The War Tiger
Page 1
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THE WAR TIGER
OR,
ADVENTURES AND WONDERFUL FORTUNES
OF THE YOUNG SEA CHIEF
AND HIS LAD CHOW:
A TALE OF THE CONQUEST OF CHINA
BY WILLIAM DALTON,
AUTHOR OF THE "WHITE ELEPHANT," ETC.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY H. S. MELVILLE
PHILADELPHIA J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 1884.
The Escape from the Pagoda.]
PREFACE.
As free use is made in the following story of the names of personageswho played important parts in and during the last Tartar Conquest ofChina, the Author believes that a slight sketch of that turbulent epochmay not be uninteresting to his readers.
Twenty-two dynasties have given some two hundred and forty Emperors tothe Celestial Kingdom; of these, two were Tartars, who obtained thethrone by conquest and bloodshed. In the course of time, however, thefirst Tartar family, with the whole of their race, were either massacredor driven from the land by a Chinese leader, who, by mounting thethrone, founded the celebrated family of the Mings.
The last of the Ming Emperors, Wey-t-song, had not been many years uponthe throne, when, from a wise and energetic man, he became so indolent,and regardless of all but his pleasures, that the people becameoppressed by the magistrates; indeed, to use a Chinese phrase, to suchan extent did the "big fish eat all the little ones," that a famine grewin the land, which caused the starving people to arise in rebellionthroughout the empire.
Taking advantage of this disorder, several ambitious lords collectedtogether bands of vagabonds, set themselves up as petty kings, andplundered and oppressed the innocent people, till the land grew dampwith their tears.
At the same time, the chief, or king, of the Mantchou Tartars, learningthat China was like a house divided against itself, rode with a largearmy upon the frontier of Pe-tche-Lee, the capital province.
The appearance, however, of this great enemy aroused what littlenationality remained, and three great lords came to the Emperor'sassistance. The first was Woo-san-Kwei, who, at the head of an army,kept the Tartars at bay; the other two, Li-Kong and Chang, were sentinto different provinces, where, although bad men, being good generals,they succeeded in crushing all other rogues but themselves. Thelast-named generals, however, on their return, becoming enraged at theEmperor's ingratitude, took up arms against him, and, finding no greatdifficulty in subduing a people who preferred any other Chinese to theirEmperor, seized upon two of the richest provinces, and establishedthemselves as independent royalets, or petty kings.
Now, as in the great revolutions of England, America, and France, so inChina, anarchy brought forth its great men; but foremost among them allstood Chin-Chi-Loong--a kind of Paul Jones, a pirate in the eyes of hisenemies, a patriot in those of his friends.
Found starving when a boy, by the Portuguese priests at Macao, they tookhim under their care, taught him Christianity, and baptized him by thename of Nicholas Gaspard. While quite a youth, he took service on boarda trading ship, in which humble position, the strength of his intellectand will so soon exhibited itself, that at an early age he became secondin command, and his captain dying soon after, left him sole owner andcommander of the vessel and its rich cargo.
Then it was that his true character began to develop itself; he soughtto accumulate great wealth; for this purpose he traded with Japan, Siam,and the Europeans, so assiduously, that at the outbreak of therebellion, he had become the richest merchant in an empire of richmerchants; but what to him was of far greater importance, a powerfulsea-chief--for he then commanded and owned the greatest fleet that eversailed in the Chinese seas, and as he had taken care to arm every ship,he became the terror of the three great contending parties; namely, theEmperor, the rebels, and the Tartars, who, all in turn, at times,offered great rewards for his head, and at others, for his services.
Remarkable, however, as were the fortunes of this sea-chief, they wereless so than those of his distinguished son, the hero of this story.
The Author will only add, that, although many of the adventures here setdown may not be found in the pages of Chinese history, if, entwininginformation with amusement, they bring vividly before the mind's eye ofhis young reader, the manners, laws, legends, superstitions, history, orcharacter of that great, though quaint people in whom more than athousand years have failed to make any material change, his satisfactionwill be the greater that he has again deserved well of those to whom hisgratitude is due for the kind, thorough, and hearty reception they gaveto the Adventures of "THE WOLF-BOY OF CHINA."
WILLIAM DALTON.