NATIVE COTTAGES IN THE TROPICS.
Accompanying the steamer in its usual route, Mr. Taylor stopped at Singapore, at the extreme southern end of the peninsula. It was a new port at that time, and was not so important as it afterwards became; yet he found ten or fifteen thousand people there, mostly dirty and repulsive Chinese. Mr. Taylor was not pleased with the Chinese as a race, for two reasons. First, he heard such reports of their barbarity, beastliness, and dishonesty; second, they were an awkward, unsymmetrical people, devoid of that physical beauty which the artist admires and copies. He dwelt upon the latter fact in his letters, and mentioned it in his book. Neither Phidias, Polycrates, Raphael, or Angelo would have selected a model from among these creatures, and naturally enough the artistic taste of Mr. Taylor was shocked by such natural deformities as the Chinese were, when looked upon with reference to the graceful and beautiful in the human form. It is but just to the Chinese as a nation to say that, according to the writer’s experience among them, the Coolies who emigrate to Singapore, Sydney, and California are by no means a fair sample of the educated and wealthy classes who remain at home and drive out the least useful and least intelligent portion. If one were to judge of the acquirements, ability, or physical beauty of the Chinese nation exclusively by the poor emigrants who cannot successfully compete with their neighbors, and hence are compelled to go away from home for success, he would be nearly as sadly misled as one would be should he form his opinion of the American people by the inmates of their jails and poor-houses. There are many noble men and beautiful women in the interior of China, whether regarded mentally, morally, or physically. Mr. Taylor did not see them, and like a faithful scribe he wrote down only those things he saw, and knew to be true. The Chinese whom he saw in the ports engaged in unloading vessels, or doing like menial services, were not beautiful, and he said so.
When Mr. Taylor arrived in Hong-Kong he was received with the same kind hospitality which his very countenance secured for him in every land. The United States Commissioner, the Hon. Humphrey Marshall, who happened to be at Macao, and whom Mr. Taylor met there on crossing the bay from Hong-Kong, offered to attach Mr. Taylor to his staff, for a trip to the seat of war. The great rebellion in the Kiangsu province, lying north-westerly from Shanghai, had assumed such threatening proportions that the emperor at Peking trembled on his throne. Exaggerated accounts of the fiendish atrocities of the rebels, and rumors of great battles and successful sieges had reached the seaports, and even the peaceful American merchants at Shanghai feared capture and death. In view of all this, Mr. Taylor anticipated an exciting experience. Together with the whole ship’s company, he felt, when the United States steamer left Hong-Kong for Shanghai, as if there was a measure of uncertainty if he ever returned. But the reports had been so much enlarged in their transmission to Hong-Kong, that when they arrived at the port of Shanghai they were delighted to find the place in no immediate danger of attack from the Chinese. In order to show the rebels that the Americans were neutral in all the Chinese quarrels, the Commissioner undertook the hazardous task of ascending the Yang-tse-kiang River to the beleaguered town of Nanking. It seems to have been a foolish undertaking, and viewed from any diplomatic stand-point, to have been indirectly an encouragement of the rebellion. It was not so intended, however, and Mr. Taylor did not give his opinion of the “good faith” which prompted the sending of envoys to a local rebellion in the interior of a “great and friendly nation.” But what good sense could not do, the shoals and incompetency of the native pilots did accomplish; and the Commissioner who was going up the river to pat the rebels on the back and ask them not to hurt their friends, the Americans, was compelled to return to Shanghai. It would have been better for the United States if the second undertaking had been equally unsuccessful; but as Mr. Taylor had no share in it, it is of no further importance here.
While at Shanghai he experienced the sensation of being besieged without seeing an enemy. The frightened people organized themselves into military companies and drilled with the sailors. Breastworks were thrown up and cannon placed ready for action. The streets were patrolled and a guard kept over the provisions and ammunition. Tales of approaching hosts were freely circulated, and once the terrified populace were informed by an intelligent refugee that the enemy were within sight. Yet the days passed on; the Chinese government began to show vitality, and the great rebellion, with all its fearful butchery and refinement of cruelty, was extinguished without the molestation of the foreigners at Shanghai, and was overcome, notwithstanding the encouraging assurance given the rebels by the United States Commissioner that our government was not disposed to interfere with their outrages.
While in Shanghai Mr. Taylor wrote some admirable articles upon the tea culture of China, and upon the possible commerce with the Pacific coast of America, which were published in New York and London. He felt the throes of an earthquake while there, and had some pleasant interviews with the educated classes of China. He saw the parade of the native soldiers, and witnessed their grotesque religious ceremonies. His observation was so close, and his generalization usually so just, that until within a few years there has been no book printed in America which gave so much of the information desired by popular readers in so little space as Taylor’s account of that visit.
Early in May Commodore Perry arrived at Shanghai, prepared for the expedition which the United States had ordered him to make to Japan, and Mr. Taylor’s long-felt desire to embark on that enterprise was gratified. He was compelled to enlist in the navy as master’s mate, and subject himself and all that he should write, to the orders of the navy department and officers of the fleet. It seemed at first to be rather humiliating terms, but after he had made the acquaintance of the officers and learned the ways of a ship he found it a very pleasant position. Thus, from one calling to another, he turned with a readiness and a success which were astonishing.
CHAPTER XXIV.
His Reception on the Man-of-war.—Commodore Perry’s Tribute.—Mr. Taylor’s Journals.—Visit to the Loo-Choo Islands.—Explorations.—Mr. Taylor becomes a Favorite.—His Description of the Country.—Cruise to Japan.—The Purpose of the Expedition.—Mr. Taylor’s Assistance.—Return to Hong-Kong.—Resigns his Commission.—Visits Canton.—Sails for America.—St. Helena.—Arrival in New York.