New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-01-22


EGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SAN FRAN.
CISCO AND HONG KONG.
From Our Special Correspondent
Hone KONG, Nov. 3, 1866.
No small part Of the commerce between San Fran
cisco and Hong Kong consists in the transportation OF
dead and living Cinnamon. The desire Of the Cinnamon
in California TO be inferred in their native land does not
arise from love of country the sentiment when leads
men 10 wish TO lie among their hndred but with them
IL is that their remains may be duly cared for-saer
feed to- and supplied from time to time with money,
food raiment, and other articles in the spirit WOrIl'
which articles made Of paper, are TRANSMITTED through
the medium Of fire. l say the Cinnamon In California,
for IN other places Australia and the Straits for example
they give the dead permanent intermen and in siam
they comply with the customs Of the country and practice
cremation Yet certain It IS that If facilities had existed
in those regions for transporting their dead, they would
have been awaited OF by Cinnamon but no Chinese junk
would receive a corpse board and no opportunity was
presented fer shipping them by foreign vessels in fact
it is a sort Of freight that only American skipper who
they say viii go anywhere for cargo OF any sorp would
have thought Of establishing such business. In the
large ca OF China societies exsmong residents OF dis
ant parts Of the Empire whose object is the trsnSpoia
ton Of the remains OF their fellowtoNnsmen to the place
OF their nativity.
The collection and Transportation Of the dead, takes
place In annually in others, after the lapse
Of long periO6 until II can be done on large scale and
economically In Francisco the Chinese guilds have
an organization for "A similar purpose. Persons are sent
from time to time, all over the country even to
Oregon, and across the Sierra Nevada, on
bone collections. The bones are scraped,
rolled In paper and labeled and sent TO san Francisco
where they are deposited until the accumulation Of these
the bones Of tie poor and the copses Of these weo
do will oad a vessel when they sent TO Hong Kong
Friends OF the deceased receive them there. The re-
mains OF the frendcss cared for by guilds or benevo
lent Societies Religious ceremonies accompany the final
ntcment In which tho attendance OF priest Is not con
sldcrrd essential Ia Honolulu, however when China
man dies his friends often solicit the services OF Mr. Daw
SON scaman's Chaplain they attach importance
10 the rites Of Christian burial.
been found necessary to charter separate vessels
for the dead and the living for Cinnamon refuse to take
passage in a ship which carries corpse; and in shipping
the mortal the Pacific it IS equally neccS
r 20 have vessels which carry nothing else TO make an
entire cargo OF dead mems bones, for when ship had
cargo partly Of that material and partly OF flour grain and
the like the eatabes found unmarketabe In China,
because Of belief that gaseous emanations permeated
them or from sheer superstition. These circumstances
have caused this division in the transportation business
between tho two ports. Coffms boxes containing dead
Cinnamon, taken across the ocean CT charge from
s. Jotos5 The passage FOR live Cinnamon Is about SIS
head Our vessel carried $40 live Cinnamon, who paid
the charterer 90 30 each for passage.
The ciuuamoncoorcd peoples OF Eastern Asia differ as
much from the blacks Of Africa do white Europeans.
The negro a,imative, and, conscious OF iurcrorty
readily accepts our civilization Not with the China
man lie +, infusibe uductile, proud of his and its
civilization, and not without reason What influence,
therefore we may exert Cinnamon will be slow in
it, operation and revolutionary in ifs results. Con-
scqucty viii not be cNpcctcd that the homewardbound
Cinnamon who sail with exhibit marks Of tranSforma
ton traccablc their brief contact with contrymen
In respects It must be confessed that they have
detrriOrltcd Assuming that they all aNarciOuS
dishonest and ocntiOns at starting. they have eN-
vice Travel has Of enlarged their minds and
sharpencd their wits, and the Intelligence thus acquired
has only given mC:e force 10 what IN them was good OK
evil. can see little promise Of good 10 China from the
1000 or VINO annually return with California gold and
California experience. Yet their cOucct has obviously
suffered some abatement they feel their infeuory In
matters material II not moral And their supersutons
have suffered abrason for instance they have renounced
their geomantic rotOn which leads their countrymcn in
China 10 resist the introduction OF the electric telegraph
from fear that 1t viii disturb the currents OF luck that
scout the idea of the th sen so,r-ron wire
lcereAcrtng any baneul influence in regions through
There Is also general skepcism as regards the power
image, of their gods receive as much attention as on
shoD bat In the return voyage they are found without
images employing instead picture, which receives but
little homage. Twice tie voyage altar was extern
q shrine IN which picture OF Holy Mother Queen OF
Heaven was placed and by the side stuck IA hoes, wero
lighted candles and incense sticks Very Few, however
manifested interest in the ceremony In this way the IN
ucucu Of tho West Is beginning 10 be felt In the far
East steam electricity, art ANA science VIII accomplish
something. Christianity more; but Chinese civilization
religious Influence exercised ON these returning immi-
giants has been hardly apprecabe yet Of their mum
by the Rev W. A. LOOMS, exhibits under most adverse
circumstances, much Christian principle that no one
can doubt the power OF the Gospel to regenerate China
In the last report of the Secretary of the Navy IT s an
nounced that tho Geneal Government has II In cOntem
patOn To send To the Pacific surveying vessel To cruise
among the islands Of Polynesia. This good intention is
traverse the Pacific albeit fleet OF surveying vessels
Is what have right TO expect. so numerous are the
In audi
IN number whose accurate position is unknown, that it
would require the coop ration Of NIL the maritime nations
ration, rightly 10 perform the work. 1t is time
that we should atone for past shortcomings
than is contemplated by the Navy Department. Few
Americans are aware of the obligations the maritime
world In general, and country in particular
der to the English In the matter Of photography In
decd We navigate the world by English charts Perhaps
there has hot been time, however brief since England
first made war with China that that country has not had
one We @ TSSs Nv wSrK e
Considerations General (see BOcedn Pdcifgue) Justly
ing most interesting and most complete records Of the
States paid TO labors of this descriptions that
Americans can find their way from Sandy Hook to the
Golden Gate only by the aid of an English chart For ex
and San Francisco Is inaccurate English one,
founded rude survey Of the spaniards eco years ego
Micronesia, portion OF which our commerce between
Ban Francisco and Canton traverses, We are manly h
dobtcd to uncertain reckoning kept on board whaling
and other vessels which, from the very nature OF their
pursuits, cannot be entitled TO such confidence Every
year defective charts In regions which
are the resort Of whnlors.
Between the parallels and $50 North latitude there
which very little traversed by sailing vessels
because IL region OF Gains, and vessels In sailing from
America to China sail south Of the latter and returning
from China TO America sail north OF the former TO avail
themselves OF the favorable winds there prevail
ing. That belt will BIO traversed by the Paciflc
shoals reefs and Il may be islands hitherto undiscovered
time should bo lost In ascertang what are the pers
that await In that region. Although the
work OF surveying the Pacific requires all the labor that
our Navy can bestow uponit yet some time should be
soundngs the nature OF the bottom OF this great