CO882-6 — Page 433

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 882

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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The "Ching Hai" was captured by the Japanese during the Chino-Japanese war and was afterwards repurchased by the Chinese, who now utilise that vessel for the suppression of piracy. The "Pirate Catcher," as she is commonly called, is commanded by Captain Wang, who was educated at the Central School, Hong Kong, when my old friend Dr. Stewart was head master, and who speaks English fluently.

We slept on board the "Ching Hai" and started on our journey on Tuesday, the 21st of April. We landed about mid-day in order to pay a visit to a famous temple, called the P'êng Lai Ko, from which we had a fine view of the prefectural city of Têng Chou. The temple at P'êng Lai Ko is dedicated to one of the eight Immortals, and contains an image of Su Tung Po, one of China's greatest poets, who was Magistrate at Têng Chou for a short period, when William the Conqueror was King of England. In one of the buildings of the temple is inscribed a poem written by Su Tung Po, on the subject of the mirage, for which Têng Chou was famous. The preface to the poem states that the poet, having arrived at Têng Chou late in the year, was told he could not enjoy the pleasure of seeing the mirage, which occurred only in the spring or summer. He, however, addressed a prayer to the God of the Sea, who answered it by allowing the mirage to appear out of season.

On Wednesday, the 22nd of April, we made an early start at 6.30 a.m., and reached Yang Chiao Kou, at the entrance to the Hsiao Ch'ing Ho, at 6.45 p.m.

We were met on arrival by three deputies, Mr. Chao, Mr. Lo, and Mr. Li, who, with eight men of the bodyguard, had been sent by the Governor to welcome us and to escort us to Chinan. On the shore were drawn up a body of soldiers and a troop of cavalry, which saluted us as we came to anchor. The troop of cavalry, which presented a very smart appearance, and were well mounted on grey ponies, had been sent from Wei hsien by General Mei, whose headquarters are at that city, and who had recently been presented with a gold watch and chain by the British Government for having saved a British family during the recent Boxer disturbances.

Two of the deputies, Mr. Li and Mr. Lo, I had met before. Mr. Li acted as interpreter to the Governor when he paid me a visit last year. He was educated at the Naval College, Tientsin, and was one of the students who made one of the most gallant defences during the whole campaign. Mr. Li, though he speaks English well, is more conversant with German.

Mr. Lo is the nephew of the late Chinese Minister to England, Sir Lo Fêng-lo. He was educated for some time at the Naval College at Greenwich, and was an instructor in the Naval College at Tientsin. He had twice visited me at Wei-hai-wei, so we did not meet again as strangers. He is a good speaker of English.

Mr. Chao was the father of the deputies in point of age. He is of Mongolian extraction and possessed of considerable Chinese literary attainments. Though not acquainted with any European language, he has been accustomed to intercourse with Europeans for many years, and was for some time connected with Sir Robert Hart.

All the deputies showed themselves most anxious to do all that lay in their power to make our journey a pleasant one, and all our party is much indebted to them for their unremitting attention.

On arrival at Yang Chiao Kou we saw anchored there a steamer belonging to Messrs. Butterfield and Swire, which trades between that place and Chefoo, and during the passage to Yang Chiao Kou we met several small Japanese steamers which, like that of Messrs. Butterfield and Swire's, are engaged in the Gulf trade under the Inland Waters Regulations, and in carrying Chinese emigrants to Manchuria, As is well known there has for a long time been a large emigration of Chinese from Shantung to Manchuria, upon which the agricultural prosperity of the latter country is mainly dependent. A large number of the emigrants have also in recent years been employed on the Manchurian railway and on other public works being carried out by Russia.

The returns of Chefoo for 1902 show that 174,320 native passengers were brought into the port, and 173,993 taken away by foreign steamers.

The passenger traffic from inland waters exceeded 42,000, being confined chiefly to British and Japanese steamers.

The Gulf trade under the Inland Waters Regulations has increased during the last two years, as will be seen from the table, Enclosure 1, attached.

The ports connected with this trade are Yang Chiao Kou, Lai chou, Têng Chou, Hu tou yai, on the north coast of Shantung, and Ta tung kou, near the mouth of the Yalu River.

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These ports export beans, strawbraid, silk, cocoons and mats, and import from Chefoo cotton goods, cotton yarn, kerosene oil, flour, matches, &c.

We slept on board the "Ching hai" on the evening of the 22nd April, and on the morning of the 23rd landed at Yang chiao Kou. deputies, the district Magistrate, and the official in charge of the Customs, a guard We were received by the of soldiers and General Mei's troop of cavalry being drawn up on the beach. After conversing with the officials for a short time and drinking the ever-present cup of tea, whilst our baggage was being transferred from the "Ching hai" to the boats which were to convey us up the Hsiao Ch'ing Ho, we commenced the second stage of our journey at 11 a.m.

Our flotilla consisted of ten boats. The one in which I travelled was of the house-boat type well known in China. It had two rooms, a sleeping and a living room, with a space on deck in front of the latter sufficient for sitting purposes, and below the movable boards of which two of the soldiers of our party and my personal servant slept at night.

The crew consisted of a weather-beaten captain, the owner of the boat, strong and vigorous though seventy-three years of age, his wife, six years younger, who cheerfully took her share in steering whilst not engaged in cooking, his son, his granddaughter, and three sailors.

The boat population in China is well known for its cheery disposition whether the wind is fair or foul, and for its readiness to make those who travel by water as comfortable as possible. Nothing could have exceeded the cheerfulness of the captain of my boat and his crew, and their untiring good nature. No amount of work seemed to affect their good humour. When the wind failed and ". towing

or "poling" became the order of the day, the crew towed and poled with never- ceasing energy, lightening their labour with songs learnt at their mother's knee or improvising strains to give themselves heart as the labours of the day began to tell. The three sailors, who did not belong to the captain's family, were great favourites with everyone. Their names were quite a study in folklore. One of them was called "The Immovable One" (Pan Pu Tung), because he was born during the time of a flood, which prevented his mother from even attempting to remove with her newly-born son. Another was styled "The basket with an open bottom" (Kw'ang Tzu), which lets things slip through. His brothers had all died, and when he was born it was hoped that by giving him a name indicating that he would follow their example the fates would be moved to compassion and allow him to remain. The name has so far had the desired effect. The third member of the crew was named "Tui Erb," "Twin Ears," from either ear having an identical mark, which he showed with pride.

Our journey up the Hsiao Ch'ing Ho took us from 11 a.m. on Thursday, the 23rd of April, until 3.30 p.m. on Monday, the 27th of April, when we reached Wang Tien Ch'ião, distant about 8 li from Chinan. The distance travelled was 480 li, or 160 miles.

Our mode of progress was to make a start at daylight, anchor for breakfast and lunch, and finally anchor for the night when darkness came on.

A separate boat was used as a kitchen and for our commissariat, and was brought alongside the boat in which I travelled when meal time arrived. The commissariat boat had an awkward knack of outstripping all the other boats, and on more than one occasion special messengers had to be sent in pursuit to bring it

to a standstill.

For the first two days of our journey up the Hsiao Ching Ho, the weather was wet, but fortunately it cleared as we reached the most interesting part of the canal, and for the remainder of the journey the weather was charming.

On the third day, Saturday, the 25th of April, we were met by the Magistrate of the Kao Yuan district at Sha Ho, where we landed, and by a troop of cavalry sent from Chinan by the Governor to escort us to the capital, and also by ponies specially provided for us to ride. In this way when we were tired of our boats we were able to ride on the bank of the canal, from which it was possible to obtain a better view of the country through which we were passing.

The Hsiao Ch'ing Ho is a river which was converted into a canal about sixteen years ago by Taotai Shêng when he was in office at Chefoo. For the first five or six miles from Yang Chiao Kou the canal runs through a very barren country, the chief product of which is salt, but further on the country on either side of its banks is very fertile, and yields rich and extensive crops of grain. The scenery is most