The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-10-13
RIVER SCENES IN CHINA.


RIVER SCENES IN CHINA.
Towards the end of laeyear, two sets Of PEG.
pie were staring at each t-her with the utmost
intensity for nearly eig1 weeks. To ali ap-
pearance, the mutual stUtS left them mutually
pleased and, if so, the ef7y thing to be wished
is, that we could learn rs precise impression
made on both parties as gcurately as we can
on one. The one part swas the population
along the banks of the grs at Chinese river, the
the Yangtse, from its melth to the group Of
three large cities, six huTired miles up; and
the other party was the d Stish Embassy. Six
hundred miles may appfss small portion of a
river which measures o iards of three thou
sand, but it is enough :Scarry strangers into
the heart of China, wher t,hey can see the gen.
uine Chinese people livSsg in their ordinary
way, and unmixed with, Sach sophisticated
population as that of CT atom, and of all the
ports where foreigners trase and reside.
For four hundred milss up, the tides affect
the surface of the vast ST am, while its mass of
waters keeps its way bel,s>, to the sea, forever
deepening its channel, t.e@l draining the inte-
rior of the country from ssse to side, after hav-
ing done the same for a part of Thibet. The
ebb of the tide is so stro;,e that, before the days
of steam navigation, the scent of the river was
out of the question, excep in the native vessels
Lord Amherst's party >sached the Poyang
Lake, in junks, in 1916, Essfning thence south
wards to Canton. In 1861. American YES
sell the Susquehanna, wstked her way up to
Woosoo, sixty miles aboE Nankin and none
but native vessels had &c r passed that point
till November last whea Lord Elgn and his
attendant ships and guul >ats achieved mem
orabe voyage. They mao "a fine study of "the
son of the sea" as the Cle. aese call the mighty
stream, and it seems as il the untravelled citi-
zens along the banks q made an earnest
study of them.
If the inhabitants woul but record their i'm
pressions in their dearl g-9eloved literature"
we might know, in the clsfrse of generation
or two, how the celebrated barbarians appeared
in their eyes. AS for ussat home, it was an
anxious season while our zountrymen were be-
hind the curtain which ,eils the interior of
China; but when they cs ae into view again,
and related what they ha~ seen, it became as
evident as it always doe on analogous occa-
sions that men are very ~ ch alike everywhere
in the make of their + IDS and hearts, and
ssse sapsbss Of ssRg q end aeesbs 70
1t must have been = nderful day for the
country people-and for IT, towns-people, too
when the British squadro.- camein sight, round
q curve of the stream, pei APPS, or from behind
one of the rocky islets wiz which its channel
abounds. Perhaps it W. first seen by the
BONES on the height wi Bhuddist temples
usually stand. The poo iriests have nothing
to do when their mechar 81 prayers are said
four times day-but te sit and look abroad
from some ledge or bench; and it is not often
that one of their wretchGS order lights on such
a chance as seeing Lord f. gins squadron come
upon the scene. First, Is re are the two gun
boats Dove and Leg a. coaching as the ad
vanced guard, the whit steam gushing from
their cylinders at every s.foke, and curling and
melting in the air. The hold steady course
between the centre and TIC banks of the stream,
where the channel admits IF it, and thus seem
to measure its width by k eping mile or two
apart. Then follow the 4bree larger vessels,
the Furious, with Lord f. n on board, in the
middle. Whether the lids 3 flowing or ebbing,
on come the freships " I the strong barba-
rians. And they are not Ike the clumsy junks
which roll and wallop, ar slean over when any
thing goes wrong. The ( tie outriders of the
English squadron give wi ming when the water
shoals, and say whatever (sey please by shifting
their flags. They try herssand there, push and
probe, go round and abov talking their signal
talk all the while and t5ss large ships watch,
listen, and obey-slacken stop, and even turn
and go back, when so ads sed.
What sight for the Bh-iddist priests They
never before saw ships dependent of wind
and tide, and are half pers ssded that these must
be alive and rational. But Fhen the feet comes
abreast of their rock, and .she great ships stop
while the little ones expld-, what sight it is
to see the chief man ofssxse foreigners come
ashore and walk up the rssl He has an in
terpreter with him, and hesyants to hear about
the temple, and the ways.pf the priests. He
learns why the head of Ss,e has twelve bald
no 600 tho eigns of vows he has taken AGAINST
twelve vices and what the priest expects to
happen to him if he breaks any vow on the list;
and how he spends his time, without books or
business and finally, the great barbarian gives
Eve dollars, to the establishment of the holy
group.
The news is now pretty sure to spread up the
river The Imperial troops surrounding city
hear of it from their scouts, and the besieged
rebels learn it from the bustis outside the walls,
and look ont from their forts, and prepare to
fire on the strangers. The peasants, driving
their cattle in long strings away from the seat
of war, see the apparition on the broad stream,
whose surface, as polished as a FOR, reflects
the native RATS and boats, but breaks into rip
Piles wherever the " fre-ships turn. The peo-
pie who are cutting their bulrusb- crop in the
hats rush to the banks to behold the sight and
even the opium smoker delays lighting his pipe
for the moment, to witness the miracle of
group of vessels ascending the strong river
without wind, and against the tide. The
limeburners appear from the quarry in the
hills, and the oilmill stops, while the crushers
of the seed run to the banks, where the whole
population of a village q. town, at present
free from the rebels, range themselves vast
orderly multitude--to see the strangers pass.
Some have heard of these barbarians, but more
have not and when the few are set talking, the
most astonishing stories pass from mouth to
mouth.
VIII they act for or against the rebels is
the practical question. Nobody can answer it
now Is there any one who will venture to in
quire, the next time the fre-ships stop to rest?
Quick eyes soon discern Chinaman acting
as pilot on board the chief vessel and from
point to point of the shores it becomes known,
that more and more of the country people have
held conversation with the strangers, and have
come out none the worse from the adventure !;
till at last, it becomes an object of eager desire
to sell them food and the folks make haste
home, and collect their fowls and eggs, or go.
out to fish in the night, for the chance of
market in the morning.
This much we know, because this much was
visible from the deck or the masthead OF the
English ships, with little help from inter
prefer and pilot; but beyond those outward
demonstrations, all is dark. How far the peo-.
Z = IL Al Al b ~