CHAPTER VII.
Visit Hong-Kong—A beautiful Morning—Harbor of Hong-Kong—Settlement of Victoria—Line-of-battle ship Hastings—Forecastle logic—An arrival from the Northern Seas—Her B. M. S. Herald—Salutes—Description of Victoria—Club House—Health of Hong-Kong—Death vacancies—Feasting and Fêtes—Ball—Pic-Nic—Departure from Hong-Kong.
A visit to Hong-Kong had been some time in contemplation, and accordingly on Friday afternoon, twenty-ninth of November, we unmoored, and at three o'clock on Saturday morning, weighed the remaining anchor, and drifted with the ebb towards the entrance of the Typa, but sticking fast on a mud bank, had to wait for the next tide, which luckily bore us off on the afternoon of the same day, when we got out and underway.
Upon one of the most beautiful mornings I had ever seen in this climate, Sunday, the first of December, we were approaching Hong-Kong harbor, with easy tacks, and came to anchor off the town at noon.
The harbor is a very fine one, having sufficient depth to float vessels of the largest size, which is indicated by its color, being of a beautiful blue, and forming a strong contrast to that of the Typa, and the waters around Macào, which are discolored by the debouchment of the Canton river.
It is very wide, and commodious, and completely locked by islands, making, I should think, a safe anchorage in the Tyfoong season.
Hong-Kong is also an island, and was ceded to the British by treaty with the Chinese. The settlement on it was called Victoria, but is generally known by the name of Hong-Kong; in fact, I believe you would puzzle some persons if you should call it by the former name. It extends over much ground, and a towering mountain in its rear, upon the base of which a portion of the town is built, has quite a romantic appearance.
Found in harbor Her British Majesty's line-of-battle ship Hastings, bearing the flag of Admiral Austen, and a number of merchantmen of all nations. One, which lay near us, with the Peruvian flag at her gaff, had painted upon her stern, "Iowa, of San Francisco," and I overheard a conversation between two of the men, on the subject of the apparent anomaly. A forecastleman, addressing a petty officer, inquired how she could hail from San Francisco, then belonging to the United States, and fly the Peruvian flag. "Why, look ye, you nincompoop," was the reply, "can't there be more'n one Jack Jones on the purser's books, and wherefore shouldn't there be more than one San Francisco in the chart of the world? Doesn't it stand to reason, seeing it's a saint's name, and they're all Catholics along that coast, that they should have a Saint Francisco in Peru?"
This reasoning appeared conclusive, as the subject was dropped. But afterwards I learned that she had been purchased in California, and in a few days her nation was made known, by the word Callao filling the place of that of the Golden City on her stern: although her owner appeared to regret that he had been forced to change her flag, as, I understood, he thought he could have done better in an American bottom.