[ { "id": 205382, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1967", "page_number": 144, "title": "RAS-1967", "content_text": "A NOTICE OF THE SANON DISTRICT\n\n137\n\nlishment in the district, was made in the year 1848, by the Rev. Thomas Hambley, who established a station among the Hak-kas at Toong-foo, at the head of Mirs Bay. In 1849, a station was established at Sai-heong; and in 1852, besides these two principal stations, other small dependent stations have been formed, where preaching and education have been carried on.\n\nBefore the outbreak of the war, the missionaries were able to live in the country, even with their families, and suffered comparatively little disturbance; they travelled in safety freely over the whole country. Their intercourse with the people was quite unrestrained, and the mission houses were visited by the literati, and by the higher classes of people. The mandarin of Fuk-wing was a guest in the mission house at Sai-heong for a whole week; and the first Seu-tsai at Sai-heong, who has since graduated as a Keu-jin, readily accepted an engagement as teacher in the missionary college.\n\nIt is sincerely to be hoped that the present deplorable war, which has for the time put a stop to the mission work, may in the end cause the country to be opened, and thus enable us to have free access to these people, who are as yet imperfectly known, and who perhaps wait only to have the truth fairly represented to them, that they may receive it and believe.\n\nFootnote. Since writing the preface I have come across the following account of Mr Krone given at pp. 206-207 of Memorials of the Protestant Missionaries to the Chinese..............[by Alexander Wylie, whose name does not appear on the title page], Shanghae, American Presbyterian Mission Press, 1867.\n\n\"CXLI. # # Kaou Hwać-ć. RUDOLPH KRÖNE, a native of Germany, ordained to the ministry of the gospel, was appointed a missionary to China by the Rhenish Missionary Society. He arrived at Hongkong in 1850, and early in the following year took up his residence on the mainland, having charge of the Society's stations at Fuh-yung and San-kiu, while located with Mr. Genähr at Se-heang. At the same time he itinerated a good deal among the people, adopting the native costume and conforming to many of their habits. In 1855 he was married at Hongkong, and resided successively at Puh-yung and Ho-au. Being obliged to retire to Hongkong for a time, during hostilities between the English and Chinese, he returned to the mainland in 1858, and made his residence at Pu-kak. In 1860 he left China on a visit to Europe, where he spent a good deal of time travelling through Germany and Russia. In 1864 he embarked on his return to China by the Egypt route, but died at Aden on the way.\n\nThere is a long article by Mr. Kröne, descriptive of the district of Sin-gan in the province of Kwang-tung, published in Part 6 of the \"Transactions of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society\". Ed.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1967.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206651, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1972", "page_number": 199, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "THREE CHINESE DEITIES\n\n193\n\nfrom the Imperial Palace. These Chinese expeditions sailed as far afield as the coast of East Africa, the Maldive Islands, Mogadishu, the Persian Gulf, Aden and Mecca, Siam, Champa, Java, Sumatra and Malacca, visiting more than thirty countries in South East Asia, the Indian Archipelago and the Indian Ocean.\n\nCheng Ho\n\nThe most famous of the admirals to command these expeditions was Ma Cheng-ho, a eunuch from the Imperial Palace and the son of a Chinese Moslem Hadji from Yunnan. The Admiral is remembered either as Cheng Ho or by his title, San Po Kung (2) and not by his family name which was the common Chinese Moslem name Ma ( ). The full title by which he was known after his death was San Pao T'ai Chien (2), the Three Jewelled Eunuch, but this in South East Asia has been shortened to San Pao Kung (ET). Cheng Ho's last expedition in 1430 visited seventeen countries from which tribute had ceased to be received, but after he died in about 1431 all official intercourse between these countries and China ceased.*\n\nWhere or when he was deified is not known. However, amongst the overseas Chinese communities which are mentioned below Cheng Ho is still prayed to for protection, both in everyday life and on short journeys. In the earlier days of the Chinese migrations to South East Asia, he was prayed to by the junk crews of the southern maritime provinces of China and the South Seas. Cheng Ho himself on his voyages is said to have prayed to Tien Fei, the Heavenly Consort (kt), the Chinese seafarers' goddess, who is now normally called Ma Tsu or Tien Hou. What a good example of Chinese toleration Cheng Ho was: or perhaps a good example of the prudent Chinese who takes the opportunity not to offend, and also backs all horses. Here he is, a Mohamedan who prays to Tien Fei for protection and who during one of his voyages erects a tablet in honour of the local Buddha.\n\nImages of Cheng Ho\n\nStatues of Cheng Ho are to be seen in temples in Singapore; in Malaysia in Muar and Malacca; in Sarawak; in Semarang in Java,\n\nSee J. V. G. Mills' edited translation of Ma Huan's Ying-yai Sheng-lan. The overall survey of the Ocean's Shores, Cambridge University Press for The Hakluyt Society, 1970.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206980, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1974", "page_number": 51, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "ADVENTURERS IN HONG KONG\n\n45\n\nthe Sedangs, a warrior chant. Mayréna was in full dress uniform, complete with multiform decorations. He was saluted by the other European passengers, who inclined their bodies, and he responded with a military salute. Present were the ennobled and happy industrialist and several rich young men from the Brussels haute-bourgeoisie. The chaplain was a former curé, who had been unfrocked for immorality. And so Mayréna left Europe for the last time.\n\nThe voyage out was mostly uneventful, though Mayréna drank far too much and was often indiscreet enough to talk about his past with his courtiers. Court etiquette was strictly enforced aboard ship --- Buckingham Palace rules at table - except when brief forays were made ashore at Port Said, Aden and Colombo; then the King assumed his incognito as the Comte de Drey. On 18 April 1890 the Sachsen anchored in Singapore harbour.\n\nWhen Mayréna stepped ashore he was at once stopped by a courier from the French Consulate and told that the Consul wished to see him urgently. At the Consulate he was greeted politely but informed that the French Government now claimed rights over the territory of the Sedangs, that he was therefore no longer King, and would be arrested if he set foot in Indo-China. Mayréna, after much argument, returned to Ralph's Hotel, where his officials and courtiers had lodged temporarily, and informed the party that the Sedangs had revolted and that it was impossible to proceed to his kingdom. The group, it appears, were not surprised by the turn of events. They had enjoyed a splendid ocean vacation at the expense of the rich industrialist, Mayréna's backer, but had no desire to seek martyrdom among the savages of the Moï country. At the end of the week the party - court chamberlain, chaplain, other officials and passengers - all returned to Antwerp by the Sachsen. Mayréna stayed on in Singapore. There was little else he could do.\n\nMayréna's sojourn in Singapore is not well documented, though Soulié claims Mayréna met in that city a European he had known formerly at Haiphong, a companion of Miss Dahlberg's brother, who was now domiciled on the island of Tioman and making a living by collecting birds' nests, those of the sea swallow, for the Chinese market. Mayréna decided to accompany this trader back to Tioman, because the island was under the jurisdiction of the Malay State of Pahang, and once settled there he felt he could not be extradited to either France or Indo-China, where he would have had to face trial assuredly for treason.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207506, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1975", "page_number": 274, "title": "RAS-1975", "content_text": "266\n\nDONALD C. BOWIE\n\nwhere they fed us and found our guard. In the Empress of Australia, Major MacIntyre was senior medical officer and he turned out to be a fellow graduate of the University of Glasgow, a coincidence which turned out to be much to my advantage.\n\nApparently at this time I was making returns to some authority or other relating to money transactions while we were prisoners. In the Civil Internment Camp in Stanley, I believe that a few people who could get money sent in lent sums to others for repayment after the war at exorbitant rates of interest. This practice was frowned upon by the British leaders in the camp, and the returns I refer to undoubtedly had to do with transactions of this kind. The hospital had been free of such speculators who operated on this scale.\n\nOn 8 September I received a message from my wife and on 9 September we embarked in the Empress of Australia for a destination that was unknown. Next day we took on board all who were being evacuated from Stanley camp, having anchored just off the peninsula there. On 13 September we disembarked in Manila and were sent to an Australian officers camp where we were medically examined and interrogated on 15 September. While in Manila all messing arrangements were kept going throughout the whole 24 hours for the benefit of those who felt they needed much food.\n\nOn 18 September we reembarked in the Empress but our Q.A. sisters had taken the other route home via Canada. We voyaged home via Singapore, Colombo, Aden, Suez where all the troops were re-equipped with warm clothing, then after a short stop in Port Said we landed in Liverpool on 28 October having been delayed for 24 hours outside the port by storms and high winds. My thoughts went back to a similar 24-hour delay when my wife and I originally landed in Hong Kong some six and one-half years earlier.\n\nWhile we were in Colombo a very interesting event occurred. Our accommodation in the Australia was on wartime standards and some of our men reacted very unfavourably to the crowded conditions. The atmosphere in the troop decks had become fiery at times. While we were anchored in Colombo, Lady Mountbatten came on board looking very smart in her Red Cross uniform. She went below to the troop decks, climbed on a mess table and spoke in simple and direct terms to the men. She drew their attention probably for the first time to the vastly different conditions in which life was being lived in ships and at home after six years at war. Her talk showed her sympathy and her understanding and I have", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1975.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212425, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1990", "page_number": 367, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "344\n\nREVIEW NOTES The following books have been received by the Journal from the publishers and are briefly noted here. Titles of immediate interest to the region are in bold letters; others are in standard type. All the books noted here have been placed in the RAS Library.\n\nTHE BOOK REVIEW EDITOR\n\nBalfour-Paul, Glen, THE END OF EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: BRITAIN'S RELINQUISHMENT OF POWER IN HER LAST THREE ARAB DEPENDENCIES, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1991. xxiii + 279pp. Notes. Bibliography. Comparative chronology. Index. The three Arab dependencies from which the British withdrew after World War II were the Sudan in 1955, South West Arabia (Aden) in 1967, and the Gulf States in 1971.\n\nBernstein. Gail Lee, JAPANESE MARXIST: A PORTRAIT OF KAWAKAMI HAJIME 1879-1946. Paperback. Cambridge (Mass); Harvard University Press, 1976. Second Printing 1990. xiv + 221 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Glossary. Index. The subject, a professor at Kyoto Imperial University who embraced Marxism at the age of 40, is especially interesting in the context of his samurai family and early 20th century Japan.\n\nBlake, Stephen P., SHAHJAHANABAD: THE SOVEREIGN CITY OF MUGHAL INDIA. 1639-1739, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. xvi + 226 pp. Glossary. Bibliography Index. This is a study of the old capital city of Old Delhi as a symbol of the power and influence the Mughal rulers were extending over their states in Pre-modern India.\n\nBrodie, Patrick, CRESCENT OVER CATHAY: CHINA AND JCI, 1898-1956, Hong Kong, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.\n\nChan, Wing-tsit (editor), CHU HSI AND NEO-CONFUCIANISM, Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press, 1986. xii + 644 pp. Notes. Glossaries. Appendixes. Index. This is a comprehensive and extremely important publication on Neo-Confucianism, comprising more than 30 papers presented at an international conference on Chu Hsi (Zhu Xi; 1130-1200) at the University of Hawaii in the summer of 1982. The papers, by noted and respected contemporary scholars in the field in Chinese, English, and Japanese, are presented in English in this volume.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212766, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1992", "page_number": 75, "title": "RAS-1992", "content_text": "60\n\nfor many years. Neither refer to Wm Mesny, though Sam Couling in 1917 in his Encyclopaedia Sinica does run to a short paragraph describing in very round terms, the then still living Mesny.\n\nNOTE\n\nTcheng Ki-tong. I have been unable to find the date of publication of his first edition of Les Chinois, Peints par Eux-meme; however, in the preface to the English seventh edition of Bits of China by Tcheng, published in English in London in 1890, Tcheng writes 'The friendly welcome accorded by the English Public to my Chinese Painted by Themselves has encouraged me to publish this translation of my last work, (from the French Les Plaisirs en Chine).' Mesny publishing this book crit as late as 1905 suggests an ulterior motive, perhaps no more than an instinctive urge to highlight yet again his tireless and tenacious claim to recognition as the foreign authority on things Chinese.\n\nAppendix B\n\nChronology\n\nas claimed by\n\nWilliam Mesny\n\n[Extracted from details within the Miscellanies]\n\n9 October 1842\n1847\n\nMesny born in Jersey\n\n?\n\n1850\n\n1850-1854\n\n1854\n\n1860 December\n\n1861 February\n\n1861\n\n1861-1862\n\n1862 February\nMarch\nApril 1862\nMay 1862\n\nDame School\n\nNational School St Anne's, Alderney\nLeft school\n\nWorked at brick making, stone cutting with a smithy and on Channel Island fortifications. He also worked in blasting and as an architect's assistant.\n\nLeft home, went to sea and sailed to Africa, Australia and the Americas\n\nArrived on the China coast and disembarked at Shanghai\nLeft Shanghai for Hong Kong\n\nRomantic interlude with Huang family in Hong Kong where he bore the name of Huang Chin-fu\n\n3rd Turnkey Hong Kong Gaol\n\nReturned to Shanghai aboard the SS Aden\n\nTravelled up the Yangtze and arrived at Hankow\nMaster of the Hat Liang-wang on the Yangtze based in Shanghai, running the Taiping blockade:\n\nWounded and captured by Imperial Chinese gunboats at Kuan Yin Shan on the Yangtze\n\nRescued by the gunboat HMS Banterer and secured the release of\n\nPage 75\n\nPage 76", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1992.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212911, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1992", "page_number": 220, "title": "RAS-1992", "content_text": "205\n\nout as soon as I was able to make out my surroundings. I have never seen such a dense swarm of mosquitoes. Thank goodness we never had to use this shelter.\n\nOur departure for Hong Kong that spring was dramatic. From the hospital we took the ancient hospital motor boat down the creeks to Canton. We found the river steamer for Hong Kong moored in the fast flowing stream. It was surrounded by an impenetrable mob of sampans carrying people fleeing from the Japanese attack on Canton which was expected any day. Our motor boat could not get to the gangway so we transferred to a sampan. We approached the ladder from downstream as most of the boats were tied to the steamer upstream. We soon found out why because as each sampan cast off from the ladder another, aided by the stream, pushed its way in from upstream. We could make no headway. The only possible approach was from the bows. As we worked our way slowly down we saw that the captain was getting worried by the crowds swarming on board. He had to sail or be swamped. Our luggage was manhandled across the intervening sampans but my father would not allow us to be passed along in the same way, which I thought was a pity. The captain saw us and waited only until our sampan at last made the steps. He then gave the order for his crew to chop through the mooring ropes of all the sampans still tied on. Once freed of these, he weighed anchor and set off for Hong Kong - an overnight journey.\n\nP & O to England – Canadian Pacific to China\n\nIn 1933 my father was due for leave so the whole family, now comprising four children and parents, set off on the P. & O Rawalpindi, a ship which was converted to be an armed merchantman during the war and sunk by a U boat. Travel by sea was the most commonly used way to reach Europe. From about 1933 one could go a little faster by taking the Trans-Siberian railway. Fast mail was marked 'Via Siberia' on the envelopes. The sea journey involved four days at sea to Singapore and trips to the Botanical Gardens there. Then on to Penang, Colombo, Aden, through the Suez Canal perhaps with a stop at Marseilles, where some in a hurry got on the train through France to England, a stop at Gibraltar and thence to Plymouth where we got off for a train to Herefordshire. Most passengers went on to Tilbury in London. There was a leisurely routine about the trip. Beef tea was served on the deck mid-morning and tea in the afternoon. An enterprising steward rounded up a number of children to help him gather up the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1992.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212912, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1992", "page_number": 221, "title": "RAS-1992", "content_text": "206\n\ncups and plates and rewarded us with magnificent Orders of Chivalry. We usually found some acquaintance in the ports or fellow missionaries. Aden was a coaling port where a ceaseless stream of labourers carried basket after basket of coal on board. We had to keep port-holes shut to keep the coal dust out. At sea we had a good deal of freedom and were taken on exploratory trips to such places as the engine room. Here we saw the huge pistons of the steam engine driving the propeller shaft and walked down the tunnel in which it turned to the very end. The heat was terrific.\n\nIn 1934 leave was up and my father and I returned early to get me into school in September. The two of us travelled by the scenic route, first on the Canadian Pacific ship, the Duchess of Bedford which we boarded at Liverpool and which took us across the Atlantic to Montreal. Then by Canadian Pacific Railway for three days and four nights across Canada to Vancouver. That was a glorious journey. The first day was through pine forests and by lakes. The second was across endless prairie country and the third through the Rocky Mountains. At the back of the train there was an observation coach from which we had an excellent view of the scenery. Each evening beds were made up and each morning they were folded up.\n\nFrom Vancouver we sailed on another Canadian Pacific ship, the Empress of Asia to Shanghai a long journey which must have included a stop in Japan. A funny thing about sojourns with my father was that he introduced me to simple gastronomic delights. During my convalescence in the Matilda Hospital from appendicitis it was kippers and on the trans-Pacific trip it was celery, curry and Worcestershire sauce in the soup to prevent sea sickness. All have been favourites ever since! And he patiently read from The Swiss Family Robinson each evening.\n\nChefoo Schools\n\nFrom Shanghai we took a coastal steamer north to Chefoo. Chefoo is the name of a small village on a bluff of land connected to the mainland by a sand spit. The school was called after this village though the town, in which it lies, is now called Yentai after the nearby walled city dating from the Ming Dynasty. The China Inland Mission had established primary and secondary schools for European and American children from all over China. There were about 100 children in the primary school,", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1992.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213252, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1994", "page_number": 74, "title": "RAS-1994", "content_text": "53\n\nGerman Firms and Insurance Agents\n\nNine German firms subscribed to the Ross Testimonial Fund in 1880. Mr. William Ross was the head of the Volunteer Fire Brigade and had suffered severe injuries in December 1879 in fighting a fire. Upon his release from hospital some ten months later the insurance companies of Hong Kong raised a fund for him to show their appreciation. Among the subscribers were Arnhold, Karberg and Co., agents for Lancashire Insurance Co.; Garlowitz and Co. agents for Hamburg Bremen Fire Co.; Melchers and Co. agents for North German Fire Insurance Co. and Royal Insurance Co.; Meyer and Co. agents for Prussian National Insurance Co. in Stettin; Pustau and Co. agents for Fire Insurance Co. of 1887 of Hamburg and the General Life and Fire Assurance Co.; Sander and Co., agents for Hamburg-Magdeburg Fire Insurance Co.; Scheele and Co. agent for Lubeck Fire Insurance Co.; Eduard Schellhass and Co. agents for Hanseatic Fire Insurance Co.; and Siemssen and Co. agent for Transatlantic Fire Insurance Co. (HKT 3 Oct. 1880)\n\nSteamship Lines\n\nWilliam Pustau and Co. was appointed in 1848 an agent of the Austrian Lloyd Steam Navigation Co. The route was from Trieste to Alexandria, then by land to Aden on the Red Sea where the traveller could connect with the P. and O. Line to Galle in Ceylon (FC 5 Dec. 1848). In 1886 the German Lloyd Steamship Co. opened an office in Hong Kong. In 1914 it and the Hamburg Amerika Line had Hong Kong offices.\n\nInternment of Germans in 1914\n\nWar declared between Britain and Germany on 5 August 1914. A few days later the Hong Kong Government placed enemy aliens under parole. They were restricted to certain areas and had to report to the police at stated times. This arrangement was not sufficiently tight to satisfy Major George F.H. Kelly, the Officer Commanding British Forces in Hong Kong. He saw the German residents of Hong Kong as a distinct threat to the speedy end to the war. He conveyed this opinion to the Governor of Hong Kong.\n\n\"I look upon every German, man or woman, at large in the Colony, as a potential factor for evil, and possibly for prolonging the war", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1994.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216092, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2002", "page_number": 391, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "325\n\nPeninsula and Oriental Line had four passenger ships: the Chusan, the Carthage and the Corfu. I sailed on the Royal Mail Ship Canton. As a newly joined Hong Kong government servant I went on half pay as soon as I stepped on the boat. It took 31 days from Southampton to Hong Kong.\n\nIn first class one dressed every night for dinner, except the first night and nights in port. With a long voyage some passengers were like bears with sore ears. For others there were games like deck quoits, dancing, the ceremony of \"crossing the line\" and shipboard romances. Others were seasick. Regarding romance the pretext for \"Romeo\" at night was to take a girl up to the boat deck to show her the Southern Cross. One lady boasted: 'I was taken up twice on one night and both men pointed to the wrong constellation!'\n\nThere were sea birds and flying fish to watch out for, and some wonderful sunsets in the Indian Ocean. Just as the brilliant sun dipped below the horizon you could occasionally see a green flash. Looking over the ship's rail at night one could frequently see phosphorescent, microbial animal and plant life in the tropical waters. Sometimes one could see this when one flushed the toilet in the darkness of one's cabin.\n\nAt Port Said gilly gilly men (Egyptian magicians) were allowed on board to entertain passengers. Or you could go ashore, visit the Pyramids and elsewhere, and catch the ship at the other end of the Suez Canal (that was the way people travelled on the so-called overland route, before the Suez Canal was completed in 1869.)\n\nAden, with low taxes, was a good place for shopping. Or one could visit the museum there to look at a stuffed Manatee with its broad, flattened tail. Fond of sitting on rocks, these sea creatures were said to have provided the substance for seamen's tales about mermaids. Other customary ports of call for British passenger ships were Bombay, Colombo, Penang and Singapore. P. & O. ships were manned partly by lascar seamen with stewards from the Portuguese Goa. There was a splendid array of cuisine with China, Indian and Ceylon teas. The Indian curry cook could serve a different curry for every lunch of the 31-day voyage.\n\nSome Britons preferred to travel on foreign ships which were not", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 } ]