m Hong Kong to Canton is very interesting, particularly to a
stranger. The numerous islands he passes, and the entirely new scenes
that everywhere attract his eye, cannot fail to delight and amuse him.
Here, the unwieldy Chinese junk; there, the fast-sailing Chinese
passage-boat; now and then, the long snake-like opium-smuggler with his
fifty oars; innumerable fishing-boats, all in pairs, with a drag-net
extended from the one to the other; country boats of all descriptions
passing to and fro, their crews all bent on money-getting, yet, never
failing to cast a glance of mingled contempt and scorn at the "_Fan
qui_"; the duck-boats on the river banks, their numerous tenants feeding
in the adjacent rice-fields; a succession of little Chinese villages,
with groupes of young Celestials staring at him with never-ending
wonder; here and there, a tall pagoda rearing its lofty head high above
the surrounding scenery, as if conscious of its great antiquity and of
the sacred objects for which it was built; the Chinese husbandman with
his one-handed plough, drawn by a single wild-looking buffalo; smiling
cottages, surrounded with orange and other fruit-trees; the immense
fleet of foreign ships anchored at Whampoa;--these and a thousand other
objects, all equally strange and new, attract the attention of the
stranger as he sails up the "Quang Tung" river. On nearing the city
itself, he is still more astonished and pleased with the sights that
literally confuse his ideas, making the whole scene to seem the creation
of magic, rather than sober reality. Here, the river is absolutely
crowded with junks and boats of all sorts and sizes, from the ferry-boat
of six feet long, to the ferry-boat of a thousand tons burthen. Long
rows of houses, inhabited principally by boat-builders and others
connected with maritime affairs, and built on the river, line its right
bank. Outside of these, are moored numerous flat-bottomed boats with
high roofs: these come from the Interior with tea and other produce, and
resemble what I fancy Noah's Ark must have been, more than any thing I
have seen elsewhere. On the left bank, the shore is lined with boats
unloading and loading cargoes, while the different landing-places are
completely blocked up with ferry-boats seeking employment. The space in
the centre of the river, is continually crowded with boats, junks, &c.
proceeding up and down. The scene altogether is bewildering to the
stranger. Busy as the scene i