Full text of "Narrative of the war with China in 1860; to which is added the account of a short residence with the Tai-ping rebels at Nankin and a voyage from thence to Hankow"

was very seldom at fault, was obliged to anchor and send out a boat to sound for deep water. It is very much to be regretted that our naval surveyors have not retained the native Chinese names for places more frequently than they have done. It is all very well to name points along a sea-coast line by familiar titles, and it is doubtless highly gratifying to Lords of the Admiralty to have their names handed down to posterity by having capes, bays, or uninhabited islands, named after them; but when this peculiarly salt-water fashion is carried into practice in the interior of a thickly inhabited country, it reduces the value of all maps made upon such principles. From Gravener Island to Hankow the river is ugly, the only pretty spots being near Pih-lu-shan, "Tiger Hill," on the right bank, and

the prosperous-looking village of Yang-lo opposite to it. We passed a great many timber rafts floating down the river, upon which those employed in steering them had constructed houses, showing they had come from a great distance. Along the banks at several places during to-day's voyage I saw large stacks of timber, and numbers of saw-pits where it was being cut up into planks &c. &c. We anchored off Hankow at four o'clock p.m., in twelve fathoms of water, close by the confluence of the river Han with the Yang-tse. We were all surprised at the size and appearance of the place. I had read several descriptions of it, but none had conveyed any idea of its actual extent. Upon both sides of the river, almost as far as the eye could see, the houses appeared one behind the other, closely packed at all points. The locality commonly known as Hankow includes the city of that name, and those of Han-yang and Wu-chang-foo, the last upon the right bank of the Yang-tse, the two former upon its left — Han-yang standing upon the right bank of the Han river, where it falls into the Yang-tse, Hankow immediately opposite to it. The river bank opposite to where we lay was about five-and-twenty feet high, the streets reaching to its very edge. At some places a break in the rows of houses testifies to the ruin once caused here by the rebels; the work of rebuilding is going on rapidly now, houses and shops springing up daily from the piles of ruins about.

The river Han was densely crowded with trading junks, and large numbers lay in the main river, off Hankow and Wu-chang. The large-sized vessels here differ from those seen in the south, being more substantially built and better finished, without any of that "gingerbread" work about them for which such craft are generally famous. A number of small wherries attracted our attention immediately upon arrival, from their being painted a bright red, and plying unceasingly about. At first we thought that they belonged to the custom-house, having something of the official look about them, but upon inquiry we discovered them to be lifeboats!! Men who had lived long in China laughed at the notion when it was first told to them. At all other places in the empire the boat people evince such a recklessness of life, and an indifference about death, that such a humane institution here seems strange in the extreme. At Canton it is well known that when a boat upsets — by no means an uncommon occurrence — the people in the sampans near never render any assistance to the drowning, nor will a Chinaman, usually, even put himself to the trouble of extending a hand to save a fellow-creature.

Crowds of people assembled on the banks to gaze in wonder at us, and, judging from the swarm of small boats continually around our vessel, the wherry-men must have had a fine harvest during our stay. Upon landing, the multitude that pressed in upon

us was prodigious, so much so, that I really felt, at one time as if the whole four hundred millions of people said to be in China were at our heels and around us, as we walked briskly through the narrow streets of Hankow. To stop was to be lost: our only chance of escaping the pressure was to keep moving at a smart pace, which soon told upon our long-tailed friends, who were obliged to go at a jog-trot in order to keep up with us. The fat, paunchy shopkeepers soon tailed off, leaving in our wake only those "nasty little boys," who, in the greatest glee, ran after us, shouting, tumbling over one another, falling into gutters, or standing upon some bigger boy's toes, who immediately punched the delinquent's head.

Little boys are the same all over the world, and of all animals the most essentially detestable everywhere. I am sure that those who die in boyhood can never go to heaven. "he happy hunting-ground" would be a bear-garden-like settlement were they allowed an entrance there. Purgatory itself would be a pleasing change, affording a kind of retired life, after the din, noise, and vexation of any spot to which the genus little boy had the entree. One, two or three are bad enough, requiring a great amount of caning to keep in order; but when their number is to be reckoned only by hundreds, endurance is no

longer to be talked of. To halt for a moment to punish some flagrant offender is only to expose your back to dozens who assail you, tearing your coat tails off, or perhaps tripping you up. Although not alluded to in Sacred Writ, I am sure they form a considerable item in the ills and miseries entailed, by the sin of our first parents, upon a residence in this world. To live by the sweat of one's brow might be borne with patience, were we allowed to enjoy our moments of leisure without the annoyance and irritating presence of infantesimal man. Like most little boys, however, those at Hankow were good-humoured, and confined their annoyances to shouting. Once or twice a small piece of brick was thrown at us, but with no violence, and, seemingly, intended more to try our temper than to hurt us bodily. Upon such occasions we halted, and gave them to understand, by our looks and gestures, that we were not to be trifled with.

During the latter part of our stay there we used to hear the adult portion of the population chiding and abusing their juvenile friends for following us, knowing how much we disliked it. I fear that our people who have been here before could not have been as forbearing as we were; for the first request made by the officials who boarded us upon arrival, was that we should not beat the people who followed us.

The streets of Hankow resemble closely those of Canton. As you look up them there are the same amount of placard boards and painted planks hanging along each side, announcing the trade and name of each proprietor. The shop advertisements are very

like those we have in England, inviting the attention of the public to the cheapness of the articles for sale, and warning all that "there is no second price." The streets are well paved and wider than those of Canton. The houses are well built and prettily ornamented

with wood carvings and cut stone mouldings. The inhabitants looked a thriving, busy people, well dressed, and most anxious to be civil. All declared themselves charmed at the prospect of British merchants establishing themselves there; from which they anticipated both an increased protection from the rebels and a great improvement in their commercial prospects The local officials evinced a different spirit from what they had

shown in 1858, sparing no pains or trouble to show us every civility. The town of Hankow is commanded by a blue button mandarin, whose rank corresponded with

a major in our army, according to the code of relative precedency established between the two nations. His name was Lee, so we always called him Major Lee in speaking of him. He was perpetually coming on board our ship at all sorts of odd hours, so that at last he became rather a bore. He appeared very desirous of mixing himself up in commercial matters, volunteering information as to prices, resources of the country, &c. &c.

and inquiring the value of all importable commodities.

He insisted upon our honouring his house by being present there at a theatrical performance, which he got up for our amusement, entertaining us in the most sumptuous manner with what he called a "Tartar dinner," between which, however, and an ordinary

Chinese banquet, the only remarkable difference was, that we were supplied with forks and handsomely carved metal spoons. The usual bill of fare of birds'-nest soup, sharks' fins, sea-slugs, hard-boiled eggs that had been buried for years, &c. &c, were served up in some forty or fifty courses; there was no rice, but plenty of sweet cakes and confections, some of which were really very good. The theatricals were of the same uninteresting nature for Europeans, as are to be seen at any of the provincial towns of the empire. The plays are generally historical, and always relate to events prior to the Tartar conquest, the dresses being those of the Chinese dynasties. The performers were all men. As a rule this is always the case; but I have known of one company which, on the other

hand, were all women. In acting the voice is made to appear as unnatural as possible, every word being pronounced in a thin, squeaky manner, at the highest pitch of a falsetto. The men wear those odd-looking beards and whiskers to be seen at home in waxwork

representations of Chinamen, consisting of an imperial about a foot long, and a single tuft of the same length pendent from each cheek. During the performance they keep continually stroking these with an air of pomposity that quite partakes of buffoonery.

In one of the pieces then acted, a heavy fall of snow was represented by quantities of thin white paper in very small pieces being showered down upon the stage. No attempts are ever made at scenic effect; the stage is always the same; and the performers have to depend entirely upon brilliancy of acting and expression for the development of the piece. As the language used is always the Mandarin dialect, by far the greater proportion of the audience do not understand what they hear.

Our friend's house was very nicely laid out. The place of entertainment consisted of a small square garden surrounded with buildings, and was roofed in for the occasion. At one end was a large suite of rooms, in the finest of which our feast was provided. The stage was upon the opposite side, the intervening space being laid out with flowers and ornamental stonework, well lit up by coloured lamps and hanging lanthorns of all shapes and sizes. Our host was most officious, and with the usual etiquette of the country, tried to make us eat a far greater quantity of all the expensive nastiness provided for us than we desired. Our cups were continually replenished with hot wine, although, strange to say, Lee neither drank nor smoked himself, being, I think, the first Chinese teetotaller I ever met with. He had some bad affection of the chest, as he scarcely ever ceased coughing and expectorating. His garrulity was inordinate; his tongue never ceased for a moment, trade being his favourite topic of conversation. He seemed, however, to have more of the peddling disposition of a huckster than the broad ideas necessary for great

mercantile business. He kept continually asking the prices of our clothes, and could not understand how it was that we did not know exactly the value of every article. He told us that there were three descriptions of coal sold in Hankow, of which he procured us samples. None was good, and all was of an anthracite sort. They had evidently been taken from near the surface. The Chinese do not understand mining; and until the mechanism of the West is introduced into their country, the mineral resources can never be developed. The authorities are now so anxious to maintain friendly relations with us, that an English company would have little difficulty in arranging for the purchase or renting of these coal mines, which our host told us were three hundred miles from Hankow, there being water-carriage all the way. We sounded Lee as to his ideas regarding the success of the rebels in carrying out their declared intention of taking Hankow this year. He scoffed at the notion, declaring that as long as the large force then in garrison was kept up, the rebels dare not

even approach the place. The Tai-ping prowess in war is generally far too highly estimated, a few successes being reckoned as unanswerable evidence of their bravery and efficiency in the field. Han-yang and Wu-chang-foo have great natural strength of position, having the river on one side, and muddy flats interspersed with numerous lakes almost surrounding them at the other points. The walls of Wu-chang have been lately increased in height about five feet, and are now in very good repair. The guard-houses along them are well manned and armed; and there seemed to be an order and regularity about the dispositions for defence that I have never seen elsewhere.

In going to and from Lee's house we had a long way to travel through the town. Chairs were placed at our disposal, with numerous attendants running beside them, carrying torches, lanthorns, &c. Each chair was borne by four stout coolies, who went along at a brisk pace. In Hankow the shops are kept open until a very late hour: it was eleven o'clock when we were returning, yet all were then open and fit up. Numbers of booths lined the streets wherever their width allowed of it, the glare from whose candles lit up the places about. I was struck by the great number of fortune-tellers, around whose stalls eager groups pressed in, intent upon obtaining information as to future events. Some very large tea-houses were also open, into which people of all classes seemed crowded. The jargon of tongues, their loud laughter over their games of dominoes, and the clouds of smoke issuing from the open doorways, made me almost fancy that I was passing the gates of Pandemonium rather than a house of entertainment.

The viceroy of the Hu-quan province (which includes both Hoo-nan and Hoo-pe), resides in Wu-chang-foo; his name is Kwang-wan. He is a fine old Tartar, sixty-

four years of age, and of really an imposing appearance. He has been viceroy for the last eight years, before which time he had been second in command of the troops in Kwan-tung. He is a general officer, which is peculiar, as civil governments are seldom given in China to military men. He is also one of the ministers of state, which constitutes him one of the highest dignitaries in the empire.

In 1858 he was not at all anxious to interchange civilities with Lord Elgin. Affairs have altered considerably since then. In 1858 we had only a treaty to depend upon in our relations with China; we have now the prestige of our victories, and of our military display within the very walls of Pekin to rely upon. This is already bearing its fruit. Our superior strength is acknowledged everywhere in the empire, and so (true to the instincts of their race), they are civil and anxious to please. Kwang-wan sent off his card to our ship by the officious little Chinese major, with the request that we would pay him a visit. As the invitation was most pressing we accepted it. So at ten o'clock a.m. the following morning, the viceroy's state barge was alongside our ship, into which we got, attended by Lee and a blue button mandarin in my friend's service, as interpreter.

The boat of state was a very fine one, of about one hundred and fifty tons burden, half of it being fitted up as a reception room, the rest regularly decked over, where five very well made and well kept brass carronades were mounted. The wind was blowing up

the river, and sent us along briskly to the quay in the suburb of Wu-chang, where was the landing-place. A large crowd had assembled to see us there, attracted no doubt to the spot by the number of sedan-chairs waiting for us, and the numerous flags, banners, and

coloured cloth festooned over a wooden archway, evidently just erected as a compliment to us. Having taken our seats in the chairs provided, off we jogged along the narrow street, which, running parallel with the river, forms one of the principal thoroughfares without the city.

Upon reaching the walls of the place, we passed through a large outwork, of recent construction, where, as at all the other posts, the guard turned out as we approached, drawing up in two lines, between which we passed. We were conducted along nearly the entire extent of the river front of the city, before we entered it, which we did by a gate near the furthest river angle, crossing the formidable ditch by a temporary wooden bridge. A strong guard received us at the gate, the men of which had much difficulty in keeping back the vast mob that swarmed around the gate within, all

desirous of catching even a glimpse of the "foreign devils." A numerous police, armed with twisted thongs, had much difficulty in keeping a space clear for our chairs to pass through. A large amount of the area within Wu-chang is still covered with ruins. It is much slower in recovering from the destruction caused by the rebels than Hankow. The viceroy's residence is, however, in good repair, and does not appear to have suffered at all. It was in general design very similar to the large Yamuns of Canton, but had been constructed upon the grandest scale. The number of petty officers, and of state sedan-chairs collected without the grand entrance, indicated the presence of all the great officials within the building, who had arrived to be present at our reception. A dense crowd pressed in upon us, as we left our chairs and entered the Yamun. In consenting to pay the viceroy a visit, we had stipulated for a private reception; so, instead of being ushered in through the main entrance, we were conducted at first into some private apartments, where we remained seated, whilst Lee had an interview with his Excellency. After the delay of a few minutes, we were invited to follow a mandarin sent to conduct us

into the great man's presence. We passed through a very long courtyard, upon each side of which petty officials and servants were drawn up in long rows, all dressed in their robes of office.

At the further end of this quadrangle was a gateway, with a raised dais, neatly carpeted over, where we were met by the viceroy, who had advanced to meet us, — a

great condescension on his part, as our visit was a private one. Having gone through the usual etiquette of bowing and shaking our own hands, he conducted us into his hall of reception, and motioned us to seats. The apartment was prettily ornamented and well furnished, having a rich, soft carpet spread over all the space enclosed within the two rows of chairs which stretched up along either side. Behind these stood a number of mandarins, some of the highest grades, the grand-treasurer of the province being one of them: none were, however, allowed to sit during the interview.

Our interpreter, the blue button mandarin, upon entering the hall, prostrated himself at the viceroy's feet, bumping his forehead several times against the ground, according to the orthodox manner of "kow-towing." He was then directed to take a chair next his Excellency, who at once commenced asking a number of questions, how old we were, &c. &c. Tea was then brought in and handed to our host, who then presented it himself to each of us.

He expressed great pleasure at our visit to Hankow, and hoped that for the future the two nations, England and China, would continue upon friendly terms. He considered that all our former disagreements had been occasioned through the errors of local authorities. To prevent any such ever taking place under his government, he would be always happy to see any of our countrymen who wished to complain of anything, and

he would himself then inquire into the matter. He thought that the continuance of a good understanding between the two nations was equally desirable for both. At the present time, he said, that nothing was ready for the reception of foreigners at Hankow, so

that perhaps it would be as well if we would postpone establishing ourselves there for a few months. My friend replied, that the best way all such matters could be accomplished would be by our being actually present on the spot ourselves. He made particular inquiries into the manner in which we had arranged with the Pekin Government that the custom duties should be collected, and evidently did not all relish the idea of such being paid in at Chin-kiang-foo, as this would exclude him from having any share paid into his provincial treasury. This plan had been previously agreed upon, as the only safeguard against smuggling on the part of foreign merchants.

Our interview lasted nearly an hour, during which time confections of various kinds were served to us, some of which were remarkably good. His Excellency

pressed us to remain for dinner, but as we had had quite enough of sea-slugs and other horrors the previous evening at Lee's house, we declined the honour. Upon rising to take leave, our host said he wished to present us with a specimen of his poetry, as a souvenir of our visit to him. He was, we were subsequently informed, very proud of his calligraphy, for which he had become celebrated, an unusual accomplishment with Chinese generals.

A table and writing materials were accordingly brought in and placed before him. He wrote upon long strips of red paper, spotted over with gold leaf. The art of penmanship is highly esteemed by all Chinamen, and even the very characters themselves, possess, in their eyes, something approaching to the sacred about them; so much so that many priests devote their lives to searching for and collecting waste papers upon which anything has ever been written, as they seem to consider it almost a sacrilege that anything once honoured by having upon it any Chinese character should ever be defiled. His Excellency wrote rapidly with a very large brush, a servant holding out the paper, which was nearly seven feet long: he wrote two lines for each of us. This is a very common method of paying a compliment to visitors, and such papers are to be seen in most Chinese houses, hung up, as we do pictures, as mementos of friends, or of past occurrences.

Upon our leaving, the old general accompanied us to the outer door, where having "chin-chinned," we bade him adieu. The crowd that had collected without the Yamun whilst our interview lasted was really prodigious. Every little available spot was occupied

which a human being could manage to reach by any process of squeezing or climbing. Little boys and old men were perched upon the tops of the surrounding buildings, all gazing at us, as if we were some strange monsters with many heads. It was with the greatest difficulty that the officials who accompanied us could force a passage for our chairs through the crowd: indeed, for some time I expected mine to be upset every

moment, or at least smashed in by the crushing of the swarms around it.

We left Hankow on the 10th March, and readied Shanghai on the evening of the 16th, having been delayed for four-and-twenty hours by an accident during the voyage.

APPENDIX.

Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Commerce, between her Majesty and the Emperor of China. Signed, in the English and Chinese Languages, at Tien-tsin, June 26th, 1858.
[Ratifications exchanged at Pekin, October 24, I860.]
Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and his Majesty the Emperor of China, being desirous to put an end to the existing misunderstanding between the two countries, and to place their relations on a more satisfactory footing in future, have resolved to proceed to a revision and improvement of the treaties existing between them; and, for that purpose, have named as their plenipotentiaries, that is to say;

Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, the Right Honourable the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, a Peer of the United Kingdom, and Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle;

And his Majesty the Emperor of China, the High Commissioners Kweiliang, a Senior Chief Secretary of State, styled of the East Cabinet, Captain-General of the Plain