CHAP. IV.
LEAVE AMOY.—GALE IN THE FORMOSA CHANNEL.—DRIVEN BACK TO CHIMOO.—CHIMOO BAY.—CHINESE MODE OF PAYING TAXES.—CHARACTER OF THE NATIVES.—JOURNEY TO THE HILLS.—CHIMOO PAGODA.—INTERESTING SCENERY.—ATTACKED AND ROBBED.—MY SERVANT'S OPINION OF THE STATE OF MATTERS.—GET BACK IN SAFETY TO THE SHORE.—NOVEL MODE OF CROSSING THE WET SANDS.—NEW PLANTS FOUND.—THE BAY OF CHINCHEW.
Having travelled all over the country adjacent to Amoy, and completed my researches, at the end of September I sailed again towards the Formosa Channel, on my way to our most northern stations of Chusan, Ningpo and Shanghae. The Monsoon, however, had now changed from south-west to north-east, and we experienced very stormy weather, with strong northerly currents, which, of course, were directly against us. The vessel was at last obliged to put into the Bay of Chinchew from stress of weather, and having sprung her bowsprit in the gale, it was impossible for her to proceed. At one time the sea was running so high, and the vessel plunging so much, that the whole of her decks were frequently under water. Some idea may be formed of the storm when I mention that a large fish weighing at least thirty pounds was thrown out of the sea upon the skylight on the poop, the frame of which was dashed to pieces, and the fish fell through, and landed upon the cabin table.
In a day or two our cargo was got out and put into another vessel, in which I also embarked, and we again proceeded on our voyage. This attempt was even more disastrous than the last, for after being out for several days, and having got nearly through the Formosa Channel, we met one of those dreadful gales so well known to the navigators of these seas. Our newest and strongest sails were split to pieces, the bulwarks washed away, and in spite of the best seamanship, and every exertion, we were driven back far below the bay from which we started about a week before. I shall long remember one of these fearful nights. The poor Lascar crew were huddled together under the long boat, to shelter themselves from the wind: the sea was running very high, and washing our decks fore and aft, as if we had been a narrow plank tossing on the waves. I had gone below, and the Captain had come down for a second, to look at the barometer, when we felt a sea strike the vessel with terrible force, and heard a crash which sounded as if her sides had been driven in; at the same moment the glass of the skylight came down about our ears, and the sea forced its way into the cabin. I certainly thought the little schooner had gone to pieces; but Captain Landers rushed on deck to ascertain the damage which had been done, and to try to repair it. The night was very dark; but he soon found that our weather bulwarks had been stove in, and the long-boat carried over to leeward from its place in mid-ships, where it was fixed. Luckily the lee bulwarks held it fast, otherwise the boat and the whole of our crew would have been swept together into the angry foaming ocean, where no mortal arm could have rendered them any assistance. Two glazed plant cases filled with plants from Amoy, which were on the deck, were dashed to pieces, and their contents, of course, completely destroyed. In the long voyage from England to China, even in rounding the celebrated "Cape of Storms," I never experienced such weather as I met with on the east coast of China, at the commencement of the north-east monsoon. After being three days in the storm, having only as much sail on the vessel as to steady her, the gale moderated a little, and we were able to hoist more sail, and make for the land, which proved to be a place called Chimoo, which was far below the point which we started from a week before.
Chimoo Bay is about fifty miles north of Amoy. It has been an opium station for foreign ships for some years; and here, even during the war, that trade was carried on in spite of the mandarins. The natives of the different towns on the shores of this bay are an independent and lawless race. An anecdote was related to me by one of the captains, which gives a fair idea how things are managed in this part of the country.
Some of the opium merchants came on board one of the ships in the bay, and requested the loan of some guns, for each of which they offered to deposit a large piece of Sycee silver, which was, of course, much more than its value; and promised to return them in a day or two. When asked what they intended to do with them, they replied, that the mandarins and officers of government were expected shortly to levy the taxes, and that the people were determined not to pay. They said they only wanted four or five guns for the purpose: these were granted them; and in a day or two, when they returned them, inquiry was made if they had been successful. "Oh, yes," they said: "they had driven the mandarins over the hills." It certainly had been no very difficult matter to effect this object.
The inhabitants in the towns and villages around the bay are frequently at war with each other; in this they resemble the borderers of our own country in ancient feudal times, when "might was right." As in those days, too, a sort of black mail is levied, and treaties of peace are concluded, one of the parties paying a stipulated sum to the other. This, however, I am sorry to say, is not the worst trait in their character: they are the greatest thieves and robbers in existence; as I myself found to my cost.
One day I had sent my Chinese servant on shore with orders to gather all the plants he could find in a certain direction, which I pointed out to him before he left the ship; but he returned to me the next morning with only a few useless things, which he had evidently gathered very near the landing-place on the shore. I felt much annoyed at this, and scolded him pretty sharply for his conduct; but he excused himself by saying, that he durst not go in the direction to which I had pointed, as he would have been beaten and robbed by the Chinchew men. This I did not believe at the time, and imagined that it was laziness on his part, for, like most of the Chinese, who receive a specified sum per month for their services, he was rather remarkable for this propensity; I therefore determined to set out myself on the day following, and give him the treat of a long walk for his misconduct. The following morning was fine, and I jumped into a China boat which I had hired for the purpose, and reached the shore, after being completely drenched by the breakers, which roll high along the shores of this bay, and render the landing, particularly in small boats, rather dangerous. When I got on shore, and proceeded to walk in the direction I intended, the boatman and others came round me, and attempted to dissuade me from going, by intimating that I was sure to be attacked by the Chinchew men, and robbed or murdered. I also saw signs of warfare in the shape of matchlocks and long bamboo poles, in the hands of the Chinamen, who, as my servant informed me, were obliged to carry them in self-defence. I began to wish, then, that I had brought off from the ship a few of the crew for protection—indeed Captain Woodrow kindly offered to send some with me when I set out: however, it was now too late; and I determined to put a bold face on the matter and proceed. I set out towards the hills, on one of which stands the Chimoo pagoda, which I was anxious to visit on my route, as I expected to get a good view of the country from its summit.
Many acres of ground here, all along the shore, are used for evaporating sea water and forming salt, which is a great article of trade in China. As the traveller proceeds inland, the ground, capable of cultivation, is covered with crops of sweet potato and earth-nut, which form the staple productions of this part of the country in the autumnal months. Between the different fields, one often stumbles upon the graves of the natives, sometimes finely ornamented with those half-circular erections, so common in the south of China, and at other times without any ornament whatever; this of course depending upon the wealth of the relatives. The hills are like those near Amoy, rocky and barren, having here and there a few wild plants growing on the sides of the ravines; some of which, however, are very beautiful. The pagoda, already mentioned, stands on the top of the highest hill, and affords an excellent landmark to the vessels on the coast.
On my way towards the hills, I was frequently surrounded by hundreds of the Chinese, and was evidently considered a great natural curiosity. The country, although barren, teems with inhabitants; indeed, I almost thought the very stones were changing into Chinamen, so rapidly did the crowd accumulate at times. The sight was droll enough:—here were I and my servant on one side of some ravine, with our specimen boxes and other implements gathering samples of every thing we could find; there, on the