RAMBLING NOTES.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume LIII, Issue 2796, 4 August 1903, Page 2

RAMBLING NOTES.

(ByG. J. B.)

(Continued)

The city of Canton is about the thitd largest in the world. It is rather a difficult matter to get the correct figures in China ; but Canton has a population of between two and three millions of whom half a million live on the water. It is 95 miles from Hong Kong, and there are five large steamers trading daily to it of about 30C0 tons, like the American river boats—three deckers. It is the Chinese passengers that they cater for, and they invariably carry them on the lower deck for 30oents—equal to Is ; middle deck Is Bd, with chairs; uppi r deck, for European passongers, Bdol., equal to 13s 4<l; so we have to pay for being white. No traveller coming this way should miss seeing Canton, ior it is a purely Chinese city, and the life and bustle that is there is surprising. After leaving Hong Kong, you enter the river, which ia abcut half a mile wide, and, as far as the eye can reach, the water is coveied with huge junks, «ome of them cap able i f carrying up to 300 tons. They look for all the world like the Spanish Galleons, of Columbus's time, with their great sterns

v;. in the air and their bows low down, The largest of them have three mastß, with huge battened lug sa*;is, made of matting, aild thpy sit fairly flit and sjipve the boa]b to windward. They hoist these sails with a Fpanish windlass, on a single bloak, and heave their anchors up the same way. A peculiarity that I noticed is that the anchors have the stock down against the flukes of the shank, instead of at the head, as with us. There is a lot of scroll work and eliding about the stern, I have seen them I loaded with rice bags ten feet above tbe I deck and standing up to their canvas well in a good, fresh breeze. Others, you will see with heavy cargo below and the upper deck and stern piled up half way up the mists with bamboo work, such as crates, chairs, baskets, etc. Looking round off the steamer's dfck, I counted 160 of these boat?. Many of them were trawling, but quite differently from the way we trawl, as the nets are kept off the ground and project from the sides, vt ith bamboo poles guyed to the mast. Some timeß two of them will Eail together,withthe nets between them. There is such a huge demand here for fnh that there are many thousands engaged in the fishing industiy. Another plan they have, which you cm ccc all along the edge of the river, is to drive in four bamboo piles and susnend a square net from each corner, about 100 ft square, etid let it rest near the bottom, then haul the four corners Up simultaneously, ahd the fish fall into a purte in the centre. But to get back to our muttons—as we get near to Canton, the river splits up, forming numerous islands, atd the Chinese have, for de. fence purposes, blocked the rivers with piles, just leaving a passage for the steamers One of these structures is very substantial with steel pilep, with chains across, all •• made in Germany," and erected at a cost about half a mi'lion

At Hong Kong 1 thought I had seen a big fleet of sampanß, junks and steamers, but, approaching the oity if Canton, I can only compare the view to what a big stretch of level bush country looks like after a fire with all the dead trees standing thickly together. Here was a per feet forest of masts for miles and mile*, and it would tax the capacity of Akaroa bar' boar to hold them all, even if they, were packed that close together that you could not see the water. In addition to these native oraft there weie about 40 large ocean steamers and a dozen Chinese gunboats, with tenß of thousands cf small sampams and Blipper boats with a family in every one of them, and hundreds of smart steam launches all manned f.nd engineered by coolies. We passed several launches towing great house bolts covered with flags. These were theatrical parties going away up some of the rivers to give their entertain, ments, for there are no roads about here, it is all river and canal work. It is rather curious to look across a stretch of level country miles away, and Bee the green rioa fields all dotted over with the huge mat sails of the junks, and no water visible. Many of these large junks are propelled by a stern wheel worked by coolie labour. They stand in three rows and each man has a treadmill wheel in front of him, and seems to be climbing upstairs all the time, but gets no •'furreder." They run from 12 to 20 men power, and slip along ab a great rate. The ooolies get about 9d a day for this, and thousands are willing to take oh the job when wanted. As we neared our berth in the river, and before our way was stopped, there was a mad rush of sampams up against the sides of the steamer. Boab hooks were stuck in any place they could g.ta hold of, and the ooolie passengers and their luggage were bundled in and taken ashore. All this for a few cents i per head. Only four months ago a man and his son were beheae'ed for meeting these steamers, getting a passenger or two that had money about them, and giving them a dmok of tea poisoned, then robbing and throwing them overheard. They were suspected and caught in the act. The father was executed firot. Then the son was paraded up and down the river in a wooden cage beside tbe corpse and executed. This was as a warning to others. Dead bodies are frequently seen floating in the river. Weßawnone this trip, but last trip the captain said he passed four. No one takes any notice of them, and this il the water that all these sampam people use'for their tea and their cooking. I have seen them bathing and washing their clothes at the Bteps, and buckets of water being oarried away from the same place for cooking. Also dead dogs and fowls floating abont to give it a flavour. I went aboard a steamer that came in from Hong Kong this morning to see some of our paEsengers who came up. Bhe had several hundred Coolie passengers, and there were four of them carried ashore dead from the plague since leaving Hong Kong. I thought it was about time to get back to our own boat. A guide came on board, and we made arrangements to be taken round the city on the morrow, for it would be impossible to find your way back alone if any distance from the ship, and to fill in tbe time this evening we went, per sampam, down the river to see the flower boats. This is a collection of large house boats—about 150 of them—all moored together, oonnected by plank gangway. They are elaborately fitted up with gold leaf scroll work and paintings, and look like large drawing rooms. Eeoh party of Chi* nese hire on of these for the evening and entertain their friends at a Bing soiig with refreshments and smoking. All the young Chinese girls smoke, and were dressed up very gaily and painted to whiten their complexion. Their voices are very poor,-and their music is just like a fiddle with one string. There is a ferry service just where our steamer is moored, worked by girls who work from 6 am. to 6 p.m. for 5d a day. What they make between these hours Is their own. I saw them working at the oar till 11 at night and at 5 o'clock next morning, so when they get any sleep I cannot imagine. They are on their feet all the time walking backwards and forwards on a narrow plank, and look happy on it. Our people don't know what work is until they see these Eastern nations at it. The fare aoross is only the twentieth part of a cent, what they call a copper cash There is a very strong tide in this river—about 3 knots —and advantage is taken of this, and as It turns the boats go up and down, and you oan sit there for six hours watching them go one way by the hundred and then baok again as it turns. How it is there are not collisions is marvellous, but they just seem to pass each other by a few inches. The trade io live fowls and ducks is enormous, and at 3 o'olock in the morning they commenced discharging a'ongside us, and there was no more sleep. They come in large bamboo baskets, holding about 30 or so, and are carried up to the market and soon disposed of. Another large industry is the egg business. They come in millions in large baskets wtihout any paokiug, and the buyers overhaul every egg by holding it up to the light, and can spot them pretty quick. The bad ones are put to one side, but not wasted as they have a market value for some other purpises. Incubators have no value, as the eggs are hatched out in rice Btraw in the sun being oontinuouslv turned over until hatohed, and on some of the steamers whf-re there in a journey of a week they start with crates of duck eggs which are watched all the way down and turned oter and discharged as young ducks. These are turned into the p»ddy fields and fed for a few days and then fattened up.

(To be continued).