THE INDIA AND CHINA STATIONS.
The Red Sea and its Name—Its Ports—On to the India Station—Bombay: Island, City, Presidency—Calcutta—Ceylon, a Paradise—The China Station—Hong Kong—Macao—Canton—Capture of Commissioner Yeh—The Sea of Soup—Shanghai—“Jack”Ashore there—Luxuries in Market—Drawbacks: Earthquakes, and Sand Showers—Chinese Explanations of Earthquakes—The Roving Life of the Sailor—Compensating Advantages—Japan and its People—The Englishmen of the Pacific—Yokohama—Peculiarities of the Japanese—Off to the North.
The Red Sea separates Arabia from Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia. Its name is either derived from the animalculæ which sometimes cover parts of its surface, or, more probably, from the red and purple coral which abound in its waters. The Hebrew name signifies “the Weedy Sea,” because the corals have often plant-like forms. There are reefs of coral in the Red Sea which utterly prevent approach to certain parts of the coasts. Many of the islands which border it are of volcanic origin. On the Zeigar Islands there was an alarming eruption in 1846. England owns one of the most important of the islands, that of Perim, in the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. It is a barren, black rock, but possesses a fine harbour, and commands one entrance of the Red Sea. It was occupied by Great Britain in 1799, abandoned in 1801, and re-occupied on the 11th of February, 1857. Its fortifications possess guns of sufficient calibre and power to command the Straits.
JIDDAH, FROM THE SEA.
The entire circuit of the Red Sea is walled by grand mountain ranges. Some of its ports and harbours are most important places. There is Mocha, so dear to the coffee-drinker; Jiddah, the port for the holy city of Mecca, whither innumerable pilgrims repair; Hodeida, and Locheia. It was in Jiddah that, in 1858, the Moslem population rose against the Christians, and killed forty-five, including the English and French consuls. [pg 118]On the African side, besides Suez, there are the ports of Cosseir, Suakim, and Massuah. The Red Sea is deep for a partially inland sea; there is a recorded instance of soundings to 1,000 fathoms—considerably over a mile—and no bottom found.
After leaving the Red Sea, where shall we proceed? We have the choice of the India, China, or Australia Stations. Actually, to do the voyage systematically, Bombay would be the next point.
Bombay, in general terms, is three things: a city of three-quarters of a million souls; a presidency of 12,000,000 inhabitants; or an island—the island of Mambai, according to the natives, or Buon Bahia, the “good haven,” if we take the Portuguese version. The city is built on the island, which is not less than eight miles long by three broad, but the presidency extends to the mainland.
In 1509, the Portuguese visited it, and in 1530 it became theirs. In 1661, it was blindly ceded to our Charles II., as simply a part of the dowry of his bride, the Infanta Catherine. Seven years after Charles the Dissolute had obtained what is now the most valuable colonial possession of Great Britain, he ceded it to the Honourable East India Company—though, of course, for a handsome consideration.
Bombay has many advantages for the sailor. It is always accessible during the terrible south-west monsoons, and possesses an anchoring ground of fifty miles, sheltered by islands and a magnificent series of breakwaters, at the south end of which is a grand lighthouse. Its docks and dockyards cover fifty acres; ship-building is carried on extensively; and there is an immense trade in cotton, coffee, opium, spices, gums, ivory, and shawls. Of its 700,000 inhabitants, 50,000 are Parsees—Persians—descendants of the original Fire-worshippers. A large proportion of them are merchants. It may not be generally known to our readers that the late Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy—who left wealth untold, although all his days he had been a humane and charitable man, and who established in Bombay alone two fine hospitals—was a Parsee.