DESCRIPTION OF MACAO—​ITS MONGREL POPULATION—​ FREQUENCY OF ROBBERIES—​PIRACIES—​COMPRADORE SYSTEM—​PAPUAN SLAVE-TRADE—​MARKET OF MACAO—​ NUISANCES—​SIR HENRY POTTINGER'S REGULATION DEFENDED—​ILLIBERAL POLICY OF THE PORTUGUESE, AND ITS RESULT—​BOAT-GIRLS—​BEGGARS—​PICTURESQUE SCENERY.

I have referred, in a former chapter, to the occasion of my first visit to the Celestial Empire. My last visit took place shortly after Sir Henry Pottinger had brought the Chinese to terms, off the city of Nankin, and before the treaty had been ratified by the Sovereigns of both countries. My stay there was protracted till the ratification took place, the supplementary treaty published, and Her Majesty's Consuls stationed at each of the five ports, with the exception of Foo Chow. I had thus an opportunity of witnessing the first start of the free trade; of which I shall have a few words to say hereafter. I shall now begin with Macao. This once celebrated Portuguese settlement is built on two small hills of a peninsula about thirty-five miles below the Bocca Tigris, or mouth of the Canton river: it is irregularly built, the streets being very narrow and crooked, and, until very recently, badly paved with rough granite stones of all shapes, the corners generally pointing upwards, as if to teach the inhabitants to walk with caution. It possesses a healthy climate, though the summer is very hot, the thermometer ranging in the shade from 85° to 90°. Many of the houses occupied by the wealthier portion of the inhabitants, are large, airy, and convenient residences. Since the war with China broke out, Macao, which had greatly declined from its ancient importance, has thriven, and many of its citizens have become wealthy in consequence of the British trade to China being thrown by circumstances into its harbour. The local Government have taken advantage of the times, to improve the town, to re-pave the streets, to build a new and handsome Custom-house, and to make other improvements at John Bull's expense. The Portuguese inhabitants of Macao amount to about five thousand, not two hundred of whom are of pure European blood. The general population are, with few exceptions, of a mongrel breed; a mixture of Chinese, Portuguese, and Negroes, which it is difficult to describe. Nine-tenths of them are very poor, but all of them are very proud, and fond of show and dress.

It is quite amusing to see the pompous strut of the men on a Sunday, as they walk to mass in their ill-made silk coats, with gold-headed sticks in hand. Both men and women are the worst-favoured race I ever saw: their flat, unmeaning countenances, small, lacklustre eyes, strong, upright, black hair, resembling hogs' bristles more than aught else, and yellow skins, form a tout ensemble any thing but pleasing. The men adopt the European fashions. The ladies wear the mantilla; and the women of the poorer classes wear a petticoat and small jacket, generally of British chintz, with a mantilla of coarser material. The very poorest of them may be seen, on Sunday morning, going to mass in silk stockings. The wealthier Portuguese reside in large and comfortable houses, but the lower orders inhabit wretched hovels, and suffer very severely from sickness, particularly the small-pox; a scourge that carried off, during the winter and spring of 1842-3, one thousand people,—just a fifth of the whole Portuguese population. Their habits are idle and dirty. I am not aware, indeed, of ever having seen a more filthy town than Macao. No one seems to think that the streets were made for any other purpose than to serve as reservoirs for all the filth of the houses that line them. Heaps of abominable rubbish are seen here and there, which would be still more numerous, were it not for the occasional heavy rains, which wash down the steep streets, and carry off the accumulated masses to the sea. A few days before Christmas 1842, the town underwent a general sweeping; an event that did not take place again till that time twelvemonth. The other inhabitants of Macao are, Chinese, Negroes, and a few English and Americans. The Chinese here are nearly all of the lower orders, and, for the most part, are not over-scrupulous how they get their living: in proof of which I may mention, that four highway robberies, accompanied with violent assault, took place in the immediate neighbourhood, in open day, during the stay of six weeks which I made there in the autumn of 1842. The shopkeepers and boatmen are all Chinese; and among them may be found some as thorough-bred scoundrels as ever disgraced humanity. During the year 1843, the following crimes were perpetrated by Chinese in and about Macao: they were clearly brought home to them, and, in all probability, do not form a tenth of what might with justice be laid to their charge:—

1. Mr. Sharpe's lorcha (trading-boat), on her voyage from Macao to Canton, was piratically attacked within ten miles of the former place, and plundered of her cargo of opium; Mr. Sharpe was murdered, and five of his crew; the rest, being Chinese, were taken off by the pirates, (they subsequently proved to be their associates,) and the lorcha was burned.

2. A lorcha bound from Hong Kong to Macao, manned by Macao Chinese, and loaded with spice and other valuable property, was carried off by her crew, (who murdered an English doctor on board,) the cargo plundered, and the vessel burned.

3. Another lorcha, bound from Macao to Hong Kong, with a general cargo and two passengers, was carried off in the same way, plundered, and then burned: the unfortunate passengers (two respectable young men; one an Irishman, named Clark, the other from Shetland, a Mr. Clunis) were in like manner murdered.

4. A boat was sent off from Macao with a box of treasure containing some 12,000 dollars, under the charge of a Parsee clerk of the firm to whom the money belonged. They left the shore at two P. M., and the ship they were bound to was at anchor only five miles off. The non-appearance of the treasure which was expected on board, caused the captain to go on shore to make inquiries about five in the afternoon: his questions alarmed the Parsee merchant, who had sent off the money and his clerk at two. Strict inquiry was instituted, and the result was, the certainty that the poor man had been murdered and thrown overboard by the boat's crew, who made off with the money.

5. A boat was sent from a ship in the harbour called the Typa, to one in the outer roads, to trans-ship fourteen chests of opium: the crew consisted of four Chinese and one Lascar, with the second mate in charge. The opium was taken in, and the boat started on her return to the Typa about two P. M. When about half way between the two harbours, the four Chinese suddenly dropped their oars, seized the mate and Lascar, stunned them with the boat's tiller, and threw them overboard: their bodies were picked up next day, and gave the first intimation of their fate. Two of the pirates were subsequently caught and executed; but the property, worth 10,000 dollars, was irretrievably lost.

6. A British merchant in Macao sent an order off to his ship in the Typa, to bring on shore, in the course of the day, a box containing 6000 dollars: the money was put into a boat belonging to the vessel at ten in the forenoon, and started for the inner harbour, about an hour's pull. She was attacked by a fast-pulling Chinese boat, when about half way between the ship and the shore, and robbed of the dollars; but no violence was offered to the crew, who were China-men. When this money was being packed and put into the boat, some Chinese sailors on board the ship were observed making signs as if to some one at a distance: no notice was taken of this circumstance at the time, though it was remarked upon when too late.

I could enumerate other cases of a similar nature; but these six are sufficient for my present purpose.