The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1880-04-17
6hinas abroad.


You approach the West India Docks
through the Great Eastern Railway Com.
pany terminus at Fenchurch street; aud |
nowhere In England are railway appoint
ments more abomipable. Greasy plat.
forms under rickety sheds; trains like that
"string Of secondhand collins" in which
Artemus Ward travelled to the south; scr
wants who look as Il they had been rugged
out Of random by contract with the second
hand slop-dealers Ia Houndsditch. The
mixture Of your fellow passengers is pic
turesque, though you may be surprised to
meet most Of them in frst-class carriages;
aud already you are conscious Of some re-
Elections OF the sunshine Of Eastern lands.
The diamond that adorns the middle fn-
ger Of that shipbroker opposite has bar
baric look; and the talk OF the gentleman
in shaggy pilot cloth, with the slight gold
circlets in his rosy ears, is Of reels in the
Red Sea aud the bars Of Chinese rivers.
IL is characteristic by the way that he
presses full favored MANILA on the good
humored woman who is huggsd under his
arm aud who is evidently his lawful wife;
while as for the lady, she bites the end of
the cigars as it she we're used to it, and
laughingly proceeds to light the weed at
her lords. The steep descent from the
platform Of the dock station is like diving
down the companion hatch into the fore
castle, except that you emerge into space
and comparative light. The sun is blink
Ing feebly through watery fog, and as
yet the scene is intensely British There
is ceaseless roll of heavy traffic on the
thoroughfares; the drivers Of the trucks
aud wagons aud trollies arc swearing with
Auglo-Saxon energy as they choke in tho
gulf stream before the narrow bridges;
there are gangs of laborers busy under the
cranes that ereak hoarsely from the dock
lofts overhead As you pass the gates
where the policemen stand sentinel, the
first appearances arc decidedly depressing.
Considering the damp that pervades the
murky atmosphere, you do not wonder
that the adjacent public houses are doing
lively trade pimly through the veil Of
Sapor you distinguish the masts aad spars
Of the tiers Of shipping, while the solid
cordage Of their riggings shows like the
delicate tracery work in cobweb.
Now it happens that the first odors Of
commerce that come upon US are by no
means those of Araby the Blest The ship
that is unloading st the nearest corner
halls straight from Peruvian port. Pass.
ing under low, long shed, which ruus 10
front Of the many-storied block Of ware.
houses, you are among piles Of hampers Of
lossely woye mating. This is what you
came for, not that you care to ask questions
regarding tho contents Of the baskets.
even if anybody were at leisure to be ex.
amined on the subject. You have gen
eral commentary on the bill Of lading 10 q
printed placard attached to post. The
wall.sided, deep-waisted screw steamer is
the Moro Castle from the Havana. There
is rich scent Of pines and guava jelly
and all the luxuries Of West Indian dcs.
sert table as il might be spread in the
baoqueting halls Of captain general, with
, a show OF turtles from St. Thomas turned
on their backs. London is left many a
hundred leagues behind you, aud you are
musing among cane brakes aud boiling
houses and berry.laden coffee plantations
and summing yourself 10 the beams Of q
tropical sun aE II throws its radiance OF
the groves oi lines and shaddocks. But
few steps further and you change youl
latitude. Now you are by the "Glenfal
loch, from Singapore, Penang and Java.
1t is wonderful, by the way, how busy tn,
Scotch are in the shipping trade, If W,
may judge by the number Of Scottish
names given to vessels that are classed A
! at Lloyd's. The Gleufalloch and th,
wharf to which she is noored are redoleu
Of treasures Of cinnamon and nutmeg; ant
she is discharging at the moment frou
the hatchway in her forehold bundles o
oddly bent slaves and packets Of "Penan,
lawyers" The white paint on her decks
albeit somewhat dingy, is pleasantly sug
gestiye Of sultry skies, and you envy ia
mate the sunburnt copper complexion con
trasting so strongly with the pallor of tn
: customs clerk who is experimenting th
process Of weighing. Sailors sec compar
atiyely little of foreign countries, yet yol
know that that lucky man, only few shor
weeks before, has been lounging unde
the alleys Of ian.leaved foliage that em
bosom the cities Of the Straits. You ma
have us much or as little Of this sort q
thing as you please, for the trade Of ou
docks is inexhaustible In its variety.
you tear yourself away from these dreams
you may brace yourself among craft fres
from the Atlantic voyage. The graxier q
Cheshire or Wiltshire would shudder a
those piles ofeheeses thathaye been brough
through the fogs OF the blanks" An
there is 10 mistaking the smell Of New
foundlaud salt cod from the barque that
: lying abaft Of the steamer, Then comes
great cotton screw from Bombay, disgorg
ing the bales hooped neatly with meta
aud next you have craft with coffee frou
Pernambuco; aud another with hides iron
the pampas Of the River Plate.
But, In connection with the East, wha
strikes one most 10 the docks nowadays
especially 10 the Victoria Docks-is th
enormous number OF Oriental seamen, Al
the steamers passing through tho Sue
Canal are manned by crews Of Lasears; an
the Canal aud the Lascars together hay
wrought complete revolution in the Eas,
ern traffic. Y thin the memory Of man
has passed through three distinct stages
First were the golden days Of the East In
dia Company's navy, when happy Official
we're shaking the pagoda tree, aud freight
Of priceless value were being shipped from
country that was popularity believed al
III Dorado. The very pickings Of th
trsde were 50 valuable thas captain coul,
gain competency 10 single trip; aud ",
believe that, after making the fortune tha
three voyages insured hiai, he was com
pelled to retire 10 favor Of his Juniors
Thon came Waghorn and his exploration
Of the Overland route, and the establish
ing Of the Peninsular aud Oriental Com
pany. The men who used to furnish lhel
cabins sumptuously for the long yoyag,
around the Cape, who used 70 yictua
themselves with all manner of private del
icaeies and lay 10 cases Of wine and cask
Of aerated waters, were precisely those /,
whom time seemed valuable and who dil