Macào, like other Portuguese towns, has many churches and its quantum of priests. The cathedral is the best looking building, although not so large as some of the others. It had lately been repaired, and both internally and externally presented a gay and gaudy appearance, in strong contrast with the decayed condition of the houses surrounding it.
There is the ruin of the church of "Mater Dei," which had been destroyed by fire, the entire front of which still stands, covered with carving, a majestic monument of the pride and power of Rome.
The other churches, although their interiors are kept in some repair for the purpose of worship, have crumbling and mouldering walls, proving that "Tempus, edax rerum" has not spared them, and in the absence of rejuvenating art, still uses his remorseless tooth upon the softening stone.
Indeed, what strikes the stranger most sadly and forcibly as he saunters through the streets, is the universal evidence of decay. It is melancholy to see buildings, which must once have been magnificent, slowly sinking into rain. The mind cannot help picturing these buildings, brilliant with beauty, and resounding with festivity, when Macào was the depôt for the trade with China, with a fleet of all nations filling its harbor, and its storehouses teeming with the rich merchandise of the East.
But British perseverance, and Yankee enterprise, have asserted the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon race, and the vessels, which formerly made this their port after their voyage around the Cape, now discharge and receive their cargoes at Whampoa and Hong-Kong, whilst only occasionally the masts of a man of war, or of some straggling merchantman, are to be seen in the harbor of Macào.
The murder of Amaral in 1849, is said to have produced a prejudicial effect upon the interests of Macào, but I cannot see how that could have influenced it in this manner, as the difficulty had not extended to open war, and a Chinaman would have been willing to trade if he found it profitable, even should such have been the case; and had the Portuguese artillery been echoing amongst the rocky hills of Ou-moon, you would have found him seeking the almighty dollar
"Even at the cannon's mouth."
The particulars of the Governor's murder, as I could obtain them, are these: Ioao Maria Ferreira do Amaral, Governor of the provinces of Macào, Timor, and Solor, was assassinated near the "Barrier," on the 22d day of August, 1849. It appeared by the confession of Chang-asin, alias Chou-asin, that an acquaintance of his, named Shing-Chi-liang, on account of the Governor having made roads without the Campo gates, by which the graves of his ancestors were destroyed, was so enraged thereat, that he determined to murder him in order to satisfy his revenge. For the purpose of assisting in this design he hired two Chinese, Ko-Ahong and Li-Apau, and charged Chou-asin, together with two other Chinamen, Chou-ayan and Chen-afat, to act as guards to prevent people from approaching. To this they all agreed, and hearing that the Governor would go out on that day for recreation, proceeded to waylay him.
Towards evening, when it was twilight, Shing-Chi-liang seeing Amaral, the Governor, approach on horseback, went up to him under the pretence that he had a petition to hand him, saying that he had a complaint to prefer, and whilst Amaral was stretching out his hand to receive the paper, Shing-Chi-liang drew a sharp knife he had concealed in the handle of his umbrella, and commenced stabbing him in the arm and shoulder, until he fell from his horse, when Shing-Chi-liang immediately cut off his head and hand, and they all ran, each his own way. Chou-ayan and Chen-afat were killed in an engagement with the English, having, with himself, fled to Hiang-Kang, a seaport, from whence they went over to the pirates, and he was afterwards seized by the Chinese government and taken to Canton, where, after making this confession, he prayed for mercy.
A long and not very amicable correspondence was held by a Portuguese Council of Government, formed at Macào upon Amaral's death, and Seu, Governor-General at Canton, in which the Council demanded the head and hand of their murdered Governor, and Seu required in return three Chinese soldiers, (arrested by the Portuguese authorities at the Barrier gate after the murder, and detained in prison at Macào, as accessory to the deed,) as an exchange for the remains of the Governor. The Council denounced this demand as infamous, denied the soldiers, and put the question to Seu, if he intended to keep possession of these mutilated remains of a brave man, cowardly slain, because he is conscious of having acquired them by means which, in his judgment, give him a right to traffic with them, regardless of constituting himself by this act a participator in the crime which gave them into his possession; also adding, that, protesting against his conduct, they would hold him responsible for the assassination of the Most Excellent Governor Amaral, and for the retention of his hand and head, which they would make known to the world by means of a manifesto.