very nearly 40,000,000 inhabitants seemed greatly to astonish him, although this is probably barely one-tenth of the population of the Chinese Empire.[152]
Just as the Táu-Tái was preparing to set out on his return, a tremendous tumult was suddenly heard in the street. It seemed like a popular insurrection, and servants were forthwith sent out to ascertain the cause of this unexpected shindy, who came back presently with the intelligence that an English sailor had struck a coolie of the suite a blow on the face with his fist, so violent that he was seriously injured, and was bleeding profusely. The Táu-Tái made his appearance
on the portico. As soon as the injured man saw his master approaching, he flung himself before him imploring aid, and exhibiting his face streaming with blood, and the wound gaping open. The Táu-Tái ordered the man to rise, and delivered him to the Chinese police. Occasionally when a Chinese receives a wound in a quarrel of this nature he will abstain from wiping off the blood-stains from his face for weeks together, finding, it should seem, some satisfaction in being able to exhibit them. This done, the procession resumed its march. In front strode a man who from time to time administered a sounding thwack to the gong, after which he rushed through the streets bawling like a Stentor, that the people might crowd on one side and leave the Táu-Tái space to pass unobstructed. The rear was brought up with police, catch-poles with long bamboo poles, and the executioner with his axe—the never-failing attendant on such occasions,—who accompanies it, however, only as a sort of allegorical personage, to impress upon the yelling crowds around the consequences of disobedience, and of rebellion against constituted authority.
The only important excursion we made from Shanghai was to the Jesuit Mission of Sikkawéi, twelve miles distant. Our excellent host, Mr. James Hogg, of the well-known firm of Lindsay and Co.,[153] and Consul for the Hanse towns, to whose great kindness we are deeply indebted, was so kind as
to order his pretty little yacht Flirt to be got ready for our accommodation, and we set off, accompanied by the heroic Mr. Gray, of the American house of Russell and Co., who lost one foot while fighting against the Tai-ping rebels before the very gates of Shanghai. As the Europeans are in the habit of using these pleasure-boats as residences during their visit to the interior, so as not to be dependent upon the somewhat uncertain hospitality of the Chinese, they are provided with every accessory to comfort, being fitted with a neat cabin, a small library, boudoir, berth-cabin, &c. They usually carry an immense spread of canvas, and during calms are propelled like the native boats with one big oar from the stern, which serves at the same time as a rudder. The sail up the Wusung, in which upwards of a hundred sail of merchantmen, and above a thousand junks, were lying at anchor, was very interesting. Many of the junks lying off the Catholic cathedral of Tonka-dú displayed a flag with a white cross on a black ground, in token of the religious faith of the crew. Here also we saw for the first time some Siamese ships, built in Siam, for the most part on European models. Of these we counted eleven. By way of ensign, they had an elephant rather nicely drawn, sometimes on a red, sometimes on a blue field, according to the fancy or the taste of the owner. These vessels have Siamese crews and English captains, and are armed with ten or twelve cannon, so that his Siamese Majesty can at a moment's notice use his little fleet of merchantmen for warlike purposes.
The channel, 200 or 300 fathoms wide, which unites the Wusung with the internal network of small rivers, is called the Wuang-Po, a designation which some authorities assume to be the name of its constructor, while others maintain that it is derived from wong, yellow, and applies to the colour of the water, just as Whampoa, near Canton, signifies the yellow anchorage. Nothing has so much contributed to that immense activity of commerce, which we marvel at among the Chinese, as their vast canal system, the introduction of which was pursued with such energy in the 7th century.[154] The innumerable artificial canals, with which the whole north of China is intersected, and which by their admirably planned system of arrangement unite all the lakes and navigable rivers of the Empire with each other, make it possible to voyage through every province of the Empire without having once to leave the boat. They atone for the great want of good roads, and even make the absence of railroads less perceptible in a country where the value of labour is so unprecedentedly low.
As soon as we leave Shanghai behind, with its immense
commercial fleet, the scenery beyond becomes tame. The banks on either side are low, and far as the eye can reach not a single hill is to be seen, not even a rising slope—nothing but a flat alluvial soil, every inch of which seems diligently tilled, or otherwise made useful.
After we had sailed several miles in the Flirt we came to a branch of the great canal, where we shifted into a smaller but not less elegant boat, the property of Mr. Gray, which drew less water, and in which we were to reach the Jesuit mission. At this season, however, owing to the lowness of the water, navigation was only continued with great difficulty, and notwithstanding the astonishing dexterity with which our worthy Lau-tú (the old chief) conned our craft through the sharp bends of the river, we were at last compelled to halt, and perform the rest of the distance, about two miles, on foot.