The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-06
A PIECE OF SATAN'S LAND
RETURNED MISSIONARY SAYS ISLAND
OF HAI-NAN is SIN-CURsED,
And that Every Form of Wickedness
and Vice FIOurishes Among
the Native Inhabitants.


from a missionary experience of five years
in what he graphically characterizes as
1.-The devils land"
Mr.. Street is at present a resident of Chi
cago, and in 1892, becoming interested in the
spiritual welfare of the Chinese, was sent
by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Mis-
sions to this far-away dot on the ocean to
labor for the conversion of the heather.
THE French have been contemplating
this step for nearly three years" he said
yesterday. "Hai-Nan is rich in minerals
and the beds of it's mountain streams yield
gold in large quantities even when gar
nered by the crude methods adopted by the
natives Lois as they are called in the
Cantonese dialect About three years ago
a French savant was sent by his govern
ment to explore the mountains of the south
and center of the island. He was geolo-
gist and metalurgst, and was literally
supplied with money He hired Il large
retinue of Chinese to convey himself and
his implements on the proposed prospecting
tour, but, though they accepted his wages
as long as he would pay, the savant never
succeeded in penetrating to the places from
which the gold he had secured on the coast
had been brought. l must tell you that the
Chinese are ruled by the densest supersti-
TONS and one of these is that all foreign
devils can see two feet under ground.
Every foreigner is a devil, in their estima-
ton, and his only possible business in their
country is to seek for treasures.
ARE RULED BY SIGNS.
''Now, this is highly dangerous thing for
them, because of another superstition called
'fong Shut This phrase literally translated
means wind and water but its meaning is
almost boundless. 1t stands for good health,
good luck, success in growing crops, success
in following the chase, and many more
things of similar nature. No Chinaman will
start on journey, build house, or bury
his dead in the island of Hai-Nan unless as
sured either by the almanac or the fong
shut man that the time is propitious; or,
as they used to say in Ohio, where was
born, the sign is right But. according to
inc mn Hl ' thing in the u world 10 de-
stroy the fong shut. To dig q hole IN the
ground, no matter how small, will, as
general rule. bring disaster on an entire
district by destroying the fong Shut
LAS a result of this superstition, and the
other typical characteristic of the Celestial
which prompts him never to give you just
what you want the retinue agreed among
themselves to take the savant on little
jaunt he didn't anticipate Totally ignorant
of the country and it's cowpaths, which
serve as roads, they bore him hither and
thither for days at a time, but instead OF
reaching al
the end of each days journey he found him
self once more back on the seacoast. Threats
and prayers were alike useless. Bribery,
which will accomplish almost anything in
China, was in vain. The foreign devil was
looking for treasures beneath the surface or
the earth and there was gold in the noun
tains He would discover it and dig holes
to secure it. and then the fong shut of the
whole island would go to unutterable ruin.
attempt, after satisfying himself, however,
of the value of the gold diggngs by the
purchase of considerable quantities of the
dust Struggled out of the workings by the
natives.
STRANGE ECONOMIC NOTIONS.
ga little later the French again tried to
gain foothold by establishing an albumen
factory at Kiung-Chow, the capital a city
of about 100000 or half as populous as the
encyclopedias give it. At the same time
they attempted to establish a French con-
sulate. The country produces vast quanti-
ties of hens and ducks eggs, which are
sold cheaply enough. you may be sure in
country where a laborer receives but
cents day and a carpenter or mason only
z or cents But the albumen factory
failed for a curious reason-they offered too
high price for the eggs. In Hai-Nan the
more you buy of thing the higher price
you will be called upon to pay, and the
higher the price you offer the less likely
You will be to get what you want. To say
nothing of fong shut, the Oriental believes
that no man will do other than lie, cheat
and steal except from fear of punishment.
Consequently, they dread an Interior and
evil motive underlying every action of the
foreign devils. AS a result, not only did
the Hai-Nanese refuse to sell their eggs,
but, being the greatest thieves since Barab-
bas the robber, they literally stole the fac
tory and it's appurtenances piece by piece.
Another reason why the French cast
their envious eyes on Hai-Nan is that the
harbor. Yulin-Kan, in the southern part of
the island, would make an excellent naval
station and base of supplies. Hai-Nan IS,
or was, the furthest southern point IN the
Chinese empire, lying between the Gulf of
Tong King and the China sea. 1t is fifteen
miles south from the mainland and formed
a part of the province of Kwang-Tung. 1t
is about $50 miles long, running from south
west to northeast, and one hundred miles
broad.
of about 1,500 goo people. mainly Chinese,
who conquered the aboriginal Lois and
overran the island. The population is over
estimated by the statisNcians. The people
are given over to every sort of vice and
crime known to civilization and to many
varieties OF vice happily unknown TO Euro
peans. Leprosy is frightfully prevalent,
and outside every town is TO be found a
colony of outcasts in all the disgusting
stages of this most horrifying disease.
These poor Wretches hold out the stumps
of their arms, from which the hands have
dropped off, and supplcate for aims, When
you have given them something they as
likely as not spit at you and utter V0lley
of Chinese obscenity SO unutterably foul
that no man has ever dared to translate 1t
THE CURSE OF OPIUM.
Drink is responsible for untold poverty
and degradation in our own land, but the
drunken orgies of New York's 'tenderloin'
and our own levee are heavenly soirees
compared with the saturnalia of opium
fends in Hai-Nan. These benighted people
have no shame so far as their use of this
drug is concerned They smoke it whenever
they can beg borrow, or steal cash enough
to fill their pipes, and yet none deny the
awful consequences of the use of the SOM
nolent poppy vapor.
THE total foreign population of Hai-Nan
| is forty-one souls. sixteen of them mission
aries. half of whom are women. and the
remainder attached to the British CONSUL
ate, the customs department, and two or
three Portuguese Jesuits, who still attempt
to carry on the mission founded two hum
dred years ago. The climate is a terrible
one for people born in a temperate zone,
and feverS. particularly malarial disorders,
quickly debilitate the constitution. Among
the Chinese men there is absolutely no
moral code, and though the women profess
one their profession is about as far as it
goes. Along the roadways all over The ISL
and are erected stone slabs upon which
are engraved moral Drecepts and laws Of
the kingdom, but the only purpose they
seem 10 serve is to point out TO the people
the various kinds OF sin it is possible TO
commit What they do not find out in this
way they sit up at night 70 study out for
themselves Bands of robbers infest the
be moved including the bedclothes from