed on board the ship Friendship, of Salem, by the
natives of Qualah Battu; and if it should appear that from any cause
such redress had not been effected, then the Peacock, in conjunction
with the United States’ schooner Boxer, was to proceed to Qualah Battu,
and, if possible, to obtain possession of the murderers, and transport
them to the United States for trial; and also to demand indemnification
for the heavy losses sustained by the owner. If these demands were not
complied with, the town was to be destroyed.

The Boxer not having yet joined us, orders were left for her commander
to proceed to Bencoolen, in the island of Sumatra. On the evening of
the twenty-fifth of June, the ship got under way, from the bay of
Montevideo. As we slowly receded from the port, the feeble light on the
mount shone like a distant star through the hazy atmosphere; and the
thousand lights in the unfortunate town of San Felipé appeared like
the glimmerings of the firefly in a midsummer’s night, revelling amid
the light vapours arising from marshy ground; the brilliant light on
the Flores also was in full view, throwing its extended beams far and
wide over the tremulous sea. Our progress during the night was very
slow--Flores and Lobos, and the serrated mountains of Maldonado, found
us at the dawn of day, fanning along slowly, with an air which scarcely
ruffled the ocean’s surface. Nothing occurred to us beyond what
generally befalls the sons of the ocean, in running down ten thousand
miles of coasting. Scarcely were we clear from the muddy waters of La
Plata, and had launched amid the waves of the great Southern ocean,
when squally weather assailed us, and close-reefed topsails were
resorted to rather more frequently than is pleasant even to those who
live upon the mountain-wave. The ship was at one time rolling her
channels in before a strong westerly wind; at another, lying with her
broadside deeply submerged by severe squalls from the northwestern
quarter, the gun-deck being ankle-deep in water, and washing from side
to side. _Life-lines_ were secured from gun to gun to support the
constant passing of men fore and aft the deck. On the fifteenth of
July, the snow-clad mountains of Tristan d’Acunha appeared, lighted by
a brilliant morning-sun, and towering to a height estimated at between
nine and ten thousand feet.

This island is occasionally resorted to for water, live stock, fruit,
vegetables, butter, &c.; the former may be had in abundance on the
northeast side, where, in a clear day, it may be seen rushing from
above, white as the snow on the mountain-top, and dashing on the beach,
from a cataract of fifty feet in height. Owing to the steepness of
the anchorage-ground and the frequency of sudden squalls, it is most
safe “to lay off and on,” and send a boat on shore. Vessels which
prefer anchoring, run in until the watering-place bears southwest by
south, about one mile distant, where they find seventeen fathoms, in a
gravelly bottom, mixed with broken shells.

This place was originally settled in 1811, by the unfortunate Jonathan
Lambert, of Salem, who was drowned in going to Inaccessible island. It
has ever since been occupied by an English sergeant and family, from
the Cape of Good Hope, by order of the British government, who took
possession of it, as was said, with the ostensible motive of keeping it
as an outpost to St. Helena, at the time of Bonaparte’s imprisonment
there.

It may be doubted whether a desire to prevent the Americans from
resorting to the island, as a place of rendezvous in the event of
another war, was not the real motive which actuated the British to take
it within their protection.

On the nineteenth, having then been out twenty-three days, we
obtained soundings in sixty fathoms water, on bank Lagullus, off
the Cape of Good Hope. Dashing onward through storm and tempest,
endeavouring to keep about latitude 38° or 39°, on the sixth of
August, forty-one days from our departure from the bay of Montevideo,
we descried on the northeast the uninhabited island of St. Pauls.
As we approached from the southward and westward, it bore the exact
resemblance of a long-nosed porpoise; but when passing its eastern
extremity, and bearing off about four miles north, it appeared like a
spermaceti whale, the head being to the eastward: fronting it was a
moderately-high conical peak: its highest point would scarcely exceed
five hundred feet. Three or four days subsequently, we encountered a
very heavy gale from northnortheast, accompanied by a tremendous swell
of the ocean; during its violence, a sea of uncommon height and volume
struck the ship, and threw her nearly on her beam ends, completely
overwhelmed the gig in the starboard-quarter, crushed it into atoms
in a moment, and buried the first three ratlines of the mizen-shrouds
under water.

It was fortunate that we escaped without further danger, as it came
thundering onward “mountains high.” A universal silence prevailed
during its threatening approach: after it had passed, great
apprehensions were expressed that it would “break on board,” and
completely sweep the deck.

As we proceeded along and gradually made northings from longitude
about 90° east, the winds began to be variable and the weather warm;
greatcoats and peajackets disappeared from among the crew, and finally
white duck trousers and shirts were alone seen. The southeast tradewind
did not unequivocally set in until we had arrived in the latitude of
16°, and longitude 102°.

[Sidenote: ENGANO--BENCOOLEN.]

On the twenty-third of August we made the island of Engano, the
southernmost of the chain of islands which runs parallel with the west
coast of Sumatra, and which is inhabited by a vile race. From Engano,
the winds were very light and variable from the southeast, accompanied
with lightning, thunder, and rain, till the twenty-eighth, when we
anchored in the bay of Bencoolen; about midway between the Ratones or
Rat island and the point on which the Doosoon, or village of Bencoolen
or Marlborough is situated, and about three and a half miles from
either place.

This settlement was ceded by the English to the Dutch government,
with all the British possessions in Sumatra, by the treaty of the
Netherlands in 1824, in exchange for Malacca and the claims of the
Dutch to the island of Singapore. Rat island basin is resorted to by
vessels intending to remain some time, more particularly during the
prevalence of the northwest gales from October to March; but coasting
craft always resort there during the southeast winds, which last
through the other half of the year.

A boat, with acting Lieutenant Sinclair, was despatched to the town,
and in a short time a very polite invitation was received from J. H.
Knoerle, Esq., the Dutch resident, to breakfast with him the next
morning, and to Captain G. and myself to reside with him during the
ship’s stay. By this boat we heard of the entire destruction of Qualah
Battu, by the Potomac, which happily precluded the necessity of an
unpleasant visit, and saved the officers and crew the painful duty
which would otherwise have devolved on the Peacock. The demolition of
this place struck terror into the inhabitants of all the native ports
on the coast, and will doubtless produce a salutary effect.

[Sidenote: RAT ISLAND.]

In the afternoon, we took a boat, and landed at Rat island. Two acres
of dry land would cover it; the coral reefs, which extend northward
and southward, are very extensive and dangerous. The island contains
four or five wretched huts, including a stone building now in a state
of much dilapidation, and a godown or magazine at the building, which
is open at the sides. In heavy westerly gales, the spray of the sea
breaks over this speck in the ocean. Fish is the chief food of the
inhabitants. The teeth of these islanders (possessed by few of them)
are of a deep black colour, and show that they are frequently employed
in chewing areca, &c. The chief man, called Rajah Mundo, is a Malay,
about seventy years of age, but still active and healthy, with features
so brown and deeply furrowed as to resemble a piece of soleleather.
When we entered his abode, a stone building, it reminded me of
Hogarth’s picture of the last day, when every thing has fallen into
decay. The steps were nearly all broken down; one of the two wooden
pillars which supported the portico was decayed, and had fallen; the
roof was gone, and the walls were falling; two half-starved monkeys
stood as sentries, at the door, having something which was intended as
an apology for a tail. The other articles of furniture in this abode
consisted of two Chama gigas, or the great giant clams, the root of a
tree for seats, two broken earthen pots for cooking, and a joint of
bamboo instead of a water-bucket, which latter served likewise the
purpose of a drinking-vessel, as we found in asking for some water.
The floor, apparently, had never been washed; the ceiling was of
coal-black; and centipedes, lizards, and snails, were crawling in every
direction over the walls. In the only dry corner, lay a sick daughter,
between two mats; but the mother of the rajah formed the consummation
of this dreadful picture: at the back door stood what I suppose must
be called a human being. We started back in amazement on seeing this
frightful object, thinking her to be deranged; the horror of Macbeth,
on seeing his chair occupied in the banquet-scene, by the ghost of
the murdered Banquo, could not have been surpassed by our own on this
occasion. The words of the royal thane rushed upon my memory, and I
instinctively uttered--

    “Avaunt and quit my sight! let the earth hide thee:
    Thy bones are marrowless!
    Thou hast no speculation in those eyes.
    Which thou dost glare with.”

    “Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves shall never tremble.”

The only article of dress on this singular being was a filthy, ragged
waist-cloth, apparently covered with vermin, from the belt of which was
suspended a long knife; her gray elf-locks scattered by the wind--her
eyes running with rheum--her face and hands covered with dirt--her body
loathsome with leprous spots; contrasted with her dark Malay skin, gave
her a truly hideous appearance; added to this, a solitary long black
tooth projected over her under lip, and her trembling and attenuated
frame displayed the influence of that baneful narcotic, opium, to
which she was addicted. Wretchedness could not portray a more faithful
picture: imagination had nothing to conceive. We gladly left this
loathsome habitation, upon a ramble about the coral reefs for shells,
and shortly embarked for the ship, rejoiced at being removed from a
horrid object, which long after haunted my imagination by night and
day. I have since learned that she is a fiend in human shape, living by
means the most diabolical.

[Sidenote: BENCOOLEN--NUTMEGS.]

The next morning we landed at Bencoolen, and found in waiting a
neat carriage, in which we were conveyed into a handsome park, and
subsequently to the government-house. Here we were received, at the
lower end of a long staircase, by the resident, and ushered up stairs
into the great hall, through two lines of soldiers, as fierce in
appearance as were ever exhibited on a stage: they consisted of Malays,
Sumatrans, and Javanese, from Neas and Borneo, and from the bay of
Bengal, turbaned, whiskered and mustachoed, and in some cases furnished
with long beards, armed with swords, the cris or crooked dagger,
pistols and muskets.

A most substantial breakfast was quickly served in great variety, and
placed in the verandah, for the benefit of the air. With a cloudless
sky above, the most beautiful scenery surrounding us, and a hospitable
reception, we had nothing more to desire. The government house is
situated in a park, embosomed in flowers, fruit, and forest-trees,
guarded by line hedges and a neat bamboo fence. The road around
the grounds was lined with the male and female nutmeg-trees, the
clove-tree, and the graceful areca-palm, laden with its yellow fruit,
hanging in large clusters under the branches. Here and there were
interspersed beautiful flowering trees in great variety, and creeping
plants intertwined among the branches. The female nutmeg was loaded
with fruit resembling, in colour, a straw-coloured peach, but pointed
slightly towards the stalk, like a pear. The fruit which had become
ripe, had burst about half an inch of its outer-covering, and displayed
a beautiful network of scarlet mace, covering a black shining hard
thick shell, in which lay concealed the nutmeg itself. The bark of the
nutmeg-tree is smooth, and of a brownish-gray colour; the branches are
handsome and spreading; the leaves, elliptical and pointed, afford a
very grateful aromatic odour: on the same tree may be seen the fruit in
its progressive stages to maturity, and the white blossoms hanging in
clusters, encircled by the yellow leaves from which they have burst.
From the centre of the flower proceeds an oblong reddish knob, which is
the fruit. I was told that a tree which produces, daily, throughout the
year, one nutmeg, is considered very productive and profitable, even at
the present low prices. At the Dutch company’s late sales, they brought
from fifty-two to fifty-six dollars the pecul, equal to one hundred
and thirty-three and one third pounds avoirdupois; and the mace,
from ninety-two to ninety-five dollars. The male nutmeg-tree, being
necessary to the propagation of the fruit, cannot be dispensed with;
it is generally filled with white blossoms, and interspersed among its
female companions. The operation of loosening the inner shell of the
nutmeg is a tedious process, and is performed over a slow fire; when
the shells are sufficiently loose to rattle they are broken, assorted,
soaked several times in water and lime--then placed in dry boxes or
small rooms to sweat; and finally, are packed in dry chunana or lime
made from seashells. The small and oblong fruit is not merchantable;
the best kind is large, round, heavy and firm, of a lightish-gray
colour on the outside; a strong fragrant smell; and when pricked, the
oil should readily ooze out.

Very extensive plantations of this great article in commerce, are in
the vicinity of Bencoolen. Those which belong to the Dutch government
are twelve miles distant, on a fine road extending towards the
mountains, about one hundred miles long. I visited some Parsees, who
were busily employed in curing nutmegs and mace. Large quantities of
the latter were spread on mats, exposed to the sun, where they remain
to dry, from six to ten, and from four to six o’clock. The extreme heat
of the day dries them too much and renders them brittle and deficient
in fragrance; if placed in too moist an air they are subject to decay
and will breed worms; they should be chosen fresh, tough, oleaginous,
of an extremely fragrant smell and of a bright reddish-yellow. The
rind of the nutmeg when not too dry, is preserved in sirup and the
entire fruit, when nearly ripe, made into a delicious and ornamental
sweetmeat; it is cut part of the way down, at regular intervals and
fancifully ornamented by neat scollops, peaks, and leaves, showing at
one view the straw-coloured outer-covering, the scarlet mace, and the
inner black shell, covering the nucleus of the whole, the nutmeg.

Pepper, another article of export to a great extent, is cultivated
throughout the island. It is propagated by cuttings or layers, as we
raise grape-vines: if suffered to trail on the ground, it produces no
fruit, and support is consequently necessary: it climbs from twelve to
twenty feet high: the blossom is white; the berries, when at maturity,
are red and much resemble branches of red currants. In a favourable
season it produces two crops.

The only fortification which Bencoolen possesses, is at Fort
Marlborough--it is in excellent order, and situated but a short
distance from the landing-place. There are not more than fifty or
sixty Dutch soldiers in the place. The town is built on a point of
land named Onjong Carang: it is of moderate elevation--falls back
into low swampy ground, and is at times severely visited by that
fatal disease, the jungle fever: the liver complaint is also very
general. Bencoolen and the ten doosoons or villages, contain about
eighteen thousand inhabitants, consisting of a few Dutch, some of the
descendants of Englishmen, who speak the English language--Chinese,
Javanese, Bengalees, Parsees, Sumatrans, Malays, &c. The Chinese occupy
an enclosure in the centre of the town, and have a Budhist or temple:
they bear the same characteristic marks here as elsewhere, being
industrious, frugal, and thrifty. Each doosoon is governed by a rajah,
who is chosen from among themselves, and if approved by the residents,
he cannot lose his office during life, unless for the commission of
some flagrant crime. The residents and a certain number of Rajahs form
a court for the trial of all cases requiring legal investigation. If
a criminal is condemned to suffer death, a copy of the trial is sent
to the governor-general of Java, and if approved by him, the sentence
is carried into execution. It is degrading to humanity to see the
abject air with which the resident is addressed by the lower order of
Sumatrans. They stand, when they enter his presence, with an aspect
of humble submission: their bodies are bent--the palms of their hands
are seen resting on their knees, and fear is strangely marked on their
countenances.

The Dutch Government has two schools here--they are conducted upon
the Lancasterian plan; the first, which is kept in an outer room of
the government-house, contains about twenty-five scholars. The pupils
were learning arithmetic, to write on sand, and to read from certain
portions of the New Testament printed in the Malayan language. The
translation was made and published, many years since, at the expense of
the pious and well-known philanthropist, Robert Boyle, when the place
was under the jurisdiction of the British Government, and was sent
forth into various parts of the island. The second school is in the
orphan-house, about a mile from the resident, on a piece of high ground
sloping towards the bay, of which it has a fine view: in front of this
building are several acres of land, substantially walled in with brick,
and covered with fruit-trees and vegetables. The boys are educated in
this school for agents, writers, &c. The principal articles of export
from Bencoolen, to which may be added Trippany or Bichos do Mar, and
some edible bird’s-nests, have already been named. Coffee and rice are
raised here only in small quantities; they are imported from Padang for
home-consumption, and consequently are not articles for export.

All the fruits common to tropical climates, and many which I am assured
are not known in any other part of India, flourish here in great
abundance. The animal used for domestic labour is the carbou, called
here carboo: he resembles the buffalo without any hump between the
fore-shoulders: although naturally of a dull, obstinate and capricious
nature, he acquires a habit of surprising docility; at the command of
his master, he lifts the shafts of the cart with his horns, places
the half yoke (which is secured at the end) across his neck, and then
stands quietly until he is secured.

I have several times been amused to see three or four children climbing
on his neck, and seating themselves on his back, to take a ride. He was
easily governed, after they were seated, by a rope which passed through
the cartilage of the nose. He is a stout-built and strong animal, but
cannot endure much fatigue, and has shorter legs and larger hoofs than
the ox, with a thick sinewy neck. The horns of this animal are very
large and generally turn backward, being nearly square at the base.
Like the hog, he is fond of wallowing in the mire, and embraces every
opportunity to cover himself with it--being thus cooled and protected
from the heat of the sun, and from troublesome insects.

The bay of Bencoolen is extensive, and so much exposed that, when
the sea-breeze commences, it throws in a heavy sea, and renders
it impossible to carry off sufficient water for a large number of
hands without causing a long delay. Owing to this cause, we were
unable readily to obtain the required supply of water; and yams and
bread-fruit being scarce, both of which we much needed, we took our
departure, leaving instructions for the “Boxer” to follow us to Manila.

[Sidenote: DEATH OF THE RESIDENT.]

Having taken leave of the very kind and hospitable Mr. Knoerle, the
resident, and of his companion, the Rev. W. C. Slingerland Conradi,
pastor of the Dutch Church, I shortly found myself once more on board.
I have lately received the afflicting intelligence that Mr. Knoerle,
while on a journey to Palembang, was murdered at the instigation of
some of the principal rajahs of Bencoolen. His body was literally cut
in pieces, and then burnt with great exultation, by the perpetrators
and their friends. The question naturally occurs, what could have
incited the rajahs to commit so atrocious and fiend-like an act? The
answer is--_revenge_, which is always deeply seated in the heart of a
Malay.

Mr. Knoerle, imprudently, injured the happiness of many families by his
unrestrained passions, and thereby sealed his horrid fate. He should
ever have borne in mind that he lived among

    “Souls made of fire, and children of the sun,
    With whom revenge is virtue.”




CHAPTER III.

    SAILING FROM BENCOOLEN--ARRIVAL AT CROKATOA AND FORSAKEN
    ISLANDS--SCENERY--BEAUTIFUL SUBMARINE GARDEN--BRITISH
    FRIGATE--ARRIVAL AT ANGIER--SAILING FROM ANGIER--BAY AND CITY OF
    MANILA--BUILDINGS--POPULATION--PROVISIONS--LABOUR.


On the last day of August, we weighed anchor at nine o’clock in the
evening, from Bencoolen bay, and aided by the current and a land
breeze, about midnight we once more found ourselves at sea. Owing to
light head-winds from the southeast, calms, contrary winds, and violent
squalls from the high mountains of Sumatra, accompanied with thunder
and lightning, we did not arrive at our anchorage ground, off the north
end of the island of Crokatoa, in the straits of Sunda, until the
eighth day after our departure from the bay.

At daybreak the following morning, a boat was despatched in search of
inhabitants, fresh water, and yams; but, after three or four hours’
search, returned unsuccessful. Two other boats were then sent under
the command of the first lieutenant Mr. Cunningham: after a fruitless
search, that officer returned at sunset, after visiting Long Island
and Crokatoa. It was found difficult to effect a landing any where,
owing to a heavy surf and to the coral having extended itself to a
considerable distance from the shore. Hot springs only were found on
the eastern side of the latter island, one hundred and fifty feet from
the shore, boiling furiously up, through many fathoms of water. Early
on the succeeding morning, Capt. Geissinger, Lieutenant Fowler of the
marines, and myself, left the ship, on a visit to Forsaken island: we
flattered ourselves, as we approached the island, that the grateful
sound of many a murmuring rill, trickling down its steep and woody
sides, was heard by us--but we also were doomed to disappointment;
for, on landing, the sound was found to proceed from the singing of
locusts, which had obtained undisturbed possession of the island, and
were making sad ravages among the tender herbage. “No human footsteps
marked the trackless sand.”

In reconnoitring between Forsaken and Crokatoa islands, we were struck
with admiration at the great variety, both in form and colour, of an
extensive and highly beautiful submarine garden, over which the boat
was smoothly and slowly gliding. Corals of every shape and hue were
there--some resembling sunflowers and mushrooms; others, cabbages
from an inch to three feet in diameter: while a third bore a striking
likeness to the rose.

                            “Some present
    Large growth of what may seem the sparkling trees,
    And shrubs of fairy land: while others shine
    Conspicuous, and, in light apparel clad,
    And fledged with snowy feathers, nod superb.”

The water was clear as crystal; not the slightest breeze ruffled its
glassy surface: the morning sun, having just freed the noble peak of
Crokatoa from its misty covering, shone forth with unusual splendour;
the sides of the hills, to their lofty summits, were clothed with
all the variety of fruit, forest, and flowering trees common to
intertropical climates: large flocks of parrots, shaking the dew of
night from their downy pinions, were seen wending their way towards
the palm-trees, in search of daily food; and monkeys in great variety
were commencing their lively gambols amid the wild-mango and orange
groves:--again, gazing in delighted wonder beneath us, we viewed the
superb scene of plants and flowers of every description, glowing in
vivid teints of purple, red, blue, brown, and green--equalling, in
richness and variety, the gayest parterre. A variety of small fish,
spotted, striped, and ringed, possessing every colour and shade, were
sporting in these regions of unsurpassed brilliancy and beauty. It was,
apparently, a great gala day; for they were revelling in great ease
and luxury, playing all sorts of gambols in their bright sea-homes,
unconscious of danger, and taking a full measure of enjoyment, in
their unrivalled retreats. That nothing might be wanting to complete
this gay scene of Nature’s own choosing, shells of great variety and
shelves of coral, possessing every variety in colour, studded the
bottom; the superb Harpa, with its ribbed sides and straw-coloured
dress, slightly tinged with red and black; the Cyprea or Cowry of
almost every variety, covered with an epidermis or thin membrane to
protect its highly-polished surface; and many others, which might rival
the most delicate porcelain in whiteness and smoothness: there lay the
warlike Chiton, encased in his black coat-of-mail, ready for battle,
or adhering to the shell of a large Triton--the latter having closed
the entrance to his castle by a thick marble valve, which Nature had
provided as a protection against an enemy, or a barrier against the
rough beatings of a boisterous sea. Above, beneath, around us--all was
in harmony.

A solemn stillness--broken only occasionally by the diving of a huge
turtle, the harsh note of the wild seabird, the singing of locusts,
or the shrill cry of the tiger-cat--reigned every where in the narrow
strait which separates the two islands. Disappointed in receiving the
so-much-needed supply of water and provisions, we weighed anchor the
same evening for Angier, in Java, and before daybreak, came to in
its roadstead. On our passage across, about midnight, we observed a
large ship bearing down for us. Immediately all hands were piped to
quarters--the battle-lanterns lit, fore and aft--the gun-deck cleared
of hammocks--the two-and-thirties loaded with round and grape shot, and
run out--the slow matches lighted and placed in their tubs--the marines
ranged along the quarter-deck, and the powder boys stationed from the
magazine to the gun-deck--the surgeons in the cockpit were displaying a
fearful array of bandages; and in five minutes the ship was ready for
action. As the vessel neared us, we found her to be no enemy, but his
Britannic majesty’s ship Magicienne, from Batavia, bound to Bengal. So
we parted as we met--_friends_. May we never meet as enemies!

[Sidenote: VISIT OF THE JAVANESE.]

Day had scarcely made its appearance, ere the ship was surrounded
with Javanese canoes of all sizes, having outriggers to prevent their
oversetting, bringing fruits and vegetables, fowls, eggs, goats,
musk-deer, civet-cats, coloured and green doves; monkeys in great
variety; parrots, Java sparrows, having slate-coloured plumage and pink
bills, hats, shells, &c., for sale. Their strange mode of speaking the
English language, afforded much amusement to the whole crew: “Capetan,
you buy me fowl? Ib gotty fivety ten fowl, Capetan, he be great
biggy one; you buy Japa sparrow? Ib got uby, uby, yam, yam, plenty,
plenty, bery good; egg fowl, Capetan; fowl egg, Capetan, he be largy
one, biggy, biggy, all same as dat larangy, (pointing to a basket of
oranges,) I gib you Capetan, one hundred, five, ten, egg, (meaning one
hundred and fifteen,) sposey Capetan you gib me one dollar and one
quart;” (one dollar and a quarter.)

All this was spoken with great rapidity and amid forcible
gesticulations. They were not at all abashed in asking a double price
for their articles, and stale eggs; the latter, they always endeavoured
to impose on us as new and fresh. The greatest curiosity I have yet
met with, is the musk-deer; it is in height nine and a half inches,
and twenty inches in length, from the top of the nose to the tail; has
large protruding round eyes, moderate-sized ears and a sleek, grayish,
dun-coloured coat, with beautiful slender legs and small hoofs. In
its shape it is a perfect deer, but has no horns. I have, at times,
seen this animal possessed of two scythe-shaped teeth, projecting from
the upper jaw and placed near the extremity of the mouth, pointing
recurvated backward. When irritated it would cut deeply with them and
strike with great rapidity.

No covering beyond that of a waistcloth, was worn by the Javanese
boatmen, and but an additional breastcloth, by the females. An
odd-looking hat, which is in general use throughout the eastern seas,
is worn by both sexes; it is made of bamboo or palm-leaf, is impervious
to water, and may be likened to an old-fashioned painted dishcover,
divested of its brim. Both sexes chewed the areca-root to excess, and
were much disappointed that we could not supply them with opium, though
the penalty inflicted on them for its purchase, is slavery for life.
We paid a visit to Mr. Vogel, the commander of the Dutch fort, and met
with a very hospitable reception.

[Sidenote: MARRIAGE CEREMONY.]

The Camprongoe village of Angier contains about fourteen hundred
inhabitants, composed almost entirely of Javanese and Malays; it is
built on low ground, verging on a swamp, in the midst of palm-trees.
The houses, excepting perhaps a dozen, are of bamboo, roofed with
palm-leaf, and enclosed by a slight paling of wood. A bamboo bridge,
thrown across a ditch, conducted us to a very neat fortification; the
parade-ground on each side being shaded by rows of trees and having a
very pretty garden tastefully laid out and full of flowers, in front
of the commandant’s house. During the two days which we remained, a
marriage-festival was in progress; when the seven days of public
rejoicing were finished the parties were to be united. These festivals
only take place among the children of the rajahs, or very rich men.
Every person who chooses to join the procession, is feasted at a house
provided for that purpose, during the festival. Were it not for the
presents of rice, bullocks, &c., sent by the friends of the betrothed,
the expense would be too burdensome; as many hundreds attend, even from
the neighbouring villages.

The procession consisted of ladies and gentlemen, seated in separate
carts, persons on horseback and on foot, dressed in the gayest
habiliments which they could procure, carrying a great number of flags
of various colours and devices; and children dressed in yellow satin
trousers, their faces painted yellow, with large curved eyebrows and
fantastical caps. Great numbers of noisy instruments accompanied the
motley group, and the whole village was in an uproar, which ended only
with the setting sun. As we were passing the house of feasting, a
servant was sent out to solicit the honour of our company; we entered
the premises through two bands of musicians, who played on about thirty
instruments, which being struck by small hammers, made a tinkling sound.

The master of the ceremonies received us with great politeness and
with much ceremony; he was habited in a robe of crimson, figured with
velvet, having a silk scarf thrown over his shoulders, and wearing a
turban; his teeth were of a deep black, owing to his excessive use of
areca and phunam, and his lips and gums were of a livid hue. Scarcely
were we seated, at a table set apart for our own use, in the midst of
many hundred hungry native revellers, ere twenty-seven dishes, composed
chiefly of sweetmeats, (there not being a particle of meat or fish,)
were upon the table. After tasting a little of each, to show that we
were gratified with the _whole_ entertainment, and partaking of a cup
of tea, we took our leave; areca was offered, as is customary, on our
entry and departure. During the repast, four Javanese stepped out
between the orchestra and danced for our amusement; their movements
were slow, but very graceful, the head looking downward, and the arms
as much in motion as the feet; the former being extended occasionally
rather above the head, and the palms being generally opened outward and
placed in every position, excepting that of closing or clenching.

Two well-constructed piers at this place, running out from a shallow
creek, make a convenient harbour for small-craft, and near its upper
part, is an excellent place for procuring water, which is obtained by
a simple and expeditious process: a hose is connected with casks in
a boat beneath, the latter are filled in a few minutes, so that in
twenty-four hours the ship obtained twelve thousand gallons of water.

Yams, sweet-potatoes, goats, fowls, and fruit were purchased in
abundance, but neither _flour_ or _bread_ could be obtained. Several
monkeys were purchased by the crew at Angiers. After the ship had
weighed anchor a female animal of this tribe, having a young one
clinging closely to the under part of her body, broke loose, ran with
great swiftness to the end of the spankerboom, and plunged into the
sea; a Javanese boat, towing astern, took them in; but not in time to
save the life of the younger; the female was then secured but refused
to eat, and remained till next morning in a state of melancholy.
Believing the animal would die, she was unloosed and running with
great precipitancy to the end of the boom, looked into the sea; but
not finding the object of her solicitude there, she looked overboard,
from every part of the ship, moaning most piteously. About this time,
she observed a small gray monkey, differing in species from herself,
having a very long tail; she at once seized the latter and hugged it
with great, seeming delight. The attempt to remove it from her would
have been in vain, had any one been disposed to make the trial; when
any of the sailors or the monkeys approached her, she would hug her
new object of affection with greater tenacity, run out her head, pout
disdainfully, and show a formidable row of white ivory; chattering and
scolding, at the same time most vehemently; occasionally she would
allow it to wander a few steps, holding on by the tip of the tail,
during the time; when too far, she would pull it backward, but if it
attempted to go beyond the length of its leading-string, (the tail,)
she would quickly drag it to her, box its ears, closely embrace it, and
after being reconciled, would feed it with some dainty morsel, stowed
away in her pouch.

On a cold, stormy day, during our passage from La Plata to Sumatra, the
gun-deck being deluged with water, a Porto Praya monkey, a favourite
of mine, came to the cabin-door, and in its most expressive manner
solicited permission to enter; it stood shivering in the doorway,
dripping with saltwater, and looking the picture of distress, at
the same time snuffing up the warm air, proceeding from a stove; I
called it in, at length; the first object of its attention was the
stove, (never having seen one before,) but approaching too near, it
slightly burnt its nose, and quickly retreated, looking with much
astonishment at the cause; finally it sprung to the top of the table
and skipping about from one place to another, unfortunately alighted on
the stove, where it danced for a second or two, jumped precipitately
down, and came to me, showing its paws, (which were scorched white,)
and apparently asking for relief. I rubbed them with oil, at which the
animal appeared to be relieved; it then quietly took its station as
close to me as possible, testifying unquestionably, as much silent
gratitude as any human being could have done in a similar situation.

[Sidenote: SAILING FROM ANGIER.]

We sailed from Angier roadstead, for Manila, on the afternoon of
the following day, but owing to light airs we made slow progress
to the island of Lucepara; here we were obliged to anchor to find
sufficient depth of water to carry the ship into the straits of Banca.
After sounding with several boats, there was, at length, found a
channel, having about three feet more water than the ship drew. When
passing through the straits we were compelled frequently to anchor,
in consequence of the soundings disagreeing much with our miserable
charts. A fine breeze wafted us through these waters with great
rapidity, as far as Pulo Aor; from thence, until we were fairly to
the northward of the great group of shoals, lying towards the coast
of Palawan, we were more indebted to the current. On our passage from
Sumatra to the Philippines we passed through a considerable portion of
the archipelago of the east, where lie Borneo, Java, and Sumatra, the
Molucca and Philippine islands; where the sea is like a smooth bed on
which the islands seem to sleep in bliss--islands, in which the spice
and perfume gardens of the world, are embosomed; where the bird of
paradise, the golden pheasant, and a hundred other birds of brilliant
plumage, have their homes amid thickets so luxuriant, and scenery so
picturesque, that European strangers there find the fairy lands of
their youthful dreams. But our pleasing anticipations were at times
blighted with the apprehension of striking on some unknown shoal, or
encountering one of those tremendous typhoons for which the northern
coast of China, in the latter part of September, about the changing of
the monsoons, is so notorious.

Thick squally weather attended by variable winds blowing sometimes from
the northern, and again from the southern quarter, wafted us rapidly to
the eastward, after doubling the shoals. We proceeded onward, assisted
by a strong current, until two o’clock in the morning of the thirtieth
of September, when a slight gleam of light appearing through the
mist, discovered to us mount and point Calavité, on the northwestern
extremity of Mendora islands. Shortly afterward, we descried Luban
and Cabia or (Goat) islands. At ten in the morning, we dropped anchor
between the island of Corregidor, and the mountain of Marivales on the
island of Luconia or Luzon.

Our chronometers being useless, we were obliged for some time
previously to entering the China sea, to depend on our “dead
reckoning;” notwithstanding twenty-five or thirty miles a day was
allowed for a current setting to the eastward, after passing Pulo
Sapata, the allowance proved insufficient, as we had gained forty-five
miles over our reckoning. During the past month, the diarrhœa prevailed
among the crew, probably occasioned by a change of climate from cold to
extreme heat, from rainy weather, excess in fruit, and frequent change
in diet, but more particularly from the compulsory substitution of yams
for bread.

Before we anchored, the ship was boarded by a Spanish officer,
despatched by the Corregidor to make the usual inquiries. Our arrival
was communicated by telegraph to Manila. The officer’s boat was rowed
by sixteen Indians, and armed with four neat, small brass swivels,
small-arms, pikes, &c., to enable them to combat with the pirates who
occasionally frequent the bay, and to capture smugglers.

Having previously paid the commandant and family a visit, by whom we
were received in a most hospitable manner, we landed in the morning
at the base of Marivales, in search of adventure. The ship anchored
the following afternoon, in the roadstead of Manila, about four miles
from the low-stone lighthouse, situated at the embouchure of the river
Pasig, and being only twenty miles from our first anchorage-ground. On
the succeeding morning, the captain of the port paid the usual visita,
(visit,) accompanied by Mr. Henry Sturgis, of the very respectable
American house of Russell and Sturgis, and Mr. Edwards, the American
consul. Having received a kind invitation from these gentlemen, to take
up our abode with them, I moved on shore, bag and baggage, to the house
of the latter gentleman, finely situated at St. Cruz, opposite the city
of Manila, and directly upon the banks of that beautiful river.

[Sidenote: MANILA.]

The noble bay of Manila is about forty-five leagues in circumference
and nearly free from dangers; the scenery is of a varied character:
mountains and hills are discernible in the distance, from Marivales,
sweeping in a circle around the bay, till the most lofty form the
eastern boundary of the island, the shores of which are washed, on one
side, by the ocean, and on the other, by the waters of Lago de Bria;
from the lake flows that rapid steam, the Pasig, (pronounced Parseek,)
into the bay, at the distance of twelve miles, watering a rich extent
of low land.

The city of Manila lies on the south side of the river, and is enclosed
by dark stone-walls, having a broad and deep ditch; so high are the
city-walls, that only the red tiled-houses, and the towers and domes
of churches, can be seen in the distance above them. On entering the
city, you are struck with the stillness and gloomy appearance of the
streets, interrupted only occasionally by the march of soldiers going
to relieve guard in this garrisoned town, the rumbling of a solitary
carriage, the tinkling of a bell, announcing the approach of the host
on its way to administer the last religious rites to a dying sinner,
or a distant convent-bell summoning the religious to prayers. The
streets, although narrow, are kept clean, and have good “trottoirs;”
the great square in the centre of the city contains a fine bronze
statue of Charles the Fourth of Spain, erected by his _dutiful_ and
_affectionate son_, Ferdinand the beloved, so says the inscription on
the pedestal; three sides of the square are occupied by the cathedral
or church of the “Immaculate Conception,” the consistorial palace, and
the palace of the governor-general. Manila contains about ten thousand
souls, and is garrisoned by two regiments of soldiers; at Binonda,
St. Cruz, and the villages in the vicinity, three more are stationed,
besides three thousand placed in different parts of the island. Of
these, twelve hundred only are Europeans, the remainder being Indians;
they are well clothed, fed, lodged, drilled, and paid. The houses are
built in a quadrangular form and are very massive, having covered
balconies, from the second story, projecting over the street; they are
generally spacious, well-furnished, and neat; the ground-floor, called
the “bodega,” or “godown,” is occupied as a magazine for goods, as a
stable, and for other purposes. Instead of lattice-work or glass, the
_mya_ shell is used, set in frames about four inches square; it affords
a very agreeable light, equal to that passing through ground-glass; the
windows thus formed extend round the house, can be slid at pleasure,
and render the dwellings light and airy; the second story is of thin
brick, or light framework, and plastered; the roof is covered with
tile, the framework being so constructed that it will readily yield to
the shock of an earthquake, (which is of very frequent occurrence,)
without being easily thrown down. A very large proportion of the
buildings, in the towns and villages, are in the native style, being
for the most part, owing to the low swampy ground, erected on piles
from three to six feet high, and are constructed with the bamboo or
palm-leaf; the interior is much exposed to view, as the windows made
with palm-leaf or bamboo lattice, occupy three fourths of their fronts
and are let down at daylight.

Within them may be seen, in the evening, the Holy Virgin, surrounded
by lights and placed in a glass-case, dressed in a gay attire, holding
in her arms the infant Saviour; around her are seen the whole family,
at prayers, before retiring to rest, thanking her for the blessing
bestowed during the day and imploring her guardianship from all enemies
during the night; at other times, the inmates are chewing buyo or
areca nut, &c., smoking cigars, (of which they are immoderately fond,)
combing and oiling their long thick hair, or thrumming on the guitar
and singing. Sewing is but little attended to, as their dresses are
simple and their children are permitted to run about naked. They cook
twice daily on the outside of their houses; their fare consisting
principally of rice and some fruit, with an addition perhaps of a
fowl, some fish or _locusts_. All their washing is done at the river,
where they bathe daily. Every man among the Indians owns a game-cock,
and he frequently loses all he has, even to his waistcloth, in that
barbarous species of gambling, cock-fighting; the birds are armed with
scythe-shaped spurs, and one or both expire, generally, during the
first few rounds. The immense number of licensed cock-pits which are
found in every town and village, serves to show the prevalence of the
passion for this amusement.

Manila is connected with the towns on the right bank of the river, by
means of a single bridge, built very neatly of stone, the arch of which
was thrown down a few years since by an earthquake, and is rebuilt of
wood. The commerce of the city is carried on at the right side of the
river, at Binondo, St. Cruz, &c.; that side having the advantage of
numerous natural canals or branches, from the main river, on which are
situated extensive warehouses, so that the cascoes, which are large
boats, having moveable or sliding roofs, in sections of about six
feet in length, can land their goods immediately at the wharf without
exposure to the weather.

The city of Manila, within the walls, was computed by a census taken
in 1818, to contain a population of six thousand eight hundred and
seventy-five, exclusive of the military. Buildings which rent from
five to fourteen hundred dollars per annum, in Binondo, contiguous to
the river and its branches, will not in Manila, rent for more than
one fourth of that sum, owing to its want of water communication, yet
the government have very inconveniently placed the new and extensive
custom-house close to the city-walls. There are about seven thousand
Chinese settled here; all the Europeans, including the military, do
not exceed twenty-five hundred; the rest are Indians, who, were they
aware of their strength, might easily wipe from the face of existence,
the handful of Europeans and other foreigners, who hold them and their
lands in subjection.

Provisions are so low in value, that it is said four dollars
will furnish a labourer, in rice, &c., sufficient for his yearly
consumption. Labour is exceedingly low; the wages for a servant-man,
being from one to one and a half dollars per month. Rice has been
sold here for three quarters of a dollar the caban of one hundred and
thirty pounds: at this time it is double that price, in consequence of
vast quantities having been shipped to Canton. A person possessing the
immense sum of twenty-five dollars is considered, among the Indians,
as “passing rich,” and immediately quits labour to _keep shop_ in the
street, with a moveable stall, or in front of his bamboo-hut; the
_goods_ usually consist of burgo, alias areca nut, and betel-leaf,
well prepared with liquid chunam for immediate mastication, cocoa-nut
oil, a little coarse pottery, wooden shoes, palm-leaf hats, and
perhaps a few mats. A great number of the shops contain only the
first-named article, and the stock in trade may possibly amount to the
sum of two rials, (twenty-five cents;) here they sit cross-legged,
during the whole day, or, desiring a change, sideways, on a gridiron
bamboo-seat. I have frequently feared the whole stock in trade, would
be ejected into the street by their insatiable masticatory powers, but
occasionally seeing the havoc they are making, and fearful of becoming
bankrupts, they thrust a corner of one of the handspike cigars (which
are in common use) into their mouths and finish off the evening with
it.




CHAPTER IV.

    MANILA CONTINUED--CALZADA--SEA-CUCUMBER--CIGAR-FACTORY
    AT BINONDO--EXPORTS--DUTIES--WEIGHTS AND
    CURRENCY--EXCHANGE--IMPORTS--LUZON--CAVITÉ--HURRICANES--LAGO DE
    BRIA--PINA--INDIAN AND BUFFALO--VISITS TO THE ALCADE.


There is a fashionable drive in Manila, called the Calzada,
encompassing, probably, two thirds of the circumference of Manila:
it passes over a low, level piece of ground, bordering on the fosse
or ditch of the city on one side, and on the open country and
parade-ground fronting the bay, on the other. Along this drive,
carriages may be seen rolling, filled with well-dressed ladies, but
mostly of a dark complexion, (Mestizoes,) smoking cigars with most
perfect nonchalance: some are puffing paper cigars--others, those which
resemble, in size, Havanas; and again others, a ponderous article which
would occupy an indefatigable smoker a week or ten days.

There are no public houses in the neighbourhood, and the only amusement
is a dull drive at sunset, day after day, over the same grounds, in
preference to others infinitely more pleasant, stopping occasionally
to light a cigar from a slow match: this latter article is carried by
boys, who infest the road, making loud and frequent vociferations,
going upon the full run. The market is abundantly supplied with beef,
fish, fowls, ducks, turkeys, geese, fruit, and vegetables. A large
proportion of the labouring class take their meals in the street,
from the innumerable venders which occupy the sidewalks, to the great
annoyance of pedestrians. Among the strange articles exposed for sale
in every street are fried locusts, made into a curry. That disgusting
looking fish, called by some ichthyologists, Holothurial--sea-cucumber
and sea-slug by the English--Bichos do Mar by the Portuguese--Tripango
or Trippany by the Javanese--Swala by the Sumatrans--and Balaté by the
Philippine islanders, is in common use among the Chinese and Europeans.
I have eaten it made into a soup or stew: it has a taste between the
green fat of a turtle and the soft gristle of boiled beef, and is said
to be very nutritious, but not equal to the edible bird’s-nests, or
nests of the sea-swallow of these seas. No less than five thousand,
four hundred and eighty-six piculs of one hundred and thirty-seven
pounds each, equal to seven hundred and sixty-eight thousand and forty
pounds, were shipped from this port to Canton last year, as appears by
the custom-house returns, besides a large quantity smuggled. By far
the larger portion is brought here by American vessels from the Fejee
islands. These fish resemble, when contracted, a cucumber, and it is
difficult to discover the eyes and mouth: some are black, others white,
gray, &c.: they are, at present, sold at fourteen dollars per picul,
the cargo.

The land in the vicinity, for many miles, is low and marshy, but neatly
cultivated with rice. It is surprising that health should be enjoyed at
all in the midst of rice-swamps, in this sultry climate: thousands of
huts are built in the midst of them, when it would prove fatal to the
whole population in almost any other country. The healthiness of the
climate, I think, must be attributed to the narrowness of that part of
the island, and to the constant and refreshing breezes which dissipate
its miasma. The bamboo is one of the most useful among the vegetable
creation--houses, chairs, fences, settees, buckets, boxes, baskets,
hats, drinking-cups, fans, mats for boats, spear-handles, sails, &c.,
are made of its wood; while the tender root is served up at the table,
boiled and roasted, used as a pickle and as a sweetmeat. I visited the
celebrated great cigar-factory at Binondo; about five thousand females
are employed in it, and about six hundred men: it is a royal monopoly.
Every person is searched twice a day to see if he pilfers any of his
majesty’s tobacco--he being the sole owner and master of the factory.

[Sidenote: MANILA--EXPORTS.]

The principal articles exported, (except gold and silver,) were indigo,
sugar, rice, hemp or abacia, cotton, cocoa-nut oil, sulphur, balaté, or
bichos do mar, coffee, wax and hides, in the following proportions:--

Indigo, thirty-one thousand, one hundred and nineteen arrobas, of
which twenty-five thousand were agua rose or liquid, in jars; sugar,
six hundred and seventeen thousand, seven hundred and thirty-eight
arrobas, excepting eighteen thousand arrobas of the first quality;
rice, one million, seventy-four thousand, one hundred and seventy
arrobas, including two hundred thousand, uncleaned; hemp, or abacia,
one hundred and fifty-three thousand, four hundred and forty-seven
arrobas--it is of two qualities, and is called, in the United States,
Manila-grass or hemp; cotton, four thousand one hundred and ninety-five
arrobas; cocoa-nut oil, six thousand, nine hundred and sixty-four
arrobas; sulphur, two thousand, four hundred and eighty arrobas; balaté
or bichos do mar, five thousand, four hundred and eighty-six arrobas;
coffee, fourteen thousand, six hundred and twenty-five arrobas; hides,
twenty-nine thousand, nine hundred and fifty-eight arrobas.

The minor articles of export are dried shark’s fins, oysters, muscles,
shrimps and other dried fish, oil of sesamum, edible bird’s-nests,
ploughs, hatchets, knives, cowries, rattans, canes, sail-cloth of
yéacos, dammer or pitch, tortoise-shell, horns, mother-of-pearl,
shells, tallow, shoes and boots, chocolate, soap, cigars, tobacco,
saltpetre, lard, dried deer and ox sinews, birds of paradise, wheat,
flour and bread, mats and palm hats, cigar-cases, rum, molasses,
sugar-candy, sweetmeats, groundnuts, gomuti or sagwire, cabinet
furniture, ebony and Japan woods, and Agal, a species of sea-weed,
or rather dulse, dissoluble into a glutinous substance, and used in
China as a valuable paste: also sinamaya, a fine cloth, made from the
avacá; and piña, which is a narrow cloth, made from the fibres of the
pineapple; it is, deservedly, considered as one of the most beautiful
fabrics in the world--is transparent, of a great variety of beautiful
patterns, and equal in the fineness of its texture to cobweb-muslin.
A large portion of the rice is exported to Canton by Americans, to
save the measurement duty, or to Lintin when they proceed elsewhere to
purchase other than China goods. Occasionally the export is prohibited,
either from scarcity or the caprice of the government.

The export of hemp, abacá or avacá, in the year 1829, was eight
thousand, four hundred and one piculs: in 1832, it had increased to
thirty-seven thousand, five hundred:--this article is the fibrous bark
of a wild banana, (musa textilis,) which grows abundantly in all the
Philippine islands. Gomuti or sagwire is exported in its natural state,
or made into cables, &c.: it resembles very coarse black horse-hair--is
the produce of the borassus gomuti or aren palm, which yields the
sagwire for cordage, and is found lying between the trunk and the
branches, on a soft gossamer-like texture, which is used in calking the
seams of ships: it also makes a useful tinder for kindling fire--grows
luxuriantly, away from the seacoast, but never produces more than two
crops of the sagwire.

The cocoa-nut oil is mostly shipped to Singapore, and from thence to
England, where it is manufactured into candles: it is of two qualities;
the best is boiled from the green nut--the ordinary kind is ground
from nuts, broken and exposed some days to the sun: the first quality,
only, is bought for shipping; as casks cannot be obtained, it is sold
in jars, and readily congeals when the thermometer is at 70°. Wheat
is raised in abundance, and ship-bread, of a very superior quality,
is generally sold at from four to five dollars the hundred pounds. As
salted beef, pork, butter, and hams, are purchased only by foreign
captains, they are of very slow and uncertain sale.

The _Import Duty_ in foreign vessels is fourteen per centum, Spanish;
the _Export Duty_, three per centum, excepting on hemp, which is free.
The importations for the year 1831 amounted to one million, seven
hundred and ninety-four thousand, three hundred and seventy-nine
dollars; the exports for the same period, to one million, four hundred
and fourteen thousand, seven hundred and ten dollars.

The gold and silver imported, amounted to three hundred and
thirty-seven thousand, two hundred and eighty-seven dollars, and the
amount exported, on which duties were paid, was forty-nine thousand,
two hundred and nineteen dollars. A large sum in gold, silver, and
in the dust produced in the island, is smuggled out of the country,
principally by the Chinese.

_Weights._--The quintal is four Spanish arrobas of twenty-five pounds.
The picul is here one hundred and thirty-seven pounds, Spanish, or one
hundred and forty pounds, English.

The _currency_ of the island is dollars and their parts, and doubloons;
the latter being worth sixteen dollars. _Exchange_ on London was four
and a half prem.; on Canton, two per cent. discount: but it necessarily
fluctuates very materially.

The _imports_ are British, India, and China goods, wines, sheathing
copper and nails, iron and steel, cocoa from Peru, &c. During the
southwest or foul monsoon, the shipping lies at Cavité, and in the
northeast or fair monsoon, (from October to April,) from three to five
miles from the entrance to Pasig, below the bridge which unites Manila
with Binondo.

[Sidenote: POPULATION--TAXES.]

The _population_ of the archipelago of the Philippine islands,
according to the returns made, in the year 1792, was one million, four
hundred thousand, four hundred and sixty-five; in 1805, one million,
seven hundred and thirty-nine thousand, two hundred and five; in
1812, one million, nine hundred and eleven thousand, five hundred
and thirty-five; in 1815, one million, nine hundred and twenty-seven
thousand, eight hundred and forty; in 1817, two millions, sixty-three
thousand, three hundred and ninety-five; in 1818, two millions, two
hundred and forty-nine thousand, eight hundred and fifty-two.

The increase in twenty-six years, from 1792 to 1818, was about sixty
per cent.; if to this be added thirty-seven per cent. for the increase
in sixteen years, from 1818 to 1834, the population at present amounts
to three millions, one hundred and twelve thousand, two hundred and
ninety-seven. The island of Luzon had a population of one hundred and
forty-nine thousand, six hundred and ninety-five: if to this we add
thirty-seven per cent. up to 1834, it will give two hundred and five
thousand and eighty two. Of this number, nearly one half is within
a circuit of twelve miles of the capital. The number of the negro
race, called Aetes, Ygorzotes, or Papuas, was estimated at seventeen
thousand, three hundred and fifty-five: this number does not include
many thousands, probably, who live among the fastnesses of the
mountains.

The principal object of the Spanish government in ascertaining the
number of inhabitants, was to levy a capitation tax; in some cases as
low as one rial per head--in others, twelve rials. The Chinese pay a
much higher tax than any other foreigners; the traders, in 1832, paid
six dollars per annum--the common labourers, half that amount. The
latter tax forced many of the poorer class to emigrate: the Spanish
government is afraid of them, and wishes also to employ the natives of
the country; it therefore laid this heavy impost for the purpose of
driving them away.

No foreigners have permission to remain there, even to this day, as
permanent settlers: they are liable to be ordered out of the country
by the governor at any moment, and this right is not unfrequently
exercised.

The island of Luzon, which derives its name from Luzong, a large
wooden mortar used by the natives for cleaning rice, was discovered
in 1521, and in 1571, Manila was founded. The discoverers found the
country about Manila thickly settled with an active people called
Tagalor; at the north of this nation they met with and conquered
the Pampangoes, Zambales, Pangasinanes, Yloeds, and Cagayanes: at
the eastward of the Tagaloes were the Camarines. Each of these was
a distinct people, having a particular language. None of them had a
sovereign or chief magistrate; they were divided into a great number
of small villages, containing from fifty to one hundred families,
each governed by a chief, who was chosen for his wisdom and his deeds
in arms. These petty states were continually at war with each other,
making slaves of their unfortunate prisoners--the mountains were then,
as now, inhabited by the negro race, common to many of the islands in
the eastern archipelago. These different races of people, with the
exception of about ten thousand, still form the population of the
island.

[Sidenote: CAVITÉ--PASIG.]

Three leagues from Manila is Cavité, called by the natives Caveit,
because it is a crooked point of land extending into the sea. (Here is
a small arsenal, and some small vessels are built, and occasionally a
ship of war. It was formerly the resort of the Acapulco ships, before
South America freed herself and commerce from the shackles which
deprived her of all participation in a free trade.) The natives were
found to have all the necessaries of life--rice, beans, millet, camote,
a species of potato, pine-apples, oranges, mangoes, hogs, ducks, fowls,
goats, and buffaloes, were in abundance. The island abounded in deer,
wild pigeons, and other game; the gomuti-palm yielded them, when fresh,
a pleasant beverage--when fermented, an intoxicating liquor: the pith
furnished with sugar--when the liquor was properly boiled down, a
farina, inferior to sago, and of the inside of its triangular-shaped
fruit a sweetmeat was made. The cocoa-palm afforded a delicious
beverage, and oil for cooking or burning: the areca-palm with its nut,
and the betel-leaf, produced their favourite buyo. The lakes, rivers,
bays, and ocean, swarmed with myriads of fish, which they ensnared in
the most ingenious manner, with nets, lines, &c.

The island is traversed by a chain of mountains, extending from north
to south, from which others branch out; some are found isolated, in the
midst of plains, while others are surrounded by water. Volcanoes are
found in various parts; between the provinces of Albay and Camorines
is the Mayon, shaped like an obtuse peak; it forms a good landmark for
navigators; there is also at Taal a similarly-shaped mountain in the
midst of a lagoon; it is called Bombou. Hot springs are found in many
places. The island suffers at times from the effects of tremendous
earthquakes, which destroy massive buildings, rend asunder the solid
walls of Manila, and shake the mountain in the ocean, to its centre.
The volcanoes, also, overwhelm whole villages with ashes, stones,
sand, and water; making steril, verdant fields; carrying ruin within
its influence, and destroying the hopes of the poor husbandman. It is
subject also to desolating typhoons or hurricanes, sweeping in their
erratic course, hundreds of slight-built huts, prostrating the largest
trees, dismasting or foundering at their anchor, numerous vessels, and
driving on shore or wrecking others, for nothing moveable at times can
withstand these mighty winds. The hopes of the planter are also, in a
few hours, destroyed by devastating clouds of locusts, which infest the
land, devouring in their course every green thing.

Possessing a humid and warm atmosphere, the soil naturally yields an
abundance of the necessaries of life, but the seasons generate many
fatal diseases.

[Sidenote: PASIG.]

On Manila Sunday, (our Monday,) a party of eight, one beautiful
morning, before sunrise, proceeded in three veloches (carriages of
a certain description) to the village of Santa Anna, distant about
three miles over a fine road and highly-cultivated country, where we
embarked on board two large bankas of about eight-and-thirty feet in
length, dug out of a tree, having a light bamboo-roof which could be
elevated or depressed at pleasure, and paddled by four Indians. Between
eight and nine o’clock, we arrived at the town of Pasig, situated
about three miles from the entrance of the lake; the passage up was
delightful--the land bordering on the river was low but well cultivated
with rice, sugar-cane, &c., and fruit; it was one continuous village on
either bank. Being a holyday, the natives were well and gayly dressed;
hundreds of canoes passed us, laden with fish from the lake; others
with fruit, vegetables, eggs, areca-nut and betel-leaf, beef, pork,
fowls, ducks, geese, turkeys, cocoa-nut oil, molasses and sugar, cloth,
of various kinds, baskets, mats, hats, &c., made of bamboo, all under
cover of the moveable roof; they were paddled by an equal number of
men and women, all apparently, in good spirits, and having always at
hand a joke, to bandy with our canoe-men, in the Taga language; they
were hurrying on to the great markets at Manila and Binonda, to dispose
of their various articles. On the shores, men, women, and children
were fishing with every sort of contrivance that can be named, in
the shape of nets, hooks, and lines; some men with nets scraping up
the mud from the bottom to obtain shrimps, which they found in great
abundance; others taking very large craw-fish. Hundreds were bathing
in the river, near the banks; whole families were seen together, from
the grand-mother to the grand-daughter, washing their long black hair
with vegetable soap, called by the natives gogo, being the inner-rind
of a tree growing here in great plenty. Many of the palm and bamboo
cottages were erected on piles close to the bank of the river, and
some canoes were made fast to the ladder ready for any of the family
to take an excursion, when they wished to go to the village-church,
or to gossip with a neighbour and partake of his hospitalities, which
consist of Burgo and a cigar, a fishing-party, a main of fighting-cocks
or a boat-race. The fronts of the houses being open, all the operations
of the various families could be distinctly seen. We met with many
hotels, alias eating-shops, placed on piles some distance from the
shore, where our boatmen stopped to obtain their breakfast, which
consisted of rice, shrimp and other fish, in abundance, for which they
paid about two cents per head. Many loungers were reposing on the
bamboo-flooring, smoking or chewing burgo, flirting with the young
damsels, who were indulging themselves in the same luxury as their
beaux; at the same time, perhaps, combing out and oiling their hair,
which generally reaches to the waist, and occasionally adjusting
their tapa or outer-cloth, which is either of striped silk or cotton,
extending halfway below the knee; some wore a nicely-laced embroidered
muslin handkerchief on their heads and shoulders; their feet, or rather
toes, are covered with scant and showy slippers, having no heels nor
any quarters, cut down within an inch and a half of the end; these
were well bespangled, and some of them bound with a stripe of gold or
silver lace; they are only worn on special occasions, by particular
individuals; a large proportion of the people go barefooted, or wear a
high wooden shoe, plain or ornamented with brocaded or spangled-velvet,
or gilt-leather. Every man who is able, wears shirts of the truly
beautiful piña, or cloth made of the fibres of the pine-apple, which
is manufactured on the island. The shirts, made from this cloth,
as fine as cobweb-muslin, beautifully embroidered about the bosom,
collar, and wristbands, are worn by all the Indians and Mestizoes,
on the outside of the trousers; the latter are made of piña, or fine
grass-cloth, (called siramaya,) according to the ability of the owner.
As for stockings, they are about as useful to a young Tagalo girl, as
knee-breeches to a Scotch-highlander.

Reclining on our gay pillow, stretched at ease, full length, on a
clean mat, laid on a raised bamboo-floor, discussing the merits of
cold roast fowl, ham, and tongue; a bottle of claret, and a bottle of
porter for our breakfast, I thought there were not many persons in the
world more comfortably situated for the time being. We stayed for a
short time at the house of the alcade of Pasig, a native gentleman of
Tagola parentage, and were hospitably invited to dinner. Having walked
through the town, visited the church and bazar, (which we found well
stocked with rice and fish,) we returned to the lake. The late heavy
rains had so swollen its waters that our canoes were paddled across
extensive paddy fields, where we met with others, fishing; we passed
close to several large craft, having two masts but no bowsprits, with
large mat sails, cables, and wooden anchors of various shapes. They
were clumsily constructed and badly rigged, but gayly painted on their
high bow-boards and on each quarter; the high stern was also painted
with flowers and a figure of the patron-saint after which the vessel
was named, in the gayest colours. There was nothing to be seen, on this
part of the excursion, excepting a wide expanse of water; mountains and
hills, in the distance, and fishing-snares placed in every direction.
Game of various kinds abounds among the hills, affording fine hunting.
Boa-constrictors and other reptiles may be found in abundance, and in
the creeks, alligators of an immense size. In the lake there are said
to be one hundred different varieties of fish; but it requires a week’s
leisure, a suitable banka, with many et ceteras, to enjoy the manifold
beauties with which this sheet of water is reputed to be surrounded.
We were much amused when on our passage to the lake, in discovering,
at a distance, a man floating with the stream and seated upright in
the water; we were unable immediately to discover what supported him
in that position, but shortly after we descried the projecting nose of
an enormous carabou or Indian buffalo. The Indian appeared to be quite
at his ease, sitting astride the ponderous animal, smoking one of the
immense-sized cigars I have before mentioned, and which would last out
a reasonable cruise. With the left hand he grasped the animal’s tail,
to support him in the current, and a rope passed through the nose (the
usual custom here) served to direct the _figure-head_ to any part to
which he fancied to go. He was hailed by our Indians and asked where he
was bound; he replied he was on his way to pay visits to some Señoritas
down the river, and, subsequently, was going to Manila, to sell his
carabou, (a distance of about ten miles.)

[Sidenote: PATERO.]

The scene was occasionally enlivened by the sound of a guitar,
proceeding from a canoe or a cottage on the shore. Rafts of cocoa-nuts,
containing many thousands, guided by a single man standing in the
centre of them, holding a long pole, with other rafts, of bamboo and
timber, were constantly passing us. On our return from the lakes we
visited several small streams on the left hand of the river, on which
is situated an extensive village called Patero, alias Duck-town--a
very appropriate name for the place, for I never before saw so many
ducks together; the cottages were standing very near to each other, and
thousands of these birds were feeding on the river, being secured by
a slight fence made of bamboo. Raising ducks and fishing seemed to be
the only employment. Every thing about the inhabitants wore a rustic
appearance, which was heightened, in a certain degree, by the plantain
and mango trees, overshadowing their picturesque habitations: some were
washing clothes in the stream, others, cooking in the open air--many
were stretched out at full length, asleep; children were hanging in
cots under the shadowy branches of the trees, soothed by gentle breezes
which rocked them to sleep--others, of a larger growth, in a state of
nudity, were playing with the ducks, sailing mimic boats, or making
_dirt-puddings_--not a few in number were diverting themselves with
cock-fighting--others were endeavouring to make a little musick, and
some were playing the game of draughts, with small stones. A portion
of the young Indian girls (Tagalos) were decorating or anointing
their pretty persons--others were paddling about in small canoes,
which they would occasionally upset to create a hearty laugh and
then, like dripping Naiads, again scrambling into them, would repeat
the same frolic. This village, or a succession of villages, extends
several miles along various outlets from the main river, from which no
portion of it can be seen, being completely hidden by the trees on the
banks; it contained, in 1818, three thousand, eight hundred and forty
inhabitants, all Indians; at this period, 1834, it has, probably, four
thousand, five hundred souls.

We returned to the hospitable alcade’s house about two, being only
a couple of miles from Patero, where we found a sumptuous dinner,
consisting of not less than twelve dishes of fish and meat, with a
variety of sweetmeats, fruit and coffee, (but no wine or spirits,) and
then cigars and buyo, for those who chose them. We did ample justice
to this repast, although nearly burnt up with a hot sun. This town, or
rather cluster of villages, is inhabited wholly by Indians, principally
Tagalos, and contained in 1818, twelve thousand, one hundred and forty
souls; at the present period, it has probably a population of fifteen
thousand; the houses are mostly built of bamboo and palm, and stand
on piles. In violent typhoons it is found necessary to secure them
with ropes, passed over the roofs, and fastened to strong posts. Their
elevation on piles is found a necessary security against the lake,
which occasionally, after violent rains, spreads its wide stream over
all the lowlands bordering upon it. The inhabitants raise cane and rice
in large quantities, with some wheat, Indian corn, fruits, &c. Fishing,
more or less, is the occupation of every one; they, apparently, live in
great simplicity and comfort, wanting nothing. A considerable quantity
of sugar is made here, there being several extensive buildings for
that purpose. Having taken leave of our kind host, we proceeded down
the river to Manila, and again were much delighted with the richness,
beauty and variety of the scenery. The mango with its umbrageous arms,
affording a delightful shade to the weary traveller--the plantain
and the banana, disputing every foot of ground, on the banks of the
river, the tall and graceful bamboo overtopping every thing around
it--extensive fields of cane, waving gently their green leaves to the
passing breeze, with fields of paddy, exhibiting the green spiral
leaf of the plant above the flooded meadows; numberless cottages were
seen, deeply seated in the midst of luxuriant fruit-trees, and a
massive church or convent was always in view, in some delightful spot.
Again we met Indians, of both sexes, fishing or bathing, going upon a
water-excursion, or to a ball, to chew buyo, to have a little chit-chat
or scandal with a neighbour, or visit a holy friar of a neighbouring
convent. These rapid and varied scenes, with our agreeable company,
afforded us much pleasure as we lay in our bankas, enjoying the rapid
passing views, which lapse of years cannot efface, exhibiting a rural
picture of great simplicity and beauty; the principal actors being a
race of Indians noted for the mildness of their tempers and for their
great hospitality.




CHAPTER V.

    DEPARTURE FROM MANILA--CHOLERA--CAPE BOLINA--CHINESE
    VESSELS--PILOT--MACAO--LINTING--VILLAGE--WHAMPOA--JOS
    HOUSES--SACRIFICE--ARRIVAL AT CANTON--RIVER AND BOATS--DESCRIPTION
    OF CANTON--GREAT IDOL TEMPLE--LEGEND OF THE JOS HOUSE--RELIGIOUS
    CEREMONIES--MINOR TEMPLES.


We had spent a fortnight most pleasantly at Manila, when the painful
intelligence was received, that the Asiatic or spasmodic cholera had
suddenly made its appearance on board the Peacock. It has been already
stated that the diarrhœa and dysentery were prevalent among the crew,
on the passage from Angier to Manila. These diseases were ascribed,
among other causes, to the want of bread and the substitution of yams,
&c. The cholera could not have arisen from any want of cleanliness,
for our ship, from her keelson to her royal truck, was kept thoroughly
clean and in the finest order, both at sea and in port. The united
causes which produced this malady were, probably, change of food,
the great quantities of fruit used by the crew, and the arrival of
the season of the year, (about the change of the monsoons in the
bay,) which is generally unhealthy. The first case was in a sailor,
named Peterson, sixty-three years old. He had made a hearty meal on
bean soup, with pork, and about an hour afterward the first symptoms
made their appearance; the evacuations became copious, coldness and
insensibility supervened; the pulse became scarcely perceptible; the
countenance livid, ghastly, and sunken; spasms attacked the lower
extremities; and the surface was covered with a cold, clammy sweat. The
surgeon administered six grains of opium, in three doses; bad symptoms
increasing, fifteen drops of cajeput oil were given in brandy and
water, and repeated in half an hour. After the last dose of opium there
were no evacuations, but the spasms had increased, extended to the
abdominal muscles, and caused such extreme distress, that it required
three or four men to hold the sufferer in his hammock; his groanings
and screamings were violent and frightful. In three or four hours
the spasms ceased. Notwithstanding the internal and external use of
the most powerful stimulants, the prostration increased, and, at four
o’clock in the morning, he was happily relieved from all the pains and
troubles of this life. Another case, was that of a seaman, named North;
he was found at eight o’clock in the evening, lying on deck, totally
unable to rise, from extreme prostration. Death had, apparently,
struck an instantaneous and a heavy blow; the victim was already
clutched in its most loathsome and terrific embraces; the evacuations
were of the usual character; in a few minutes, the pulse was scarce
perceptible; the surface, cold and covered with a viscid perspiration;
the countenance, dreadfully sunken, livid, and cadaverous; respiration
became laborious, and the sufferer was tortured with severe spasms, in
all his limbs and the abdominal muscles, which caused indescribable
distress. Notwithstanding every known remedy was applied, the spasms
became more general and severe; the respiration more difficult;
the distress more insupportable; the prostration increased until
insensibility supervened, and death finally closed the terrific scene,
eleven hours after the attack. I have selected but two, out of many
cases, which will serve to show the terrific and appalling effects
produced by one of the greatest scourges that ever visited the world.

Finding the disease fast spreading, and fearful that it might sweep
off a large portion of the crew, orders were given to get the ship
ready for sea, when sufficient provisions could be obtained, and to
seek a more salubrious air and the chances of health, in the China sea.
To be compelled to leave a comparatively healthy and pleasant abode
on shore, for a floating hospital, tainted with a highly infectious
atmosphere, was painful and dangerous, but such was our lot; for thirty
sick-hammocks were slung on the starboard side of the gun-deck, when we
weighed anchor, and a panic was visible in the countenances of nearly
the whole crew. We finally, lost seven men, but many of those who were
attacked and recovered, suffered from impaired constitutions, became
the victims to other diseases, and eventually died.

We got under way towards sunset, on the second of November, and having
passed close under the stern of his Britannic majesty’s ship Alligator,
to take leave of Captain Lambert, her amiable and worthy commander,
together with our friends, Messrs. Strachan, Sturges, and Edwards, of
Manila, who were assembled on her quarter-deck for that purpose, the
British flag being run up at our main; during this exchange of friendly
salutations, we filled away with a fine breeze, and in about three
hours, passed the island of Correjidor, and stood out to sea. For the
two following days the wind was very light; on the third, we made cape
Bolina.

[Sidenote: CHINESE VESSELS.]

Returning health was very visible among the crew in this short space of
time: no new case of cholera occurred after we inhaled the invigorating
and healthy ocean air. On the fifth day our _barbarian eyes_ were
_blessed_ with a sight of the _celestial empire_, consisting of several
islands. Seventy or eighty miles from land, we fell in with a great
number of fishing junks, of clumsy construction, having the appearance
of the antediluvian vessels exhibited in the old bibles, with mat or
bamboo sails; they were always observed in pairs, having whole families
of the “celestials” in them, dressed in the ordinary garb of common,
dirty fishermen; generally without any covering to the head--but little
to the back, and that in a most filthy condition. When within two
leagues of the Lemma or Ladrone islands, a junk lowered her sails close
to us, and in about five minutes, two of the “heavenly creatures” came
on board, in a small skiff, offering themselves as pilots, being as
guiltless of any knowledge of our language as we were of theirs; they
were dressed in tan-coloured jackets and immense wide breeches, or
rather petticoat trousers, reaching just below the knee, and wearing
a greasy woollen cap--shirts have never been in fashion with them.
They were very uncleanly in their persons, stout built, and healthy.
Having stepped on board, the first words they uttered, were, “Capetany
me peloto--you wanty peloto?” “Yes,” said the captain. “How muchy, how
muchy, capetany, you gib?” taking at the same time, from the waistband
of his trousers, twenty Chinese cash, and counting them in his hand,
he said, “Dollar, dollar, so muchy, so muchy.” The captain counted out
one half the number, which was the usual pilotage to Macao roads. The
“celestial” then added three to the number, making thirteen, and the
bargain was made, he not forgetting to ask, as is usual, for a bottle
of samshew, (rum,) which he snugly stowed away in his bosom. Scarcely
had he taken half a dozen strides up and down the deck, and pointed to
steer more to port, before he asked for chow, chow, meaning something
to eat, which, to his astonished eyes, was furnished forthwith, in a
lordly dish, on a chest on the quarter-deck. He pointed occasionally
to starboard or larboard, through the labyrinths of islands. In the
course of four or five hours we anchored under the mountainous island
of Lautavee, during the night. The pilot, having received his money
next morning, with a countenance indicative of extreme happiness, and
ascertained carefully, that every dollar was good, took his leave,
having been almost useless. I went over to Macao the next morning,
passing through a fleet of sampans, (small boats,) navigated by
damsels, that one might almost deem amphibious, in which dwell whole
families, in a most miserable condition. I landed close to the quay,
leading to the Beach Hotel, kept by Markwick, an Englishman, fronting
on Pria Grande, a public walk, without trees, facing the outer harbour
and islands. The ship finally anchored at Linting, (Ling-ting,) which
is eighteen miles from Macao, and twenty-five from the Bogue, or mouth
of the river. This island was scarcely inhabited till 1814, when, in
consequence of a dispute between the British and Chinese, the company’s
ships remained here for some time. Population increasing, supplies of
vegetables and beef became plentiful, and induced American and other
ships to make it a place of rendezvous; but the importation of opium
being prohibited, both at Canton and Macao, at this time, the vessels
engaged in importing that article, repaired to this anchorage, when
they found every facility through Chinese boats, to smuggle or to
purchase it. This was the origin of the opium go-downs, as they are
technically called, or receiving ships, for this and other articles
for the Canton market. There are now, in 1832, from seven to eight
ships engaged in this illegal traffic. Among this number there is one
American vessel, the Linting, and occasionally there are two. In the
commencement of the northeast monsoon, in October, ships repair to this
place, where they usually lie to the end of April; when the southwest
monsoon commencing, they remove to the north end of the island, where
they stay six weeks, and then remove to Cap-sin-moon, (Cap-shuy-moon,)
a more secure, but less convenient anchorage.[A] There are now six
villages in Linting; in 1814, there were not more than sixty persons on
the island; in 1821, not quite two thousand, and now, the estimate is
upward of five thousand.

[A] Goods are trans-shipped from these places, without government
deriving any advantage.

We found here, at anchor, about thirty sail of fine English and
American ships. The next afternoon we landed on Linting, with a small
party, at a miserable filthy village. From the hills, on the back part
of the village, we obtained an extensive view of the bay, the extended
surface of which was dotted with thousands of boats. The islands around
are miserably barren, worn into deep furrows, along their broken,
hilly sides; and, excepting a few terraces, formed along their base,
on which upland rice and a few vegetables are grown, have altogether
a desolate appearance. When we entered the village, (containing about
twenty or thirty huts,) every man, woman, and child, turned out to see
the barbarian ladies and gentlemen. A more ragged, filthy assemblage
was, perhaps, never before seen. We hurried through, obliging them not
to press too closely upon us, fearful some of their old acquaintance,
apparently the rightful inheritors of their persons, might, contrary
to our wishes, transfer themselves to us. The next evening, Captain
Geisinger and myself went to Whampoa. Nothing worthy of notice took
place on our passage, excepting that sacrifice was made at every Jos
House we passed, by burning sacred paper at the bows of the boat, so
that we might be favoured with a fair wind. The same ceremony was
performed with the boats passing down, so that the god, or jos, was
completely puzzled; and therefore it was occasionally calm. The wind,
to show the impartiality of its director, would, at times, blow down
the Taho, or Tigris, against us, then die away, and give us a partially
fair wind.

As soon as the captain of the boat found it was coming aft, he placed
some oranges before a hideous painted god, in the little altar, which
all boats, ships, and shops, possess, lighted it up well, put some
odoriferous matches in a vessel of sand, and set them on fire. “Now,”
said he, “we sail hab fair win. Spose me tak care for Jos, Jos tak care
for me.” I really thought the bargain a fair one; and both parties held
honestly to their agreement, for we had a fair wind the remainder of
the passage; but Jos, having a bad appetite, we “turned to” and eat up
his supper, very much to the discomfiture of the captain.

[Sidenote: WHAMPOA ISLAND.]

It being Sunday, we attended a Bethel-meeting on board the ship
Superior; the service being performed by the Rev. Mr. Stevens, who had
just arrived from New Haven. We found, lying in Whampoa-reach, a great
number of English and American vessels, extending from two to three
miles. Whampoa, where the ships anchor, is between Dane and French
islands, and part of the island of Whampoa. Foreigners are allowed to
visit Danes’ island, but they are not allowed to visit the city of
Whampoa, the suburbs being filled with vile wretches, who endeavour,
upon every occasion, to create a quarrel, by using insulting language
and throwing stones; and when they outnumber the foreigners, a hundred
to one, they beat them with long bamboos, to the great risk of their
lives. The land on Whampoa island, is generally very low, and banked,
to keep out the tide. It is well cultivated with rice, cane, savo-root,
and other vegetables. Several pagodas are in sight from the anchorage,
and one that has been built “time out of mind,” is near the town of
Whampoa, nine stories high.

[Sidenote: CITY OF CANTON.]

At noon, we left the shipping for Canton, and in three hours arrived
at the factories, situated near the river, in the suburbs of the city
of Canton. The river was thickly covered with boats going in all
directions, from the humble sampan to the gay and splendid mandarin
boats, having streamers flying, gongs beating, and manned with a great
number of oars. Numberless boats were fishing, with every sort of
apparatus; others conveying the harvest of rice home, sculled by two
long oars, each manned by six stout fellows, the perspiration running
down their almost naked bodies in streams.

Every foot of land is cultivated or covered with buildings; boats,
without number, are moored along its banks the whole distance; but
within three or four miles of the factories, the crowd of vessels was
prodigious. Large men-of-war junks, of a most unwieldly and primitive
construction; flower-boats, kept for infamous purposes; pleasure-boats;
marriage-boats; and boats which carry bands of comedians, were lying in
all directions. Many of them have beautiful lattice-work sides, painted
green, and gilt with good taste. All the vessels on the river have one
distinguishing mark, an immense large eye on each side of the bow. “How
can you see,” say the Chinese, “spose hab no eye?” Small ferry-boats,
the residence of whole families, are constantly plying between the
city, or rather the suburbs, and Houani; also, boats laden with tea and
silk goods, from the interior or going to Whampoa; market, victualling,
and pedlars’ boats; boats of a peculiar construction, laden with oil in
bulk; others filled with coarse China ware, bamboo hats, and baskets;
umbrellas, and beautiful lanterns, covered with various devices;
and every thing that can be named, from silks and teas to fat pups,
fish-maws, and trussed rats.

The factories, or hongs, for foreign merchants, are pleasantly
situated, fronting the only open space of ground within the suburbs.
They are generally built in a neat style, but with slight pretensions
to architecture.

The city of Canton is built on a plain, encircled by a high wall, at
the foot of barren hills. I looked into the city through three of
the gates; the streets present a corresponding appearance to those
in the suburbs, being extremely narrow, and paved with hewn granite;
the tops of the houses nearly united, so that bamboo poles are laid
across from roof to roof, on which awnings are spread to protect
the inhabitants from the intense heat of the sun. The common houses
are extremely filthy; there is no circulation of air through them.
Notwithstanding the extreme narrowness of the streets, (only two
persons can conveniently pass,) fish-mongers and butchers, victuallers,
and venders of Jos paper and Jos sticks, &c., are permitted to encumber
them; so that when a lady, or lordly mandarin passes, in a sedan-chair,
or a cooly, with his burden, the cry of ly, ly, (make room, make
room,) is constantly ringing in your ears, to the great annoyance of
the passengers in the extremely thronged alleys. Oblong signs, of a
vermilion colour, with large golden letters, line both sides of the
streets, so as to hide the lower parts of the buildings: they make,
notwithstanding, a very gay appearance. The basement story of every
house, seems to have in it a shop filled with merchandise; and every
third house, I believe, has some eatables for sale: bird’s-nests,
fish-maws, shark-fins, dried oysters, muscles, deer-sinews, fish of all
kinds, pork, beef, &c.

All kinds of strange compounds are cooked in the streets and are
frequently made of vile materials, such as are never sold in any other
country. Vast numbers of shops are filled with gilt paper--paper
men, women, and beasts, of all sorts, with or without horns, and of
frightful shapes; some with moveable goggle eyes, and moveable heads,
painted of all colours, with mouths extending from ear to ear, intended
for offerings to a temple or Jos-house. A small oven is built at every
shop-door, in which to burn incense to their penates or household
gods, and in every shop, house, boat, and junk, altars are erected,
surrounded by a frightful paper Jos, ornamented with painted and gilt
paper, and having odoriferous matches burning before it.

In company with an American missionary, the highly respectable and
Reverend Mr. Bridgham, who has made great proficiency in the Chinese
language, and is extending his researches in various ways, more
especially in teaching a number of Chinese youths, &c., I paid a visit
to the great idol temple of Honam, opposite the city, on the south
side of the river, which is here about fifty rods wide.[A] This great
temple and monastery contain one hundred and seventy-four priests. The
general character given of these, by the Chinese, is, that they are
great debauchees, gamblers, and common mendicants; like the criminals,
their heads are close shaven, they not being suffered to wear the
long braided queue; and they are held in no manner of respect by the
people. The temple is said to be immensely wealthy. These priests are
of the sect of Firk, or Budha, and the temple, or rather succession
of temples, would, including the gardens, in which they raise large
quantities of vegetable and other fruits, cover an area of twelve
acres. Their diet is composed of fruits and vegetables. Meat and fowls
being expressly forbidden them.

[A] The legend of the _Jos House_, Hoe-chong-sze or Idol temple of
Honam:--

Jos is a corruption of the Portuguese word Deos, God. Every idol
temple is here called a Jos House; to worship any superior being is
expressed by, to Chin-chen-Jos. This great temple was, originally,
a garden, belonging to the family of Ko; about eight hundred years
since, a small Budha temple was built and named, Tseen-tsow-sze, “the
temple of ten thousand autumns.” It remained an obscure place till
about the year 1600, when a priest of eminent devotion raised its
character, and his disciple “Oh-tzze,” by his superior talents and
sanctity, together with a concurrence of extraordinary circumstances,
raised the temple to its present magnificence and extent. During the
reign of Kang He, the second of the reigning Tartar dynasty, in the
year 1700, Canton province was not fully subjugated; and the emperor’s
son-in-law, entitled Ping-naw-wong, “the subjugator of the south,”
reduced the whole to his father’s sway, and took up his headquarters
in the Honam temple, according to the Tartar and Chinese usage.
There were, on the island, thirteen villages which he had orders to
exterminate. Previously to carrying into effect this order, the king,
a blood-thirsty man, cast his eyes on Oh-tzze, a fat, happy, priest,
and remarked, that were he to live on a vegetable diet, he could not
be so fat--he must be a hypocrite, and should be punished with death.
He drew his sword to put in effect the sentence; but the limb suddenly
withered, and thus prevented its execution. That night a divine person
appeared to him in a dream, and warned him that Oh-tzze was a holy
man, and must not, unjustly, be killed. The following morning the king
presented himself before Oh-tzze, confessed his crime, and immediately
his arm was restored. He then did obeisance to the priest, took him for
his preceptor and guide, and, morning and evening, waited on him as a
servant. The thirteen villages heard of this miracle and solicited the
priest to intercede in their behalf: he complied with their request,
was successful, and the Honam villages were saved. Their gratitude to
the priest was unbounded; and estates, incense, and money, were poured
upon him. The king also persuaded his officers to make donations to the
temple, and it became affluent from that day. A hall for the celestial
kings was still wanting, and by seizing a fishpond belonging to a
wealthy man who had refused to sell it, sufficient ground was obtained
upon which to build it. The pond was filled up and built upon within
the short space of thirty days. It is sometimes called the Lok-wa-sze,
“the green temple.”

[Sidenote: GREAT IDOL TEMPLE.]

Entering under a gateway, guarded by strong wooden bars, we passed
over a paved flagging, to what is called, “Hill Gate.” It retains this
name, because the Budha priests affect to separate themselves from
the rest of mankind, and to live among hills and mountains--hence,
although a monastery be on a level plain, as it is here, the first
gate leading thereto, is always called “Hill Gate.” From “Hill Gate,”
we proceeded to the “Sea screen,” and from thence to the “Angler’s
eminence;” the origin of the latter name, I could not ascertain. We
proceeded onward to a building, having a roof similar to that seen on
China ware, and which was placed transversely across the passage. The
first objects which saluted our eyes, were two immense statues, in a
standing position, occupying each side of the passage; they are called,
“Huay Ha,” warriors; are not less than fifteen feet high, and present
a most threatening aspect, having eyes nearly the size of a hat-crown,
with a mouth of immense width, showing a long protruding fiery tongue;
these frightful objects were painted in gaudy colours and gilt; before
them were placed in white copper vessels--odoriferous matches in
sand. They are thus placed, as guards to the temple of Budha. After
passing a court-yard, similar to the first, I entered the pavilion or
palace of the great celestial kings, containing four colossal statues,
in a sitting posture, upward of twenty feet high, and gilt most
fantastically, but having placid countenances. The roof is supported
by thirty-two highly lacquered pillars. On the right and left, in two
small pavilions, are two military demi-gods, guarding, as I suppose,
the wings of the “great temple.” The principal hall or pavilion, which
I now entered, is called “The great, powerful, precious palace,” and
the “Golden coloured region;” fronting the entrance is the “Precious
Budhas,” “The past,” “present,” and “to come,” being three large gilt
images of Budha, called, in Chinese, Sam, Pow, and Fat. They are
moderate in size, compared with the monsters in the rear of them. The
artist aimed at giving them a benign aspect, and if immensely swollen
cheeks, sleepy eyes, and a drunkard’s countenance, form the true
expression of the milder virtues, it may here be seen to perfection.
On each side of the hall, eighteen disciples of Budha, are arranged;
they are kept well dressed, by the gilder and painter, and appear to
be very attentive to certain tablets placed before them, covered with
inscriptions.

Religious ceremonies are performed daily by the priests, before these
divinities, dressed, generally, in long scarlet cloaks, with hoods,
(similar in shape to those worn by the Roman Catholic priests when
saying mass,) praying and kneeling occasionally, doing reverence with
both hands, closed together flat, raised to the head, or lowered to
the breast and waist; and sometimes prostrating themselves to perform
the ko-tow or knock-head ceremony, by striking their foreheads on the
ground. During the time, incense is burning before the altar, in the
shape of economical matches, highly odoriferous, being as slender as
a knitting-needle, and are placed in white copper vessels. The roof
of this great temple is supported by forty-two red lacquered pillars,
having on them gilt inscriptions. The ceiling and rafters are so
painted as to give an agreeable effect. The hall is about a hundred
feet square. Another temple, to which we proceeded, stands in the
rear of the great hall; here is a single image of Amida Budha, in the
Chinese language, called, “Omb-to-Fat.” In the rear of the hall is a
white marble obelisk, having various idols carved upon it; in the room,
immediately behind this, is the palace of the goddess “Koon-Yan,” who
is much adored; she is considered Budha; for, as in Bengal, Budha is
of either sex, according to the statues or images. This hall or palace
has in it the same number of pillars as that possessed by the great
temple--forty-two. There are four buildings erected on the right wing
of these temples, and five on the left, but all detached. First, and on
the right, is the place of a military demi-god; the second building,
is a place for keeping alive domestic animals, pigs, fowls, ducks,
and geese, agreeably to the leading doctrine of the sect, that no
animal should be deprived of life; the devout send these animals to
the temple, when they make or pay vows, or return thanks, for favours
received. It is evident that the pious depositor of the hogs could not
have been a descendant of the ancient tribes of Israel, or he would
not have shown so much affection, as to put them out to board within
the precincts of the holy temple, and keep a number of “celestials”
in constant pay to attend to them. The third building contains the
bookroom and printing-office. In the fourth, in an upper room, are more
idols. The first, on the left, is a pavilion, containing a military
demi-god; the second is a reception-room for visiters; the third
contains the idol of “Te-song-Wang,” the king of Hades; the fourth
holds the great bell; and the fifth is the chief priests’ apartments.
In these, Lord Amherst and his suite were lodged, 1816 and 1817, on his
return from an unsuccessful embassy to the court of Peking. Three other
buildings close up the rear of the buildings, on the left wing, the
book-house, treasury, and refectory; the latter was dark and dirty, and
sent forth a compound of unpleasant smells. The kitchen, the utensils
of which, experience has taught them the inutility of cleaning, from
their after liability to dirt, resembled, in condition, the refectory,
which latter contained only long wooden tables and benches. In the
rear of the last temple, is the kitchen-garden, and a small pavilion,
erected to the memory of a deer, attached to its master. On the left is
a mausoleum, in which the ashes of burnt priests are deposited once a
year; near to which is a little shabby house, where the ashes are kept
in jars, till the time of the opening of the mausoleum. Farther on, in
the garden, is the place in which the bodies of the priests are burned,
in a small temple. Some priests, who possess a little property, direct
their remains shall be buried and not burnt. The cloisters in the
building, on the right and left of the temple, are small and gloomy;
the walls are any thing but white, having a table, with a small altar,
and a gayly-painted, ugly divinity on it; a wooden stool completed the
furniture.

In one room a great number of tailors were at work, not for the poor
and naked, but for these idle vagabonds. Passing through a small room,
we were invited by a member of the _holy_ priesthood, to take tea,
which was served up to us in the Chinese style, being made in the same
cup from which we drank it, and taken without sugar or milk. Eight or
ten sweetmeats formed the repast, the holy brotherhood standing around
us during the time, “thick as autumnal leaves in Vallambrosa,” curious,
doubtless, to know if _mortals_ and _barbarians_ ate in the same way as
the “celestials.”

[Sidenote: MINOR TEMPLES.]

There are not less than one hundred and twenty-four large and small
temples in Canton; and in the province, thirteen hundred and
twenty-seven. Public altars are here, in great number, dedicated to
the gods of the land and of grain, of the wind and clouds, of thunder
and rain, of hills, rivers, &c. At these, as in all the temples,
sacrifices and offerings, consisting of various animals, fish, fowls,
fruits, sweetmeats, cakes, and wines, are frequently presented, both
by government officers and by private citizens. Numerous attendants
are placed at the altars, within these temples of sacrifice, whose
lives are devoted to the service of the idols. On the birthday of the
gods, and at other times, processions are fitted out at the various
temples; the images are borne in state through the principal streets in
the city, attended by bands of musicians, priests, lads on horseback,
girls riding in open sedans, old men and boys, bearing lanterns,
incense, pots, flags, and other insignia; by lictors, with rattans,
and soldiers, with wooden swords. In addition to these processions,
the different streets and trades have their religious festivals, which
they celebrate with illuminations, bonfires, songs, and theatrical
exhibitions. Much extravagance is displayed on these occasions,
each company and street striving to excel all its neighbours. The
private and domestic altars, shrines crowded with household gods
and daily offerings, of gilt paper, candles, incense, &c.; together
with numberless ceremonies, occasioned by nuptials, or the burial
of the dead, complete the long catalogue of the religious rites and
institutions, which are supported by the people of Canton. The whole
number of priests and nuns, (there are said to be a thousand of the
latter,) is, probably, not less than three thousand, and the annual
expense of the one hundred and twenty-four temples, may be put down, on
a moderate estimate, at two hundred thousand dollars. An equal sum is
required to support the annual monthly and semi-monthly festivals and
daily rites, which are observed by the people, in honour of their gods.




CHAPTER VI.

    BUDHISM--TOMBS OF ANCESTORS--CEREMONIES--ORIGIN
    OF TUMULI OR TOMBS--SACRIFICES TO
    CONFUCIUS--PAN-HWNY-PAN--INFANTICIDE--CHARITABLE
    INSTITUTIONS--GOVERNMENT GRATUITIES.


[Sidenote: BUDHISM.]

Having given a description of the principal temples, &c., I shall now
state some particulars relative to the introduction of the Budhism
religion into China, and show what are the principles professed by its
disciples, at the present day.

In the sixty-fifth year of the Christian era, the emperor Ming-te
invited the first priests; they were probably natives of Ceylon.--The
invitation was given in consequence of dreams, which informed him that
the “Holy One” was in the West.

The ancient Chinese worshippers retained some knowledge of a Supreme
Being, yet the worship they paid to the visible heavens, the earth,
rivers, bulls, and above all, to dragons and the gods of lands, was
open idolatry. Subsequently, Confucius arose; he inculcated the
necessity of reverencing those whom the ancients had worshipped.
His wish was to promote the social happiness of his countrymen,
independently of the influence which religion exerts over a nation; his
great aim was the introduction of decorum and order into all the duties
of life; and to the strict observance of _external_ ceremonies, he
reduced the whole of religion. His system being found very deficient,
Taou-tze, the mystic philosopher, stepped forward to supply the wants
of the multitude by his abstruse speculations. According to his system,
all nature is filled with demons and genii, who constantly influence
the fate of man. He increased the number of idol gods to an enormous
amount, and attempted to define with scholastic precision, their nature
and offices. His demonology wanted perspicuity and contained too many
palpable absurdities to be generally received. Some of the emperors,
though declaring themselves believers in Taouism, could never introduce
a general acquiescence in doctrines which no one understood. China
wanted a creed which every man might understand; and the Budhists
supplied the desideratum;--accommodating their doctrines to all
existing superstitions, they opened the door to every description of
convert, who might retain as many of his old prejudices as he chose:
they were not rigorous in enforcing the obligations of morality; to
expiate sins, offerings to the idols and priests were sufficient. A
temple built in honour of any idol and richly endowed, would suffice
to blot out every stain of guilt and serve as a portal to the blessed
mansions of Budha. When death approached, they promised to each of
their votaries, speedy promotion in the scale of metempsychosis until
he should be absorbed in Nirupan or Nirvana--nonentity. With these
prospects, the poor deluded victim left the world. To facilitate his
release from purgatory, the ghostly hypocrites said mass, and supplied
the wants of the hungry departed spirit with rich offerings of food, of
which the latter enjoyed only the odour, while the priests devoured the
substance. As Confucius had raised the veneration for ancestors into
idolatrous worship, these priests were ready to perform their pious
offices before the tablets of the dead. Thus they became ingratiated
with the credulous multitude, who were too happy to avail themselves
of their cheap services. But notwithstanding the accommodating spirit
of their creed, the Chinese government has at times disapproved of
it. As the sanctity of marriage has been acknowledged in China from
time immemorial and almost every person at years of maturity has been
obliged to enter into that state, the celibacy of the priesthood of
Budha was considered as a very dangerous custom.

Budha regarded contemplation and exemption from worldly cares, as the
nearest approach to bliss; his followers, therefore, in imitation of
their master, passed and inculcated lives of indolence, and practised
begging, as the proper means of maintaining themselves. This mode of
livelihood was diametrically opposed to the political institutions of
China, where even the emperor does not disdain to plough. It was also
in opposition to the actual condition and wants of the people; a system
of idleness, in the immense population of the empire, would have been
followed by actual starvation, and a consequent serious diminution in
the number of inhabitants; for it is by the utmost exertion that they
are able to subsist. These serious objections to the foreign creed,
furnished its enemies with weapons by which to destroy it. It was
proscribed as a dangerous heresy, and a cruel persecution followed; but
it had taken too deep root to be easily eradicated. Among some of the
emperors too, it found abettors and disciples. Yet it never became a
religion of the state, nor were its priests ever able to exercise any
permanent influence over the populace. The Chinese are too rational
a people to believe, implicitly, all the Budhistic fables, nor can
they persuade themselves that the numerous images are gods. When we
add to this, their national apathy towards every thing connected with
religion, they being entirely engrossed with the things of this life,
we can easily account for their disesteem of Budhism. Nor can we wonder
that they worship at one time, the divinities they despise at another,
for ancient custom bids them follow in the track of their ancestors,
without inquiry or doubt, even when they cannot but ridicule its
absurdities.

The priests of Budha are a very despised class, and spring chiefly
from the lowest and most ignorant of the people. Their morals are
notoriously bad, and pinching poverty has made them cringing and
servile. They wander abroad in search of some trifling gift, and often
encounter a very harsh refusal.

Those temples which are well endowed by their founders, are crowded
with priests, so that only a few among the higher orders of them
can be rich. Stupidity, with a few exceptions, is their reigning
characteristic; neither skill nor learning is to be found among
them. Budha seems to have intimated that stupidity brings the votary
nearer to the blissful state of apathy, and therefore a knowledge
of his institutions is considered as the only requisite to form an
accomplished priest. The Budhists have no schools or seminaries, for
the instruction of their believers, seldom strive for literary honours,
and are even excluded from the list of candidates, so long as they
remain priests. Few among them are serious in the practice of their own
religion; they are in the most complete sense of the words, sullen and
misanthropic, and live a very secluded life. But religious abstraction
and deep contemplation, with utter oblivion of existence, appear to
be out of vogue. The halls of contemplation are the haunts of every
vice. Such effects must follow where the mind is unoccupied, and the
hands unemployed in any good work. The nuns are less numerous and more
industrious than the priests. It is a general observation that nearly
all the temples of Budha are in a dilapidated state; the contributions
of devotees not meeting the expenses of repairs. These erections are
very numerous; there is scarcely a small village that has not one, and
few romantic and beautiful spots can be found free from these seats of
idolatry.

The similarity of the rites of this superstition with those of papacy,
are striking: every one who visits the monasteries can at once discover
the resemblance. That they should count their prayers by means of a
rosary, and chant masses both for the living and the dead, live in a
state of celibacy and shave their hair, &c., might perhaps be accounted
for by a mere coincidence of errors into which men are prone to fall;
but their divine adoration of Teenhow, “the queen of heaven,” must be a
tenet engrafted upon Budhism from foreign traditions. We are unable to
fix the exact period at which this deity was adopted. There is a legend
of modern date among the people of Farh-keen, which tells us that she
was a virgin of that province, who, in a dream, saw her kindred in
danger of being wrecked, and boldly rescued them; but this affords no
satisfactory solution; neither is “the queen of heaven,” among the
deities which the Siamese Budhists worship, though they possess the
whole orthodox code of demons. It is probable that some degenerate
Nestorian Christians amalgamated with their faith and ceremonies, the
prevailing errors of China, and persuaded the priests of Budha to adopt
many of their rites.

Though the Siamese priesthood resembles the papal clergy, it does not
exhibit so striking a similarity as the Chinese. Moreover, the Budhists
of China have received all the sages which have been canonized by the
emperors or by public credulity. Mr. Gutzlaff says he saw, in one
instance, a marble bust of Napoleon, which they had placed in a temple,
and before which they burned incense; hence it would not be surprising
if they had also adopted among their gods so conspicuous an object
of worship as the “virgin,” who was adored by so many millions of
Christians. The present dynasty seems to have declared itself in favour
of the great Da-lai-lama of Thibet. As the Mongols on the northern
frontier are much devoted to the rites of Shamanism, and worship its
presiding deity, it was perhaps with a view to conciliate the good
will and keep in subjection these wild hordes, that the preference
was manifested. The religion of these barbarians being a modification
of Budhism, we might expect that the Chinese government would equally
extend its benevolence to the Budhist of China. Such does not appear
to be the fact; they are tolerated but receive no stated support from
the government; to some temples the emperors may extend his individual
charity, but this is not governmental patronage. If the high offices
of the state occasionally favour this sect, they never openly avow it;
such a disclosure would derogate from their fame and expose them to the
ridicule of their colleagues. In the midst of all these difficulties
a numerous priesthood do find subsistence. On certain festivals the
temples are crowded to excess, and the exclamation, “O-me-to-fuh” is
familiar to the ear of every one who visits them. I have thus given
a sketch of Budhism, a religion which strikes at the root of human
society, in enjoining celibacy as the nearest approach to perfection,
and in commanding its disciples to abandon relatives and friends,
without fulfilling their duties as citizens, parents and children.
We are bound to concede that this unnatural restraint is the source
of vice and crime; at the same time we must in justice admit that
Budhism does not sanction shocking rites, or Bacchanalian orgies, like
other idolatrous systems in Asia; nor have we to complain of that
indecency in its idol exhibitions, which is common to the religion
of the Hindoos; the wooden deities are hideous, but never repulsive
to the feelings of modesty. The temples are open to all, and serve
occasionally for theatres, gambling-houses and taverns. The Chinese
Budhists are a temporizing sect; their abstinence from animal food is
not very strict. They seldom defend their idols, or appear much annoyed
when they are treated with contempt;--their toleration arises from
indifference; all religions, with them, are equally safe, but theirs
is the best. They have no desire to proselyte, their numbers being
already too great, and are far from spiritualizing their idolatrous
systems. They talk of hungry demons and of the spiritual presence of
the idols in their statues, but this is all. To assert they adore one
Supreme Being in their idolatrous representations of his attributes, is
to state an opinion that never found a place in their thoughts, or in
their canonical works. They are without God in the world, and estranged
from the divine life, worshipping the works of their own hands, to the
disgrace of human reason.

[Sidenote: CEREMONIES.]

Having previously alluded to the superstitious rites performed by the
Chinese, at the tombs of their ancestors, parents and friends, I here
give a more detailed description of this idolatrous custom, together
with an account of the gluttonous and drunken feast, which is the
finale of what is misnamed a _religious_ observance. The description is
translated from an original Chinese composition:--

That this custom did not exist anterior to the age of Confucius is
inferred from the words of Mericius, who affirms that in the preceding
ages men did not even inter their deceased kindred but threw their
dead bodies into ditches, by the roadside. As they had no tombs there
could be no sacrifices performed at them. Confucius directed _tumuli_
to be raised, in order to mark the place of interment; this is the
first intimation of tombs, given among the Chinese. In raising these
_tumuli_ there was probably no other intention than that of erecting
a mark to the abodes of the dead. It is also known that children, in
that early age, would remain in temporary sheds, for years near the
grave of a parent, to “sorrow as those without hope.” But we proceed to
exhibit the _present_ state of these ceremonies as being all that is
of practical utility, in deciding the question at issue. The Chinese
visit the tombs, twice a year, in spring, and in autumn. The first
visit is called _tsing-ming_, “clear bright,” in reference to the fine
weather, which is then expected: the second is called _tsew-tse_, “the
autumnal sacrifice.” The rites performed during _tsing-ming_, are
those most generally attended by the Chinese. Their governors teach
that the prosperity of individuals and of families depends greatly
on the position, dryness, and good repair of their parents’ graves.
Therefore, “to sweep” and repair them, to mark their limits, and to see
that they are not encroached upon by others, are the objects of visits
to the tombs. When there are large clans, which have descended from
the same ancestors, living in the same neighbourhood, they repair in
great numbers, to the performance of the sacrificial rites. Rich and
poor, all assemble. Even beggars repair to the tombs, to kneel down and
worship. This usage is known by the phrases _saou-fun-moo_, “sweeping
the tombs,” and _paeshan_, “worshipping the _tumuli_.” To omit these
observances, is considered a great offence against moral propriety,
and a breach of filial duty. The common belief is that good fortune,
domestic prosperity, honours and riches, all depend on an impulse
given at the tombs of ancestors. Hence, the practice is universal; and
when the men are absent from their families, the women go to perform
the rites.

On some of these occasions, even where there are two or three thousand
members of a clan, some possessing great wealth, and others holding
high rank in the state, all, old and young, rich and poor, are summoned
to meet at the _tsoo-tsung tsze-tang_, “the ancestral hall.” Pigs
are slaughtered; sheep are slain; and all sorts of offerings and
sacrifices are provided in abundance. The processions from the hall
to the tombs, on these occasions, are formed in the most grand style,
which the official rank of the principal persons will admit--with
banners, tablets, gongs, &c., &c., &c. All present, old men and
boys, are dressed in the best robes which they can procure; and thus
escorting the victims for sacrifice, and carrying wine for oblations,
they proceed to the tombs of their ancestors, and arrange the whole
in order, preparatory to the grand ceremony. There is a _choo tse_,
“lord of the sacrifice,” appointed to officiate as priest, a master of
ceremonies, to give the word of command, and two stewards to aid in the
performance of the rites. There is also a reader to recite the prayer;
and a band of musicians, drummers, gong-beaters, &c.

After all things are in readiness, the whole party stands still till
the “master” gives the word. He first cries with a loud voice: “Let the
official persons take their places:” this is immediately done, and the
ceremonies proceed.

_Master._ “Strike up the softer music.” Here the smaller instruments
begin to play.

_Master._ “Kneel.” The priest then kneels in a central place, fronting
the grave, and behind him, arranged in order, the aged and the
honourable, the children and grandchildren, all kneel down.

_Master._ “Present the incense.” Here the stewards take three sticks of
incense, and present them to the priest. He rises, makes a bow towards
the grave, and then plants one of the sticks in an immense vase, in
front of the tombstone. The same form is repeated a second and a third
time.

_Master._ “Rise up.” The priest and the party stand up.

_Master._ “Kneel.” Again the priest and all the people kneel down.

_Master._ “Knock head.” Here all bending forward, and leaning on their
hands, knock their foreheads against the ground.

_Master._ “Again knock head.” This is forthwith done.

_Master._ “Knock head a third time.” This is also done. Then he also
calls out: Rise up; kneel; knock head;--till the three kneelings, and
the nine knockings are completed. All this is done in the same manner
as the highest act of homage is paid to the emperor, or of worship, to
the supreme powers, heaven and earth. This being ended, the ceremonies
proceed.

_Master._ “Fall prostrate.” This is done by touching the ground with
his knees, hands and forehead.

_Master._ “Read the prayer.” Here the reader approaches the front
of the tomb, holding in his hands a piece of white paper, on which
is written one of the sacrificial forms of prayer. These forms are
generally much the same; differing slightly according to the wish of
the composer. The form states the time; the name of the clan which
come to worship and offer sacrifice; beseeches the shades to descend
and enjoy the sacrifice, to grant protection and prosperity to their
descendants, that in all succeeding generations they may wear official
caps, may enjoy riches, and honours, and never become extinct, that by
the help of the souls in hades, the departed spirits, and the living
on earth may be happy, and illustrious throughout myriads of ages. The
prayer being finished, the master cries: “Offer up the gold and the
precious things.” Here one of the stewards presents gilt papers to the
priest, and he bowing towards the grave, lays them down before it.

_Master._ “Strike up the grand music.” Here gongs, drums, trumpets,
&c., are beaten and blown to make a noise as loud as possible.

_Master._ “Burn the gold and silver, and precious things.” Here all
the young men and children burn the gilt papers, fire off crackers,
rockets, &c.

Such is the sum of a grand sacrifice at the tombs of ancestors. But to
many, the best part of the ceremony is to come, which is the _feast_ of
the sacrifice. The roast pigs, rice, fowls, fish, fruits, and liquors,
are carried back to the ancestral hall; where according to age and
dignity, the whole party sit down to eat, drink and play. The grandees
discuss the condition of the hall, and other topics connected with the
honour of the clan; the young men carouse, and provoke each other to
“drink deep.” Some set out for home with a catty or two of the divine
flesh, which had been used in sacrifice; others stay till they wrangle
and fight, and night puts an end to the entertainment.

Those who live remote from the tombs, or who have no ancestral hall,
eat their sacrifice on the ground at the sepulchres. The poor imitate
their superiors, at an humble distance. Although they have no hall,
no procession or music, they provide three sorts of victims, a pig, a
goose, and a fish; some fruits, and a little distilled liquors--for
spirituous liquors are used on all these occasions. After presenting
these at the tomb, they kneel, knock head, and orally or mentally pray
for the aid of their ancestors’ souls to make the existing and all
future generations of descendants, rich and prosperous.

In these rites there is some difference in the wording of the prayer,
according as it is presented to remote ancestors or to lately deceased
parents or friends; but the general import is the same.

[Sidenote: SACRIFICES TO CONFUCIUS.]

Further to illustrate the modes “in which the Chinese worship Confucius
and the deceased,” we subjoin the following extracts, from the
_Indo-Chinese Gleaner_:--

From the Shing-meaou-che, volume first, page second, it appears that
there are, in China, more than _one thousand, five hundred and sixty_
temples dedicated to Confucius. At the spring and autumnal sacrifices
offered to him, it is calculated in the above-named work, that
there are immolated (on the two occasions) annually, six bullocks,
twenty-seven thousand pigs, five thousand eight hundred sheep, two
thousand eight hundred deer, and twenty-seven thousand rabbits.

Thus, there are annually sacrificed to Confucius, in China, _sixty-two
thousand, six hundred and six victims_; it is added, there are offered
at the same time, _twenty-seven thousand, six hundred_ pieces of silk.
What becomes of these does not appear.

[Sidenote: CHINESE WOMEN.]

It has justly been remarked that a nation’s civilization may
be estimated by the rank which females hold in society. If the
civilization of China be judged of by this test, she is far from
occupying that first place which she so strongly claims. Females have
always been regarded with contempt by the Chinese. Their ancient sages
seem to have considered them scarcely worthy of their attention. The
sum of the duties they require of them is, to submit to the will
of their masters. The lady, say they, who is to be betrothed to a
husband, ought to follow blindly the wishes of her parents, yielding
implicit obedience to their will. From the moment when she is joined in
wedlock, she ceases to exist; her whole being is absorbed in that of
her lord; she ought to know nothing but his will, and to deny herself
in order to please him. _Pan-hwny-pan_, who is much admired as an
historian, composed a book of instructions for her own sex, in which
she treats of their proper station in society, the deportment they
should exhibit, and the duties they ought to perform. She teaches them
that they “hold the lowest rank among mankind, and that employments
the least honourable, ought to be, and in fact are, their lot.” She
inculcates entire submission to their husbands, and tells them in very
plain terms that they ought to become abject slaves, in order to become
good wives. We cannot expect that these doctrines, inculcated as they
are, by a _lady_, who ought to advocate the cause of her sex, and by
one held in so high repute as is _Pan-hwny-pan_, will be overlooked by
the “lords of creation;” especially as they accord so perfectly with
their domineering disposition, in China.

Confucius, the prince of letters, _divorced his wife without assigning
any cause for so doing_; and his followers have invariably adopted
similar arbitrary measures in their treatment of females. The price
which is paid to the parents of the bride, constitutes her at once a
saleable commodity, and causes her to be regarded as differing little
from a mere slave. In the choice of a partner for life, she is entirely
passive, is carried to the house of the bridegroom, and there disposed
of, for life, by her parents.

The birth of a female is a matter of grief in China. The father and
mother, who had already hoped in the unborn babe to embrace a son,
feel disappointed at the sight of a daughter. Many vows and offerings
are made before their idols in order to propitiate their favour, and
secure the birth of a son. The mercy of the compassionate Kuan-yin,
especially, is implored to obtain this precious gift; but after they
have spent large sums of money in this pious work, the inexorable
goddess fills the house with mourning at the birth of a daughter.
“Anciently,” says _Pan-hwny-pan_, “the female infant was thrown upon
some old rags, by the side of its mother’s bed, and for three days
was scarcely spoken or thought of. At the end of that time it was
carried to a temple by a father, accompanied by attendants with bricks
and tiles in their hands. The bricks and tiles,” says Pan-hwny-pan,
in her comment on these facts, “signify the contempt and suffering
which are to be her companions and her portion--bricks are of no use
except to form enclosures and to be _trodden under foot_; tiles are
useless except when they are exposed to the injuries of the air.” The
_Sheking_, one of the venerated books, says,

    “----When a daughter is born,
    She sleeps on the ground,
    She is clothed with a wrapper:
    She plays with a tile:
    She is incapable either of evil or good.”

This last assertion is thus explained; “if she does ill she is not a
woman--and if she does well she is not a woman; a slavish submission
is her duty and her highest praise.” At the present day, as well as
anciently, the female infant is not unfrequently an object of disgust
to its parents, and of contempt to all the inmates of the family.
As she grows up, her feet are so confined and cramped that they can
never exceed the size of infancy. This process entirely incapacitates
her from walking with ease or safety. Small feet, that badge of
bondage which deprives the Chinese females of the power of locomotion,
confines them to the inner apartments, except when poverty forces
them to earn their livelihood abroad by labour, which is rendered
exceedingly difficult and painful if accompanied by walking. Females
of the higher class seldom leave the house, except in sedan-chairs.
Their lives are but an honourable captivity. They have few or no real
enjoyments--are exceedingly ignorant--very few of them being able to
read. They live and die little more than ciphers in human society.
Pale and emaciated, they spend the greatest part of their lives in
embellishing their persons; while females of the poorer classes, whose
feet are necessarily permitted to grow to the size which the God of
nature designed, perform all the drudgery of husbandry and other kinds
of work. These last are in general very industrious, and prove to be
helpmates to their husbands. Being remarkable for their good, sound
understanding, they manage their families with a care and prudence,
and so far as industry and economy are concerned, they are exemplary
mothers. Nothwithstanding the degradation in which they are held, they
are generally far superior in intellect to the common cast of Asiatic
women--are very ingenious in their needlework, &c. To be a good
mother, in the estimation of this class of the Chinese, a woman must be
a weaver. It is to be regretted, that they have very little regard for
the cleanliness either of their persons or houses; their children crawl
in the dirt, and the few articles of furniture in their dwellings are
covered with filth.

Infanticide of females is not unknown among the Chinese. They are far
from regarding this crime with the horror it deserves. “It is only a
female,” is the answer generally given when they are reproved for it.

The account of the _Charitable Institutions_ of Canton is brief. They
are few in number, of small extent, and of recent origin:--

First: Yuh-ying-tang, or the “foundling hospital.” This institution
was founded in 1698, and it was rebuilt and considerably enlarged
in 1732. It stands without the walls of the city, on the east--has
accommodations for two or three hundred children, and is maintained at
an annual expense of two thousand, five hundred and twenty-two taels.

Second: Yang-tse-yuen.--This is a retreat for poor, aged and infirm, or
blind people, who have no friends to support them. It stands near the
foundling hospital, and like it, enjoys imperial patronage, receiving
annually, five thousand, one hundred taels. Both this sum, and that for
yuh-ying-tang, are received in part, or wholly, from duties, paid by
those _foreign_ ships which bring rice to Canton. Every such ship must
pay the sum of six hundred and twenty taels, which, by imperial order,
is appropriated to these two hospitals. The number of “rice-ships,”
last year, was twenty-eight, yielding the sum of seventeen thousand,
three hundred and sixty taels. The English, American, Dutch, Spanish,
and Portuguese, are the only foreign vessels that bring rice to Canton.

Third: Ma-fung-yuen, or the “hospital for lepers.” This is also on the
east side of the city; the number of patients in it, is three hundred
and forty-one, who are supported at an expense of three hundred taels
per annum! The condition of the three hospitals, if such they may be
called, is wretched in the extreme. The foundlings are often those
children which have been exposed; and who, when grown up, are often
sold, and not unfrequently, for the worst of purposes. Such is a
specimen of the benevolent institutions of the celestial empire!

[Sidenote: GOVERNMENT GRATUITIES.]

The government, in times of calamity and scarcity, grant small
gratuities to the distressed, but the amount is so trifling, the
difficulty of obtaining it so great, that it is not worth the time lost
in seeking for it. During the month of August, 1833, owing to heavy
gales, accompanied with much rain, the rivers overflowed their banks,
and these united calamities destroyed a vast number of the humble
dwellings of the poor. The government, knowing the great distress of
many thousands, sent surveyors to take a list of the sufferers. About
_five_ months afterward, the two magistrates who divide the city of
Canton between them, gave public notice, that the sums subscribed by
the _public_ for their relief, would be paid out in the following
proportions, viz.: “To the poor, who were unable to rebuild their
houses--two mace, five candareens,” (about forty cents,) and if they
were _altogether destitute_, two months’ food in addition, viz., for
every “big mouth,” two mace and seven candareens: to every “little
mouth,” (child’s,) one half of that sum. The aged and feeble who are
unable to reach the distributing officer without several days’ hard
struggle, are frequently obliged to give up the scanty pittance, and
depend upon the cold charities of the world, or otherwise find their
grave on the roadside in a loathsome ditch.




CHAPTER VII.

    DESCRIPTION Of CANTON--SACKING OF THE CITY--PLACE
    OF HONOUR--MOURNING--COMPASS--MATERIALS FOR
    BUILDINGS--HOUSES--PRINCIPAL OFFICES--DUTIES AND PENALTIES OF
    GOVERNOR--FIRES--GOVERNOR’S SALARY--DIVISION OF POWER.


[Sidenote: DESCRIPTION OF CANTON.]

The name of Canton on Chinese maps, is written Kwang-tung-sang-ching,
that is, the capital of the province of Kwang-tung, but when speaking
of the city, the natives call it san-ching, the “provincial city,”
or the “capital of the province.” It is built on the north bank of
Choo-keang or Pearl river, stands inland and is in a direct line, about
sixty miles from “the great sea.” The scenery around the city, in the
adjacent country, is rich and diversified, but deficient in boldness or
grandeur.

On the north and northeast of the city, the country is hilly and
mountainous. In every other direction a wide prospect opens to the view
of the beholder. The rivers and canals, which are very numerous, abound
with fish, and are covered with a great variety of boats, which are
continually passing to and from the neighbouring towns and villages.
Southward from the city, as far as the eye can see, the waters
cover a considerable portion, perhaps a third of the whole surface.
Rice-fields, and gardens, occupy the lowlands, which are diversified
with a few hills, rising here and there, to relieve the otherwise
unbroken aspect. The extent of the city, including all within and
without the walls, is not very great; though very populous, it derives
its chief importance from its extensive domestic and foreign trade.
Canton is one of the oldest cities in this part of the empire; since
the foundations were first laid, it has undergone numerous changes.

It is not easy, perhaps impossible, to determine its original site and
name, or to ascertain the time in which it was first built. Although
either of the questions is unimportant to the reader, a brief account
of what the Chinese themselves narrate, respecting one of their
largest and most populous cities, may interest him. Their classics
speak of Canton being in existence four thousand years since; that it
was then called Nan-keaon, and Ming-too, “the splendid capital.” It
first began to pay tribute to the emperors of China in the year B. C.
1123. The historians of the empire are only able to trace the origin
of Canton to the last emperors of the Chow dynasty, two thousand years
since; it was then surrounded by a stockade, composed of bamboo and
mud. We find it was but little visited by foreign vessels till the
year one thousand before Christ, when they held intercourse with eight
“barbarous” nations, from Teeu-chuh (India.)

In the time of the western or Han dynasty, two hundred years previously
to the Christian era, persons came from Canton, Loo-whang-che and
other nations in the south. The nearest nation was about ten days’
_journey_ and the most remote, five months’; their territories were
large and populous and they possessed rare commodities. In the year
one hundred and seventy-six of Christ, vessels from India and Egypt,
or Arabia, “came with tribute;” from this time trade was carried on
with foreigners, at Canton. In the year seven hundred, an imperial
commissioner was first appointed to receive “fixed duties;” ninety-five
years subsequently, all foreign vessels (owing to gross extortion)
resorted to Cochin-China. After the fall of the Tang dynasty, A.
D. 906, five dynasties arose, reigned and fell, within a period of
fifty-three years. A tribute in gold, silver, ivory and other valuable
commodities, was sent to the successor of Tang, to the amount of five
millions of taels. In consequence of this acknowledgment, the emperor
created Lewyen, “King of Canton” or “King of the Southern sea.” At
this period, the court of Canton was cruel in the extreme--criminals
were flayed, boiled and roasted, thrown on spikes, and forced to
fight with tigers and elephants. The city was freed from the monster,
(Lewyen,) by the founder of the Shang dynasty, in the year of the
Christian era, nine hundred and sixty-four; it subsequently became more
prosperous and beautiful; witches and wizards were prohibited; sorcery
was interdicted; the temples which had been built for the practice
of superstitious rites, were thrown down; the people were forbidden
to offer the sacrifice of human life, to demons; they were enjoined
to relieve the sufferers from noxious diseases which are prevalent;
dispensaries of medicine were established; useless and extravagant
articles of apparel were discountenanced, and pearls and ornaments for
head-dresses were disallowed. In the year one thousand and sixty seven,
a wall, about two English miles in circumference, enclosed the city
to protect it against the Cochin-Chinese. In the year twelve hundred,
“_foreigners resident_” received metals, silks, &c., and in return,
they gave rhinoceros’s horns, elephant’s teeth, coral, pearls, gems,
crystals, foreign cloth, pepper, red-wood, and drugs. In the year
fourteen hundred, one hundred and twenty houses were built for the
accommodation of foreigners.--In sixteen hundred and forty seven, the
present Tartar family came into power; Canton was summoned to submit
to its new master; on refusing, its walls were beaten down with great
cannon, and on the twenty-fourth of November, sixteen hundred and
fifty, it was taken:--for six days the inhabitants “were given to the
sword,” the city was plundered--and upward of seven hundred thousand
persons were slain, during the siege, and six days’ slaughter: “every
house was left desolate!” only one house remains standing which was
built before the sacking of the old city. That part of the city which
is walled in is nearly square, and divided by a partition-wall, running
from east to west; the northern, much the largest part, is called the
“old city;” the southern portion, more recently built, the “new city.”

The circuit of the wall does not exceed six miles: its southern part,
running east and west, is parallel with the river, from which it is
removed about fifteen or twenty rods: on this side are the “_Foreign
Factories_;” on the north, the city rests on the brow of the hill, and
is at its highest point about two hundred and fifty feet above the
surface of the river. The foundation and lower part of the wall, the
arches and the gates, are formed of coarse sandstone; its remaining
portion is built with soft brick. The walls are from twenty-five to
forty feet high, and from twenty to twenty-five feet thick; the north
side being the most substantial; on the east side the elements have
made great havoc: a line of battlements with embrasures surmounts
the walls, in the rear of which is a broad pathway. Two short walls,
designed to block up the narrow space between the main wall and the
ditches of the city, extend from its southeast and southwest corners;
through each of these there is a gate.

The city has sixteen gates, of which twelve are outer, and four open
through the wall which separates the old from the new city; they are
all guarded by soldiers, closed at an early hour in the evening, and
opened at dawn of day. The streets and buildings in the suburbs are
similar to those in the city, the houses of which occupy the whole
space between the _wall and the river_ on its southern side; on its
eastern quarter they are much less extensive; and in its northern
division there are only a few solitary huts. The houses on the south
are generally built against the wall which they overlook.

The suburbs are scarcely less extensive and populous than the city,
in which there are upward of six hundred streets, flagged with large
stones, chiefly of granite; they vary in width from two to sixteen
feet, the medium and most usual breadth being from six to eight.

These narrow streets are usually thronged by a numerous motley group;
through many of them, the pedestrian in the rear is liable to tread
on the heels of the leader; the stout, half-naked, vociferating
porters, carrying every description of merchandise, and the nimble
sedan-bearers, make up, in noise and bustle, for the deficiency of
carts and carriages: these, together with the numerous travellers,
various kinds of retailers, pedlars, and beggars, present before the
spectator a scene of great animation and endless variety. Many of the
visiters and much of the merchandise are conveyed into the city by
means of canals or ditches, of which there are several; one of the
largest extends along the whole length of the wall on the east, and
another on the wes

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