As the steamer remained but a short time at Chin-kiang, and it became necessary to leave her as soon as possible, I sent my interpreter (whom I had taken, together with my cook, and a female attendant for Marie in case I should find her), amongst the numerous junks, to hire one for us to live in for a few days, as there was no accommodation on shore. In a little while he returned successful, and leaving the steamer, we all took up our new quarters in a large Hankow junk, certainly not the most comfortable in the world, but still very well under the circumstances. The worst of it was, my sleeping berth that night happened to be in the joss-house, a little den surrounded by a broad shelf filled with the most horrible-looking small devils, of all colours and monstrosity, starting forth from red-painted and tinsel-gilded little temples; and although the crew seemed perfectly oblivious of the fact, by permitting the gods' or imps' desecration by the presence of the "foreign devil," a confounded old she-Chinese disturbed me at frequent periods throughout the night, by crawling into my place through a little hole at the back, to replenish the joss-sticks and incense, and to chin-chin Joss. The witches of Macbeth were nothing to that old hag, as she stuck herself at my feet, faintly seen by the dim light of a distant pot of oil burning from the end of a small piece of pith, and slowly rocked herself about, muttering some unintelligible jargon, out of which I could only distinguish, "tomety feh, tomety feh, tomety feh!"
From the excited state of my mind; the irruptions of that aged party—probably the great-grandmother of half the crew; the surrounding phalanx of little devils, occasionally lighted up by a red and sudden glow of the burning joss-sticks; the distant noise of the gambling crew, in the fore part of the junk (Chinese sailors are inveterate gamblers, generally spending the whole night at it when practicable), and the irritable, restless thoughts all this induced, it may easily be imagined how very delightful my numerous dreams were that night. It seems a singular fact that nearly all the Chinese idols are of the most terrible and demoniacal aspect; it is, however, easily to be accounted for, as the Chinamen say the beneficent gods, being good, cannot do them any harm; but the devils and evil gods being bad, they think it necessary to propitiate them.
Directly we arrived at Chin-kiang, I proceeded to the Custom-house, and ascertained that a lorcha had passed up the river only the preceding day. I therefore at once sent my interpreter to look out for a convenient and fast-sailing junk, either for sale or hire. The next day he fortunately succeeded in finding one, a cut-down up-river junk, of a particularly fast and shallow description; she had been altered into a semi-European style, and furnished with a keel, and comfortable cabins inside, was about 60 tons burthen, and altogether just the sort of craft I wanted. On the river she would certainly be faster under sail than the lorcha, and without wind she could either be tracked along the bank or impelled by the large sweeps (yulos) she carried.
As, in the event of rescuing Marie, I determined to proceed with the vessel to Nankin, the Chinese owner, who was also skipper, would only come to terms upon my paying down half the value of his craft, guaranteeing the remainder in case of loss, and hiring her at a monthly rate. To this I instantly agreed, and hurrying all the preparations forward, late on the same evening was enabled to start in chase of the lorcha.
A stern chase is proverbially a long one; but in this case I had means of progressing that the chase had not. The wind was too light for sailing against the strong current, therefore I knew the lorcha must either lay at anchor waiting for a breeze, or, if small and drawing but little water, progress slowly by tracking along the bank; while, upon the other hand, with my lighter vessel I should be able to keep close in to the shore, and track along at the rate of two or three miles an hour.
Tracking is a very common operation in China, resembling our canal tracking, only instead of horses the crew of the vessel pull her along, a rope being taken ashore from the mast-head, to which the men yoke themselves with a bridle having a wooden bar to rest upon the chest; then away they start, singing in chorus some melancholy falsetto monostich, or improvising as they go. At many parts there are regular trackers, who make it their business. It is a hard and unprofitable life, and these poor people, among others, are frequently seized by officials, and compelled to track government vessels for many hundred miles without reward, and then left to find their way home the best way they can, if they do not starve in the meanwhile.
The night was fortunately a bright moonlight one, and I was enabled to make considerable progress. Before daylight, however, the moon vanished behind the distant hills, and, with her disappearance, we were compelled to anchor till morning. At break of day I was up, eagerly scanning the distant bosom of the river for the bark I was following. Nothing but the sails of a few Chinese junks rewarded my long and anxious gaze. Yet it was possible the lorcha might be hid from view by the first bend of the river, where, scarcely three miles off, its waters disappeared behind the land.
Rousing up my friends, and leaving them to follow me by tracking slowly along, I dressed myself in Chinese clothes, put on a broad Chinese hat, took my rifle and a good glass, and landing with my interpreter, started off on the scout, making for an eminence some two or three miles distant, close to the channel of the river. When arrived at its summit, I found it commanded a capital view of the water for many miles; a glance told me the lorcha was nowhere near, neither could I distinguish her in the distance. Suddenly, my interpreter declared he could see her. Knowing what powerful vision the Chinese frequently have, I instantly brought the spot he pointed out—some eight or nine miles away—again into the range of my glass. I saw several junks' masts, and after a long and careful scrutiny, made out a couple much larger than the rest, which might possibly be those of the lorcha; but at that distance, with nothing but the bare masts, amongst others showing over some low land, I could not be certain. The Chinaman still persisted that he was right; and, trusting he might prove so, I returned on board.
During all that day we tracked steadily forward, and towards evening I had the satisfaction of plainly observing the lorcha in the distance. She was also being tracked, but was too heavy to move fast, so that we were rapidly gaining on her, and in four or five hours ought to be alongside. The difficulty would be to ascertain whether Marie was on board, and if so, how situated. When I reflected that my friend had observed her from the steamer as he passed, it did not seem improbable that I might see her also; but her apparent freedom sadly interfered with the idea that she had been carried off by force and was detained against her will. Had it been so, she might have made signs of distress, or called for help, when the steamer passed so close.
It was impossible to form any plan, or arrive at any fixed conclusion. Circumstances alone could guide us. We had now entered the Ti-ping territory, so I felt quite confident of safety on shore, whatever might betide; besides, my commission from the Chung-wang would doubtless obtain me assistance if I required it.