Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of ElginElgin, James Bruce, Earl of
History
Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of Elgin
Elgin, James Bruce, Earl of
Great Britain -- Colonies -- Administration -- History -- 19th century
_Chusan.--March 21st._--This is a most charming island. How any
people, in their senses, could have preferred Hong-Kong to it, seems
incredible. The people too, that is to say, the lower orders, seem
really to like us. We walked through the town of Tinghae, and asked at
the shop of a seller of perfumed sticks for the 'Mosquito tobacco,'
but in vain. We then passed through the further gate of the city into
the country beyond, and seeing something like a chapel, made towards
it. A man, dressed as a Chinaman, came out to meet us. He addressed us
in French, and proved to be a Roman Catholic priest. He was very
civil, and asked us into his house, where he gave us some tea, grown
on his own farm. He has been here two years quite alone, and he was
ten years before in the province of Kiangsù. He says that he has some
200 converts. Some twenty boys, deserted children, he brings up, and
works on his farm. I saw them, and I must say I never beheld a more
happy and well-conditioned set of boys. In the town was an
establishment for younger children, chiefly girls, under the charge of
a Chinese female convert. After he had given us tea, the missionary
accompanied us in our walk. He first took us to a sort of cottage-
villa, belonging to one of the rich inhabitants, consisting of about a
couple of acres of ground, covered by kiosks and grottos and dwarf-
trees, and ups and downs and zigzags,--all in the most approved
Chinese fashion. From thence we clambered up a mountain of, I should
think, some 1,200 feet in height, from which we had a very extensive
view, and beheld ranges of hills, separated by cosy valleys, on one
side; on the other, the walled city of Tinghae, surrounded by rice-
fields; beyond, the sea studded with islands of the Chusan group. It
was a beautiful view, and we returned to the ship very much pleased
with our scramble.
[Sidenote: Scenery.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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