Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 3.: The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth CenturyVerne, Jules
History
Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 3.: The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century
Verne, Jules
Discoveries in geography; Explorers; Voyages and travels
Kruzenstern next identified the Farellon Islands of Anson's map, now
known as St. Alexander, St. Augustine, and Volcanos, and situated south
of the Bonin-Sima group. Then crossing the Formosa Channel, he arrived
at Macao on the 21st November.
He was a good deal surprised not to find the _Neva_ there, as he had
given instructions for it to bring a cargo of furs, the price of which
he proposed expending on Chinese merchandise. He decided to wait for
the arrival of the _Neva_.
Macao seemed to him to be falling rapidly into decay.
"Many fine buildings," he says, "are ranged in large squares,
surrounded by courtyards and gardens; but most of them uninhabited, the
number of Portuguese residents there having greatly decreased. The
chief private houses belong to the members of the Dutch and English
factories.... Twelve or fifteen thousand is said to be the number of
the inhabitants of Macao, most of whom, however, are Chinese, who have
so completely taken possession of the town, that it is rare to meet any
European in the streets, with the exception of priests and nuns. One of
the inhabitants said to me, 'We have more priests here than soldiers;'
a piece of raillery that was literally true, the number of soldiers
amounting only to 150, not one of whom is a European, the whole being
mulattos of Macao and Goa. Even the officers are not all Europeans.
With so small a garrison it is difficult to defend four large
fortresses; and the natural insolence of the Chinese finds a sufficient
motive in the weakness of the military, to heap insult upon insult."
Just as the _Nadiejeda_ was about to weigh anchor, the _Neva_ at last
appeared. It was now the 3rd November, and Kruzenstern went up the
coast in the newly arrived vessel as far as Whampoa, where he sold to
advantage his cargo of furs, after many prolonged discussions which his
firm but conciliating attitude, together with the intervention of
English merchants, brought to a successful issue.
On the 9th February, the two vessels once more together weighed anchor,
and resumed their voyage by way of the Sunda Isles. Beyond Christmas
Island they were again separated in cloudy weather, and did not meet
until the end of the trip. On the 4th May, the _Nadiejeda_ cast anchor
in St. Helena Bay, sixty days' voyage from the Sunda Isles and
seventy-nine from Macao.
"I know of no better place," says Kruzenstern, "to get supplies after a
long voyage than St. Helena. The road is perfectly safe, and at all
times more convenient than Table Bay or Simon's Bay, at the Cape. The
entrance, with the precaution of first getting near the land, is
perfectly easy; and on quitting the island nothing more is necessary
than to weigh anchor and stand out to sea. Every kind of provision may
be obtained here, particularly the best kinds of garden stuffs, and in
two or three days a ship may be provided with everything."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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