The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-04-25
Lovely HOng-KOng.

had been led to believe that the women
of the east, especially China, are Cypress
ed, but when l found that nearly all the
harbor boats in Hong Kong, sampans and
junks, were skippered by women, who
give their commands in shrill tones, do the
steering and a good part of the rowing,
sometimes with babies on their backs, ]
called the chaplain's attention to this en-
largement of woman sphere which would
compel the admiration of the strong mind
ed women even of Boston. 1t seems that
there is a population of some 90, 600 living
altogether on these boats in Hong Kong
harbor. They are born, married, bring up
children and die on the boats, which are
clumsy affairs for navigation and not pa
latial as residences. The woman Of the
boat seems to be the chief executive Off
Ger, but l heard an intimation after max
ing my first crude observation that she
generally has a husband who exercises au-
thority over her and profits by her man
agemcnt The profits cannot be large, for
the earnings of the boats in Tightening car
goes, carrying passengers etc, are small
and precarious. Each boat has at least one
family living on board and sometimes two
or three. The boat population at Canton
is still much larger.
The picturesqueness of Hong Kong har
Dor is much increased by the colored sails
of the junks-red, brown and yellow. The
sails are shaped like the wing of an insect
and have light bamboo poles running
across them horizontally at intervals of
three or four feet. This makes them set
straight, which enables them to work well
up to the wind. 1t is also great conven-
fence in reefing and furling The sail furls
itself when the gaff is dropped These peo
pie have learned something by their long
experience, and many of the things they
use which look clumsy to western eyes
have very excellent reasons for being as
they are.
Hong Kong, finding it difficult to climb
the steep mountain slope, has stretched it.
self out three or four miles along the shore
The central part is the foreign colony, with
a population of less than 10, 000 Outside
of this, at both ends, the Chinese closely
pack themselves, but under more favorable
circumstances than in a real Chinese city
There are some broad streets, and the build
ings are of European construction.
l have been impressed not only by the
sights, but by the sounds as well in these
oriental cities, so different from what we
are accustomed to in the west. AS / sit in
my room in the Hong Kong hotel a con-
slant babel of human voices ascends to me.
When l looked out before breakfast, wish
ed | could give picture of what passes by
on the street in five minutes. We do not
find the passenger wheelbarrow here, as
we did in Shanghai, but the ordinary dray
is a two wheeled wheelbarrow, with long,
stout handles. One cody goes between
the handles, with bearing rope over his
Ehnnl1apg As
according to the load, go ahead, pulling.
In this way four or five coolies will man
age load of stone lumber or bales of
merchandise weighing from half ton to
a ton. Behind them comes n cody, in
sort of dog trot, with two heavy boxes,
baskets or bundles, balanced ON n bamboo
pole over his shoulder. Then a Sikh sol
der or policeman passes, a dignifled Chi
nese merchant, Parsee, Jew, a German,
an English officer, an American "globe
trotter," woman with a baby on her
back, innumerable pigtails with jinrik
shas chairs and SO on. And then the
sounds
l remember how loud the human voice
sounded to one in Venice, where there are
no wheel vehicles and voices are trained in
the open air. 1t is somewhat the same
here. There is no rattle of wheels to drown
the voices. If you walk from Common
wealth avenue to fremont street. across
the public garden and the common, you
will hear a solid roar of sound from the
wheels on the pavement. Here are no load
ed wheels, but many voices. The jinrik-
sha and chairmen keep up a regular
chorus of warning cries and grunts. The
same with all men, pushing, pulling or
carrying burdens In harbor and river
scenes the sounds are as striking as the
sights.
Some of the rambles along the face Of
the mountain above the town are delight
full beyond expression. The ways, curved
to follow the contour of the mountain, now
penetrating deep ravines and again wind
ing about projecting spine, are embower'
ed in the most luxurious foliage. Labor
is cheap, and the amount of stone work
done on the face of this mountain in the
way of walls, balustrades, etc, eXcites our
establishment. Here and there we come
to single residences or terraces, supported
on the lower side by prodigious masonry,
with grounds beautifully planted and com.
handing ravishing views. 1t is as though
some liberal, wealthy and aesthetic individ-
ual had fallen heir to this place of great
natural advantages and devoted his life to
identifying it. / may seem too enthusiasts
tic about Hong Kong, but it justifes my
praiSe.-COr. Boston Herald.