, 1877-10-06
THE RAGE FOR OLD CHINA.
An Enthustast's Story of ttcr srarch Among
the TrrnAMres Of 1llnck 1A1nnA.

tu S1ttE$ Hl 1&fF <AAVAk
the TrrAAureR at nlnck 1A1nnd.
Rlnct hfand En+rs*ponttsrtt tftrtford Ttnats.
Tho fever for antiquities 1ns oven reached this
qntct SPOT, anti The island has been secured from
North to coutlt, ami cast to west I, who have
nlwnys l,ctn scatter, was Ecizc,l with tho dis
ease wlie there. and would run \ mile II hcar,l
there was any rl,ante OF adding TO amy coller-
lion. The Island il fertile spot for such
things Oil acco,snt Of tl,e'fhips which run into
port, and aso for tho numerous wrcehs.
The great thing was to ret something OF the
TAlalnc. the first "rcsk recorded, an'! which
happened ~ early "A l'e. al aluut which there
nre many romantic ai0rcs. Whittier has writ
ten n beautiful lHcln In mCHluEY III thIs crctst,
hut according to l.ycrnofc, tile Block lslnnd
historian, lc .loes great Intustice. to the honest
Islanders. Whittier eays allc was brought ashore
BY false lights and then p]nlM!crcd by pirates,
hut f.tvernlore claims she was not wrecked at
all. hut merely stoprc'l tt, leave some Of her
condition. aud that there Is tho record Of such
Nay pr ltrngaI. Witch story IS true Of
coirss will never ie known, Int IL scems
as II the ansIcnt inhabitants wcro the
and lcu burned. The ship was bringing eini-
grtnts iron, Ilullani to Atncricn. and nil tlIu
passengers werc wcll.tot'o. Tho ship WIS
burned, with or'o woniat, On her, who refused
to leave her treasure. Tie one survivor Of the
tuary passengers WIS woman called Dutch
Katliefn, WIN soon after Tier cAcapu narrtctl
negro slave. Slle had three children, nil ri
whose descendants have left tho Island. a.
l,cr daughter, onro lived. Josie and myself
happcncd to be very fortunate, ant! succeeded
in SECURING three Or four perss oftllis "Nraek."
as tt,c aln,sicincs tern 7: On one plate Is
Of hlue ItowErs spread oyer tho entire surface.
We enjoyed ourselves immensely going TO
The different houses: the tnMates wero all vcrY
ilo.pltahlc aud tnust OF them willing to Rell At
one place Jos!c went twice l'etore sle s'lececded
III getting anything, AMI then tile ta'y sail ''.,c
didn't suppose she'd care for amy such old trash
% that" Tic old trash happened to be beau.
tiful 0ld-fnshlonei lnAa china lut,elrbowt. We,
of course. had many amusing Incidents. There
was ono ancient maiden with snlall, piercing
black eyes, a large nose, bordering on the Ru.
man, and a mouth iikc n cork-screw.
ahc Ind q most curious set OF crotk-
cry cry. ~ !nylui!nE , steht ,,;,s pt,sSes' oyer r.
which was coyerc,l with grIrn figures lika
dragons. She WAS waa willing tn sell tho lot f0r
*2j liy tic time nc reached this place orr
Ixrkcts, which llai begun to feel light. rcbrlIcd
sweet AZ lAssfhte, In hopes 10 lnove her stony
l,rar to pity, suggested that slle should break
tile set, anu aitow Us cup and saurer apiece !;
hut In vain We pleaded. She fell - on the
lot, and aftcr that was tmmnTubE rs granite.
At length, after inurh tlehattng. We decided ~
buy the e,ltlrc act. But. alas the nrxt tiaY. when
We went to tic house, the door was rluscd In
our faees, -, a,n! ~. W. W. were tod that , ;ne
We returnusi nome. But while there Is life there
ii hnpe, md our buay brains soon Tilt upon
what we Thought very c!eyer plan.. There
was one OF 0,r pnrts III q co}l and deliberate
temperament, and npon her VIC ritrltcd to carry
out our little trsgn. II was TINT ahs should 20
aul UlIer tha stirngnn-womat,n ~ We named
her OH account Of her crockcry, price lower
than VIC hrtl, aud then were In hopes that shc
T91%1
wnuId jump ut our offer. But no: the ancient
female could not be- caught in any such trup,
and. In order 10 avoid furthor importuntles, Ind
presented tic entire set to her niece.
AL our hopes were now crushed, md We sub
mittcti to fate. At oiIc house, whcre / bought
l'alntlnc plate, thcre waa Jug which must
have formerly hecn used for water, or sotne-
thing Atrnnger: It wns Mttcry covered with
blue enamel. with leaves AMI flowers III raised
work. In tho ccntru wns crown, and under It,
fl lArEe letters, q. t. This, according to the
owners acc0llnt, WAS taken from nritEhh mum
of-war during tho struggle between tic French
asla, touched ut block fslaul This waa tho tins
of tho baltic OF Quebec, In l1tr29, wllcn Wolfe
being commander, waa killed On the neck,
which 10 point of land ut ono place nearly
tho rest .ot the island. we struck q mine Of
riches. We drew up In front Of u pleasant
house and aaked the lady as the door II ahe hal
anything ancient. She said "yes," but nothing
dtaE WIS "ulllk ~ oEAks NA| btRft u4tA4k3 A4uCA
,ta, but Dutwarsiiy We were calm, aud weakly
asked 'sff We might SEQ them." She said. 10,
ycs;" 10 out we jumped and wart!y followed
Into her ciotct: here was = store Of treasures.
Josie immediately touk up queer little ten
not anil teizcd nNstart].cup. After grcat
deal Of tnTeigling we persuaded her To sell.
Tho little %a.pot vas used during sis
revolutionary war, when NO ono was nj
loved ten hut the old people. and the mus.
tard-eup was rq.iaily antique. We exchanged
knowing glanceE ~ wg'etnhraccd our treasures.
Another curious thing VIZ. purchased IT, the
same house was m Old dipper. beautifully
rarvcii by hand, which tue Captain OF tho Ann
Hone had made fer his wifc oil his way I,umo
frnin lnlla. Thi. vessel was wrecked on Iloek
Island In the year ihU,. and IL the rst Vi what
sho historian calls modern wrecks. Wo found
various other rurions things. tnvltdtnE brass
randlestckE, cups and saurers. plates au.l tea.
pots, painted By hand. aud 50 uu. need hardly
a,ia TINT as the fever Increased aua thu ncws
spread among the inhabitants the prices went
UP accordingly. aud fear the fortunate owner
Of the dragon crswkcry will scarcely hs induced
another season to sell for $50.
TkN(NCc