Canton River

“ From afar appeared the numerous pagodas of Canton, with their domes adorned with little gold bells. Our boat nosed her way into the crowded river, traversed by a perpetual scurry of launches, and we were at once surrounded by a flotilla of numerous sampans ornamented with golden devices. We were deafened by the screams and the dreadful noise. Canton is a veritable town of amphibians. There is not room enough on land for the two million inhabitants, who spend all their lives on the water in floating huts. ”

“ CANTON RIVER, CHINA
12. This day arriv'd to our Moorings at Whampoa, having been obliged to beat the whole way from Macao roads. Found riding here 47 sail of European Ships, and six American Do. Capt. Gray went to Canton, in the pinnace. We lay'd at this place till the 2d of February, during which time we give the Ship a complete overhaul from her keel to the truck. We haul'd the Ship a shore, on Dutch Island beach, and graved. This business cost 150$ (paid to the Proprietors of the beach) . The whole expence accruing to the Columbia at Canton amounted to the enormous sum of 7000 Spanish $. ”

“ The sun is still hesitating below the rim of the earth when the steamer from Hongkong breasts the muddy waters of that part of the river which flows through the fringes of Canton.
Most of the buildings in Canton crouch low, as if apprehensive of an angry, sweeping blow from the typhoons brewed occasionally in the atmospheric kettle of the China Sea. They are more humble, these buildings, than the skyscrapers of the American continent. ”

“ This island, which has on the one side the swift flowing Canton river, with its ever shifting life, has on the other a canal, on which an enormous population lives in house boats, moored stem and stern, without any space between them. ”

“ The course of the steamer lies at first 392among narrow canals, between lofty granite rocks: so soon as she emerges from these, the muddy disturbed colour of the water indicates that she is now crossing the mouth of the Canton River proper. Stately ships are seen passing up or down, while junks and fishing-boats are plying on every side. The majestic conical peak, 3000 feet high, of the island of Lantao, and the Castle Peak scarred with a deep furrow from top to bottom, on the mainland of the province of Quang-tong directly opposite, form the background. ”

“ The extremely barren appearance of nearly all the islands at the mouth of the Canton River, the deep and rugged furrows which seem to plough up their mountain sides, the exposed, rocky surface of their summits, and the absence of soil, except in sheltered spots or hollows, seem at once to point out that they are situated within the influence of hurricanes and tropical rains. ”

“ They don’t think much of firing into another boat, by way of amusement or gentle warning; and are not altogether averse to a quiet little piece of piracy when it comes in their way. On leaving the Canton river the wind and tide in the Kup-shui-moon pass or strait were so strong that we ran in-shore, anchored, and spent the night there. ”

“ For twenty or thirty miles round Canton, and as far as the eye can reach on each side of the river on which that city stands, the general face of the country appears nearly a level plain, with but little undulation of surface. The level is, however, richly studded with beautiful hills, which diversify the landscape, and seem to rise out of the plain so abruptly, that they form the most picturesque features, united with the most pleasing combinations. The soil of the plain consists of a pure alluvial earth of great fertility and depth, and very retentive of water ”

“ I sympathise with the position of the English merchants at Canton. It is not a pleasant thing to live on the borders of a river, and not to have a distance of two miles for exercise. At all events it would not suit me, who am fond of exercise, and I should be most glad to see them in the course of being emancipated from that state of duress in which they are placed at Canton. One of my reasons for regretting that which is being done is, that it tends to retard indefinitely any such extension of the liberty of my countrymen. ”

“ The traffic between Canton and the West River Valley is very great. At present there are many thousands of steam launches plying between Canton City and the outlying districts, and more than half of that number are carrying traffic to and fro on the West River. Every boat has to run 95 miles on each trip whereas if the channel between Samshui and Canton is improved, the distance would be only 35 miles. What a great saving it will be!
In our project to improve the Canton Approach and Harbor, I suggested the draining of a deep channel from the sea to Whampoa and from Whampoa to Tamchow Channel. ”

“ A few remarks upon the city and neighbourhood of Canton, before which our troops are now for the first time about to appear, (the previous operations of the 18th March having been entirely limited to the naval forces,) will contribute to the interest of the subsequent narrative. The city of Canton, or Kwantung, is situated upon the northern bank of the river usually known by the same name, though sometimes called by Europeans the Pearl river, from its Chinese name, Choo-keang. Its distance from the Bogue is about forty miles.
The scenery around the city is extremely diversified. ”

“ Boats and masts conceal the view of the city from the river to a great extent, but even when from a vantage ground it is seen spread out below, it is so densely packed, its streets are so narrow, and its open spaces so few, that one almost doubts whether the million and a half of people attributed to it are really crowded within the narrow area. From the river, and indeed from any point of view, Canton is less imposing even than Tokiyo. Few objects rise above the monotonous level, and the few are unimpressive. There are two or three pagodas looking like shot towers. ”

“ Natives are forbidden to go on the island unless permission is granted by the British or French, and the few natives who pass back and forth are searched for weapons by the guards at the bridges. Europeans, however, are seldom stopped by the sentries.
Probably the best view of Canton is obtainable from the island of Shameen, and many travelers prefer to see the city from across the river, rather than mingle with the natives in the hot, dusty streets or along the narrow passages of water which thread both the residential and business quarters of Canton. ”

“ This population is quite distinct in race from the land population of Canton, which looks down upon it as a pariah and alien caste. These house boats, some of which have a single bamboo circular roof, others two roofs of different heights, and which include several thousand of the marvelous "slipper boats," lie in tiers along the river sides, and packed closely stem and stern along the canals, forming bustling and picturesque water streets. Many of the boats moored on the canals are floating shops, and do a brisk trade, one end of the boat being the shop, the other the dwelling-house. ”

“ The residence of the commander-in-chief is in the old city, and is said to be one of the best houses in Canton. There are four prisons in the city, all large edifices. For the space of four or five miles opposite Canton boats and vessels are ranged parallel to each other in such close order that it resembles a floating city; and these marine dwellings are occupied by numerous families, who reside almost constantly on the water. In the middle of the river lie the Chinese junks, some of them of from 600 to 1000 tons burden, which trade to the north and to the Strait Settlements. ”

“ During the day, you never see a man in these boats; the women and children alone remain in the wretched dwelling, while the father is engaged up the river loading the vessels of the barbarians, or disembarking the merchandise contained in the junks which furnish Canton with its enormous supplies. ”

“ The floating-town of Canton is, to all the Europeans who visit the Celestial Empire, the object of an exclusive predilection; for them China, the real China, the fantastic China of our screens, fans, and lacquer work, is all on the river which balances on its overhanging surface, &c., a population more numerous than that of Marseilles, Naples, Vienna, or Turin. ”

“ Upon the sides of the river, and the numerous canals in the suburbs of Canton, whole streets of wooden houses are built upon stakes which are driven firmly into the mud. These dwellings very much resemble the travelling shows which are often seen in the market towns of England; except that posts supply the place of wheels, and that they are crowded together in hundreds, forming crooked and irregular streets. Thousands of the inhabitants live and enjoy health and happiness in such places, which would soon be graves for Europeans—such is the difference of constitution. ”

“ The foreign population of Canton is made up of about fifty persons of different nations, mostly occupying a fine range of buildings, called Factories, fronting a beautiful garden of about two acres square, with high walls at the ends, and extending to the river; it is filled with every variety of tropical trees, plants, and flowers, and affords a delightful lounge upon Chinese settees, or a fine promenade upon its cemented walks. ”

“ Canton has 250,000 inhabitants living on boats and rafts moored in the river, and finding occupation in the vast inland navigation of the Empire, or in the trade which it brings to this port of the Si-kiang. Some of the boats accommodate large families, together with modest poultry farms, crowded together under their low bamboo sheds. ”

“ WATI, a suburb of Canton, standing on the south bank of the Chukiang River, contains among other industries a shipbuilding plant, where sampans and other native Chinese craft are built for use by the river population of Canton. The city of Honan, really a section of Canton, stands on an island of the same name rising from the Chukiang River near Shameen and Namkwan. Honan has a population of about 100,000 people, most of them natives, employed in small factories, shops, warehouses, in the shipyards—where sampans, small and large steamers are built—and in the river trade. ”

“ Carriages are not used here, but all burdens are transported on bamboo poles laid across the shoulders of men. All the inhabitants of distinction make use of litters. Chinese women are never seen in the streets, and Tartar women but seldom. The European factories, to wit, the Dutch, French, Swedish, Danish and English, are situated on a commodious quay, on the bank of the river. Nearly a league from Canton is the boat-town, which consists of about 40,000 barks, of various kinds, arranged close to each other in regular rows, with passages between them, to allow other vessels to pass. ”

“ As different states or kingdoms have a common interest in the navigation of a river which flows through their territories, and will rightly insist upon its being unimpeded, so it has been found by the cantons that they often have a common interest in the preservation of forests which may be situated in separate cantons, because their effects reach far beyond their particular locality. One canton might be more harmed by the destruction of a forest belonging to another canton than that canton itself. ”

“ Canton is so old that even the native custodians of local tradition have lost count of the years since it was founded. Some of the ancient coolies crouching near the wharves and sunning their wrinkled skins look as if they might be able to tell the age of their city; but a whimsical question elicits only a request for alms, mumbled with a mouth which has lost its teeth, so that the owner meets with difficulty in chewing even the small portions of food needed to keep the spark of life aglow in his shaky body. ”

“ The first impression of Canton is one of noise, a fearful din rising and falling in a kind of cadence, and seeming to proceed largely from an immense flotilla of boats extending a long way, tied, in a majority of cases, seven and eight rows deep—craft of all kinds, sampans, junks, rice boats, freight, each with its quota of humanity, for this is a veritable floating city, with a life all its own, and almost wholly independent of the Canton proper which we were about to visit and which numbered a hundred thousand souls. ”

“ The noted views to be obtained from the summit of the Great Blue Hill are so wide in extent and so pleasing in aspect that they are in themselves more than ample recompense for any expenditure of energy included in the ascent. Of all the different and comprehensive outlooks afforded by the elevation, none excels in interest and varied charm that from the part of the crest within the line of Canton, and over the territory of this favored town. Almost directly below are cultivated fields in the level plain from which the southern slope of the hill rises abruptly. ”

“ PHYSIC STREET—A CHINESE CROWD—A CANTONESE PICKPOCKET—BEGGARS AND BARBERS. Honest travellers, who have visited Canton, have related twenty times the endeavours they have made to enter the walled city, the dangers they have encountered and the semi-success they have met with. Semi-success is an expression which disguises a poor falsehood ”

“ No city in Europe can give an idea of the movement and life which reign in the streets of Canton. The streets of Canton alone can convey an idea of the feverish activity which reigns on the Tchou-kiang. In the midst of this prodigious passing and repassing, of goods in the course of being shipped and unshipped, of faï-tings, of lorchas, of junks, of vessels coming to anchor or setting sail, of mandarins cruising about in their rich craft, and of tradesmen proceeding to business, the itinerant cooks enumerate their ragouts ”