CHAPTER X.

VISITS AND CEREMONIES.

THE scene is Wan, the head-quarters of a prefecture of the second provincial grade-a hien-in the far interior of China, removed from its eastern seaboard some thirteen degrees of longitude, and at a distance of 1100 sea-miles up the Great Yang-tsze Kiang. Surrounded by Surrounded by a hilly and broken country, with a fine range of mountains standing as a barrier against the north-west breezes, Wan has many features of situation and scenery which differ much from our preconceived notions of China, as derived from geographies; where it is represented as one immense fertile plain, intersected in every direction by canals and rivers, wooded with mulberry and tea trees, in which golden-pheasants innumerable nestle, and under the shade of which fishing cormorants industriously pursue their avocations; where porcelain pagodas and high-arched bridges meet the eye at every turn, and waterwheels revolve through an old habit which they cannot shake off, though the river has long since been diverted from its course to aid in supplying some enormous canal at the other extremity of the empire; where the people are a nation of astronomers and star-gazers, living in such crowds that they require to construct floating islands and hanging gardens in order to supply the demands of the commissariat. These notions must certainly give way before China in 1861, as seen on the Yang-tsze; these phantoms of China must fade, if we would learn how this thoroughly utilitarian and not in the least degree star-gazing nation exists in a country

the size of half of Europe, and holds sway over a region almost rivalling the southern continent of the New World. We must believe in mountains, in inland seas, and all the usual physical features of other parts of the world, and cast from us the "fertile valley" notion, and the "willow pattern," before we can even begin to realize China.

The town of Wan is one of some size, and foreshadowed that mercantile prosperity which was afterwards to surprise us in this western province. It covers some undulating ground close to the left, which is there the western bank of the river; and a tolerably sized creek, coming from a deep valley in the highlands at the back of the place, divides the city into two portions. An amount of suburb all along the river-face prevents the wall from being easily distinguished when on the water, while the curved roofs of numerous temples and yamuns denote it to be a place of some importance. Two junks are lying a little removed from a crowd of others which line the shore, on the larger one of which is flying a well-known red bunting, indicating that these boats contain four of those people whom the Chinese believe are born in ships, live in ships, and die in ships, except when they land on Celestial shores to sell opium, purchase tea and silk, batter down forts, or burn palaces. It is a foggy morning, so that the beautifully cultivated hills on the opposite shore are but dimly visible, and a thick haze hangs over the rippling waters.

All is bustle on board our junks, for the leading men of the procession have arrived at the river bank. Blankets are rolled up and stowed away; the China servants and Seikhs are arranging tables and chairs under direction of the "writer," whose knowledge of the customs of official etiquette has been derived from a residence at a yamun in some official situation, possibly that of shoe-black. He is very particular that this chair should be towards the west, that to

the east, and others to the north or south; but I don't think he is very particular which, for his notion of the points of the compass are anything but clear. He has donned a silk dress and mandarin hat with gilt button, in virtue of an examination which he bribed the examiners to pass him through, and which entitles him to the rank of literary mandarin of some class or other. We get ourselves up each in the costume of his profession; the reverend gentleman appears in the cloth of his calling, and the two military members turn out in their war paint, one of whom wears the uniform of a lancer in Her Majesty's service, and is so bedaubed with gold lace and braid, that, as it is likely he will create a great impression on our visitors, it is unanimously voted that he shall "do the swell," and act as chief man among the party for the day; because it would be incompatible with Celestial ideas that we could be all on an equality; besides, at the official visit at Quai-chow the other day, this military costume had the effect of our being presented with the flag of "Lord High Ambassador," and we could not do better than keep up the silent delusion. The Doctor managed to get up a capital rig, by taking an old frock coat, sewing on it a pair of shoulder-straps of gold-lace, taken from some part of a naval officer's uniform, and distributing "Peninsular and Oriental" buttons over the remainder, in positions where they could be of no possible use in their proper capacities, in such a way as to relieve the monotony of the blue, and complete a tunic, which, had he not destroyed it afterwards in a fit of frenzy at our having to turn back after we had got half-way through our intended journey, might have been brought forward as a pattern at the next change of dress which the British Army undergoes, for it well fulfilled some of those conditions which enter into the composition of our military equipment. Then he extemporized knickerbockers, so that he might not be

СНАР. Х.

PREPARING TO RECEIVE A GENERAL.

165

behind the age, and crowned all by an old gold-banded staff cap, which we had purloined from the kit of the author of the Narrative of the China War of 1860,' in expectation of its coming in useful. The Seikhs were dressed out in the uniform of their corps; and being stuck all over with pistols, swords, bayonets, telescopes, and ammunition pouches, they were instructed to present themselves at every possible point where they might meet the eyes of our visitors; and it was left to the havildar (sergeant) to dispose of his three privates and himself, and go through such manœuvres with them as he thought most likely to impress the Chinese with the high state of discipline, and might lead them to form as exaggerated an estimate as possible of the strength of our army. He acquitted himself admirably, for during the visit he was constantly engaged in relieving guard; the "old guard "-excuse me, my unmilitary readers, for this digres sion into professional matters-the "old guard” marching off to the "present arms" of a supposed "new," and then by a clever manœuvre, executed with admirable skill, in which they made the circuit of the junk's deck, the same three men came round again, and took up their former position, except that the situation of each with respect to his neighbour was changed, and the delusion was thereby made perfect. Whichever way the old Chinese general looked, there was sure to be a revolver pointing directly down his throat, or a fixed bayonet bristling within a few inches of his breast; the military air and voice in which the havildar issued his commands seemed to gain the old fellow's admiration, and I several times saw him making side remarks to his aide-decamp on the admirable appearance of our troops.

Arrangements were scarcely complete when the main part of the procession moved up to the tune "the old cow died of," played on Chinese bagpipes, which should not be called bagpipes at all, being a kind of flagelet; but they utter cer

tainly quite as detestable sounds as those instruments which so delight the ears of our northern brethren. The soldiers, of whom there were some two or three hundred dressed in scarlet tunics, ranged themselves along the river bank, and a red umbrella or two, which are always part and parcel of a procession, formed upon their flank; some spearmen came next, and then the sedan-chair of His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief of Eastern Sz'chuan, borne by a dozen coolies in holiday caps with blood-red tassels. This was followed by several other chairs, but, not containing men of very high rank, they had a paucity of coolies. Numbers of attendants followed and walked on either side of the chairs, most of whom were armed with respectable rattan-canes, with which they laid about smartly around them whenever the crowd of townspeople became too pressing. His Excellency and staff alighted, and, being invited on board our junk by the officious "writer"-for it would have been beneath our dignity to have gone out to meet him ourselves—they passed our guard of Seikhs, who were drawn up with open ranks, and "presented" rifles and shot guns, and were ushered into our presence. We rose to receive them; they all bowed in the regular Chinese manner, with their two fists together before them, and we raised our caps. The general was invited to take the uppermost seat, which, in perfect accordance with Chinese etiquette, he refused to do, saying at least half a dozen times that he was unworthy; we knew that, but forced him at last to bring himself to an anchor; and the others followed suit according to their rank.

A conversation was commenced in the orthodox manner by our demanding, through Mr. Schereschewsky and his secretary, what was his "honourable age"? and this was followed by a series of questions and answers on both sides, which bore upon no particular point. Some brandy was then served out, and our visitors were asked to partake of "our execrable