One day at sundown the captain said as he looked at his watch, “At five minutes past nine this evening we shall see Farralone light.” We had altered our course several times that day; the current was strong, the wind was aft, so that only one course of sails drew; therefore we paid little attention to the remark, supposing it to be a guess, or at best a hope, rather than an opinion.
At nine o’clock P. M. Feb. 11, a man was sent aloft to see if there was a lighthouse visible. At twenty minutes after nine he called out, “Light, ho! three points on the port bow.” In five or ten minutes we saw it from the deck. We felt that this part of the voyage was over. We had been to 59° S., being five degrees south of Cape Horn, and had sailed back to 37° N. and were also now far west of Boston.
We dropped anchor at San Francisco Feb. 12th, making the voyage in 111 days, one day less than the good ship had logged before. We took pleasure in reading on shore the record which I give below.6
One of the San Francisco papers spoke of there being two of the pastors of Boston in San Francisco, one of whom, a pastor there for thirty-five years, had been a hundred and eleven days in coming from New York to California, while the other, a young man, had been only ten days on his way. This was true, and it showed what progress had been made within a life time in the means of intercourse between distant parts of the country.
It is easy, however, to imagine a state of things in which it would be a privilege to be a hundred and eleven days on the way from Boston to San Francisco. If the opportunity of navigation were wholly cut off and the only way of passing from New York to California should be to be whirled along in ten days from point to point, men would say, “Alas! for modern degeneracy. Time was, within the memory of not a few now living, when it was a luxury to travel. You could take passage in one of those clippers whose names and exploits now seem fabulous, and the only memorials of them are paintings and photographs on our parlor walls, and in books of art; and in those palaces you could sail down one side of the continent, reach Cape Horn, go five degrees south of it to make a safe run around the great land mark and pass up on the other side. Think of the privilege of running through the Straits of Lemaire, of coming close by the shores of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, of experiencing those Cape Horn swells, of feeling that you were not far from Antarctic regions. Those were days when life had some romance in it. Now you seem to be fired out of a field piece; the next thing will be to creep into a pneumatic machine, the air will be exhausted and in a state of suspended consciousness you will wake from your short delirious dream and will be told that you have been shot eight thousand miles across the continent. Some like this; annihilate time and distance and they ask no more; for our part give us the old ways; steam is good in its place; but we envy those who could be a hundred and eleven days on the water, passing from the east to the west.”
It would be gratifying to indulge in full descriptions of San Francisco and the enjoyment derived from valued friends. In doing this, I could most cordially repeat the enthusiastic words of others. Let me give at once the scale by which I soon learned to measure everything in this wonderful region, indicated by some first impressions:
Before leaving home, an elderly lady told me that she had long watched her calla lily, hoping that it would open in time to be presented to me before I left home. It came at last, perfectly beautiful, such as the stem had yielded several times before; the same silvery frost work on its petals, the same odor of lemon balm in the calyx. I told the venerable donor that I believed that the impression made by her rare gift, so long and carefully watched, a beautiful unit, lovely in its oneness, would have a charm for me which I could not suppose would be forgotten in more luxuriant climes. My one calla lily which had made a last impression upon me on leaving home, was brought forcibly to mind the morning after my arrival. I was requested to walk to the window, where I was told some favorites of mine were waiting to see me. There stood in a border to a flower garden, thirty calla lily plants, each plant with its lily in perfect growth. There was no more spirit in me. Is this the scale by which you excel your friends at the East? I found it to be so. A pleasurable feeling of being vanquished came over me. Every hour brought its new surprise. I gave up. I was in California.
A day or two after, the seal was set to my conviction that I was there. I had the pleasure of experiencing an earthquake. About ten o’clock one fair day, suddenly a noise came, such as I never before heard, and a motion unlike anything which I had ever felt before. It lasted not more than five seconds. But Cape Horn did not shake after that pattern. No description can convey any idea of the feeling excited by it. I turned involuntarily to my door, and, opening it, found the family in the entry, brought there in the same bewildered state of mind as myself. Apprehension of danger soon subsided; but we wished ourselves at sea, in order to be safe.
The view of the Pacific from the Cliff House seemed to me the most interesting of sea views from shore. In itself, it so impressed me; but, added to this, the recollection of the great extent of territory of which it is a boundary, makes it approach near to the sublime. The coast line of California, taking in its curves and indentations, it is said in an able statistical paper in that State, is equal to a straight line drawn from San Francisco to Plymouth, Mass. Those seals, climbing upon the rocks not many feet from you, undisturbed by your presence, giving you a new chapter in natural history, opening animal life to you as you may not have seen it before, remind you that you are in a region of the earth far from your home. One day in driving we came to a hill which, though it was only the fifteenth of March, had began to put forth a combination of colors so numerous and brilliant as to make you believe at first that they were the work of art. A little below, the ground was without any sign of spring. A soil which could so quickly feel the sun as to give forth its luxuriance profusely, as it were at a day’s warning, though lifted but a little above the general level, impresses one with its extremely sensitive nature, making you ready to believe anything which is told you of its fruitfulness.
So many friends come around you here that your home circle seems to have stretched its circumference; for those who dwell under these western skies seem to retain their native qualities, which make you identify them at once as those whom you formerly knew and loved. Ties of friendship or valued acquaintance draw many to you, in connection or association with people whom you are glad to recall in the features, the voices, of their descendants. The names of Oakland and Alameda, and of other places, will ever be associated in our minds with names and scenes most precious. I left this wonderful region with great love for it, deeply impressed with the many valued friends whom I found or made there.
March 28th. A company of thirty escorted us down the harbor, in the tug. Some of the gentlemen contrived to get on board the Fleece, but to our disappointment the rest of the party remained in the tug. The deck of the ship being high above the tug, our conversation, with reminiscences, compliments, assurances of continual remembrance, messages, could not be so sentimental as if conveyed in whispers. As we went down the harbor, the swell was great, and we were sorry that many of the pleasant faces preferred to turn and look from us overboard; whereby our conversation, difficult though it had been for some time, was wholly cut off. At length the signal was given for parting, and the little tug with its company, the most of whom we could not expect to see again, darted ahead of us; a cloud of handkerchiefs gave us their parting salute, which we continued to answer till the tug was lost amid the crowd of vessels in the harbor. Soon the heavy swell outside admonished us that we also were mortal, and we shut ourselves from the sight of each other.
We sailed to the Sandwich Islands at the request of our agents at San Francisco to obtain freight for China. We sailed by the whole group, in fine weather. A sudden bend in our course brought us at once within sight of Honolulu, thirty days from San Francisco. After looking at the volcanic ridges of the group, precipitous, shapeless, barren, the red earth and stones making you feel as though they had not wholly cooled, it was a pleasing surprise to have this immediate view of the town, looking as though it had always been there, suggesting no signs of a feeble settlement making effort to live. The church spire, the neat cottages, the signs of husbandry, the cattle, the roads traversed by handsome horses with good carriages, the pendulous waving branches, and the banana, softening the sterner features of nature, made at once an impression which was prepossessing.
We anchored where we were advised by the pilot to do so. But we were too near the reef to feel safe should we have a gale. The wind was blowing so as to make it evidently most uncomfortable if not hazardous to land, at least for ladies or invalids. The captain felt obliged to venture in the native boat, which the Hawaian boatmen declared to be safe, though the great sail was out of proportion to the small craft, judged by our nautical measurement. We concluded to allow him to go ashore as an experiment; but we could more unhesitatingly have insured him around Cape Horn in his ship than in that boat going through that surf over the bar. We watched him gaining on the breakers one after another, expecting every moment to see him in the waves, till with the spy glass we could see that the shore was safely reached. He was to send back word whether we might venture to take passage in one of the native boats, and what length of time his business would require him to remain at this port. He sent back word that he found no freight; that nothing seemed to warrant our remaining, that if we came ashore it would be only for one hour, it being then not far from sun down. We had kind messages from Rev. Dr. Judd, who offered to ask Capt. Truxton, of the U. S. vessel “Jamestown,” to send his yawl for us if we would stay. H. M. Whitney, Esq., editor of the Honolulu Commercial, politely sent us an invitation to his house during our visit should we come ashore. Rev. Hiram Bingham, and S. B. Dole, Esq., both sons of missionaries, came off to see us, inviting us to a meeting of “Cousins” which was to be held that evening. The temptation was for every reason very great. We had anticipated this visit for a long time; indeed it had seemed a prominent event of the voyage in our anticipation; it would surely be so in our memories. We could not hope to have such an opportunity again to see these islands, to have intercourse with these missionary friends. But had we any right to detain the ship, lying as she must do, close to the reef? We saw that, once on shore, the inducement to make a tour of several days to visit missionary stations, to look upon the faces of some whom we remembered as having gone from our shores, some whose faces and forms we should find imprinted with the signs of honorable service; and then to see that world renowned volcano, the scene of that gigantic tidal wave, to observe how it lifted itself up, to take its measurements, to note the way of its fearful retreat, all this would be an expenditure of time and strength which we did not feel at liberty to make.
Messrs. Bingham and Dole remained on board till we weighed anchor. They proposed that we should sing a hymn: “My days are gliding swiftly by;” our cabinet organ joining to leave our notes of worship impressed on those beloved shores. Because our unseen friends “did not detain us” while we were flying from them, we were the more affected by the thoughts of them, and by imagining the interchange which we should have had of profitable conversation. Everything which we bore away with us deepened our regret at parting.—The attractive style in which the Honolulu Advertiser was made up and printed, gave me very favorable impressions of the state of the practical arts in Honolulu. For several weeks we were refreshed by the largest and sweetest oranges and the best bananas which I have met with in our whole voyage. There is no part of the world which I have seen which I would sooner revisit, or where I should expect greater enjoyment from very many sources than the Sandwich Islands. In a fine moonlight Saturday evening we sailed away from this most interesting group.
Of all the bright days which have gladdened our way, none have surpassed those which we spent in going from the Sandwich Islands to China. Existence was a charm in that beautiful climate, that trade-wind region. Thirty-three days of perfect weather, one succeeding another with seemingly new beauty, made us feel that we had left this world of storms. If I ever need an emblem of perfect peace, the voyage from the Sandwich Islands to China will be sure to revive in my memory.
THE BASHEE IMAGE. Page 171.
With new sensations of interest, we reached the China Sea. The Bashee group of Islands marks one entrance to it from the Pacific. We passed close to the island of Belintang. Here I had a first imaginary glimpse of the heathen world in a singular spectacle, which I would have said was an illusion had not all whom I asked to notice it agreed that it was a remarkable object.
About sixty feet from the island, in the water, stands a high rock, in the shape of a flattened ellipse, wholly isolated. Its base looks as though it were stuccoed with large sea-shells, the grooved side of each facing you. One half of the elevation is shapeless, but the other half is as good an image of a monstrous idol god as can be found.
or, perhaps, a mitre or a fillet. The eyes are like the eyes of a plaster bust, made by two protuberances of the rock, volcanic blisters; and over the whole figure seems to be thrown a rude drapery, which a little fancy converts into a robe. The whole effect is that of a huge idol god. There it stands at the gateway of the China Sea; and, if superstition had employed sculptors and architects to set up an image of Buddha there, no better result could have been achieved. No hand, however, founded this on the seas and established it on the floods. There is a marine picturesqueness about the rock as a whole which is very fine. I am thus minute in the description, hoping that some who read these pages will, on seeing the Bashee image, make a more extended description.
The mind soon tires of tranquil scenes. On the way from the Sandwich Islands to China I had my fill of tranquility. I found myself yearning for a gale; felt great respect for the Gulf Stream, with waves as high as the main yard; longed to see breakers; wondered why the sea would not occasionally come over our rail. There seemed to be talent about the Rio de la Plata; Cape Horn was true genius; the North Atlantic a giant with a progeny in its own image. The halcyon waters of the Pacific impressed me as amiable but weak; their countenance wore a perpetual smile; they looked as though they believed themselves to have reached a sinless state. You long to see their temper tested; you would be willing to see them ruffled, even angry; hear them lift their voice out of its monotony with upbraiding, rather than be so unnaturally gentle. Does the sea have waves of mettle which it employs in hazardous enterprises, trusting them, and only them, in daring feats? I came to feel that there were waters which bore a character for hardihood, nurtured by tempests, voiced for symphonious concerts with typhoons, not counting their lives dear unto them but dying on the high places of the field. Let me see them once more! When will this trade wind region come to an end, and the sea utter its voice and lift up its hands on high? I felt that the sea reverenced greatness, honored its waters which stormed impregnable rocks and poured out their lives at the call of duty. These lines came to me, in this connection:
ELECT WAVES.
The wind did not serve to bring us round Great Lema Island. After tacking several times, and beating about the headland from early in the morning till two o’clock, the prospect of our being kept in a dangerous position till after sunset, induced the captain to venture into Yat Moon Pass, where we should have a direct run into Hong Kong harbor.
The pass between Great Lema and Ya Chou Island was narrow; in some parts not more than two lengths of the vessel in width. A hidden rock in the middle of the narrow passage led the captain to deliberate long before he concluded to enter. Finally it seemed best to make the venture, rather than beat around the point day after day. The wind was blowing directly through the pass, the weather was fair, a run of half an hour would bring us into open sea, beyond the reach of danger. Accordingly we entered, keeping close to the starboard side, throwing the lead all the way. The sailors amused themselves with trying to throw pieces of coal ashore, which now and then they succeeded in doing. The captain went aloft with his spy glass; we listened with breathless interest to hear the result of his observation from step to step, the word “steady” every few moments keeping up our courage. Everything depended on our meeting a favorable wind at the other end. Should it be blowing into the pass, or die away and leave us becalmed, we should not prove to have mended our prospect. We gratefully acknowledged the good hand of God in causing us to find that the wind which brought us through the narrows blew in the same direction when we reached the open sea.
Five miles out, two pilots hailed us from opposite points, each in his rude sampan, their sails of matting and their oars combining to bring each first to the ship. The wind favored one, who came astern and caught a rope, which he nimbly climbed and came aboard. There was a woman with an oar, sculling and steering, while her husband and one or two boys and girls managed the sails. On her back her infant was strapped, a boy sixteen months old, as we were informed. The little fellow had to endure all the motions of his mother at the oar, peeping over each of her shoulders by turns, and holding her neck with his hands. This, we found, is the common mode of life among infants here, children eight years old being harnessed to the employment of thus carrying about their infant brothers and sisters.
Hong Kong, or Sweet Waters, is an island off the coast of China, east of the entrance of the Canton river. It came into the possession of the British by a treaty with China June 25, 1843. Its length from east to west is eight miles; its breadth varies from two to six miles. The surface is mountainous. There are good places of anchorage in its waters. Violent winds are frequent. The population, which is not far from forty thousand, is mostly Chinese. It is a free port. Among the people in the streets are Parsees from Persia, who deal in the productions of their country; and Sepoys from Hindostan, and elsewhere. These are police officers and soldiers, intensely black, so much so that one accustomed to the sight of an African negro with a tinge of yellow in his complexion, looks at these Sepoys with admiration at the unqualified blackness of their skin. They are, moreover, tall, straight, well proportioned men. Some of the districts of Hong Kong are Stanley, Pokfalum, Aberdeen, Victoria, of which the latter is the principal, being the seat of government. Victoria Peak, overlooking the harbor and vicinity, is about eighteen hundred feet high.
We went on shore to church, after our service with the sailors in the morning, and attended worship at Rev. Dr. Legge’s chapel, known as “Union Church.” It is a beautiful building, on an elevated spot, with foliage of the bamboo trees around it. Over the speaker a punka of blue silk was kept in motion by a coolie out of sight, making it comfortable for the preacher. Good Dr. Duff protested against punkas in the church as luxurious and worldly. After being in the East India climate a while, he said, “I must have a punka over me when I preach here.” I preached for Dr. Legge the next Sabbath morning, and five or six other times, and went ashore again in the afternoon occasionally to the chapel and once heard the Rev. Mr. Turner, a missionary sustained by a British society, preach to a congregation of Chinese. I was struck with their devout appearance in prayer. All was unintelligible till the doxology, in Old Hundred.
English schools for Chinese youth, maintained here by the government, one of them with over one hundred and fifty young men, taught by Mr. Stuart, I had the pleasure of visiting, and was interested to hear the native youths read well in English, with little Chinese accent.
One of the boys about fifteen years of age was pointed out to me as a Japanese youth. The teacher told me that the custom of Japan obliged a boy of his rank to wear a short sword in public. I saw the sword of this youth in his desk, it being laid aside in the school room. One could not help fancying that such an instrument would not generally be a recommendation of the wearer as a playmate.
We found ourselves at once in the centre of communication with all parts of the commercial world on taking our position among the shipping in this English free port. We continued to live on board the ship, being advised by all that we should find it more comfortable than on shore. There were at least two hundred vessels here, from the four quarters of the globe. Their national flags were an interesting study. The first evening of our arrival we manned our boat and were rowed round among the steamers and principal vessels, going close to those whose bands were playing their national airs.
It was only a day or two before the arrival of our large craft had attracted the swarms of the native trades-people. Every forenoon for some time our deck was filled with cases loaded with carved ivory, sandal wood work, jewelry, fans, curious boxes, shawls and scarfs of India work, with articles of wearing apparel, both useful and ornamental. The pilot whom we took at the end of Yat Moon Pass, a native Chinaman, had given us our first lesson in pidgin English; for by noticing his use of our language and copying his forms of expression, we soon found ourselves able to make ourselves understood. We were instructed by friendly visitors to be on our guard against paying anything near the price demanded for an article by these hucksters. Their effrontery in demanding enormous sums for trifles became a constant source of amusement. For example: One of our company would hold up a Japanese bamboo watch chain and say, “How muchee pricee?” “Half dollar.” “No; my no can do; that belong too muchee pricee.” “No, no, not too muchee; that very fine; that belong number one thing.” But the purchaser lays it down, and resumes a book or work. The tradesman waits and finally says, “Well, how muchee you pay?” “One quarter.” He gives an expression of contempt, pretends to pack up his things in haste, but keeps an eye on the customer to see some sign of relenting, and at last in despair comes with the chain, saying, “Here, you take; give me one quart;”—which is much nearer the real worth.
It became necessary soon after our arrival for some of our number to employ a dressmaker, and one was recommended who visited ships where there were ladies on board. His features were far from masculine; his prices, thirty-five cents a day, was in correspondence; his thimble was on his thumb, his motion in sewing seemed to be that of pushing more than of pulling; his progress slow, all day being spent on something which ordinarily was done at home, it was said, in two or three hours.
We were invited to breakfast at the reasonable hour of nine, on board the Pacific Mail Steamer, to tea on board the “Great Northern,” and to examine her telegraphic apparatus and the arrangements for laying the submarine cable between Hong Kong and Shanghai. We were handsomely entertained on board the “Delaware,” “Colorado,” “Ashuelot,” U. S. vessels, and we became acquainted with the routine of service on board such vessels. The commander and scientific men in these ships contributed greatly to our pleasure.
GOING UP VICTORIA PEAK. Page 185.
We formed the acquaintance of interesting families on shore, from whom we received gratifying attentions, enjoyed their hospitality, were entertained at their croquet parties, some of which were held in high places, on the side of the hill which forms the chief eminence of Hong Kong, affording a picturesque view of the shipping in the harbor. It would be difficult to name any place, where friends assemble to enjoy out-of door sports, more animating than the heights of Hong Kong, commanding views of the ocean in every direction, the sea breeze invigorating the spirits which have felt the heat of the town several hundred feet below.
A principal source of enjoyment in this interesting spot is in going up Victoria Peak. You take a sedan chair at the landing, four coolies to each chair, two dollars for each chair. The men bear you cheerfully along up hill, three or four miles, stopping to rest two or three times when they come to shady places by the side of a great rock, or with fine sea views in prospect, till you reach the summit, where stands a flag staff, to signalize to the town below the arrival of vessels, a nine pounder being run out to announce a mail steamer, or distinguished vessels. Going up you are an hour and a half, unless you pause frequently to look at geological or mineralogical curiosities. You feel unwilling to quit the enchanted spot, the sea breeze, the newly arrived ship, the wonderful expanse of ocean on every side; till the lengthening shadows admonish you that it will be dark before you reach China town. After that, you take your boat in which your oarsmen from the ship a half a mile off have come for you, and you reach your floating habitation after dark.
Going ashore to do shopping, you encounter a crowd of chair coolies at the landing, calling to you, pushing each other, contending for your custom. “Here, Missy, you come this side; you belong my; my have you last time;” till you select a chair, when the rest subside, or a sepoy comes and silences them with blows from his billy, which are administered freely. If the two men who carry you do not go fast enough, you call out, “Chop chop;” if too fast, “Man man,” till you get to the store.
Some of the answers from the shop-keepers to your questions are, “Have got;” “no can do;” “Melican like man like this;” “no have got;” “him makee Japan;” “he no sandal wood; cedar wood, sandal wood oil.”
Asking for some music paper I was told, “no got; my makee you some.” A sheet of blank paper was spread on the counter, a ruler which moved on rollers was laid on it, a plate partly filled with india ink was drawn within reach, a camel’s hair paint brush instead of a pen, drew the lines. Much of the work you could not distinguish from music-paper ruled by machine; the distances of some of the staves from each other were not regular; but the lines of each staff were remarkably even. A half quire was ready the next day. The shop-keepers add up the amount of your purchases on frames, such as we see in our primary schools; but the system of numeration I could not understand, the attempted explanation being in confused pidgin English.
It was a merry sight on the 15th of November 1870, when boats of all descriptions were gathered for a race, and nine yachts. The shipping, with which the harbor was well filled, was ordered to change moorings, and make a clear passage for the boats. An Order of Exercise was printed for each of the two days, giving information of the names of the Patrons, Committee, Stewards, Judge, Umpire, Starters. The Band of Her Majesty’s 29th Regiment played, the names of the pieces being duly entered on the handsome programme. Single pair sculling boats, to be competed in by men who have never won a sculling race in China or elsewhere; boats pulled by Non-commissioned officers and men of any Regiment or Corps in Garrison, men of war Gigs, Pair Oars, and two Pair Sculling Boats, House Boats pulled by Chinamen, Gig and Punt Chase, Canoes; all open boats, Chinese excepted; yachts not exceeding fifteen tons measurement; the Chinaman’s Cup, The American Cup, presented by the American Community, The United Service Cup, The Canton Cup, presented by the Canton Regatta Club, made up the attractive programme. Some lady recently arrived is chosen to present the prize to one of the winning competitors, with a little speech prepared for her. The honor fell that year to one of our company. The yacht prize was won by the Naiad, belonging to R. F. Hawke, Esq., an honorable citizen of Hong Kong. A sailing match from Hong Kong to Macao was advertised to come off the same season.
As you pass through the apartments of some of the dwellings in Hong Kong, you notice that bedsteads and beds are arranged for comfort in a hot climate. No blankets nor even sheets are visible. The bed is covered with bamboo matting, smooth and cool. Bajous and Pajamas, (loose jackets and pants,) of cotton, linen, silk, or bamboo cloth, are all the covering which is necessary, in the hottest nights. But the greatest luxury is the cool pillow. A strip of bamboo cloth tied round a pillow, no sewing necessary except of tapes to fasten it, keeps the head cool.
While we were at Hong Kong, a fine English ship came in and ran directly upon a point of the shore in full sight of the shipping. She sank in the water deep enough to cover all but a few feet of her masts. Some of the cargo was recovered; the vessel was a total loss. No blame was attached to the captain. Had there been a design to throw the vessel away, it could not have been done with greater safety to all on board; but the three masts of the sunken Dunmail, probably standing yet in Hong Kong harbor, are a warning against the least presumption in the very moment of apparent safety.
Some of us called at the American Consulate on the Fourth of July, to pay our respects to the American Consul. One of the young men present mentioned this incident: He saw from his window a Chinaman with a vase of water on his head. He himself showed a reckless disregard of human life, in proposing to try his pistol on the vase. The bullet grazed the Chinaman’s heel. The young man was arrested, but the prosecution was withdrawn, on the plaintiff’s representation that satisfaction had been made. The satisfaction consisted in the proposition of the Chinaman to settle for one dollar, which the young man willingly paid. Whereupon another Chinaman came forward and offered to stand fire for one dollar.—The outrage on the French Catholics at Tientsin, thirteen of whom were murdered, was atoned for in part by the authorities, by putting to death thirteen of their countrymen. Thirteen of the assassins were not to be found, so the authorities hired men to take their places, which they did for five hundred dollars each. The papers of the day represented the volunteers as saying that by their death they should earn money for their families, whom otherwise they should leave in poverty. One needs to live among such people, if he would understand the degradation to which heathenism can debase mankind so far as to make them capable of such a deed. Robbery of the dwelling, money from clothing laid aside at night, and articles of jewelry is of constant occurrence.
I spent a fortnight at the house of R. F. Hawke, Esq., whose father-in-law, the Rev. Dr. Legge, the eminent Chinese scholar, was engaged on his five or six large volumes of the Chinese classics. The Doctor is not impressed with the intellectual ability of Confucius nor of his followers. His translations are invaluable, as saving missionaries and other students of the Chinese much pains by placing Chinese literature before them in a digested form. One could not help regretting that this laborious scholar cannot have the advantage of an international copyright law to afford protection to his costly fruits of research. American authors suffer the same loss, however, as he, in seeing their valuable works appropriated by foreigners.
It was with a feeling of national pride that we repeatedly saw the Pacific Mail Company’s steamer “China,” Capt. Doane, thirty days from San Francisco, come into the harbor promptly on the day she was due. She is a noble ship of four thousand tons. Capt. Doane came on board our ship, and invited us to inspect his vessel. It is one of the principal events of the month with Americans to have the Pacific Mail Steamers appear. All other steamers seem diminutive by the side of them. It seemed strange to find on board these vessels five or six live oxen and the appurtenances of a slaughter-house, bestowed, however, out of sight.
We stayed in Hong Kong six months waiting for hemp to fall in Manila. While the ship lay at anchor we enjoyed the privilege, by the favor of Messrs. Augustine Heard & Co., of visiting several places in China and the East Indies.