On the morning following, I was again awakened, this time by the magic word Nagasaki, and I beheld another never-to-be-forgotten scene. The harbor and shipping lay in the foreground; beyond the shore line rose large buildings, smaller ones creeping up the mountain side; this whole panorama was bathed in sunlight. Immediately on landing a jinrikisha ride was enjoyed, and I was propelled about in an aimless fashion, enjoying the street scenes, visiting the heights, and the Horse's Temple. It was a restless, irresponsible kind of day that I enjoyed, and I returned to the steamer at five o'clock with considerable regret. Half an hour later we were sailing away for Shanghai; and again we saw islands, promontories, and inlets quite like those of the day previous.
On Saturday morning, the 9th, we were anchored at Wusong, waiting for the arrival of the health officer. Thereafter we took a ride of an hour in the steam launch. Shanghai seemed more European on our second arrival, and the Bund on the front more attractive. We made the Palace Hotel our destination, and learned with regret of the non-arrival of the Trans-Siberian party from Manila. Some steamer friends and other acquaintances were at Shanghai, and the time passed pleasantly amongst them.
I attended divine service at St. John's Cathedral on Sunday morning, and in the evening the delayed party arrived; I was so fortunate as to have two home friends among the number.
Monday began by a general tour of sight-seeing for the party; to a certain extent I thus went over the ground again, taking jinrikisha rides through a portion of the European native city, and visiting the entire French concession. French names were on the business houses and on many of the streets. This concession is governed by a municipality of its own.
Four restful days were passed at Shanghai, and at ten on the evening of May 12th, we went to our steamer, the Tuck-Wo, for a trip on the celebrated Yangtse River. The steamer was large and airy, with pleasant decks; everything wore a thoroughly homelike air. The scenery on the lower Yangtse is rather flat and disappointing, but in the morning there were some vegetation and many agreeable glimpses of life, with vistas of modest homes and little patches of cultivated ground around them. The shores were covered with tall vegetation which, we were told, grows quite tall and is then cut, dried, and used as fuel by the natives. At first, during our trip, there had been only a low fringe of trees in the distant background; now mountains appeared as a striking variation, and thus we had alternating scenes which added to the spatial interest from this time on. There were occasional picturesque points and promontories that jutted out into the sea; clustering around, were many large and smaller craft; once I counted thirty-six in one place.
The steamer anchored at Chang-wang-kong on the second evening, and we were permitted to go ashore for two hours. We had noticed a brilliantly lighted building, four stories high, every window gleaming and presenting an imposing appearance; we naturally expected some artistic effect in the interior, but, when we came to visit it, the illusion vanished, as the first and second stories were cut up into small rooms, each filled with Chinese folk intent upon securing their evening meal; adjacent rooms were devoted to the culinary operations. Dirt and confusion and odors permeated everywhere, and we declined to ascend to the upper story, where the Chinese game of fan-tan was in progress. Certain homelike English buildings clung near the water front, and we walked through the usual crowded Chinese streets. The town was laid out in one long thoroughfare, overlooking the water and sloping backward to the lesser mountains. We returned, content with the good cheer aboard our steamer, and were soon sailing on.
The Little Orphan Rock in the Yangtse River
We passed Nanking, formerly the southern capital of China and once a place of great importance—indeed, a seat of learning and of art. Only the distant walls could be seen. A little north of Nanking are located two of the Ming tombs.