Hong-Kong was destined to be our headquarters for nearly two weeks; it is a convenient point from which to make excursions. On the first Sunday morning I attended service at the English Cathedral; the building is on the heights, surrounded by a well-kept close and overlooking a fine residence portion of the city. I was conveyed to church in a sedan chair on account of the steep ascent. During our excursion to the Peak, we first took a railway chair, then a sedan chair; leaving that, we had a long climb before we reached the summit, where there is a flagstaff. What a view was before us—mountains in the distance, the harbor and the islands, shipping of all kinds, and roofs of every description! Descending, we had tea at the Peak Hotel. Another afternoon we went in a launch to Kowloon. We took a jinrikisha for a general exploration of the old Chinese city, and aside from what has been indicated, we went through the native quarter, saw several temples, visited a Chinese school, and ascended the high wall for a view. Much of the wall is unimpaired. A drive in the country followed, and we saw many tiny Chinese gardens and a number of cemeteries.
The jinrikisha ride to Aberdeen, a fishing village some miles distant, proved delightful. The roadway was sometimes close to the water's edge; then we ascended and looked down over low cliffs, with coves ever and anon dotting the shore. It reminded me continually of the ride from Sorrento to Amalfi, and again of the Upper Corniche drive from Mentone to Nice.
Early on Wednesday, March 25th, we left on the steamer Keung Shang for a visit to Canton, ninety miles distant. Leaving the commercial city and a fleet of shipping vessels behind us, we had some miles of lake scenery; then we had islands and the coast line beyond. Soon we were in Pearl River, and the surroundings grew more picturesque,—now a little village near the water's edge with a mountain behind, and then more islands and more mountain ranges. We had a glimpse of Castle Peak, two thousand feet high. We then passed an immense prominence, called the Half-Way Rock. At a place known as Tiger's Mouth, fortifications were seen. The country soon becomes flat, with rice fields and fruit farms; we saw the Whampoa Pagoda and some miles farther on the Honam Pagoda. Near Canton, we passed another pagoda, and then the white spire of the French cathedral gleamed out, and our goal was reached. It is a most interesting river trip, and is unfortunately more often taken at night, in order to economize time.
The first impression of Canton is one of noise, a fearful din rising and falling in a kind of cadence, and seeming to proceed largely from an immense flotilla of boats extending a long way, tied, in a majority of cases, seven and eight rows deep—craft of all kinds, sampans, junks, rice boats, freight, each with its quota of humanity, for this is a veritable floating city, with a life all its own, and almost wholly independent of the Canton proper which we were about to visit and which numbered a hundred thousand souls.
We had not anticipated much enjoyment in Canton, having read of the dirt and smells, but we had not expected to be deafened at our very entrance, and I think for the time being it dulled the consciousness of this wonderful spectacle of a floating independent city just at the door of a city whose name is famous the world over.
Canton, March 25th: We were soon conveyed up a back canal to the Shameen (the name of the city of foreign concession), where our quarters, the Hotel Victoria, were located. My room was situated on the ground floor, the gallery opening on a large garden or court, abloom with trees and flowers. There was no key to the door, and strangers were all about me, but the complacent manner in which I met this fact caused me to realize that my courage was greater than when at Jeypore in far-away India.
The first afternoon, a jinrikisha ride convinced us that we were in the most congested city on the face of the globe; a city of streets so narrow that two chairs could hardly pass each other; a city of strange sights and more violent contrasts than any we had yet seen. And the smells!—the English language does not contain words strong enough to describe them. In the bazar portion of the city we were diverted by the box-like shops, with their open fronts, and filled with curios, works in jade, wood, and unique articles of feather jewelry.
Then the wonderful Chinese signs! We had noticed and admired them in Hong-Kong, but in size and beauty they now far excelled anything of the kind we had seen before. They extended from an upper story, for these bazars were many of them on the ground floor of four-story apartments, each story having its front gallery where one could witness diversified scenes of family life. The signs are about a half a yard wide and are decorated from top to bottom, with gold and brilliant colors, the Chinese letters forming a large feature of the display. These signs (sometimes five grouped together) are wonderfully effective, as they sway back and forth in the wind, and they are a partial indication of the Chinese industry which prevails.
