RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 40 SIR JOHN BOWRING Generally however the wife willingly coincides with the husband in introducing into the household any number of concubines whom he is able to maintain, since she exercises over them an undoubted authority, and the child of a concubine is bound to pay higher respect to the first wife than to its own mother. The Chinese illustrate all the domestic relations by imagery, and are wont to say, that as the husband is the sun, and the wife the moon, so the concubines are the planets and the stars of the domestic firmament. And it has been often truly observed, that though the Chinese may be called sensualists, there is no deification of the grosser sensualities such as is found in the classical pantheons, and in many of the oriental forms of faith. Tales of the amours of their gods and heroes seldom figure in their historical books or traditional legends. The dresses and external habits of the women in China are invariably modest, and on the whole the social arrangements must be considered friendly to an augmentation of the human race. The domestic affections are strong. Parents are generally fond and proud of their children, and children obedient to their parents. Order is indeed the first law of Confucius; authority and submission are the apex and the basis of the social pyramid. The sentiment of dishonour attached to the extinction of a race by the want of descendants through whom the whole line of reverential services (which some have called religious worship) rendered to Ancestors, is to be perpetual, is by no means confined to the privileged classes in China. One of our female servants, a nominal Christian, expressed her earnest desire that her husband should have another wife in her absence, and seemed quite surprised that any one should suppose such an arrangement to be in any respect improper. The marriage of children is one of the great concerns of families. Scarcely is a child born in the higher ranks of life ere the question of its future espousal becomes a frequent topic of discussion. There is a large body of professional match-makers, whose business it is to put all the preliminary arrangements in train, to settle questions of dowry, to accommodate differences, to report on the pros and cons of suggested alliances. There being ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g 16 PATRICIA MARSHALL considerable time and energy, yet in a recent case where a poacher was eventually brought to trial he was fined the sum of only $50. There is no reason why these deer could not be farmed on patches of hillside. Their selective diet, unlike that of goats, makes them far less of an erosion hazard. If farmed scientifically they would not only add to the enjoyment of walkers but would provide venison in reasonable quantity from otherwise unproductive hillsides. Conservation The basic biological needs of any living community on land or in the ocean, including human communities, is food and oxygen. These two requirements are provided only by vegetation. Only plants can produce oxygen. Should all the plants die, and by some miracle the animals remain alive, all the oxygen in the atmosphere would be used up within 2 years. Vegetation replenishes the oxygen and provides basic food materials for almost all living things. Only plants can use the energy of sunlight to manufacture organic foods. Animals that eat plants can use the stored energy in the food to convert plant proteins, carbohydrates and fats into animal proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Without the raw materials from plants, animals cannot make these substances for themselves. The mammals of Hong Kong can be represented on a simplified food pyramid (see Table II). Each layer of the pyramid contains animals that feed on the animals in the layer beneath. Herbivorous animals (insects, rats, etc. in Hong Kong) form the food of the carnivores and insectivores (pangolins, birds of prey, snakes, civet cats etc.) and on these smaller carnivores live the larger carnivores (foxes, leopards, raccoon dogs and tigers). The animals lower down in the food pyramid are usually small and numerous and reproduce rapidly. They provide the basic food for the rest of the pyramid. Animals near the top of the pyramid are large and reproduce slowly. Should the animals in any one layer of the pyramid increase or decrease it would have far reaching effects on all the rest of the animals in the community. If the herbivores increase, the carnivores, with more food, would also increase. If the carnivores increase they would eat too many of the herbivores so that they would cause themselves to run short of food. On the other hand, if the carnivores were removed there would be nothing to check ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g Faeces and carcasses 20 PATRICIA MARSHALL Table II A simplified food pyramid for Hong Kong Carnivores: Tiger*, leopard*, man Carnivores: Fox, leopard cat, wild dog* birds of prey. Carnivores: Pangolin, frogs, lizards, snakes, ferret-badger, civet cats, mongoose* Herbivores: - Insects, rats, small birds, porcupine, deer, snails, slugs, termites Vegetation: - leaves, flowers, nectar, stems, roots, seeds, berries, nuts, bark, wood, etc. Oxygen photosynthesis Sun-light + minerals + water + carbon dioxide * Animals that no longer occur here, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 10 willing help has been of great value to me as President and to the Council generally. 13th May, 1970. Lectures in 1969 comprised:----- 20 January Dr. M. W. M. Lau 24 February J. R. JONES The F. A. Nixon Collection of Nestorian Crosses and the Fr. Finn Collection of Finds on Lamma Island Dr. Morris I. Berkowitz The Effects of Resettlement on the Plover Cove Villagers Prof. P. G. O'Neill The No Theatre of Japan Today Mr. K. M. A. Barnett Removing Some Barriers to Comprehension Aspects of Hong Kong Marine Fauna 11 March 8 April 15 April Dr. Lamarr B. Trott 28 April Annual General Meeting. 5 May Mr. Holmes H. Welch 24 May "The Role of Religion in Chinese Life 9 June 11 23 June A Tour of Old Shau Kei Wan organized by Mr. J. W. Hayes. Dr. Hugh D. R. Baker The Chinese Lineage Village: A Pyramid of Kinship Dr. R. K. Murton Wild Life in Hong Kong 29 September Mr. J. C. Y. Watt 23 October 17 November The Use of Jade in Old China "Look Around" Tour on Hong Kong Island organized by Mr. J. W. Hayes. Mr. G. E. Johnson From Rural Committee to Spirit Medium Cult ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 # PERSISTENCE & PRESERVATION OF HAKKA CULTURE 41 locality associations. These are the Tse-kam (Tsu-chin) District Countrymen's Association (1948), Loong-chuen (Lung-chuan) Native Association (1954), Pok-law (Po-lo) District Association (1954), Ho-yuen (Ho-yuan) Clansmen's Association (1963) and the Wai-yeung (Hwei-yang) Merchants Association. However, the Wai-chow Hoklos from the district of Hai-feng and Lu-feng, due to cultural and language differences, cannot fully participate in the Waichow associations, principally composed of Hakkas. This is why the Waichow Hoklos, besides having their own district-level associations (the Luk-fung District Countrymen's Association in 1967 and the Hoi-fung District Countrymen's Association in 1968), have often attempted to establish relationships with the Hoklos from other areas. In August 1972, several directors of the Waichow Clansmen General Association were discontented with their chairman's leadership, so they organized the Ten Districts of Waichow Association in order to challenge the Waichow Clansmen Association's authority. This resulted in a public split at the pinnacle of the power pyramid and had certain serious effects on the internal structure of the Waichow Hakkas. The most obvious consequence was that each association claimed to be the rightful representative of the Waichow people in Hong Kong and the two therefore competed to seek support from the secondary level Waichow associations, thus forming different association clusters within the same group. In other words, under and within the common locality name of Waichow, there are actually three association clusters in Hong Kong: The Waichow Hakka, as the majority group, have two clusters centering around the Waichow Clansmen General Association and the Ten District of Waichow Association respectively, and the Waichow Hoklos, as the marginal group, constitute another cluster with the Luk-fung District Countrymen's Association and the Hoi-fung District Countrymen's Association as its nucleus (see Fig. 1). ## III. VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS AND CULTURAL PERSISTENCE With regard to the role of voluntary associations in urban situations, most contemporary anthropologists, as already mentioned- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 72 Thus, although the doctrine has made a comeback among the citizens of the People's Republic (Superstition rife, 1989: 13), no thought was supposed to have been paid to it when the towering Bank of China was planned. The Chinese-American architect, I. M. Pei, insists, even though the building includes water features, geomancy was not a consideration. Eugene Ho (Ho, 1987), in a letter to the South China Morning Post, wrote: I find the whole theory of fung shui wholly devoid of cognitive content. (For instance) that the sharp edges of the Bank of China in Central are allegedly bad luck. (It has been suggested) a triangle resembles a pyramid, called kam che tap in Cantonese, and this is similar to kam tap -- which means urns where the remains of the dead are kept. Why (should) the mere resemblance between a triangle and a pyramid be sufficient implication of and invitation to bad luck? There are those who maintain that paying attention to fung shui helps promote business and keeps staff contented. Few Chinese are likely to quibble over an office layout if it has been designed on the advice of a fung shui consultant. It is, one can argue, a branch of ergonomics. Altering the positions of furniture (which fung shui experts sensibly say should have rounded corners) and office paraphernalia can provide a better sense of space and convenience. Customs in Other Countries Chinese fung shui is more complex than most geomantic doctrines, yet there are comparable customs in other countries. A Hindu in India does not like building a house on a triangular site. The position of his bed is important. Such beliefs are more on account of spiritual reasons. Similarly, in the Philippines it is not good to construct a staircase or door facing the direction in which the sun will set because it signifies the disappearance of wealth. The front and back doors, as with Chinese belief, should, likewise, not be in a straight line through the building; otherwise, wealth can escape. You should also not face the door when you sleep. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 116 Poon, Clement and May Fung, 'Plenty More Fish to Fill the Tanks of Mong Kok', Hong Kong Standard, 26 November 1994, 'Race-Day Rites to Exorcise Sha Tin Jinx', South China Morning Post, 3 May 1987 Ram, Jane, 'Asia Conjures Wind and Water to Boost Business', International Management, July/August 1987 Saw Puay Lim, "The Force is With Them', Sunday Morning Post Magazine, August 1990 Stewart, Rob, 'Can Your Business do Without the Feng Shui Edge?', Executive, November 1995 'Superstitions Rife. Survey Reveals', South China Morning Post, 11 December 1989 Tatlow, Dermot, 'Safe and Sound in Domain of the Yellow Emperor', Sunday Morning Post, 7 March 1993 Tse, Patricia, 'Banking on a Grand Design and Good Luck', South China Morning Post, 28 May 1990 Wan, Melanie, 'Fungshui Experts not what They Used to Be', Hong Kong Standard, 19 August 1985 Wesley-Smith, Peter, Identity, Land, Feng Shui and the Law in Traditional Hong Kong, Law working paper series no 5, University of Hong Kong, 1992 'What Pyramids and the River Thames have in Common', International Property Review, undated Woo, Anthony, 'The Tao of Technology', Asia Magazine, c. 1995 Letters to the Editor of the South China Morning Post Chan, C.W., 'Safety Concern', 24 June 1990 Ho, Eugene, 'Fung Shui and a Lesson from Science', 25 May 1987 Webb, Richard, 'In Defence of Fung Shui', 10 July 1991 'Unlucky Bank', 21 September 1991 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 (2,950, as against 3,693). However, there is also in the 1911 Census a suspicious increase in the number of females recorded aged 20-24 as compared with those aged 15-19 (3,062 as against 2,750). This must be connected with marriage, with all married women being enumerated but at least some unmarried young women not being recorded.5 This feature of an increase in recorded females aged 20-24 does not appear in the 1921 Census, and whatever fears villagers may have had about their teenage daughters in 1911 seem to have been partly overcome by 1921. However, as Tables 5 and 6 show, both in 1911 and 1921, the totals of females recorded are noticeably lower than males for ages below the normal age of marriage. This can only be due to under-reporting of unmarried girls. The annual live birth rate of girls in Northern District in both 1911 and 1921 is likely to have been about 1,250. The figures for females recorded at ages above about 20 must be seen as essentially accurate, in both censuses, given the essential similarity of the two sets of figures. Assuming these adjusted birth-rate figures are approximately correct, then the mortality figures for Northern District are, very approximately, as shown in Table 7, which is compiled from Tables 3 and 4.5 It seems likely that, of all live births, one quarter were dead by about age 7-8, half by 22-24, and three-quarters by 48 (males) or 54 (females), in both 1911 and 1921. At the same time, they show about 15% of all males, and 20% of all females, lived to the age of 60 or more. This is more or less in line with oral evidence. Table 8 shows the position in population pyramid form: the profile of the pyramid is typical of an undeveloped society. Page 45 Page 46 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 Table 8 Population Pyramid, North District Percentage Alive F 100 00 80 70 30 Percentage Alive > 100 90 70 60 50 Age 40 30 F MALES 20 FEMALES 10 1 50 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 4 1 50 60 70 00 10 100 Percentage Alive 23 However, to follow the exact instruction to output only HTML using for paragraphs (and only if absolutely necessary) without using table tags, here is the revised output: Table 8 Population Pyramid, North District Percentage Alive F 100 00 80 70 30 Percentage Alive > 100 90 70 60 50 Age 40 30 F MALES 20 FEMALES 10 1 50 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 4 1 50 60 70 00 10 100 Percentage Alive 23 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 8 over on to Hong Kong's streets. It may be remembered that at this time the population was 3.85 millions, and was expected to reach 7 millions by 1986. The report opened with an assurance that examination of local government varieties elsewhere had produced no models to which Hong Kong might be expected closely to conform, but expressed an awareness that there was a local ignorance of the principles and practice of local administration, in any form. This they defined as embracing those services and that responsibility which met the needs of individual localities, as opposed to the population as a whole. They also differentiated between the formulation of policy on the one hand, 'national' responsibilities and services best undertaken on a colony-wide basis, and control and execution, where localised interests had special importance, on the other. They particularly emphasised the need for willing delegation by the existing Colonial Secretariat and Departments, and the subsequent treatment of delegates as full partners in joint ideals and purposes. This could not, they all knew, be taken for granted. After a tour d'horizon of centralised and decentralised forms of government around the world, including the CPR's party pyramid, and an examination of Hong Kong's statutory and traditional institutions, the report pointed to the disparities the working party had found in the latter; but also to the irrelevance of many of these to the New Towns which were just beginning to raise their skylines. It also quoted with modified respect some colourful extracts from the records of Mencius, Confucius and Moh Tze on the poetically ideal Chinese view of the relationship between government and people, which had been submitted by a future Chief Secretary who was serving as a DO in the NT; but it recognised that the world had changed since the time of the Classics, that the dominance of the English language presented problems, and that corruption was fertilised by inefficiency and distrust. The report concluded that, if the support of local residents was assured ('it is men, not buildings, which make a city'—persons of goodwill, common-sense and public spirit), a new system must achieve: (a) the provision of the greatest possible amount of popular participation; ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 This paper's main aim is to compare Chinese humour with Western humour, although, again to narrow the field, of these two forms emphasis is placed on Cantonese as compared to English humour. There is of course common ground; but many Chinese wisecracks are not considered really funny outside China. This paper looks at an assortment of jokes, including Western and Chinese. Many are 'lowbrow.' It also looks at the everyday humour of ‘old 100 names' (, the common man). To round this study off, conclusions are arrived at. Because it concentrates on Cantonese humour it uses the Cantonese style of Romanisation rather than the more modern Pinyin. # Introduction The British Museum's Egyptology Department has researched the bawdy fun and games that went on in the land of the Pyramids more than 4,500 years ago.3 Many of the gags which are still portrayed in the form of stone carvings centre around ‘adult jokes,' drunkenness, vomiting and sexual exhibitionism. With language and communications intertwined with culture, these antics were very much part of the humour which developed with the environment of the times (Lexikon der Agyptologie; 1997). Culture, the framework that provides people with their identity, includes not only language and communications but also multifarious parts of everyday life: such as dress and appearance, food and eating habits, and how people perceive and appreciate themselves in relation to the society in which they live. Culture also includes relationships, values and norms, beliefs and attitudes, work habits and practices, and the relationship between work and leisure and so on. Any of these aspects of culture, as well as entertainment and sex, can, of course, be related in some way to humour. All this is very much related to one's cultural background. In a completely different culture in Egypt, four-and-a-half millennia ago, what has been described as 'the oldest joke in the world' is recorded on a slip of papyrus (Pharaohs thigh slapper; 1998). Translated it went something like this. How do you entertain a bored pharaoh? You sail a boatload of young, attractive women wearing only nets down the Nile and invite the pharaoh to go and catch a fish. Although the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 329 BITS OF BROKEN CHINA: THE RAS VISIT TO NORTH-EAST CHINA IN SEARCH OF COLONIAL REMNANTS 15TH TO 21ST OCTOBER 1999 ROBERT NIELD That I led a group of 25 people to the Shantung Peninsula and successfully brought 18 of them back to Hong Kong was, I have to say, a major achievement - and one of which I am very proud. My part in this trip dates from an earlier RAS China visit, that to Ningpo, Chusan and Dinghai in 1998. Even as long ago as that, the ever-resourceful Geoffrey Roper had already largely planned a visit that would take in an inspection of the remains of German influence in Tsingtao, and of the British presence in Chefoo and Weihaiwei. During the boat trip back to Ningpo from Dinghai I discussed Geoffrey's plans with him, and innocently suggested that it would rather complete the set if the trip also took in the former Russian and Japanese possessions over the water in Dalian and Port Arthur. And there the matter rested. Many months later, by which time I had totally forgotten my “helpful" suggestion that torpedoed Geoffrey's careful planning, it came about that he, unfortunately, could not lead the trip himself - and he asked me if I would volunteer for the job. Never having organised anything like this before, and having no idea of what was involved, in my blissful ignorance I said that I would be happy to oblige. :: My job as a professional accountant (a partner in a very large firm, no less!) involves me sitting at the top of an enormous pyramid of very capable and industrious people, such that more often than not completed pieces of work are presented to me for my review. It came as a major shock, therefore, to find out how much work is involved in putting together what, for the people who accompanied me, was hopefully six pleasant and relaxing days exploring interesting places. I was sure that everything "would be alright on the night" - and sure enough, more or less it was. But only with the significant help of Page 360 Page 361 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 139 here. I do agree with some of Dr. Fraser's affirmations. Given the fact that arches of triumph also appeared in Portuguese India they are partly relevant to my research and, historical and cultural differences aside, it would be difficult to gloss over certain implications present in her arguments. While keeping these in mind, it is equally important not to lose sight of more purely art-historical questions. During the sixteenth century the Portuguese introduced the Arch of Triumph as a decorative element in the façades of both their civic and religious buildings in India. Since this is a subsidiary contention to my main argument, I cannot but treat it summarily by means of a number of examples. Indian Urban Examples and Damão's Episcopal Church Two of the finest examples showing the employment of arches of triumph in urban architecture in India, the Arch of the Viceroys, Goa, and that of the ruins of Baçaim Fort, will suffice to illustrate my point. The first of these, constructed in 1599 under the orders of Dom Francisco da Gama, grandson of Vasco da Gama, formed part of the main city gate leading to the Governor's Palace. It is the work of Julio Simão, a locally born architect of French descent. Simão employed a subdued rusticated idiom for the articulation of the main structures of his design with an almost inconspicuous use of the classical orders. The decoration of the structure as a whole is sparse, consisting mainly of carved metopes, of pyramids with spheres at the corners of the first storey and the royal coat of arms at the top. In the original design a niche above the main entrance arch displayed a statue of Vasco da Gama with an image of St. Catherine in a small attic above. The latter intruded into the pediment below in typical Mannerist fashion. The use of rustication was popular amongst certain cinquecento Italian Mannerist architects such as Giulio Romano. In this instance rustication combined with an arch of triumph was evidently intended to convey the victory and strength of the Portuguese crown, although it is obvious that considerations of a purely aesthetic nature must equally ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 156 Popular Jesuit devotional manuals of the times prove useful. A good example is a 1617 book of poetry that was quickly disseminated after its author's death. The Officium parvum Immaculata Conceptionis, or Small Office, by the Spanish Jesuit St. Alfonso Rodriguez intersperses a brilliant cluster of Marian symbols amongst its prayers. Besides the Fountain, the Spotless Mirror, the Enclosed Garden and the Cypress, the Small Office also sings the praises of the Palm tree, the New Star of Jacob, the Eastern Door of the Temple of Jerusalem, the Port of Shipwrecks and others. Thus, the closed door underneath the decorative pyramid topped by a globe seen on the farthest right-hand bay of the façade can be equated to Rodriguez's porta orientalis of the Temple of Jerusalem, taken from Ezekiel, which remained ever closed after the Lord Yahweh had passed through it. Other carved symbols can be deciphered with other contemporary texts. For instance, one of the three left bay reliefs carved on the base of the third storey shows the seven-branched candlestick of the Jewish Tabernacle. Here it is reasonable to infer that this is a literary conceit typical of much of sixteenth century Mannerist literature in Europe. Thus, through allusion Mary's immaculate earthly body has been likened to a tabernacle and related to the Eucharistic mystery. This is because Mary carried the baby Jesus in her womb in the same way that the consecrated host is housed in a tabernacle, a cryptic simile known from Counter-Reformation religious literature.” Such an interpretation is further confirmed by the reliefs decorating the section of the base of the third storey below the two adjoining bays, as well as the left volute. They show a stylised vine and a small monstrance amid branches with berries. These reliefs correspond to the flowering plants that adorn the mirror on the right. Like the flowered pedestals of the columns, these plants seem to be more decorative than symbolic, depicting specimens of Chinese or Japanese flora in which Far Eastern artists have been encouraged to integrate more traditional painterly images with images of Western origin. As is the case with the gargoyles in the form of Chinese lions, they attest to the significant role played by Chinese and Japanese artists in the design and execution of the decoration of the church. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 325 Peninsula 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. In 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!' There 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. At 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.) Aden, 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. Some Britons preferred to travel on foreign ships which were not ================================================================================