The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1882-08-17
A Week in n Chinese House. poat.

To the uninitiated IL may be said that
Shanghai house boat is very much
more OF home than are tho craft called
by the same name which are met with
occasionally upon the Thames; and the
"bosses OF the great banks and mer-
camille houses vie with each other In
the lavish decoration and luxurious
comfort of their house-boats. Many OF
them are, in fact, little floating draw.
ing rooms, ablaze with mirrors and
gliding, and very rluch better adapted
for 'loafing" purposes and entertain.
ments than for shooting expeditions and
other rough work. The boat in which
we made our trip up the river was com.
Portable and convenient enough; but it
was practical and not an ornamental
house boat. 1t was late summer when we
started; for although house. boat is
generally tolerable during tie. hot
season, when nothing else is, we we're
not much given to loupRing end the re-
ception of company. All told we were
six on board including the "lowdah"
or captain the cook, and two coolies to
tow or work the boat. Scenery there is
none near Shanghai; and ut the first
starting, amidst the crowd of boats,
junks and sampans which block up the
creek below bridge, the only sense it'll
lated to any extraordinary degree was
that of smelt. 1t was very slow work,
but we kept in the boat. and passed the
time agreeably il not proftably, in eat.
ing. drinking and smoking, and listen
ing to the old lowdah's tales of bis pirate
life. The cook did his duty manfully
and varied our meals with the talent pc
culiar to Frenchmen and Chinamen.
Until we passed Sicawei, which may be
termed the boundary of the foreign do.
minion, the coolies cared the boat in
their peculiar fashion, the lowdah steer
ing-wih his feet when his hands were
busy with his "chow'' or his pipe. But
when we got into the open country the
towrope was fastened, and the coolies
got out on the bank. It was a curious
voyage.
Only one thing annoyed us, and it
was inevitable, it had to be borne the
ceaseless attention paid to us by the
native dogs. Chinese dogs--in fact all
Chinese animals-possess an extraor-
dinary faculty dissenting out foreigner,
aud the former invariably announce
their discovery by howlings and bark
ings, which only cease with the COM
plete disappearance OF the obnoxions
intruder. Sometimes in the country
these dogs-which, like those of Con-
stantinople, are the public scavengers,
and are protected from harm by public
edict as we'll as by popular prejudice
are positively dangerous for although
singly they are arrant towards, and run
off at the mere action of picking up q
stone, in groups they a1e apt to be ag-
glessive, especially if the foreigner be
alone. We could always tell when we
were approaching a village, when the
high banks hid it from view, by the ex-
element amongst the dogs and when
we anchored for tie night-always in
mid.stream-their incesS ant barking
banished all notions of sleep. Another
annoyance was the mosquitoes; but at
night the curtains kept them out.
Everywhere we could see traces of the
horrible work OF pilla ye and devastation
carried on during the TAPPING rebellion,
and, strange to say, in spite of the
more generous ideas Ct civilization
which are beginning to assert them
selves in China, as it is nobody's busi-
ness to remedy the appearance of mat
tiers, the bare and desolate character of
the country still remains. We must
have passed during cur weeks trip at
least twenty villages utterly wrecked
and deserted, not t. speak of magnifi-
cent porcelain bridges ruined, pagodas
tottering to their fail, roofess temples
and even desecrated graveyarda.
Every evening we anchored in mid
stream and jumped overheard for a
swim and upon one occasion, when
the spot chosen was not far off from
atown rejoicing in the euphonious name
of Sin Ka Kok, as We were espied Jump.
ing overheard and striking out, the
whole population swarmed out to wit.
ness the sight, the bridge was mass OF
human heads, and the banks were lined
with u crowd of both sexes. Not far
from here are the only hills anywhere
near Shanghai, and being hills, they
are favorite pilgrimage of foreigners
weary of the monotonous grave-studded
fiatness of the country round the Euro
pean settlement. They are but mounds;
but there are actually some picturesque
copses at their base which are greatly
resorted to by picnic parties. We
assembled the hills, as in duty bound,
and then turned the PROV of our boat
homeward-a proceeding which seemed
to please our coolies nightly, for they
took us back in half the time they &C
cupied in bringing us.