At meridian a salute was fired in honor of the day, the smoke from which had hardly cleared away before the anchor was tripped, and with studding-sails set, we were standing down the bay, with a fine leading wind. Passed the island of Corregidor, at its entrance, about sunset; and before midnight had made some fifty miles of an offing.
CHAPTER XIII.
Anchor in Harbor of Hong-Kong—Hastings and Herald both off—Advantage of Newspapers—A First-rate notice—The Press of Victoria—The Friend of China—Its pugnacity—Advertising Sheets—Description of Island—Rain—Character of Chinese Inhabitants.
Our passage to Hong-Kong was unmarked by any incident worthy of especial notice; and we reached that harbor safely upon the second of March, and came to anchor. Found every thing in about the same condition as when we left, and a large fleet of merchantmen in port; but missed the "Hastings" from her moorings, as also the "Herald." They both had sailed during our absence: the Hastings' to be roasted by the hot sun of Bombay; the Herald's to a warm greeting in their native isle.
Missed the officers of these vessels very much; for a kindly feeling had sprung up amongst us, and interchanges of courtesies had made us friends. But thus it is in this roving life; and it may be best that the acquaintance thus stumbled upon remains but long enough to please, and is gone before the gloss of novelty is rubbed off,—before familiarity deadens or destroys its first impression.
There is one thing connected with this colony which adds greatly to its interest to a person coming from a country where "the art preservative of all arts" sends the rays of knowledge throughout the entire length and breadth, to all classes and conditions, illuminating as well the squatter's hut, as the patrician's hall. I allude to the existence of newspapers. Only a person who has been accustomed to them, as we are in the United States, can appreciate the deprivation of this mental food, when placed beyond its reach, on a foreign station like this, where a paper some three months after its publication is seized upon with the greatest delight; and news, which at home has long lost its name, is devoured with avidity, and discussed as a dainty. How true is it, that we can only appreciate our blessings by their loss. Why, with all the arts lending their aid; with steam, with electricity, with the painter's skill, condensed by the most powerful intellects; with midnight toil, and daily effort to produce that "map of busy life," which is diurnally, almost hourly, spread out before us, and for a consideration, too, which in many instances is not equivalent to the cost of the material upon which it is sketched: with the lightning harmlessly conducting along the pliant wire, stretched from one end of the continent to the other, thoughts which have annihilated time: with another element, which has nearly obliterated space, they are spread over its face; and by another application of the same magic power are wafted hundreds and hundreds of miles, and thrown upon your lap, damp and reeking, ere yet the process has had time to dry. If Faust was supposed to have been assisted by the Evil One, what would his persecutors have said, had they been shown a picture like this? What would they have said? Why, that even Satan himself possessed not such power, and denied that to the devil, which is now accomplished by a poor devil of a printer! And yet how often do we throw aside the teeming sheet, placed as regularly before us as our breakfast, and declaring it indifferent, petulantly begrudge its publisher the poor penny of its price. Let the grumbler be stationed in these Chinese waters for two years and upwards, and when he has been deprived a greater part of that time of the "Sun," that awaited his pleasure to shine, the "Herald," ushering in the morn at his bidding, the "Times," that never grew old, and the "News," expressly awaiting his perusal,—let him, I say, after perusing papers that have reached him in March, '51, bearing the date of the past Christmas, pick up a paper out here, even if it be a colonial one, upon the day of its publication, and he will sing, Io Triumphe, as I did.
There are two newspapers printed in Victoria (Hong-Kong), and both of these, I believe, are bi-weekly. One is called the "Friend of China, and Hong-Kong Gazette;" the other, "The China Mail." The latter is the government organ, and has the colonial printing. The former is independent, and slashes away right and left, sparing neither friend nor foe, and its columns are always open to complaining correspondents. Sir Geo. Bonham, the Governor, often got severely handled; and either because the government laid itself open to attack, or the editor had some cause for pique, it appeared to be continually "pitching into" it. Its articles were bold and forcibly expressed, and from their tenor would suppose it exposed itself to prosecution for libel, but understood it had steered clear of the Courts that far. Its editor shows a great deal of industry and perseverance in its management. His Marine List is full and complete. Not only does he give the arrivals and departures of shipping at Hong-Kong, but at all the other ports in China waters; also a full and corrected list of all vessels at Whampoa, Shanghae, and Macào, and publishes all the information that can be obtained of the extensive commerce of this part of the East, such as statistics of imports and exports, &c., &c. His is the ungracious task to reform abuses; perhaps, like Hamlet, he thinks "the times are out of joint," and he "was born to set them right." Or it may be that he is influenced by the same motive as the Irishman, who, upon the eve of a presidential election in the United States, was asked to cast his vote for the party which aspired to place their candidate upon the chair, after ousting the incumbent. Pat's first inquiry was, if it was aginst the government they wanted him to vote; and being told it was, assented, upon the principle that he always went against the government.
In addition to these there are several advertising sheets, which are distributed gratis, and exhibit the extensive trade carried on by the merchants of the colony and Canton. Even these are interesting, proving, as they do, the indomitable perseverance of the race, and bringing up pleasant remembrances by their familiar diction.