Account of a voyage of discovery to the west coast of Corea, and the great Loo-Choo IslandHall, Basil
History
Account of a voyage of discovery to the west coast of Corea, and the great Loo-Choo Island
Hall, Basil
Korea -- Description and travel; Ryukyu Islands -- Description and travel
To me he gave a fan and a picture of an old man looking up at the sun,
drawn, he said, by himself: he probably meant in his picture some
allusion to my usual occupation at the observatory. After he had put off
in his boat, he called out, "Ingeree noo choo sibittee yootoosha," I
shall ever remember the English people. When he went to the Alceste, one
of the chiefs remarked that he had neither his hatchee-matchee on nor
his robes, and told him that it was not respectful to wait upon Captain
Maxwell for the last time, in his ordinary dress; particularly as all
the others were in full array. Madera, who, poor fellow, had been too
much concerned about other matters to think of dress, was shocked at
this apparent want of politeness, and went immediately to apologize to
Captain Maxwell, who took him by the hand, and gave him a present,
telling him, at the same time, that he was always too happy to see him,
to notice what dress he had on.
On going into the cabin, I found the chiefs seated in a row, all very
disconsolate, and apparently trying to conceal emotions different, in
all probability, from any which they had ever before experienced.
Captain Maxwell had made them his parting present, and I therefore gave
to each chief some trifle, receiving from them in return, their knives,
pipes, pouches, and fans. In the mean time the anchor was hove up, and
every thing being ready for making sail, the chiefs rose to take leave.
Ookooma wished to say something, but was too much affected to speak, and
before they reached their boats they were all in tears.
Madera cried bitterly as he shook hands with his numerous friends, who
were loading him with presents.
The chiefs, as well as the people in the numerous canoes which had
assembled round the ships, stood up, and continued waving their fans and
handkerchiefs till we were beyond the reefs, and could see them no
longer.
* * * * *
Almost every thing respecting the manners and customs of Loo-choo, with
which we have had an opportunity of becoming acquainted, has been laid
before the reader in the foregoing narrative. It is proposed to insert
here a few particulars which in the hurry of the moment were noted down
without date. They might easily have been embodied with the narrative,
but it has been considered of less consequence to sacrifice arrangement,
than to interfere in any way with the integrity of the Journal, in which
nothing has been inserted out of the exact order in which it is known to
have happened.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account