[CHAPTER VIII.]
HONG-KONG.
Hong-Kong, Nov. 18, 1889.
LEAVING Kobé on the evening of the 8th, by the Peninsular and Oriental steamer Ancona, we arrived here at seven this evening. This line of steamers has the contract for transporting the English mails all over the Eastern waters, including Australia, Japan, and China, and has in commission fifty-four vessels, some of them of 6,000 tons, representing 7,000 horse-power.
On the 14th and 15th we were steaming through the famous inland sea, the beauty of which could hardly be exaggerated by a writer of a poetical turn of mind,—passing between Nipon, a large island, on one side, and many hundred smaller ones on the other. The channel would often be near the shores, where we could see the villages and cultivated land. The islands being volcanic, were in all sorts of fantastic shapes; one called the Asses'-ears was very funny-looking. The water is very clear and blue, the islands largely cultivated and clothed with green to the summits of their mountains.
On the morning of the 15th, the steamer dropped her anchor at Nagasaki, and we all went ashore sight-seeing and shopping. We rode about through long streets, and called at several factories and stores; among others, at a place where was made a variety of shell-work, which was very pretty. I made some purchases.
The owner of the place spoke English, and I recommended him to send an exhibition of his goods to the fair which was expected to be opened in New York in 1892, and he astonished me by asking what country New York was in? But life being too short for me to teach him the rudiments of geography, I paid for my purchase, and came away.
We went to see more temples. In the grounds near one of them were two small trees and on a stone near it was engraved, "Planted by Mr. and Mrs. Gen. Grant, 1879."
We had an excellent lunch at the Hotel Bellevue, took another trip around the city, and came back to the ship at 6 P.M.
The harbor is one of great beauty, nearly landlocked, and surrounded by hills covered with verdure. It was crowded with ships, three Russian men-of-war, one American, and several English.