The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-02-24
boAT LIFE IN CHINAs-iNTER-
ESTING LETTER.

DoAE LIFE In CHIN LIN TER
EsTING LETTER.
From one of the series of interesting letters be.
ing written for the Philadelphia Lsdger, by Lieut.
| iiabershsm, Of tho U. s. Steamer Powhatan, We
make the following extract. The letter Is dated
AT anchor off Whsmpoa, December iash," and
says:
Shortly after our arrival on this station, en- /.
gagged to give ian idea of 'fastboat life in China" !"
snd oil the sing language known here az "Pi-
geon Ensish.'' will commence with the let
| ter.
"Pigeon English then, is the everyday Ian.
gusge in use between foreigners resident in China
| ana tboseChinese who thrown In immediate
contact with them; and t lie nothing more nor less
! than a{ter0t translation of Chinese local dialect
into, what thGs becomes, bad English. Here are
| several specimens:
merchant Is conversing with his serv ant
| feu taikee that tailor man, this pigeon no can
do-he no makee proper" (Say to the tailor that
| this work will not aDswer-it is not well done"
| Answer OF the tailor, through servsnt-"Tailor
| be talkee proper pigeop-nave makee all same
muster" (The tailor says the wo, k is, or must be,
well done, as 1t was made after the pattern given
We are at Ningpoo, and ask boaiman-
! what for boat have got eyef'
J iii yah h. What for boat got eyey Suppose no
nave got eye, no can see; suppose no see, hoe
can makec walkee?" And the fellow replies as
grsveiy as If he believed what he was saying
} Here is another specimen. 1t came off on board
Il
some years since, We had employed several Chi
, nes9 IN our mess" as servants. and two of them
/ having indulged in a fght one fine morning, were
I ordered TO the mast for investigation
what for makee bebbery this fashion :" (Wbv
| DO you thus make dieturbance?l asked the lst
Lieutenant.
| My no n,akee bobbery he, be makes my!, II
did not con- mence the attack, 1t was bel they re-
| piled, in q breath.
"He talkee my jackass my talkee he jackass -
| lie masee bobbery me iace," explained one CT
| them lie called hue jackass and called him
| the same he then struck NE in the face 7. il
needless to add that they mutually eliminated
| each other, and that the LIST Lieutenant conse-
quentiy made bobbery" with them BOTH
ln China, almost every port has its peculiar
style OF boat, az we'll as its peculiar dialect The
fast bosi' seems to belong exclusively to this
region. Let us take the one now hanging from
our stern, for the use of which We pay 81 day.
and which we are at liberty to call upon at all
times and for all purposes. 1t is about forty feet
long, eight feet beam, three feet depth of hold: is
! cecked over, has two masts, which are seldom or
never uustepped and number of curved sections
; OF mating which. IN rainy weather, can be so
! arranged rs TO shelter completely two.thirds of
F.; The boat. She draws about eight inches forward
aud two feet att has three or four feet square
rudder, perforated with numberless diamond
shaped holes, and two singnisrly shaped and
rugged mat sails. Her entire cost, when new ac-
| cording TO the assertion of "Assam," her owner
was $3.50 In addition to her mat sails she has
one large scuilng oar over her stern, and six
| smaller ones ttETee on SaCn BlQe) forward of the
| msinmast. just abeft THEREAFTER, is a covered
space containing a thwartship seat capable of &C.
commodating six or eight persons; and abaft this
again, between it and the tiller) is the kitchen
| &c With fine breeze she will sail six or seven
miles the hour, and during calm the scull aud
ak oars can be made to urge her ahead at about
haf that rate
Men, women, boys and girls of all ages assist
| Assam" to manage this boat. There il his fBther,
! aged (apparently) sixty; his mother few years
| younger-a brother CT about his own age-a sis
| ter of .'doubtful" yesrs-and several flight of.
| steps like children, each and every one Of whom
seems TO know exactly what his or her particular
| work is when anything is underway. Even the
| infant strapped across its mothers back as she
steers pulls at an oar, seems to know that it is
| expected to keep quiet; and the next step" who
| is yet roo young to pull at an oar, has still
| sense enough TO avoid falling overheard, though
| were be accidentally to forget himself in that
| respect he voaid be 'fosted" until pickedup by a
large gourd, which is always kept tied across h is
shoulders. This gourd reminds one of an old
| ''iamily cradle" 1t was doubtless worn by "As,
| ssn as we'll as by his children-possibly even by
| his father.
| Among other persons l mention ian infant
| strapped across its mothers back" That small.
well-bebaVed specimen 0! future fast-boatman
has appeared upon the stage OF life since hired
| the services of his father, family and boat u
| month since. His mother, Mrs. Assam, is a small
| and deIicateiy formed woman. who helped to pull
Us on shore the 20th ult.. who confined the
| following night, and who was pulling her again
| on the Dist. | mention this as something of eve-
Iy-day occurrence in China, whare there no
| stays or 'tight lacirg." and would compare it
with the fatal results of the "Paris fashions for
| the last bundred years, throughout Europe and
| the United States.
| Neither Assam or his family coufned to
| tho boat by Law, but much doubt if they alto.
gether average more than week out of her duriug
| the year. She is their home-the solace where
they live and move and have their being" 1t is
not even necessary for them to go on shore TO pur-
cha.s food, for there are abundance Of water
huckstors constantly sculliDg around the hai Dor,
whose only living is derived from supplying their
daily wants and those Of Others similarly crCum-
stanced
l was walking on deck only few days since
and witnessed Mrs Assam's preparation for break
fast She commenced by cleaning cut her perms-
Rently fixed iron boiler, washing her rice we'll and
| then starting the fire. After that, she beckoned
| q huckster alongsde aud commenced a conversa-
tion. The result of this conversation was that the
huckster removed section of the deck Of his
boat, and disclosed to view small fish hole, into
| which he dipped hand net and lifted forth seveS
| taken from the sea. These he weighed met and
alI;) emptied them into a large pan held ont by
| the Lady, and replaced the covering. Then he
| dipped a lsdle into q neighhoikg earthen jar of
Soy, fish sapce.) AID filled bowl which she held
towards him, and fiualiy handed her small bur ch
Of onions, and received bis pay in a mixture Of
copper and iron "cash." l could not help think.
ing that the Assam family would, that morning,
|
ed my own mess by the careless "Comprador."
Half an hour passed, and about the last minu :
saw the entire crowd gathered around two hugs
dishes Each one held bowl in his or her lett
hand, and pair Of "chop sticks in the right,
and comme need the attack in fine style. One dish
contained the beautifully white and smoking rice,
| the other an abundant chowder, into the compo-
sition of which had entered fish, onions, pickles,
&c. They commenced by filag the bowts with
rice from the general dish, then their mouths from
the bowls, and finally worked in, in a most uuac-
countabls manner, q portion of tho "chowder,'
with their "chop sticks" IL was difficult TO ina
gine how so much chowder could follow mmedi-
a,eiy upon 30 much rice. It was also difficult to
say who was "the best man. of the party pub-
lie opinion would probably have sided with the
small man with the gourd across his back, bad he
not been subject to periodical fits of choking,
| which threatened at times to iiscoDnect him from
his hereditary life-preserving gourd. As it was,
the grandfather probably acquitted himself we'll
as the best of tbem
Now, had the quarter master called "fast boat, {"
| while they were thus racing, the half flushed
meal would have been hurried out of sight and
not approached again until the work to which
they were called was ended; So much for the
| ''fast boat liio' and Pigeon English."
| .
| RoBRsRs' BooTf Due Up.-At Cleveland, Ohio,
| q curious discovery of large amount of stolen
property has been made. Not long since, em.
pioyee of the Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus