First application of steam-vessels on the rivers and coasts of India, 1825—S.S. Diana—S.S. Burhampooter and Hooghly, 1828—Arrival in India of Lord William Bentinck as Governor-General—His efforts to promote Steam Navigation—Voyages of the S.S. Hooghly up the Ganges 1828, 1829, and 1830—Other vessels recommended to be built—Two of them of Iron—Steam Companies formed, 1845—Steam Committee, 1857, and rapid progress of steam-vessels from this date—Improved troop steamer for the Lower Indus—Sea-going steamers of India—S.S. John Bright—British India Steam Navigation Company established, 1857—Its fleet, and extent of its operations—Origin of this company—Its early difficulties, and rapid extension—Number of ships lost—Effect of the opening of the Suez Canal on the trade of this Company—The Holy Ship, note—Netherlands Steam Navigation Company, 1866—Its fleet, and how employed—Irrawaddy Flotilla and Burmese Steam Navigation Company, 1865—Services of this Company—Extent of inland trade—Fleet of the Company—Interior trade of China—The Yang-tse-Kiang—Its source and extent—Opened to trade, 1860—First steam-ship direct from Hankow to England, 1863—Passage of the Robert Lowe and her cargo—Number of steamers employed on the Yang-tse 1864 and in 1875—S.S. Hankow—Her power and capacity, note—Chinese Steam Navigation Company—Proposed Imperial fleet of steamers—Increase of trade with China—The resources of the interior—Mode of conducting business—“Hongs” or Guilds—Chinese Bankers—River and coasting trade of China—Japanese line of steamers—How employed.
Encouraged by the success of the Enterprize, the Bengal Government soon afterwards purchased another steamer, the Diana,[380] which had been originally sent from England to China on speculation, and despatched her to Amarapura, 500 miles up the River Irrawaddy, with their then Resident in Burmah, Mr. Crawfurd, and his suite. As, however, she sailed on her voyage in the month of September, when that river is at its fullest, her progress not exceeding 30 miles each day, caused considerable disappointment to the Indian Government. On her return in the following month of December, she was again equally unfortunate, for, by that time, the river had fallen so low, that, partly owing to her draught of water, which was seldom less than 6 feet, and, partly, to the intricacy of a navigation, then imperfectly known, her passage down the Irrawaddy was nearly as tedious.
As, however, this voyage was accomplished without accident, the value of steamers for inland navigation was sufficiently shown to induce the Indian Government to consider the desirability of constructing such vessels for this special service; hence, an urgent application was soon afterwards made to the Court of Directors for permission to build two vessels, one for general service, and the other for the navigation of the Burhampooter, on which, from the strength of the stream and the prevalence of easterly winds, it was found that sailing-vessels could not be depended on, for the supply of the large number of troops it was necessary to maintain in the valley of Assam for some years after the conquest of that country. So much delay, however, occurred before the Court gave its consent, that these vessels were not ready for actual service till the spring of 1828.[381]
Lord William Bentinck, who arrived on July 3rd of that year at Calcutta, as Governor-General of India, at once saw the immense advantage to be derived from the employment of steam-vessels, and their great value and economy in the rapid transport of troops and treasure, as well into the interior as along the coasts of India.[382]
No arguments were required to convince him that the new steamer despatched for service on the Burhampooter river, whence she had been named, was of almost incalculable value, the troops in Assam being not merely supplied more rapidly with the necessary stores, but their number materially reduced, the use of steamers enabling the different armies of India to be practically interchangeable with almost every portion of the East. Consequently, Lord William Bentinck appointed a committee to inquire into the description of steamers best suited for the navigation of the rivers of India, and ordered the Hooghly, the second vessel built, to explore the River Ganges as far as Allahabad, a distance of 798 miles above Calcutta.
The voyages of this vessel, under the command of Captain Johnston, previously of the Enterprize, were perfectly successful, and clearly showed that the Ganges could, for the whole of this distance, be advantageously navigated by steamers. Although the Hooghly, from not having the indispensable qualities of lightness of draught, capacity, and speed, was not well adapted for so long and intricate a river voyage, she made the passage to Allahabad at the average speed of 3½ miles an hour, against a current of from 3 to 4 miles, returning thence at the rate of from 7 to even 12 miles an hour according to the strength of the stream. Further experimental trips in the spring of 1829, and in January 1830, were equally successful.
In accordance with the recommendations of the Committee, two steamers of about 270 tons burden, with engines of 70 to 80 horse-power, were constructed as tug-boats for use on the river Hooghly; and orders were sent to England for two others, better fitted than the Burhampooter and Hooghly, for the navigation of the Ganges or other rivers. These vessels had, indeed, but partially met the wants of the service, and, as it had been now discovered that vessels of less draught could be made of iron, the Court of Directors were recommended to order their construction of that material. They were to draw not more than 2 feet of water; one to be a steam-tug, the other an accommodation boat. Both were to be of the same dimensions, 120 feet long, by 22 feet in width, and very flat-bottomed, which, indeed, was absolutely necessary to secure the stipulated lightness of draught. They were to have two engines of 30 horse-power each, with vibrating cylinders, on account of their greater lightness. However, till the result of the experiment made with these boats was known, the Directors suspended their decision as to the building of more steam-vessels for the navigation of the Upper Ganges and Burhampooter, as also for that of the Indus and other rivers of the Punjâb.
In these early efforts, we have an approximation to what has since been achieved on the rivers of India, presenting, as they did, a field for inland navigation, realizable by steam-vessels with far more advantageous results than could be obtained by the ordinary craft of the country. The success of the first effort, in securing a high power of engines as compared with the draught of water, led to the construction, for similar purposes, of various other iron boats by Mr. Laird, Messrs. Miller and Ravenshill, and Messrs. Forrester.
Private enterprise, however, in this instance lagged behind Government, as it was not till 1845 that any companies were formed to conduct the trade of that country by means of steam-vessels. The Tug Company of the Hooghly was among the first of these commercial undertakings. The Bombay Steam Navigation Company followed, with four paddle-wheel steamers, three of wood and one of iron, to trade between Bombay and Ceylon on the one hand, and Karáchi on the other. But, however great the advantages derivable from the use of steamers on the rivers and coasts of India, their development, even then, was slow compared with that of Great Britain or the United States. Although starting early, and with energy, in the use of this new power, the people and Government alike seem to have slumbered for nearly thirty years, and to have been dreaming over its advantages: indeed, it was not till 1857, when another committee had been appointed, and strongly recommended the more extended use of steamers, that any very marked progress was made. From that period, however, it has been very great, I may say remarkable, more especially since the opening of the Suez Canal. Since then, those ancient routes of maritime commerce which, in the dawn of history, were first tracked by the Chaldeans and Phœnicians, and, afterwards brought into a system by the greatest and wisest of monarchs, have been, after the lapse of more than two thousand years, re-opened by steam-ships, and this, too, almost along the same course, which Solomon, in connection with Hiram, King of Tyre, first established.
Among the finest vessels ordered by the Government of India after the report of the committee had been considered, may be mentioned one designed by Mr. T. B. Winter, C.E., for the navigation of the Lower Indus. As she is very much the type of all the steamers now employed for the conveyance of troops and passengers on the rivers of the East, I may state that her design somewhat resembles (though with special fittings adapted for the climate of India) the steamer, now employed on the River Hudson, already described,[383] having accommodation for 800 soldiers and their officers in two tiers of cabins, one above the other, built on the main-deck, and surrounded by verandahs and covered with awnings as a protection from the scorching rays of the sun. The sides of these deck-houses, consist almost entirely of Venetian blinds; their frames and those of the berths being made of galvanized iron, having between the frames sheets of perforated zinc so as to admit a free circulation of air, while the whole range of these houses is divided into five separate compartments so as to permit the separation of the troops in case of sickness. By an ingenious contrivance an abundant supply of fresh air is drawn from the paddle-boxes in order that it may contain moisture, and is supplied to all the cabins by means of fans, worked by the steam-engines of the ship in such a manner that a sufficient quantity is provided to completely change, every half-hour, the air in each troop-room. The draught of water of this commodious and beautifully arranged vessel, aided by another ingenious contrivance in connection with her rudder, does not exceed, when laden, 2 feet, while her speed on her trial trip averaged close upon 12 statute miles the hour.[384]
Among the earliest commercial Ocean Steamers employed on the Eastern seas, were, as noticed previously, those of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. For some years, at first, these vessels held almost a monopoly of the passenger and of the most valuable portion of the goods traffic. Competitors, however, soon arose, especially in the opium trade, which had, hitherto, been conducted by sailing clippers celebrated for their speed, many of which vessels, owned by English merchants resident in Hong Kong, had proved a large source of profit to their too enterprising owners. But, now, the whole of this trade, as well as a considerable portion of the traffic between Calcutta, Bombay and the Chinese ports, is carried on by very fast steamers, owned partly by English and partly by native merchants. A few years ago, one of the finest of these vessels was the property, entirely, of Parsees resident at Bombay, and, as she bore the honoured name of the John Bright,[385] it is to be hoped that opium constituted but a small portion of her cargo. I mention her, however, as a fair specimen of the steamers thus employed, both as regards speed and dimensions, and, for the information of my readers, I may state that she was built of iron by Messrs. C. J. Mare and Co., of Millwall, in 1862, and that she made the voyage from Gravesend (calling at the Cape of Good Hope) to Bombay in fifty-eight days, and thence to Hong Kong, with a full cargo, and against the monsoons, in twenty-two days.[386]
Much the most important commercial maritime company, however, now engaged in the coasting trade of the East, is the British India Steam Navigation Company (Limited), which commenced business in 1857 under the title of the Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company, with a line of steamers between Calcutta, Akyab, Rangoon, and Moulmein. In 1862, the name of the company was changed to its present designation, its operations having been extended along the coasts of India and Persia, so as to embrace, at the present time, a continuous coasting service between Singapore on the one hand, and the island of Zanzibar on the other, with an extension from the latter port to the French settlements of Mayotte, Nossi Bé, and Majunga. The fleet of this company now consists of forty-two iron screw-steamers, varying in size from 350 to 2600 tons gross register, their aggregate gross tonnage being about 57,000, employed on thirteen different lines,[387] showing the vast extent of commercial intercourse now maintained by the vessels of this one undertaking alone.
One is amazed at the rapidity of the growth of steam-ship companies throughout the world, within the last quarter of this century. It seems only the other day when Mr. Mackinnon of Glasgow, a merchant engaged in the trade with India and the founder and managing director, as well as one of the chief owners of this large fleet of steamers, mentioned to the author his intention of running a couple of small steam-vessels between Calcutta and Burmah. Nor was he then very sanguine of success. With the shrewdness, however, characteristic of his countrymen, he saw, beyond the difficulties he would have to encounter (which men of his determination and perseverance alone know how to overcome), an important and valuable opening for the employment of steamers, and having overcome every obstacle, his hopes have been more than realized; indeed, much sooner and to a far larger extent, than he or any one else could at the first have anticipated.
This now important undertaking had its origin in an advertisement by the East India Company in 1855, for steam-vessels to convey the mails between Calcutta and Burmah, a service hitherto conducted by their own vessels, the Enterprize being the first to do so. Mr. Mackinnon and his partners, having agreed to accept the contract, despatched for its fulfilment the Baltic and Cape of Good Hope, but these vessels, being unsuitable for the purpose, and having made long and expensive passages to India, their enterprising owners would have suffered a heavy loss by them, had they not, soon after their arrival, been engaged for the transport of troops at the outbreak of the mutiny.
Nor was the new company more fortunate with the first vessels they built on the Clyde for this trade. One of these, the Calcutta, of 900 tons, was totally wrecked off the coast of Wicklow soon after she left Greenock, while another, the Cape of Good Hope, was sunk in the Hooghly, having come into collision with one of the steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental Company. The losses thus sustained were, however, vigorously overcome; other new vessels were supplied and, in 1862, a fresh contract was entered into with the Government of India, including conditions for the transport of troops and stores at a mileage rate, and for the conveyance of the mails, not merely every fortnight, between Calcutta, Akyab, Rangoon, and Moulmein, but also once a month, viâ the two latter ports, to Singapore; a similar service to Chittagong and Akyab; another to the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal; a fortnightly one between Bombay and Karáchí; another, once a month, between Madras and Rangoon; and a further service, every six weeks, to various ports in the Persian Gulf, along nearly the same route Nearchus had followed three centuries before the Christian era.
Improving prospects now accompanied this spirited undertaking at every stage of its rapid progress. Steam here, as it has done everywhere else, opened up fresh branches of commerce, developed others, or gave new life to occupations for ages dormant, conferring, by its civilizing influence, immense benefits on the dense and often poverty-stricken and oppressed inhabitants of lands at once envied and far-famed.
As might have been anticipated, the British India Steam Navigation Company met with various losses, in the development of so extensive a range of services; but, though the wreck of their Burmah on the Madras coast, the loss of the Bussorah on her voyage to India, the stranding of the Coringa in the harbour of Muskát, and the foundering of the Persia on her voyage from Rangoon to Calcutta, during one of these fearful cyclones which, periodically, sweep the Indian Ocean, crippled for a time the resources and retarded the operations of the company, they did not quell the spirit or even damp the energies of Mr. Mackinnon and his co-directors, who thus, at last, achieved that success which industry and perseverance, in the right direction, must ever command.
The opening of the Suez Canal, in 1869, gave renewed vigour to the company. While producing an entire revolution in the shipping trade of India, it afforded facilities for its economical conduct, hitherto unknown. Of these the directors at once took advantage, and their steamer India, requiring new boilers, was the first vessel to arrive in London with a cargo of Indian produce, through the new maritime highway, which the genius and energy of Lesseps had constructed across the barren isthmus of the land of the Pharaohs.
In 1873, the company entered into still more extended arrangements with the Government of India, by doubling some of its existing lines, and, in 1872, the directors arranged with the Home Government to organize a mail service every four weeks, between Aden and Zanzibar, on the east coast of Africa, so that the distance annually traversed under its contracts, now exceeds 1,100,000 miles.
In tracing the different lines used by the vessels of this company, it is interesting, as I have just mentioned, to note that their courses, especially those along the Arabian shore of the Red Sea, the eastern coast of Africa, the coasts of Hadramaut and Persia as far as Bussorah, and by way of Beluchistan and the western shores of India as far as Ceylon, are, as nearly as possible, the same as those which, from the scanty records of the past, I have endeavoured to trace on a map, so as to show the ancient routes of commerce pursued by native vessels long before the Christian era.[388]
In 1863, the Dutch East India Government offered a liberal subsidy for the conveyance of their mails in the East, but, as one of the conditions of the contract required the steamers so engaged to be under the Dutch flag, the requisite capital would not have been raised had not the shareholders of the British India Steam Navigation Company, individually, supplied the greater portion of it for this new undertaking. In 1866, the Netherlands India Steam Navigation Company commenced operations, having for its directors many of the members of the board of the English Company, but, in all other respects, distinct. These two companies, however, work together in perfect harmony, and now carry on between them a large portion of the maritime commerce of the East. The Netherlands Company owns twenty-three steamers of an aggregate of 20,000 tons, interchanging their traffic at Singapore, with the vessels of the British India Company, and extending their operations from that place and Batavia to the principal ports in the Dutch East Indies, and, again, thence, through Torres Straits to Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne, thus affording another line of steam communication to our Australian colonies, along the whole of the shores of which regular steam communication is now maintained.
But perhaps the most extraordinary, and certainly not the least interesting, inland route for steamers (the Ganges and the Indus not excepted), is the navigation of the River Irrawaddy through Burmah to the confines of China, a route greatly developed of recent years. It was, as I have stated, on this river, that the second steamer, the Diana, belonging to the East India Company, made her first voyage, and, from that time until 1865, the Government of India maintained, with more or less regularity, communication by their own steamers between Calcutta, Rangoon, and Upper Burmah, as far as Mandalay, a city said to contain at one time half a million of inhabitants, and situated on the banks of the Irrawaddy, about 500 miles from the sea.
Finding, as Governments often do in such undertakings, that the receipts from this line of communication fell very far short of the disbursements, they, in 1865, made a contract with the Irrawaddy Flotilla and Burmese Steam Navigation Company, constituted under the Limited Liability Act “for the conveyance of H.M.’s troops, stores, and mails to the different stations of British Burmah on the River Irrawaddy, and for carrying on general traffic between the towns and villages on that river from Rangoon to Mandalay, the capital of Upper Burmah,”[389] at the same time making over to the company four Government steamers and three flats previously engaged in the river service. But these vessels, having been found altogether unsuited for the successful carrying on of the company’s operations, were soon replaced by other and new vessels, better fitted for the efficient and economical performance of this service.
When the original contract with the Indian Government expired in 1868, the company entered into a fresh agreement, whereby its services were extended from Mandalay to Bhamo, 1000 miles by river from Rangoon, and within 50 miles of the Chinese frontier. Bhamo, for centuries celebrated among the inland commercial cities of the East, was, at one time, the depôt of an enormous import and export trade to and from western China, conveyed by trains of caravans between that city and Yunnan, the south-western province of the Celestial Empire. But, though long-continued rebellions and civil wars have almost extirpated this important traffic, it has of recent years received a fresh impulse by the introduction of improved steam communication on the Irrawaddy, and by the efforts of English merchants, supported by Government, to explore the country and to re-open vast fields of wealth long comparatively unproductive.[390]
Previously to the establishment of steam communication, the trade of the Irrawaddy, studded along its whole length with towns and villages, with a dense, active, and industrious population, was conducted by native craft of various kinds, whose number has been estimated at 25,000. But steam-vessels, by their speed, regularity, and safety, are gradually superseding these native craft, which, in time, will become, as they have done everywhere else, simply auxiliaries to that great power which, in so large a measure, now regulates the commerce of the world.
The fleet of the Irrawaddy Company now consists (1st of January, 1875) of fifteen steamers and twenty-five “flats,” the whole built expressly for this trade. The steamers, resembling in many respects (though they are inferior in size) those employed on the Ganges and the Indus, are about 250 feet in length, with 32 feet beam, and only 8½ feet depth of hold. They are built of iron, and their draught of water, with 100 tons of fuel on board, is 3 feet 9 inches. They do not take any cargo, but only passengers, having accommodation for thirty first-class, and from 250 to 300 steerage or native passengers; but each steamer tows a couple of flats or barges fastened on either side. The steamers have engines of 250 nominal horse-power, and can attain a speed of fourteen knots an hour, in still water, and without anything in tow. Though their hold is only 8½ feet in depth, the houses and awning-deck rise to about 18 feet above their hull. The largest of the barges is 195 feet in length, with a beam of 25 feet, and can each carry 300 tons measurement of cargo, weighing about 160 tons, with a draught of not more than 3 feet of water.
There is now a weekly steam service between Rangoon and Mandalay, while every month a steamer ascends to Bhamo, which, though now a wretched place of not more than 75,000 inhabitants, may yet be restored by means of steamers to something approaching its former importance. As the delta of the Irrawaddy embraces an area of 94,000 square miles, with an alluvial and fertile soil throughout, producing in great abundance rice, cotton, cutch, teak, minerals, and mineral oils, and, as not more than 3000 miles of this rich district of country is as yet under cultivation, it presents an enormous field for the development of maritime and other branches of commerce.
But, as we proceed further to the East, we find still larger and richer fields gradually being opened out by means of steamers. In China there are vast regions with teeming millions of industrious people who could never have been reached by the traders of Europe and America without the intervention of steam; countries hitherto unknown, yet exhibiting a high state of civilization. With all the necessaries and many of the luxuries of life, their inhabitants have little or no knowledge of any other country beyond their own: favoured by a superior soil and excellent climate, they have, however, become rich by their own genius and unwearied industry: not one out of every hundred thousand of those in the interior having ever seen the ocean, and knowing as little about England as the people of ancient India knew about Greece, Babylonia, and Macedonia when Alexander made his celebrated march across the Panjâb. Nor, indeed, are the descriptions of its civilization, wealth, and refinement, as given to us by occasional travellers who have penetrated the interior, wholly unlike those Arrian has handed down to posterity, with reference to the great cities of ancient India.
If my readers will take the trouble to glance over a map of China and trace the windings of the great Yang-tse-Kiang to its outlet near Shanghai, they will see the extent of territory watered by this mighty stream, together with its various navigable branches. Rising in the southern slope of north-eastern Tibet, and, thence, flowing to the south-east, the Yang-tse at first passes through a country of lofty snow-covered mountains, the drainage of which in warm weather largely increases the volume of its waters, and produces at the same time, in great measure, the vast floods which, in the months of July and August, inundate the widely extending valleys near Hankow and the lower portions of the river.[391]
From these mountain ranges, the Yang-tse winds its way through others of less magnitude and through fertile plains for 800 miles to Chong-kin-foo, forming the northern boundary of the provinces of Yunnan and Kweichow, and greatly increased in its volume by various tributary streams, two of which are of considerable magnitude. Through the province of Szchuen its course extends, for many hundred miles, in a north and north-easterly direction. Thence, passing onwards through numerous gorges and passes, at present altogether unnavigable, it debouches on the plain of Hupeh, where it is about half a mile in breadth; thence again, it proceeds for about 250 miles to Yo-choo-foo, at the Lake Tongting, where the upper Yang-tse ends, and where the lower or greater river of the same name, commencing its course, passes the important city of Hankow, receiving near this city the waters of the Han river, its greatest tributary, and the Chin-kiang: at this place, it is a mile and a half wide, but, at its mouth, near Shanghai, the Yang-tse extends to a width of 12 miles, its whole course being upwards of 3000 miles in length.
This great river is subject periodically to floods, some of these, as that of 1870, converting the country for miles on either bank into a vast sea submerging many villages, whose position can only be traced by the roofs of the houses, as the highways are by the tops of the willow trees lining them.
In February 1860, the Yang-tse was for the first time opened (by treaty) to the ships of other nations; and one of my own, the Scotland, an iron auxiliary screw steam-ship of about 1100 tons gross register, commanded by Captain A. D. Dundas, R.N., was the first foreign merchant-vessel[392] which loaded a cargo from Shanghai to Hankow,[393] bringing back teas for transhipment to Europe and America; but it was not until 1863 that any English vessel loaded a cargo direct from Hankow for Great Britain. On the 8th May of that year, another of my auxiliary steam-ships, the Robert Lowe, of 1250 tons, commanded by William Congalton, left Shanghai for Hankow for the purpose of loading a cargo of teas direct for London: two other English vessels had, however, preceded her.
The navigation of this river was then very little known, and there were many difficulties to encounter which have since been removed; under these circumstances, and as the engines of the Robert Lowe were only 80 nominal horse-power, her passage between Shanghai and Hankow, a distance of 608 miles, occupied ten days: one day, however, was lost in changing her propeller, while she had to anchor every night. The current against her averaged three knots an hour, but in some parts ran fully five knots. The least depth of water (the river being then at its ordinary height) found by soundings was 4¾ fathoms on the bar of the Longshan crossing: the average depth being from 8 to 9 fathoms, but, in many places, Captain Congalton did not obtain soundings at a depth of 14 fathoms, and, in long reaches, where the waters were contracted, the depths were from 20 to 30 fathoms.
At Hankow, where the Robert Lowe anchored to receive her cargo (about 300 yards from the bank), the depth of water was 14 fathoms, with a current running at the rate of 3½ knots an hour. The new teas generally arrive in boats (chops) about the 10th of June, and, on the 23rd of that month, she sailed with a full cargo[394] for Shanghai and London. She was fifty-seven hours under weigh on her passage from Hankow to Shanghai; the current, the river being then fuller, running at from four to, in some places, seven knots an hour.
In 1863-4 there were nine steamers employed trading between Hankow and Shanghai, five British and four American, some of these having a capacity for 2000 tons of tea, and all of them vessels of great speed. Sailing all night as well as during the day, they, in fine weather, made the passage to Hankow in four days, returning under favourable circumstances in less than half that time. Freights then ranged either way, from 3l. to 4l. per ton, treble what they are now, but the current expenses were very heavy, arising from the high price of coal, an increased scale of wages, and exorbitant port charges. Since 1864, the trade has greatly increased both in goods and passengers, large numbers of emigrants are now conveyed in the steamers from the interior to the coast, whence they embark for voyages, many of them so distant as California, the Mauritius, and the West Indies.[395]
There are few finer steamers to be found in any part of the world than the Hankow[396] (belonging to Messrs. Swire and Company), now employed in the trade of the Yang-tse. (See illustration, page 471.) Steamers of her type now leave Hankow and Shanghai daily—one despatched by Russell and Company, the other by Butterfield and Swire, by whom the bulk of the carrying trade between these places is now conducted in steamers.
But the most interesting fact connected with the maritime progress of the Chinese has been the establishment of a line of steam-ships by a company of Chinese merchants, and under their own flag. Although shares are held by the Chinese in many of the other steamers, it is worthy of note that the vessels of this company are owned almost, if not exclusively, by them. But it is still more remarkable, that a scheme for a Chinese naval reserve is now being arranged in connection with the “China Merchants Steam Navigation Company.”[397] It is proposed that each of the larger provinces shall furnish two steamers, and the smaller provinces one, to be added to the fleet of that company, and employed by it while the country is at peace, but to be at the service of the Imperial Government in the event of war.[398] This undertaking, which would appear to have received the approval of the Emperor, will, when complete, consist of twenty-eight steamers, one of which, it is said, has been already ordered in England. It will be, indeed, an era in the history of China when an ancient nation, so exclusive and conservative, substitutes for its junks[399] the steam-ships of modern nations alike for war and commerce.
As there is perhaps no more interesting incident in the history of merchant shipping, than the change now being made in the vessels of the Chinese Empire the following drawing of one of their finest tea-boats (“soma”)[400] may not be uninteresting to my readers; the more so, as I have reason to believe that vessels almost as perfect and ornamental as this one might have been found navigating the coasts and rivers of China even before the dawn of history, and, that they have remained almost unchanged till now, when they are about to be displaced by the steam-ships of Europe, is an event of unusual significance in the progress of ancient nations.
Though our export trade with China has of late years materially increased, a still greater increase may be anticipated if steamers are placed on the upper waters of the Yang-tse, and still more so if Europeans are allowed to trade direct with the dense population of the interior. That such results may be hoped for is clear from the fact that, wherever the merchants of Europe and America have settled, Chinese merchants have been greatly enriched by this intercourse; they have, in fact, found, as the Germans did when the Hanseatic League commenced their exclusive commercial operations in Europe centuries ago, that new traders brought with them new sources of wealth, and developed channels of trade hitherto unknown or at least unrecognised; a result naturally to be expected in a country, such as China, producing within itself, and in extraordinary abundance, some of the most valuable articles known to commerce, at a comparatively small expenditure of either labour or capital. Thus, silk, in most of the provinces of China, is produced by the labour of the women and children alone, the trees occupying the place of no other crops. Insect wax, another article of a high marketable value, is also produced at a trifling expense; while the opium crops of the interior probably cost less in labour than any other that has to be annually sown and reaped.[401]
But beyond these, China produces in vast abundance numerous other articles, necessaries as well as luxuries of life, in great demand in every part of the world. Apart, for instance, from the staple article, tea, which no civilized nation can now dispense with, and silk, which increases in demand with the wealth of nations, and is even more sought after now than it was when the Roman Empire had reached the plenitude of its grandeur, the western provinces of this much more ancient empire, especially that of Szchuen, produce rice and other grain crops in astonishing natural luxuriance, and these would be cultivated to a far greater extent than they now are, if increased facilities were afforded for their export. Already tobacco, sugar, hemp, and tung oil, are sent to the coast in large quantities from Szchuen, and form, even without the means of interchange with foreign nations, a source of ready-made wealth as the mere bounty of nature. Hence, the inhabitants are generally rich, except in districts where the population is too dense, or where they are exposed to undue extortion, owing to the avarice of the authorities. In Szchuen, as also in Yunnan and in many other provinces, the agricultural population is well off; the farms are large; the heads of families being as well dressed as merchants in great cities; the women too, as a rule, are “richly attired, and the appearances of many of the rustic villages and large farms convey the impression of a perpetual holiday.”[402]
“Coal is worked on the hills in the neighbourhood of Chungking, and affords employment to the people of the villages, who make a kind of patent fuel of it, for which they find a market at Ichang, as well as in the smaller towns in the neighbourhood.”[403] Cotton is also produced in abundance; and “among the agricultural population of Szchuen, the women and children, as well as old men, employ themselves in spinning and weaving it, not only for their own wants but also for sale in the towns.”[404] “The people of Chungking,” the delegates state,[405] “expressed great readiness to trade with us, and seemed surprised that we did not bring goods for sale. Foreign merchants will undoubtedly be well received whenever they may choose, or be permitted, to go there.”
The native merchants of the interior of China appear to be keen traders; but, probably, it would be necessary for foreigners, in their first intercourse with them, to do their business through the established hongs, who are united in powerful guilds, resembling those so general in Europe, a few centuries ago, with a similar reputation of tyranny over all smaller dealers, and a tenacity in everything affecting their own privileges. Nearly all the important branches of trade in the interior are now under the control of these guilds, or associated hongs, who are responsible to the authorities for the duties leviable, with a power of regulating particular trades recognised by the Government.
It is curious to find in distant parts of the world, so remote, indeed, that the inhabitants know nothing of any portion of the globe beyond the confines of China, nor, with rare exceptions, have ever heard of any country but their own, the same rules for the regulation of commerce as were general throughout Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries;[406] even their banking system having much resemblance to that of Europe. In China, the custom prevails of making large deductions from the weight or nominal price of goods, for cash payments; the ordinary credit, according to ancient habit, being from six to twelve months, or even more. Negotiation of drafts is managed by bankers, mostly by Shansi men, who profess relationship with every important place in China, as the Lombards once did in Europe.
Prior to the Tae Ping rebellion, Hankow claimed to have a complete, and, by all accounts, a wealthy banking system, the smallest of the banks, called Yin-hongs, having subscribed capitals of many thousands, while the Shansi exchange-houses (Piaw Hoo) counted their wealth by hundreds of thousands. At that time, a great deal of the spare capital of the north found its way to this city, where it was lent at rates not greatly in excess of those now current in England; but, during the rebellion, the Shansi exchange houses withdrew their capital, while the mandarins made such heavy levies on the smaller banks, that most of these establishments were closed, and “cash shops” were, for some time, the only medium of banking operations. These, however, have now assumed more important functions than that of mere exchange, and two of them have become, though still retaining the name of cash shops, banking establishments of considerable importance. These banks frequently make the necessary advances to the growers of the teas produced in such abundance in this district, though the bulk of the capital employed in this now vast trade is provided by the English and American merchants, many of whom have houses at Hankow.
Though the most valuable portions of the trade between Hankow and the sea-coast is now conducted by steamers, native sailing-craft of various sorts are still the only means of water transport, on the upper Yang-tse, which is navigable for vessels drawing not more than eight feet of water as far as Ichang, 363 miles above Hankow. As many as 800 of these vessels, averaging about 50 tons each,[407] have been counted at one time in the harbour of Shansi alone. Their crews, like the boatmen of the Nile, are a special class of men, trained to the service, whose forefathers, through many generations, have followed a similar calling. They are a hardy race, and manage their rude craft with considerable adroitness. Besides these, lorchas, under various foreign flags, running in competition with the steamers, find profitable employment in the conveyance of bulky and low-priced produce and merchandise between Shanghai and Hankow, while the river below the latter place is still frequented by large fleets of native vessels, independently of the crafts engaged in the salt trade, which make the short voyage to places above Ching-Kiang; sea-going junks also find their way up to Taiping and Woohoo.[408]
Soon after the opening of the trade to foreigners, the sea-going junks employed in the trade of the coast were opposed by small sailing-vessels from other nations, more especially from Germany and the northern ports of Europe. Many brigs, schooners, and barques, of from 150 to 400 tons, were also sent from England to engage in the trade, but these, as well as the sea-going junks, are now in turn being displaced by steamers which traverse almost every part of the Chinese seas, as far as Japan, where some of them run in connection with the great English and American lines, and ere long they will, no doubt, cover the more remote inland waters of the Empire.
But the Japanese, as well as the Chinese, have now various merchant steamers under their own flag; they have, also, their iron-clads, the first of which was built by Hall, of Aberdeen; and they own the Stonewall (originally built in England for the Confederate States), which they used to advantage in their civil war of 1868-69. Their first steamer of any kind was the Emperor yacht, presented to them by Lord Elgin on the occasion of making the commercial treaty in 1858-59. Unlike their great neighbours, the Chinese, who were slow to adopt European customs, and who for ages preferred their clumsy junks to the finest sailing-vessels of the East India Company, the Japanese have, since 1859, become owners of steamers with astonishing rapidity; a fact the more noteworthy, that, though their country presents many inducements to maritime pursuits, their native population do not seem at any period of their history to have been a maritime people. Indeed, they were not encouraged by their laws to become so. On the contrary, they were restricted to both form and size in the construction of their junks, with the object, it is presumed, of preventing their leaving Japan for foreign countries; hence these vessels are, as a rule, the rudest of sea-going craft. Invariably rigged with a single mast, and one great square sail which reefs down, curtailed, when required, by the lowering of the yard; they are, however, sometimes to be found encountering, in these unwieldy craft, heavy gales, and at unexpected distances from home.[409]
But the eyes of the Japanese have been recently opened to the advantages of foreign trade,[410] and they are moving onwards in a manner which could hardly have been anticipated from what is known of their previous history; indeed, they have recently (February 1875) announced the establishment of a regular line of steamers under the Japanese flag. The shares of this undertaking, which they have named the “Mitsu-Bishi Steam Navigation Company,” are held almost, if not exclusively, by Japanese. This company already possesses four steamers, the Tokio-Murin (late New York), the Kunayana-Murin (late Madras), the Takar-Murin (late Acanthia), and the Zazon, while others are in course of construction in Great Britain, which are to form a “weekly line” between China and their own ports of Nagasaki, Hiogo, Imioseki, and Yokohama.
What an advance on the rude craft of which the following is an illustration![411]
When we consider the enterprising character of the Japanese, we cannot but feel surprised that such vessels as this clumsy hulk, should, in spite of their restrictive laws, have been found sufficient for all their wants, and that through countless ages. But now the spirit of progress in maritime affairs guides their councils, and though, at present, their steamers are commanded by Europeans or Americans, and have foreign engineers, in other respects they are manned by Japanese. Ere long the junks, alike of China and Japan, will be things of the past, strange toys to the children of these countries, as they have long been to the children of Europe.
[380] The Diana was sent out first in 1821 for Mr. Robarts, with the view to employment in the Canton river. She had a pair of 16 horse-power engines by Maudslay. At Calcutta she was nearly reconstructed by Messrs. Kyd and Co., and launched again on July 12, 1823.
The first actual steam-boat of which we have any record, in connection with India, was built at Batavia, shortly after the conclusion of the Java war in 1810-11. She was called the Van der Capellen, and was built at the expense of English merchants. She was engaged by Government for two years at the cost of 10,000 dollars a month, which well repaid the original outlay on her. She proved very effective for the transport of troops, &c. After some years she came into the hands of Major Schalch and was used by him, under the name of the Pluto, as a dredging-boat in 1822. Thence she went to Arrakan as a floating battery. She was afterwards lost in a gale in 1830.
In 1819, Mr. W. Trickett built a small steam-boat of 8 horse-power at the Butterley Works, for the Nawâb of Oude, to ply on the Jumna. “Early Steam Navigation to India,” by G. A. Prinsep, Calcutta, 4to, 1830.)
[381] These vessels were named the Burhampooter and Hooghly; they were each 105 feet in length and 18 feet in breadth. Each had two engines, which were sent from England, of the combined nominal power of 50 horses, but working up to 80 horse-power on a consumption of 709 pounds of coal per hour.
[382] Previous to 1828, owing to the bad state of the Ganges, arising from the sand-banks and heavy floods, against which native genius and native boats were unable successfully to contend, communication with the interior was alike slow and expensive. Thus, it took two and a-half months to go from Calcutta to Benares; three and a-half to Caunpore; six to Agra; and seven and a-half to Delhi. The premium of insurance on a voyage from Calcutta to Caunpore was 3½ per cent.—as much as to England. Treasure, too, and other valuable property was constantly lost by the upsetting of the boats.
[383] See ante, vol. iv. p. 145.
[384] This vessel was built by Messrs. M. Pearce and Company, of Stockton-on-Tees, and her principal dimensions are as follows: length over all, 377 feet; beam, 46; breadth over paddle-boxes, 74; depth of hold, 5 feet; working draught of water, 2 feet; displacement at 2-feet draught, 739 tons. The engines (built by Messrs. James Watt and Co., of London and Birmingham) are 220 nominal horse-power, having horizontal cylinders of 55 inches diameter, and 6-feet stroke, and the diameter of the paddle-wheels is 26 feet. The hull of the vessel is constructed of puddled steel, and is strengthened longitudinally by four arched girders, two of which carry the paddle-wheels, while the other two run fore and aft, extending nearly the whole length of the ship. Similar means are employed for strengthening the vessel athwartships. She is steered at each end by means of “blades,” which, instead of being worked from side to side in the ordinary manner of rudders, are made to rise out of, or lower into, the water at the proper angle. Both sets of these “steering-blades” are worked simultaneously, but provision is made to work one set only, should an accident occur to the other.
[385] The John Bright is clipper form, barque rig, and fitted with the screw. Her dimensions are 250 feet in length between the perpendiculars: breadth 31 feet, and depth 22 feet 6 inches. She is propelled by engines of 250 horse-power nominal; and is 1192 tons builders’ measurement.
[386] The earliest, as well as at that time, the fastest steamers employed in the opium trade between Calcutta and China were the Fiery Cross, and the Lancefield, built on the Clyde, and owned by Messrs. Jardine, Matheson, and Company. These vessels invariably called at Singapore on their way to Hong Kong, where they waited for despatches from England by the steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. Thus the owners of these vessels, which were much faster than the Mail boats, not merely realized large profits in their regular trade, but, with earlier information from home, than their competitors, had a great advantage in all other branches of commerce, as well as in that of opium.
[387] Lines of communication maintained by the steamers of the British India Steam Navigation Company (Limited): Line 1. Between Calcutta, Chittagong, Akyab, and Kyouk Phyoo, fortnightly. 2. Between Calcutta, Akyab, and Rangoon, fortnightly. 3. Between Calcutta, Rangoon, and Moulmein, weekly. 4. Between Calcutta, Chittagong, Akyab, Kyouk Phyoo, Sandoway, Bassein, Rangoon, Moulmein, Tavoy, Mergui Pakchan, Kopah, Junkseylon, Penang, Malacca, and Singapore, every four weeks. 5. Between Moulmein, Penang, Malacca, and Singapore, fortnightly. 6. Between Calcutta, Port Blair, Camorta, and Rangoon, fourweekly. 7. Between Madras and northern ports to Rangoon, fortnightly. 8. Between Calcutta and Bombay, calling at ports in the Coromandel and Malabar coast ports, weekly. 9. Between Bombay and Karáchí, twice a week. 10. Between Bombay, Karáchí, Muskat, Bunder Abbas, Linga, Bushire, and Bussorah, weekly. 11. Between London, Lisbon, Algiers, Red Sea ports, Karáchí, and Persian Gulf, every four weeks. 12. Between Aden and Zanzibar every four weeks. 13. Between Zanzibar, Mayotte, Nossi Bé, Majunga, Mozambique, and other East African ports, every four weeks.
See Frontispiece, first volume of this work. Without entering into the vexed question of the antiquity of Indian naval architecture, it is certain that native-built vessels, dedicated to commercial purposes, have always been constructed with considerable skill and possess remarkable durability. One of these vessels, built in Surat, called the Holy Ship, as she was employed by the Muhammedans in going to and returning from Mecca on their pilgrimage from India, though, so far back as 1702, she was described as the Old Ship, continued to make an annual voyage for three-quarters of a century, subsequently, from Surat to Mocha, where her owners had the special privilege of taking on board a certain number of chests and cases of coffee and other produce, a privilege the more valuable, as the export duties were excessive. The Holy Ship was lost at last in a violent afflux of the river at Surat in the year 1777, but there is reason to believe that she had navigated the Indian seas for much more than a century, thus proving the superiority of her construction, and the durability of her timbers and planking. In constructing such vessels, the planks are not put together in the European manner, with flat edges towards each other, but they are rabbeted, and the parts are made to fit into each other with the greatest exactness, much time and attention being bestowed upon this operation. For this purpose the builders smear the edges of the planks, as they are set up, with red lead, and those which are intended to be placed next, are put upon them and pressed down, in order to be able to discern the inequalities which are marked by the red lead. These are afterwards removed, and the test is repeated, until the whole exactly fits; they then rub both edges with a sort of glue, which becomes by age as hard as iron, and they cover this with a thin layer of capoc, after which they unite the planks so firmly, and closely with pegs, that the seam is scarcely visible, and the entire frame seems to form one single piece of timber. The beams and ribs are fitted in the same way to the planks, so that a piece of wood is sometimes put in and taken out more than ten times before it is finally fixed. The knees, or crooked timbers, are generally by natural growth of the bent form required, without being forced or warped by fire, especially where special care is taken in the construction and no expense spared. Instead of bolts, pieces of iron are used, forged like spikes, the point of which is driven through, clenched on the inside, and again driven into the wood. The iron employed for this purpose is previously made very rough and flexible. A peculiar method is also employed for the preservation of ships’ bottoms, by occasionally rubbing them with an oil, called wood-oil, whereby the planks, imbibing this preparation, are greatly nourished and protected from decay.
[389] Mr. James Galbraith, the managing director of this company, is in every respect competent to carry out with success this interesting and important undertaking. He is the chief partner of the firm of Messrs. P. Henderson and Co., of Glasgow, and the senior partner of the firm of Messrs. Galbraith, Stringer, Pembroke and Co., of 8 Austin Friars, London—successors to the firm of W. S. Lindsay and Co., which I established, and from which I retired in 1862.
[390] It was in these researches that Mr. Margary, of the China consular service, a young gentleman of great enterprise and promise, recently (February 1875) lost his life, and where, also, various employés of the English Mission, which left Calcutta, in December 1874, to explore the country lying between Bhamo and Hankow on the Yang-tse river, were killed by the treachery of the natives, the mission itself having been forced to return before it reached the Chinese frontier.
[391] See an interesting paper on the inundation of the Yang-tse-Kiang, by E. L. Oxenham.—Report of the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 1875.
[392] When, in September 1858, the question arose as to how far it was possible to declare the River Yang-tse navigable for Europeans, the late Admiral Sherard Osborn undertook to test it by taking Her Majesty’s ship Furious, which he then commanded, accompanied by the Cruiser and two gun-boats, up the river as far as she would go. He was the first to navigate a foreign ship of any kind to Hankow, and the service he thus rendered was a very important one, for it enabled Lord Elgin to insist on this great river being opened to foreign commerce.—See address at the anniversary meeting of the Royal Geographical Society by its President, Sir Henry C. Rawlinson, 24th of May, 1875.
[393] The Scotland sailed from Shanghai with a full cargo for Hankow in June 1860. She drew 17 feet of water. Two light-draught trading steamers preceded her: one an American river-boat, and the other a Russian vessel from the Amoor.
[394] The cargo of the Robert Lowe from Hankow for London consisted of 9568 chests, 234 half chests, and 2064 boxes of black (Honor) teas; 535 bales of cotton, 192 packages of sundries. Her freight amounted to 10,315l., and 480l. passage money.
[395] It may, however, be stated that the chief emigration is from the southern parts of China, and, rarely, north of Amoy. This, on the whole, is a well-regulated trade, and generally carried on in British, American, and German ships, specially chartered for the purpose; all of which, while thus engaged, are under the Hong-Kong Passenger Act, which has been adopted by the consuls at the different Treaty ports. The coolie trade from the Portuguese settlement of Macao, with which it is sometimes confounded, is of an entirely different character, and resembles much more the old and iniquitous slave-trade than free emigration. At Macao and in its vicinity, the coolies are collected, often in large numbers, by coolie-brokers, who are, invariably, men of very questionable, if not of the most depraved, character. These scoundrels, for the most part Chinese and Portuguese, stow these poor creatures away in well-guarded barracoons, ready for shipment; many, perhaps, most of them, not knowing for what purpose they have been collected. Some of them have been actually sold by their relatives to the brokers, or decoyed away from home by false representations; indeed, cases might be produced, where fathers have even staked their children and themselves at gambling-tables, and, on losing their stake, have been, summarily, transferred or exchanged for their price in coin to these still more depraved dealers in human beings. The most usual destination of these unfortunate creatures is Peru, where they are employed on the Guano Islands, and from which, alas, they seldom return.
The Hankow and three other steamers of a similar class were built for Messrs. Swire by Messrs. A. and J. Inglis of Glasgow, expressly for the trade of the Yang-tse; their dimensions are as follows:—
| Pekin and Shanghai. | Ichang. | Hankow. | ||||
| Gross tonnage | 3076 | 1781 | 3168 | |||
| Length on load-water line | 292 | feet. | 242 | feet. | 308 | feet |
| Breadth, moulded | 42 | ” | 36 | ” | 42 | ” |
| Depth, moulded | 15 | ” | 12 | ft. 6 in. | 16 | ” |
| Load draught | 10 | ” | 9 | feet. | 11 | ” |
| Dead weight capacity | 664 | tons | 460 | tons | 840 | tons |
| Measurement capacity in tons of 40 feet | 3668 | 1972 | 3800 | |||
| Passenger accommodation, Europeans | 14 | 10 | 14 | |||
| Passenger accommodation, Chinese, 1st | 16 | 6 | 18 | |||
| Passenger accommodation, Chinese, 2nd | 164 | 106 | 170 | |||
| Speed on trial | 13 | knots | 12 | knots | 12¾ | knots |
| Diameter of cylinder | 68 | inches | 62 | inches | 72 | inches |
| Stroke | 12 | feet. | 10 | feet. | 14 | feet |
| Indicated horse-power | 1450 | 1200 | 1840 | |||
| Pressure of steam | 27 | lbs. | 33 | lbs. | 35 | lbs. |
| Consumption of fuel at full power (per hour) | 33 | cwt. | 27 | cwt. | 40 | cwt. |
The Pekin was finished in May 1873; the Shanghai in July 1873; the Ichang, October 1873; and the Hankow in April 1874.
The hulls of these vessels are of iron to the main-deck, and of the most substantial construction, every precaution being taken to give them sufficient strength to make the voyage to China in safety, as well as to withstand the severe strains they are occasionally subjected to in the river, by being left aground with a full cargo. The Hankow cost, delivered at Shanghai, close upon 70,000l.
In forwarding the particulars of these vessels, Messrs. A. and J. Inglis remark: “Though the hulls are constructed entirely of iron, the entire structure above the main-deck is of wood, as light as possible consistent with the requisite strength, so as to lessen the top weight, as we were informed that the steamers of the Yang-tse were peculiarly liable to get aground, owing to the frequent shifting of the channel in some parts of the river. The cargo spaces,” they add, “are in the lower holds, and also between the main and saloon decks. The accommodation for passengers and officers, the galleys, pantries, bath rooms, store rooms, and other conveniences are all above the saloon deck.
“The main saloon is placed forward between the captain’s rooms and the machinery space; above the captain’s rooms are the pilot-house and quarter-masters’ cabins.
“The engines are after the American style, with walking beam, but are rather more solidly constructed than is usual in America. The gallows frame, which supports the main centre of beam, instead of being made of wood as in the States, is of malleable iron; box framing is secured to massive box keelsons on the floors of the ship. This style of framing, never before adopted in beam engines, has given great satisfaction in the six steamers to which we have fitted it.
“The Ichang and Hankow had common radial wheels, but in the Pekin and Shanghai feathering wheels were adopted, with marked advantage in point of speed. We have no doubt that the Hankow would have attained 15 knots speed, had she been fitted with feathering wheels.
“Besides these four vessels we built a similar vessel, the Hupeh, for Messrs. Russell and Company, Shanghai, in 1868, and the Shing-King, a sea-going steamer with beam engine, in 1873. Messrs. Russell and Company had previously built all their steamers in America or China, but, becoming alive to the advantages of iron over wooden hulls, had the above vessels and three screws built by us for their trade on the Yang-tse and Gulf of Pechili.”
[397] North China Herald, 21st of January, 1875.
[398] The Chinese Government have during recent years established various very extensive arsenals, especially at Nankin, Foochow, and at Shanghai, where they manufacture large quantities of small arms, and various kinds of machinery. At the two latter places, they are now building gun-boats and war cruisers, and they contemplate, also, constructing iron-clads at these places.
[399] Chinese junks vary in size from 120 to even 1000 tons, but, as they stand high out of the water, their capacity seems greater; they are usually fitted with two or three masts, and their sails are furled or unfurled like Venetian blinds. Those built and equipped for war are somewhat superior in strength and in speed to those employed in commerce; but, in general, the decoration and design are similar. The merchant vessels are provided with ports, so as to carry guns. The most remarkable features in their hull are the abrupt and flat termination of the bow, together with the absence of a bowsprit. A strangely fashioned contrivance answers the purpose of a windlass. It is affixed to the outside of the bow, by means of which the anchor is weighed. As among the ancients, an eye is sometimes painted upon the bows of their war junks. The lower part of the stern is either entirely hollowed out, in an angular form, or, being flat in its primary construction, has in its centre a recess of that description. Within this, is a second hollow or chamber, rising the whole height, nearly from the keel to the bottom of the quarter gallery, within which the rudder moves, and is protected from the violence of the sea. This rudder is 5 or 6 feet in length, and managed by ropes only, one of which is fastened to the poop, so as, occasionally, to lift it out of the water, with a view to its preservation.
But the Chinese have another, and much more ornamental description of sea-going vessels called the “Soma,” with (see illustration, p. 475) usually only one mast: and, with these vessels, the Chinese sail along the coasts of Batavia, Manilla, Annam, Cochin China, Cambogia, Chinchiu. They are capacious for their tonnage and will hold about a thousand chests of tea. They are high and round on each side, the rudder is slender and can be taken out with very little difficulty. They have no upper sails, but only one great fore-sail, besides the sprit-sails, and the mizen, all of which are made of mats tied together across bamboo sticks. They lower the sails with difficulty, and to effect this are generally obliged to send a sailor up the mast to tread the yard down.
All Chinese sea-going junks are armed with cannon—some of them heavily for defence, and when it suits their purpose for attack, as too many of them, though professing to be honest traders, become pirates whenever a fitting opportunity offers. Numerous instances might be given of these marauding attacks upon the defenceless trading vessels of all nations, especially when a rich booty is anticipated. In such cases, their practice is to sail to windward of their prey, sheer alongside and, if the weather permits, throw from the mastheads “stink-pots” on board of their victims. The atrocious smell from these pots is certain to clear the decks and drive the crew below so that the Chinese can thus, generally, obtain a footing on board without opposition. Except when resistance is offered, the lives of the crew of the merchant-vessels are generally spared; but there have been many instances when all on board have been massacred, when the most revolting scenes have occurred, and when the ships have been scuttled and sunk with all on board. As a rule, however, these pirates, if they obtain what they require, leave the plundered ship and crew to their fate.
[400] The whole of the native craft of China, above a certain size, are usually described as junks, and the name of this particular description is, comparatively, modern. Charnock and other writers have puzzled themselves to know why they are called soma or sommes. Soma in Portuguese signifies cargo or burthen, and the French have the same meaning, bêtes de somme, beasts of burthen; so that soma or sommes as now applied to these vessels, simply means vessels of large cargo capacity, and is not, as Charnock supposes, a corruption of any Chinese word.
[401] See Report of the Delegates of the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce on the trade of the Upper Yang-tse, 1869, a most interesting and instructive document published at Shanghai.
[402] Report, p. 3.
[403] Report, p. 14.
[404] Ibid., p. 17.
[405] Ibid., p. 19.
[406] As the merchants resident in the interior of China had no intercourse with, nor, in fact, any knowledge of, Europe till a comparatively recent period, it may be inferred that such guilds are of the most remote antiquity, if not of pre-historic times; and although no mention is made of them in the early records of the Chaldeans, Assyrians, Phœnicians, or Egyptians, it is quite probable that similar customs prevailed among the earliest of those nations, and were interchanged by them in their commercial intercourse with the Chinese on the one hand, and with the Europeans on the other.
My learned friend Sir P. Colquhoun is of opinion that we got our guilds (not corporate bodies, as they became afterwards, but associations of men similarly employed like the present trades’ unions), which existed in England as early as the ninth century, from the East, through the Teutonic tribes who came from the north of Europe. He adds, that the word “Zunft,” German for “corporation,” is also possibly derived from the Arabic plural word “Esnáf,” a view which Mr. Redhouse supports: other Oriental scholars, however, whom I have consulted, see no reason for its derivation from the Arabic.
[407] These boats are usually known by the name of sampans, and are generally used for the transport of commodities from the interior to Hankow, and sometimes to the coast. But they do not serve for commercial purposes only; they are used as dwellings for whole families or populations, who are born, marry, and die in them. In those employed for the conveyance of salt on the Yang-tse, the chief type of the Chinese art of shipbuilding may be seen in all its singularity. Their sides are mostly painted black. The upper portions of these craft are strengthened by broad but thin beams, which are painted in various colours, but most frequently in red, and, between these, the port-holes are represented in the middle of a square of a similar colour. Towards the bows the sides are raised, and form continuous cheeks, painted green, with an eye, or some other fantastic emblem, in the centre. The bow is quite flat; its width at the water-line, is usually from 9 to 12 feet; and, there being no stem or cutwater, the bow can only repulse the pressure of the water, without dividing it. The poop is raised, and open at the fore part, with a white scutcheon covered with paintings, representing flowers, dragons, or other allegorical figures.
[408] The tea boats on the Canton river and the Yang-tse are very numerous. They are clumsily built, and of various forms. Some have a high stern, ornamented with paintings of the brightest colour. The stern has usually a considerable rake, and the sides terminate with planks distinct from the hull, resting on a cross-beam. They are covered with varnish, and, as the heads of the nails by which they are fastened are pointed with mastic, the line of the ribs is not apparent. Most of them are covered in with a round water-tight roof, over which an awning is sometimes spread. On both sides of the roofs are uprights with rails resting on a deck, sufficiently wide and long to pass to the stern. They have seldom more than one mast and one large sail.
In the best class of these vessels, the cabin projects from the ship about 2 feet on each side, and there are folding windows round it, which may be opened or shut as pleasure or occasion may require. In the furthermost part are the rooms for passengers, separated from each other by folding-screens or doors, with the floors covered with fine mats. The outer cabin is always considered the best, and is accordingly assigned to the most distinguished passengers. The roof, or upper deck, is flattish, and constructed of neat boards, curiously joined together. In rainy weather, the mast is let down upon the upper deck, and the sail extended over it for the sailors and the people employed in the ship’s service to take shelter under it, and to sleep at night. Sometimes, the better to defend the upper deck, it is covered with straw mats, which, for this purpose, are kept at hand. There is but one sail, made of canvas, and very large; and one mast, standing up about midships, but somewhat towards the stern. This mast, which is of the same length as the ship, is wound up by pulleys, and again lowered upon deck when the ship comes to anchor. The anchors are of iron. Ships of this burden have commonly thirty to forty hands to row them, if the wind fails. The rowers’ benches are towards the stern. They row in unison with the air of a song, or tune with words, which serves at the same time to direct and regulate their work, and to encourage each other to exertion. They do not row after the European mode, extending their oars straight forwards, with the blades just below the surface, but they let them fall down into the water almost perpendicularly, and then lift them up again. This way of rowing not only answers the same purpose as our own, but is performed with less labour, and seems to be more adapted to circumstances, considering the narrowness of the passage through which ships sometimes pass, or when vessels pass each other, or when the benches of the rowers are raised considerably above the surface of the water. The oars are made in a peculiar manner, suitable for this mode of rowing, being not all straight, like the Europeans’ oars, but somewhat bent.
[410] In January 1861, I sold to the Prince of Satsuma one of my auxiliary steam-ships, the England, which had been employed in trade between India and China, and had made one or two voyages to Japan, soon after the ports of that country were opened to the vessels of foreign nations. Captain A. D. Dundas, R.N., who commanded her, and was a part owner with me of this ship and of a sister-ship, the Scotland, which afterwards became the property of the same prince, informs me he is under the impression, that the England was “the first foreign vessel purchased in Japan, except by the Government proper.” If so, her sale may be considered the introduction of the thin edge of the wedge which has rapidly led to a very general introduction of foreign bottoms. As an instance of the remarkable skill and ingenuity of the Japanese, they made new boilers of copper for this ship, within twelve months of the time when she came into their possession (I believe they had never before seen a boiler), but I am uncertain whether these boilers were ever fitted into the ship. If they were, I fear the small pieces of copper of which they were made (Japanese mechanical knowledge not having as yet learnt the art of constructing plates of the necessary size) would render them useless. The England was seized and scuttled by the British fleet in August 1863, at the time of the bombardment of Kagosima, and, having been sunk in very deep water, was never raised. The Scotland was still in the service of the Japanese in 1870.
[411] Though the above drawing represents one of the largest of the Japanese junks, she, like all the others, had only one mast, its place being opposite the vacant space shown at the gangway. The apparent bulwark of trellis-work before this gangway is meant to break the sea and allow the water to wash through. Besides, as nearly all the junks carry deck cargoes (covered with water-tight mats where perishable) the gratings serve the purpose of protection to the goods thus stowed, and afford facilities for lashing and securing them in their places on deck.