NOTES AND QUERIES
325
While we were anchored in the harbor at Hong Kong a red cone was displayed one morning from the observatory, which indicated that there was a typhoon three hundred miles distant. As soon as it was seen, junks, sampans, lighters, and every other kind of craft began to make for the harbors of refuge, of which there are three in this harbor. There was one near where we were anchored, so we had a good chance to see the sights. In three hours the harbor was full of vessels under sail, all heading past us for the little bay. They kept passing us in this way for three or four hours when the wind ceased and then small tugs were employed. They would make four junks fast on each side, six to eight wide, then others attached behind until they had from fifty to sixty in tow like a great floating island. They kept this up until after dark, and at 10 o'clock that night they were still passing. The next morning the harbor was clear of all small craft, only large steamers remaining at their anchorages. As soon as the signal was hoisted the lighters alongside of our ship quit work at once and scurried away. I think there were about twelve there, and in a couple of hours there was not a thing near us. All this time there was only a light breeze. The approach of a typhoon seems to terrify them, and they have good cause, as during one storm over one thousand boats were wrecked and six thousand people lost their lives. All the families live on board, and, with women and children, they average from six to fifty people to a boat.
Although the signals were still up the next day no typhoon came, but every one was watching for it. I went ashore to the Typhoon Bay, as it was called, to see how so many boats would look. I found it landlocked on three sides and perfectly sheltered, something over eighty acres in extent. The boats had been put in the bay in perfect order, all in rows and as tight as they could be packed, the end rows made fast to the shore and the others all tied to them. The whole bay was packed so full there was not room for another. It would be impossible to tell how many boats there were but I estimated that there were over two thousand, which, averaging ten people to a boat, would make twenty thousand souls. This seems incredible, but I am sure I am under the mark. Peddlers were busy on shore and on the boats and were doing a lively business, and so they might, when one thinks of a town of twenty thousand people and no store in it. This was only one harbor, and
*From the description, surely sampans rather than 'junks'.
NOTES AND QUERIES
325
While we were anchored in the harbor at Hong Kong a red cone was displayed one morning from the observatory, which indicated that there was a typhoon three hundred miles distant. As soon as it was seen, junks, sampans, lighters, and every other kind of craft began to make for the harbors of refuge, of which there are three in this harbor. There was one near where we were anchored, so we had a good chance to see the sights. In three hours the harbor was full of vessels under sail, all heading past us for the little bay. They kept passing us in this way for three or four hours when the wind ceased and then small tugs were employed. They would make four junks fast on each side, six to eight wide, then others attached be- hind until they had from fifty to sixty in tow like a great floating island. They kept this up until after dark, and at 10 o'clock that night they were still passing. The next morning the harbor was clear of all small craft, only large steamers remaining at their an- chorages. As soon as the signal was hoisted the lighters alongside of our ship quit work at once and scurried away. I think there were about twelve there, and in a couple of hours there was not a thing near us. All this time there was only a light breeze. The approach of a typhoon seems to terrify them, and they have good cause, as during one storm over one thousand boats were wrecked and six thousand people lost their lives. All the families live on board, and, with women and children, they average from six to fifty people to a boat.
Although the signals were still up the next day no typhoon came, but every one was watching for it. I went ashore to the Typhoon Bay, as it was called, to see how so many boats would look. I found it landlocked on three sides and perfectly sheltered, some- thing over eighty acres in extent. The boats had been put in the bay in perfect order, all in rows and as tight as they could be pack- ed, the end rows made fast to the shore and the others all tied to them. The whole bay was packed so full there was not room for another. It would be impossible to tell how many boats there were but I estimated that there were over two thousand, which, averaging ten people to a boat, would make twenty thousand souls. This seems incredible, but I am sure I am under the mark. Peddlers were busy on shore and on the boats and were doing a lively business, and so they might, when one thinks of a town of twenty thousand people and no store in it. This was only one harbor, and
* From the description, surely sampans rather than 'junks'.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.