CHAPTER II
A trip was made up the West River to Canton, a stretch of water in which vessels are sometimes sacked by Chinese pirates. A half-dozen or more of these daring Mongols will board a boat at the starting place as passengers did, and when an opportunity offers they will overpower the officers, when the ship will be at their mercy. Not long ago an effective weapon called "stinkpot" was in use. These bad smelling crocks were thrown about the decks of a boat, bursting, and the nauseating odor from them would partly suffocate any who happened to be near. The pirates well knew where to burst them to the best advantage. To prevent successful piratical attacks to river craft, English gunboats have been stationed at certain places of this large river. Hongkong is the port for Canton and the great population in Southern China, and no one who has not taken a sail up that river can form a correct idea of the large number of people who crowd on the boats, particularly in the third-class section.
When the boat reaches Canton, and before it is alongside the wharf, Chinese, emerging from rowboats, will be seen scaling the sides of the vessel from stem to stern with the agility of monkeys. In a very short time they throw their legs across the deck rails, every one of them on the alert to earn a few cents by carrying a valise, directing a passenger to his ricksha or sedan chair, or presenting to the visitors business cards of silk, damascene, ivory, or other merchants. Guides are also much in evidence, and if there is any city in the world where a guide is needed it is surely Canton, China.
Soon we are in a sedan chair—the only means, except afoot, of getting about the city—with a Chinaman at each end, the poles resting on their shoulders. The guide was in front, and in a short time we had passed through an entrance in the city wall. All was different then, and it is doubtful if a stranger could find his way out after having gone not more than two city squares in Canton. The streets are from three to fifteen feet wide, and boxes, tubs, tanks and pails, used by storekeepers to show their goods, encroach even on this limited space. Were one to go to a large ant-hill on a hot day, when the insects are thick and moving about quickly, the mound would afford a fair illustration of Canton within the walls. The city is one great human ant-hill. We had been through the teeming streets of the native quarters of some Indian cities, and concluded there could not be more density of population anywhere, but that opinion soon changed after stepping inside the walls of the metropolis of Southern China. Any one who has visited Hongkong and thinks he has seen a typical Chinese city would do well to pay a visit to Canton.
"Hey-ho, ho-hey, yay-he-ho, ho-ye-hay," sounds something like what a Chinaman sings or chants to make known his coming in the human-packed streets. Bear in mind, there is neither horse, ox, mule, nor ricksha puller traversing the streets—only men and women, with loads carried on split bamboo poles. They all have a song, grunt or yawn to give warning of their coming. Some of the streets are so narrow that two sedan chairs, carried in opposite directions, cannot pass. On such occasions the carriers of one chair must stop until the others squeeze their way between the wall of a store and the people, who are constantly passing to and fro. It is natural, when carrying burdens on poles, to have poles resting on both shoulders, but the crowded streets here will not permit of that. The load has to be carried on one shoulder, the pole pointing in front. While the narrow streets and teeming crowds make it much harder for men to bear loads in that manner, how much more inconvenient it must be for a woman carrying the same weight, with a baby tied to her back! There appeared to be as many women as men with the weight-carrying poles over their shoulders, and with both sexes coolie custom seemed to forbid walking, as all moved at a trot when space permitted.
Roasted pork, dried fish, and dried fowl were much in evidence in the shops; and for long distances wooden tubs containing water and live fish line a street. Butcher shops and vegetable stores are also seen at every turn. Garbage from each store or dwelling is placed in the street, and this is often kicked about before the garbage man takes it away. Hydrants are numerous, and lines of people wait their turn to get water. Wide boards, on which are written Chinese characters, often meet from each side, and a reed covering placed above, and extending across the street, drawn by ropes, shades people from the sun. Between the grunts, yawns, and songs of the laborers, together with the general conversation and the shouts from others at intruders on the dried fish and fowl, it is dampness, noise, stench and jam from the time one enters until he emerges outside the wall. In this large city there is no sewerage.
The street paving is composed of stones from two to three feet wide, and in length the width of the street. As there are neither horses nor wagons used in the city, most of the people in their bare feet, and, as the sandals worn by others have soft soles, the pavement lasts a long time, although some of the thick stones show signs of wear from the millions of feet passing over them. Between the broad signs, other signs printed on wide strips of canvas, together with the curtains that cover the thoroughfares above the cramped space, the streets of Canton resemble tunnels more than anything else.
The City of the Dead, a burying place in Canton, differed from any before seen. The coffins are logs, hewed out for a body, are of cylindrical shape, with four corners, and appear as if four pieces of lumber had been sealed together. The top quarter-piece is loose and serves as the lid. Some of these odd-appearing coffins are expensive, as they are heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl and gold leaf. The first resting-place consists of two rooms, and these are separated by a matting curtain. In the second, or inside, chamber the coffin rests on two supports as large as a washtub. In the outer, or reception chamber, stands a table with flowers, an incense-stick pot, and a glass containing oil, with a wick. The incense-stick was burning and the wick was casting a dim flame. Every morning and afternoon a fresh cup of tea is placed on the stand, together with fruit and fresh flowers. The light was kept burning so the spirit of the dead could find its way about, and, if it felt like eating, the food was ready. The corpse rests in that place for six months, when the remains are removed to a permanent burial ground and put under the earth. The temporary—or six months'—resting place rents for $10 a month, or $60 for the time allowed. Formerly the corpse remained in these lying-in-state, or ancestral halls, for years, but that has been changed to a six months' period. Only well-to-do Chinese are so laid to rest.
The wall encircling Canton is six miles round, but the city has outgrown the old lines. At one place, just inside the wall, is the old execution ground, where offenders against the law were beheaded, but it is now used as a pottery.
A hundred and twenty-four temples of the Confucius and Buddhist faiths were found here, but, when visiting some of these, the growing grass, dilapidated walks, dusty images, and general lack of care in evidence at every turn suggested that the Chinaman has broken loose from old religious moorings. In the Geneii Temple were 500 figures on one side of the building, badly in need of dusting. A very good pagoda, five stories high, is a feature of Canton. All the pagodas of China are of odd stories—three, five or seven.
The various manufacturing industries of the city are situated in one quarter. A big business is done in jadestone, mostly made into rings, and used as bracelets; but the stone is used also for other ornaments. The jadestone industry is situated in a certain district; furniture manufacturing is also centralized; the mother-of-pearl workers are located in still another section; this applies also to the ivory, damascene, jewelry, and tinware industries. Little or no machinery is used, most of the work being done by hand.
The city seemed to be free of loafers, everybody doing something. Talking with a Chinese acquaintance on this point, he stated that the only men out of work were gamblers, whose "occupation" had been taken from them by official decree. They had never learned to do anything else. The opium houses had also been closed. Not a queue was seen hanging down the back of the males one met, the cutting off of the pigtails being in compliance with a government edict. The hair from the queues was shipped to other countries.
"Sweating money" is a custom said to be much practiced in China. Gold coins are placed in a sheet or cloth, which is then vigorously shaken. The coins, clashing against each other, wear off the milling, which remains in the sheet. When the coins are "sweated" to the satisfaction of the "sweaters" the cloth is put in a kettle or retort, when the gold dust, or milling, remains at the bottom. It is owing to this "sweating" process that, when gold is required in transactions of fifty dollars and much greater sums, bankers often determine the value of the metal by weighing it rather than by accepting the coins at their face value.
Concerning the population of Canton, there seemed to be no official figures. Some give the number at a million, others at two millions, and even three millions of people are said to be residents of the metropolis of Southern China. Statements of the Pearl River population, however, seem to be authentic. Just think of half a million people living on the water! The river is partly blocked with native craft—sampans—and these are the homes of people numbering as many as comprise the city of Baltimore, Md. Each owner of a sampan pays a small license fee to the city; but they have no water rent to pay or house rent bills. The sampan is the home of a great many Chinese from birth until they die, generally at a ripe old age. The Pearl River is called the West River at Hongkong.
Missionaries living in the interior have enough bread baked at one baking to last them a month. The bread is sliced, then toasted, and taken to the mission. Toasting the bread keeps it from getting mouldy.
An island, separated by a fork of the Pearl River, is known as the Shameen, and here the few Europeans of Canton reside. The Shameen has been leased from China by both France and England for a term of 99 years. The area of the concession is but 69 acres, and 300 Europeans make their home in that pretty place. The consulates of other European countries also are located on the island, and the only European hotel in Canton is among the few modern buildings seen in the old Chinese city. Two bridges span the branch of water that forms the island on the city side, and high, strong gates are located at each end of these bridges. The approaches to the Shameen are guarded by policemen day and night, and Chinese not employed by residents of that district, or who have no business to attend to on the island, are not allowed to cross the bridges. The gates are opened at 6 o'clock in the morning, and are closed at 9 o'clock in the evening. Native servants or employees having occasion to go out after dark must carry a light, and among these one sees some odd designs. A small lantern but little larger than a goose egg will be carried by one Chinaman, another will be seen with a light burning in what looks like a soup bowl, the regular European lantern will be carried by another, and the square, colored-paper Chinese lantern will be lighting the way of still another native. A Chinaman has no right to live in the Shameen; those who do live on the island are there by sufferance of the two powers who leased the land.
The homes and business buildings of Canton do not exceed three stories, most of them but one or two stories in height. The doors are heavy, and iron bars protect some of the windows. Brick, stone, and mortar are the material used in construction, with black tiling for roofs. A marked air of privacy pervades the exterior of Chinese homes.
Stones, pear-shaped, are used as seats by the Chinese. These may be seen in tea gardens and places of quiet recreation. This custom of using stones as seats is because they are cooler than any other material. Occupants sit astride the stones.
Canton, the capital of the Province of Kwangtung, is styled the "City of Rams" from the legend of the five immortals who rode into the city on the backs of five rams during the Chow dynasty, which ruled from 1112-255 B. C. The metropolis was made a treaty port in 1842.
Small Colony of Half a Million Sampan Dwellers of Pearl River; These Water Homes Save House Rent.
Canton, China.
Two kinds of dollars are in use—the Hongkong and the Kwangtung—the former in the Shameen and the latter in the city and province. The Hongkong dollar is worth more than the Kwangtung, as the former is backed by England and the other by the present unsettled China. The cheapest hotel rate was $4 a day, and only Hongkong money was accepted in payment.
First-, second- and third-class cars are used on the railway line running from Kowloon to Canton. The first-class coaches are of European style—compartments—and the second- and third-class cars are open, with an aisle and seats on both sides, like the American cars, but without cushions. The fare for first-class travel was six cents a mile, and three cents for second-class accommodation. The water pirates, like hippopotami on a foraging expedition, sometimes take a stroll from their river haunts and succeed in plundering the passengers of the railway train. Along the line could be seen small, level patches of ground, not over four feet in length in some instances, banked on a hillside by stones to keep the soil from washing away, on which grain and vegetables grew. Little land is allowed to go to waste in China.
Back I went to Hongkong.