Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop

Name: The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither — LETTER I
Author: Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop

The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither… (1883)

Summary

“The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither — LETTER I”, published in 1883, is a work by Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop. It explores elements such as Hong Kong, Chinese and harbor.

Quotes from The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither… (Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop)

Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop, The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither… (1883)

“ Coasts usually disappoint. This one exceeded all my expectations; and besides, it was the coast of Asia, the mysterious continent which has been my dream from childhood—bare, lofty, rocky, basaltic; islands of naked rock separated by narrow channels, majestic, perpendicular cliffs, a desolate uninhabited region, lashed by a heavy sea, with visions of swirling mists, shrieking sea-birds, and Chinese high-sterned fishing-boats with treble-reefed, three-cornered brown sails, appearing on the tops of surges, at once to vanish. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop, The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither… (1883)

“ The dread of these miscreants, which was everywhere expressed, is not unreasonable, for the position of Victoria, and the freedom and protection afforded by our laws, together with the present Governor's known sympathies with colored people, have attracted here thousands of the scum of Canton and other Chinese cities, to say nothing of a mass of European and Asiatic ruffianism, much of which is at all times percolating through the magnificent Victoria prison. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop, The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither… (1883)

“ Soon we were among mountainous islands; and then, by a narrow and picturesque channel, entered the outer harbor, with the scorched and arid peaks of Hong Kong on one side; and on the other the yet redder and rockier mainland, without a tree or trace of cultivation, or even of habitation, except here and there a few stone huts clustering round inlets, in which boats were lying. We were within the tropic of Cancer, but still the cold, coarse bluster continued, so that it was barely possible to see China except in snatches from behind the deck-house. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop, The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither… (1883)

“ A few Chinese boats came off, and then a steam launch with the M. M. agent in an obvious flurry. I asked him how to get ashore, and he replied, "It's no use going ashore, the town's half burned, and burning still; there's not a bed at any hotel for love or money, and we are going to make up beds here." ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop, The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither… (1883)

“ Burdon had not only thrown open their beautiful grounds to these poor people, but had accommodated some Chinese families in rooms in the palace under their own. The apathy or calm of the Chinese women as they sat houseless amidst their possessions was very striking. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop, The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither… (1883)

“ At that moment the wind changed, and the great drift of flame and smoke was carried in a comparatively harmless direction, the fire was got well in hand the second time, the official quarter was saved, and before 10 P.M. we were able for the first time since my arrival at mid-day to sit down to food.
Most people seem much upset as well from personal peril as from sympathy, and all parties and picnics for two days were given up. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop, The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither… (1883)

“ Streets choked up with household goods and the costly contents of shops, treasured books and nick-nacks lying on the dusty pavements, with beds, pictures, clothing, mirrors, goods of all sorts; Chinamen dragging their possessions to the hills ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop, The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither… (1883)

“ The colored population exceeds one hundred and fifty-two thousand souls, and only those who know the Babel which an eastern crowd is capable of making under ordinary circumstances can imagine what the deafening din of human tongues was under these very extraordinary ones. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop, The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither… (1883)

“ Chinawomen, some of them with hoofs rather than feet, carrying their children on their backs and under their arms; officers, black with smoke, working at the hose like firemen; parties of troops marching as steadily as on parade, or keeping guard in perilous places ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop, The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither… (1883)

“ Pope Henessey, the Governor, ubiquitous in a chair with four scarlet bearers; men belonging to the insurance companies running about with drawn swords; the miscellaneous population running hither and thither ”

Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop

Summary

Quotes from The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither… (Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop)

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