by Kirk Munroe
CHAPTER XIII
IN THE WORLD'S MOST MARVELLOUS CITY
Stunned by the terrible news he had just heard, Rob sat silent, tryingto think of all that it meant to him, while his new acquaintance,shocked at the unexpected result of his chance remark, tried in vainto console him. It might not be so bad as reported, he said, for suchthings always were exaggerated. Probably, Rob would find that hisparents had escaped and were safe in Canton. Perhaps the massacre hadextended only to native Christians, as often was the case; or, it wasmore than likely that the Hinckleys had been warned of the outbreak intime to leave Wu Hsing before it took place.
"They couldn't leave," answered Rob, "for my father was too ill totravel." Then, wishing to be alone with his great sorrow, the ladabruptly rose and went to his state-room, which he did not again leavethat night.
As it was not advisable for the steamer to reach Canton before sunrise,she stopped about ten o'clock and remained at anchor until daybreak,when she again was got under way. An hour later Rob was wakened from atroubled dream of fighting, killing, and burning by such a confusionof yells, splashings, and other strange sounds that he rushed out ondeck with the idea that his dream had become a reality. Once in the openhe gazed upon a scene unique and unparalleled. The steamer was slowlymaking her way against the swift current of a turbid river, along thewater-front of the most marvellous city in all the world. She was movingamid a vast collection of floating craft, from fine, English-builtChinese war-ships and foreign gun-boats down through junks of all sizes,stern-wheel "kick-boats" propelled by man-power, gorgeous mandarin-boatsgay with fluttering flags, house-boats, flower-boats--which are floatingpalaces in which men of wealth give expensive dinners--silk-boats,rice-boats, and produce-barges from up-river; fishing-boats, duck-boats,long, slender--paddling-canoes known as snake-boats, besides thousandsof sampans and slipper-boats, that ply for hire in any capacity, and onwhich half a million of people are born, live, and die, in many caseswithout ever setting foot on land.
So poor are these sampan dwellers, and so greatly is the supply oftheir labor in excess of the demand for it, that they struggle withone another for the chance of making even a single "cash," which isvalued at one-tenth of a penny. In the present instance scores ofsampans, propelled by sweeps or sculling-oars, were racing towardsthe _Fatshan_, their occupants screaming, gesticulating, firing offcrackers, and beating gongs to attract the attention of her passengers.All these craft looked exactly alike, and were about twenty-five feetlong by eight feet wide. Each had a small, open deck forward, onwhich a man, standing and facing the bow, rowed with a pair of sweeps.There was an arch-roofed house amidships, and aft of it a covered deckoccupied by a woman, who worked a long sculling-oar, by means of whichshe both steered and propelled the light craft. Not one of these boatswas painted, but all were colored alike with pungent smelling Ning-Povarnish.
From every sampan peered round-faced, solemn-eyed children, boys andgirls, all wearing pig-tails and dressed alike, and looking alike,except that the smaller boys generally had bladders, squares of cork, orbillets of a light wood fastened to their shoulders to keep them afloatin case they fell overboard. The girls were held to be of so much lessvalue that for them life-preservers were not thought of. Whenever thesechildren were more than four or five years old they helped, or attemptedto help, their parents with the oars, while those of younger age tookcare of the babies.
In the rush towards the steamer of these queer-looking and queerlymanned craft they were in constant collision, smashing recklesslytogether, apparently striving to overturn one another, or to push theirrivals out of the way. If one succeeded in making fast, others wouldhold on to her until the single grass-plaited rope would break, and allwould be swept astern in the swift current, their crews screaming andshaking fists at one another as they went.
It was bedlam and babel, sea-fights and water-sports, commercial rivalryand insanity, all mixed into one grand helter-skelter of confusion; andyet, so far as the interested spectators could note, no one was drowned,nor even hurt, though, apparently, no one would have cared a snap ifevery one else had come to serious grief.
The Chinese passengers from the lower deck of the _Fatshan_ swarmed intosuch sampans as succeeded in making fast, their queer-looking luggage,done up in matting, was pitched after them, and away they went asthough each second was too precious to be wasted. Such of the foreignpassengers as were tourists or globe-trotters, visiting Canton out ofcuriosity, were engaging guides to show them the sights of the wonderfulcity, and arranging for sedan-chairs, in which they were to be borne onthe shoulders of coolies through its endless miles of swarming streets.
There are no wheeled vehicles in these granite-paved thoroughfares,and no beasts of burden, for the broadest and most important streetof Canton is but eight feet wide, while in most of them a tall manstanding in the middle may touch the houses on either side with hisextended finger-tips. From these threadlike passages, packed withblue-clad, yellow-visaged humanity, and reeking with filth, open thenarrow portals of shops whose contents would dazzle an Aladdin. Eachdim doorway is barred against the entrance by a tiny altar, from whichascends, never-endingly, the incense of smouldering joss-sticks; butonce the uninviting entrance has been passed, the visitor finds himselfin another world.
The interior is scrupulously clean, and its perfumed atmosphere isthat of quiet elegance. He is met by smiling attendants clad in silkengarments and shod with noiseless felt, who bow profoundly before him,at the same time cordially shaking their own hands in token of welcome.They invite him to be seated in wonderfully carved chairs, lined withsilken cushions, and darkly lustrous with the polish of ages. Tinytables of marvellous inlay are set before him, and from them he isinvited to drink of amber-colored tea served in egg-shell porcelain.Afterwards the hidden wealth of the establishment is brought forth,piece by piece, for his inspection, and it is intimated that thesethings are for sale, though he never is urged to purchase.
Or he is conducted from room to room, lighted from interior courtsand filled with the most exquisite specimens of human handiwork knownto the world. Here are silk embroideries of a beauty, delicacy, andtexture not found elsewhere, exquisitely carved ivories, startlingdesigns, boldly executed in lacquer, gold, and silver, jade, crystal,and precious stones. Here are feather-work and brass-work, pricelessporcelains and cloisonne, softest crepes and gossamer linens, blackwood furniture graved with the painstaking skill that workmen of theWestern world bestow only upon precious metals. All these things, andan infinity of others equally desirable, are passed in slow successionby the deft-handed attendants before the fascinated gaze of the foreignvisitor, until he longs for the wealth of a Croesus, and is onlywithheld from purchasing to the full extent of his means by memory ofthe grim customs officials who so surely await his homecoming.
From these places where things are sold the sightseer in Canton isborne away to places where things are made, or to temples, pagodas, andexecution grounds. Perhaps he is permitted to enter the yamen of somewealthy mandarin, and, merely by passing through an enclosing wall ofbuildings, finds himself transferred in a minute from the filth andsqualor of the narrow street, with its swarms of jargon-yelling cooliesand leprous beggars, dimly filtered light and overpowering smells, intoa place of sunlight and clean air, a fairy-land of trees and flowers, ofsinging birds, shaded walks, and plashing waters, of quiet and coolness,strangely attractive architecture--a place of gratified senses andrestful luxury.
But none of these things was for Rob Hinckley--at least, not on thisoccasion, for instead of being a sensation-seeking tourist he merely wasa sorrow-stricken lad, friendless in a great, pitiless city, well-nighpenniless, and desperately uncertain which way to move. He turned sickwith apprehension as he gazed from one side of the steamer to the bund,or landing-place, where gangs of half-naked coolies grunted and sweatedunder their burdens of freight, or from the other to the yelling sampancrews ready to fight for a cent's worth of patronage. To him theyresembled the myriad occupants of a gigantic an
t-hill, and appearedequally lacking in human sympathies.
Rob was faint from the exhaustion of his almost sleepless and supperlessnight, and at length realizing his most pressing need, he soughtbreakfast in the saloon. From this he returned to the deck a half-hourlater, refreshed and strengthened, but still as uncertain as everregarding his next move. Then all at once his uncertainty vanished, forthe very first object that caught his eye as he stepped outside was thatwhich is most dear and most beautiful to all Americans, especially whenseen in a foreign land--the flag of the stars and stripes. It was atsome distance up the river, blowing out strong and free, high above theonly clump of trees in view, and besides it no other flag was visible.
In Canton, while most of the greater nations own their legationbuildings, the United States is satisfied to lodge its representative inrented quarters. To offset this humiliation, so far as lay in his power,the American consul-general had raised a noble flag-staff, so muchtaller than those of his neighbors that the starry banner flown from itstop was the most conspicuous flag in all Canton. Now it waved a friendlygreeting to poor Rob, filling him with renewed hope, and bidding himcome to it for aid in this time of trouble.
Nor did our lad hesitate to accept its invitation; but, noting thegeneral direction to be taken, he ran down the gang-plank and plungedboldly into the seething mass of blue-clad humanity thronging thenarrow thoroughfares of China's greatest city. A little later, guidedby occasional glimpses of the flag as he went, he had gained a bridgespanning a canal that separates the city proper from the Shameen, abeautiful, tree-shaded island on which stand the foreign legations,dwellings, and business houses of Canton.
At the city end of this bridge was a barrier having two wrought-irongates, one large and one very small. As the latter stood hospitablyopen, Rob was about to pass through it when the Chinese gatekeeperhurriedly flung open the other, at the same time respectfully informinghim that it was reserved for Europeans (all white foreigners in Chinaare known as Europeans), while the little gate was for the passage ofsuch natives as are allowed on the Shameen.
The incident was trifling, but it wonderfully restored theself-confidence of our young American, and as he walked proudly throughthe big gate, which was closed with a slam behind him, he felt quiteready to face and defy the whole Chinese nation. Turning up a shaded andwell-kept walk lined with substantial houses, each standing in its owngrounds, he again sought for a glimpse of the flag, but in vain, for thefoliage above which it waved was so thick as to hide it from below. Inthis dilemma Rob approached a gentleman who stood at a front gate, incompany with a group of Chinese, with a view of inquiring his directionto the American consulate. As he drew near he overheard the gentleman,who looked like an American, say loudly, slowly, and very distinctly:
"I've told you over and over that I don't understand one word you say,and unless you can speak English there is no use of your trying to talkbusiness with me. You wanchee catch one talkee man--sabe?"
"Perhaps I can help you, sir," said Rob, stepping up at that minute. "Iunderstand and speak some Chinese."
"If you only can and will, I shall be ever so much obliged," replied theAmerican, "for I am quite sure these fellows have something important tocommunicate. But I am a new-comer here, without a word of the lingo, andour interpreter has not yet put in an appearance this morning."
So Rob talked and interpreted with the result that a few minutes laterthe situation in question was fully understood by both parties, and theChinese departed quite satisfied.
"If I only could talk it as you do!" said the gentleman, enviously."Won't you step inside for a cup of tea?"
"No, I thank you," replied Rob. "I only stopped to inquire my way to theAmerican consulate. I want to see the consul-general on most importantbusiness."
"Then I am very sorry to say that he has gone to Hong-Kong, and will notreturn for a week."
"Oh!" cried Rob; "what shall I do? Perhaps you can tell me somethingabout a reported massacre of missionaries at Wu Hsing. Did it reallyoccur?"
"I believe it did, though that was before I came out; but I hope youhadn't any friends there."
"My father and mother were there."
"You poor fellow! That, indeed, is a bitter blow. May I ask your name?"
"It is Hinckley."
"Not a son of Dr. Mason Hinckley?" inquired the other, eagerly.
"Yes."
"Then you needn't worry any more, for Dr. Hinckley and his wife left forAmerica just before the outbreak, and are a long way towards the land ofsafety by this time."