1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



11 



For the Necc Ensland Farmer. 

 HONG KONG, CHINA. 



My last letter I was obliged to bring to an a1)- 

 rupt close in oi-der to complete arrangements for 

 leaving the next day for Canton. 



On the morning of Saturday last, accompanied 

 by several friends, I embarked on the steamer 

 "White Cloud," then ready to start for Canton 

 river. The morning was delightful, and the pure 

 sea air proved wonderfully invigorating after the 

 exhausting process of a week's residence in Hong 

 Kong. I went early on deck to take a look at the 

 scenery on shore, but it was quite two hours be- 

 fore we had fairly entered the river, and until then 

 I saw very little to interest me. High, barren 

 hills obscured all inland objects, and M'ith the ex- 

 ception of here and there a fisherman's hut on the 

 narrow beach and an occasional junk sailing by, 

 with its huge fanlike sails extended to the light 

 breeze, few signs of life were visible. I own I 

 was disappointed ; the tropical vegetation which 1 

 had led my invagination to expect did not seem to 

 be here ; neither were there many evidences of 

 that industrious agricultural skill, which I had 

 supposed peculiar to the Chinese, to be seen ; 

 but the rapid progress made by our fast boat 

 soon opened to our view a region of country high- 

 ly cultivated, and tropical in its luxuriance. 



As we glided along, the captain pointed out the 

 famous Bogue Forts, but only enough remained of 

 them to exhibit the unskilfulness of the Chinese. 

 The position for defence was remarkably well 

 chosen, and needed but the aid of good engineer- 

 ing to make it impregnable. 



Large paddy (or rice) fields stretched away 

 from the water, and along the dikes built to pre- 

 A'ent an overflow of the laud, were planted rows of 

 the Lychee tree, whose leaves of greenish hue in 

 contrast with the lighter shades of the blossoms, 

 were objects of much beauty. From this point to 

 Whanipoa, the country presented a panoramic 

 %"iew of surpassing novelty. There our stay was 

 short. Small boats, or sampans, flocked around 

 the steamer, and literally covered the river sur- 

 face. Girls managed them, with consummate skill, 

 and seemed to enjoy the rocking motion of their 

 diminutive craft as our steamer glided by. 



The hills back of the town were terraced to their 

 summits, and had the appearance of grave-yards. 

 A pagoda of some seven or eight stories was here 

 a conspicuous object. Beyond Whampoa, further 

 up, the river was swarming with boats, seemingly 

 countless in number, and of every size and shape. 

 A number of government junks, with immense 

 goggle-like eyes staring from their bows, were 

 mooi-ed in the stream. 



Canton was reached early in the afternoon, and 

 while waiting an opportunity to go on shore, we 

 had ample time to view the city as it appears 

 from the river. Scarcely a trace is now to be 

 seen of the splendid hongs, or mercantile houses, 

 which formerly stood outside of the walls and 

 were occupied as residences and places of business 

 by foreign merchants. 



The hong boat, as it is called, now came along 

 side, and the passengers from the "White Cloud" 

 were quickly landed. I was hos]ntahly received 

 at the great commercial establishment of Messrs. 



. A spacious room was kindly placed at my 



disposal, and having brought along with me the 



necessary appendage of a China boy, I found no 



difficulty in making myself comfortable. 



The sky was still overcast. It had rained since 

 noon and I made up my mind to remain within 

 doors, especially as the view from the verandah 

 gave me an excellent opportunity to watcli the 

 movements of the innumerable sampans, flower- 

 boats and various other craft, which stretched 

 away as far as the eye could reach. At the stern 

 of most of these was a huge scull or sweep, inva- 

 riably managed by females, while the less indus- 

 trious males worked a light stroke oar at the side 

 or stem. Little children toddled about on the 

 decks, with gourds strapped to their backs, — 

 some were tied with strings — to protect them from 

 harm in case of being lost overboard. What with 

 the hoarse, guttural cries of ])eddlers, floating lei- 

 surely by, and the noise and din on shore from 

 beatings of gongs, chin-chinning, joss, and the 

 explosions of fire crackers, confusion seemed to 

 reign with undisputed sway. 



The next day, Sunday, we did not attend church 

 for the very good reason that there was none to 

 attend. It was apparent that the blessings of a 

 Christian Sabbath M'ere unknown here, and that 

 the native population still r'unain immersed in the 

 darkness of idolatry. In the afternoon, accompa- 

 nied by a friend and resident of Canton, I crossed 

 the river to visit the Shahmeen site, a large 

 piece of land ceded, at the termination of the late 

 war, to the English and French. It is separated 

 from the adjoining shore by a wide canal, extend- 

 ing around to the rear, the front facing the river. 

 A substantial granite wall, reaching from the wa- 

 ter by numerous flights of steps, is built around 

 the whole. But few buildings as yet have been 

 erected. This spot is more favorably situated 

 than the old site ; it is a delta in the river, nearly 

 opposite the Macao passage, and is regarded as 

 quite healthy. 



On our return, we wandered out among the 

 shops, making, however, no purchases. The shop- 

 men were very civil, invariably saluting us with 

 "chin chin," and on our announcement that we 

 were merely "makee look see," replied, "can do," 

 and politely displayed their wares. 



Monday morning, taking open chaii's with us, we 

 crossed the river in the hong boat to visit the city. 

 Procuring four coolies to each of our chairs, we 

 set out, immediately after lauding, under the 

 guidance of a boy, to make our way through the 

 narrow and crowded streets. Our sedan beai-ers 

 kept up a sharp, incessant cry to warn foot pas- 

 sengers to make way. Above our heads, depend- 

 ing from every shop, were numerous long signs 

 inscribed in Chinese characters. The shops were 

 so small and our coolies walked so rapidly, that 

 we could catch but a slight glimpse of their con- 

 tents. Some shoe stores that we passed had their 

 goods displayed and arranged precisely as at 

 home. As we were being whirled along we met 

 a mandarin in a chair, and the street being tor) 

 narrow to allow us to pass him, our coolies backed 

 us into an opposite building, thus affording the 

 dignitary an o|)portunity to proceed. 



We had started with the intention of visiting 

 the temples or joss houses. We were first con- 

 ducted to the "Temple of Five Hundi-ed Joss." 

 This temple was entered through an outer build- 

 ing or lodge, in which were two colossal images, 

 one representing Peace and the other War, both 



