Captain Ringgold replied, returning the most hearty5 thanks to both of the official gentlemen for their kindness in acting6 as the guides of the travellers, and for the interesting and valuable information they had given them. Both of them had declared that the company ought to remain in Manila at least a week; but the commander pleaded the long voyage still before the ships, and repeated what he had so often said before, that, in such a long cruise as they were taking, it was quite impossible to do anything more than obtain a specimen7 of each country or island they visited.[291]
When they left the table the consuls took leave individually of each of the passengers, and were sent on shore in the barge8 of the Blanche, for the steam-launch had already been taken upon the deck of the ship. During the day both steamers had taken in a supply of coal, and the chief stewards9 had procured10 stores of provisions, ice, and especially fruit. As the party were taking leave of the two agreeable gentlemen, they heard the hissing11 of steam on the Blanche, which they did not quite understand, as the commander or Captain Sharp "had made no sign." The Guardian-Mother's people were taken on board, after another leave-taking, and conveyed to their ship in their own boats.
"What is going on, Captain Ringgold?" asked Mrs. Belgrave, when she heard the hissing steam on board of the Guardian-Mother.
"Going on to Hong-Kong," replied the commander.
"To-night?"
"To-night."
"But we have been here only one day," suggested the "first lady."
"The anchor is hove short; but if you think of anything more that you wish to see in Manila or its vicinity, I will remain," added the captain.
"I don't know that there is anything more to be seen. I seemed to know the city before I had seen it."
"Very well, then we will go to sea to-night."[292]
By ten o'clock the ships were under way; and in a couple of hours more they were in the China Sea, headed north-west-by-north, for Hong-Kong. The sea was as smooth as glass, for the east monsoon12 seemed to be interrupted under the lee of the islands. The passengers retired13 at an early hour, and there was no excuse for not going to sleep at once.
In the morning the ship was a long way out of sight of land. Breakfast had been ordered for an hour later than usual, in order to let the party sleep off the fatigue14 of the day before. But some of them were on deck at sunrise, and saw the beautiful phenomenon of that orb15 coming out of the eastern sea. There was not an island or anything else in sight but the broad expanse of water. The air was delightful16; and it was not hot in the early morning, and under the awnings17 it would not be during the day. A gentle sea gave the ship a little motion, but it was a quiet time.
Breakfast was served at the appointed hour; and at this time Mr. Gaskette was busy with his assistants, arranging the frame for a new map, considerably19 larger than any used before, at the head of Conference Hall. He had been at work upon it for several days, and he intended that it should surpass anything he had done before. The orang-outang, the monkey, and the pheasant had been removed to the library, where there was plenty of room for them.[293]
China was a great country, and the professor thought it would require a long talk to dispose of it; and the conference was called for ten o'clock, and so announced at breakfast time. When the passengers went on deck, the first thing that attracted their attention was the new map; and considering that it was made on board of the ship, it was a beautiful piece of work, for the second officer was an artist. At the appointed hour they were all in their seats.
This map, though correct at the time it was made, did not, of course, include the changes which resulted from the war between Japan and China, and which have not even yet been incorporated in modern history. The pacha had been invited to give the lecture on China; but he declared that it was too difficult a subject for him to undertake, and he begged to be excused, and Professor Giroud had willingly undertaken it. It had required all his time on the voyage from Saigon, and all his spare time at Manila, to prepare himself for the difficult task. With the three siamangs in their usual places, he mounted the platform.
A signal from the Blanche caused him to resume his seat, and the screw was stopped. The barge from the consort20 dropped into the water; and the general, his wife, the rajah, Mrs. Sharp, and Dr. Henderson came on board, and chairs were provided for them. Miss Blanche gave up the baby to Mrs. Noury, who was very fond of the little creature.[294] The professor then took his place again on the rostrum, with the pointer in his hand.
"Mr. Commander, ladies and gentlemen," he began. "Before I say a word, I desire to acknowledge my very great obligations to Mr. Gaskette for the elegant map he has prepared and placed before us. You observe that it extends from the Amur River,—which is spelled in older books Amoor; but the latest fashion is to make it Amur, as Hindu and similar words have been changed from oo to u, for both have the same sound in most European and Oriental names,—from the Amur River to Tonquin, about thirty degrees of latitude21, with the nineteen provinces of China, with Korea, properly spelled with initial K, with the islands of Formosa and Hainan. It has given the artist a great deal of labor22, and he has done his work in a manner to call for your highest commendation."
The audience vigorously applauded this statement; and the siamangs added their "Ra! Ra! Ra!" with a volley of squeaks23. Mr. Gaskette bowed his acknowledgments; and the professor handed him the pointer, which looked like a new arrangement.
"The artist is as well or better acquainted with the map than I am, and I have invited him to assist on the platform. Manchuria, and I adopt the most modern spelling of the name," continued the professor, as the artist pointed18 to the province.
"I thought the subject for to-day was China," interposed Mrs. Belgrave.[295]
"So it is, madam; but the modern history of China begins with Manchuria. On the west of it is Mongolia, which any of the old-fashioned gentlemen may call Chinese Tartary if they prefer, though that designation is not in use now. Manchuria is a province of China; though the latter was a province of the former three hundred and fifty years ago, for then it conquered China, whose present emperor is the descendant of the conquering Manchu monarch24. Manchuria has an area of 280,000, and a population of 21,000,000; but not more than one million of the people are Manchus, who wear the costume and speak the language of the Chinese. The rest of the people are emigrants25 from China or other countries, and are as industrious26 and prosperous as any other in the vast empire.
"The Manchus are the aristocracy of the country; and ever since they gave China its ruler, their country has been the principal territory for recruiting the Celestial27 armies; and there are said to be 80,000 of their soldiers in service. And they also furnish China with its magistrates28 and police. But I will leave their country to take its place with the other provinces of the empire. China is believed by its own chronologists to have been in existence 2637 years before the Christian29 era, and perhaps from a date still farther back; but these dates are doubtful.
"The people of China do not know their country by the name so familiar to us, or they know it only[296] so far as they have learned it from merchants and travellers. In the matter of names they all seem barbarous to us; I do not attempt to pronounce them; and I don't think you will succeed in doing so any better than I have. I may add that I have never been in China; and what I tell you I did not pick up myself, but must derive30 it from others who have travelled and lived in the country.
"I have obtained nearly all my information from the very learned and valuable article of Dr. Legge, in Chambers's. He is familiar with the language of the Chinese, has travelled and lived in the country, and is fully acquainted with the manners and customs of the people. In the oldest literature of the empire, it is called Hwâ Hsiâ, the first word meaning 'flowery,' and the second is the proper name of the country. Chung Kwo is the Middle Kingdom, which came into being in the feudal31 period, in the midst of the several states and tribes; and if you wish to know more of China, there is an American edition of Dr. Williams in four volumes, which will tell you all about it. But the name did not mean the middle of the earth, as sometimes claimed, nor is it the foundation of the derisive32 term applied33 to China, 'The Central Flowery Nation.'
"Other names have been given to China, though seldom seen or heard; but Cathay, perhaps coming from the Russian name Kitai, is not at all uncommon34, especially in poetry. The name we use comes to us from India, when two Buddhist35 missionaries,[297] who came from 'the land of Chin,' called it China and Chintan.
"As stated before, the native Chinese line of rulers, the Ming dynasty, conquered China in 1644, and placed the first of the Tsing monarchs36 on the throne. I will not tangle37 up your intellects by following out the individuals of the succession any farther than to say that the present emperor, or Hwangti, of China is Tsait'ien, who was proclaimed as such in January, 1875. The ruler may name his successor, for the descent is not hereditary38 to his eldest39 son; and if he fails to do so, the default is made good by his family. He is the ninth emperor of the Manchu or Tartar dynasty.
"As I said, China has nineteen provinces, including the island of Formosa, all of which are represented on the map before you. The divisions of the country are immensely populous40; though the average of the whole to the square mile is less than that of Belgium by nearly one-half, several of whose provinces are more densely41 peopled than any in China. It is also less than the State of Rhode Island, and but a little above that of Massachusetts,—the two States the most densely inhabited in our own country.
"Many say that the population of China has been exaggerated; and it is variously given at from 282,000,000 to 413,000,000, a very great difference, and you suit yourselves with the figures if you can. Dr. Legge thinks that 400,000,000 is not an over-estimate. The area of the eighteen provinces is[298] 1,336,841 square miles, to which about 15,000 may be added for Formosa; but the area of the whole Chinese empire is 4,218,401, while that of the United States, including Alaska, is 3,501,409.
"If you look at the map, you will see that there are numerous chains of mountains in the countries lying west of China, especially in Tibet, while China proper has but few of them. The land generally slopes from the several ranges to the sea, but I will not perplex you with the names of them. The rivers, of course, flow from the mountains, and you can see that they have space for a long course. They are generally called ho in the north, and chiang or kiang in the south. The Ho, Hoang-ho, or Yellow River, and the Chiang, known to us as the Yang-tsze-Chiang, must be over three thousand miles long. I will not follow them from source to mouth. Canton, or Choo-Chiang River, which means Pearl River, is also a very large stream. All these waterways, you notice on the map, have a general course from west to east. All of them are navigable, though the Hoang-ho is less so than the Yang-tsze-Chiang, the 'most beloved' of the Chinese; for its counterpart in the north is a turbid42 stream, so tricky43 that it changed its course in 1853 so that its mouth is now about two hundred and fifty miles north of where it was before that date."
Mr. Gaskette pointed out the former course, which he had indicated by double dotted lines, and that of the present course to the Gulf44 of Pe-chi-li.[299]
"Chinese history begins twenty-four hundred years before our era, when the first human kings of Egypt were on the throne, with the narrative45 of a tremendous inundation46, which some have identified as that of the Flood in the Old Testament47. But the floods did not cease with that event, for several others have followed. As late as 1887, only half a dozen years ago, the treacherous48 Hoang-ho broke loose, and poured its waters into the populous province of Honan, tearing everything to pieces and destroying millions of lives. There have been so many of these floods that they have given the great river the name of 'China's Sorrow.' But the Manchu rulers are repairing damages, and providing against such disasters in the future.
"I have to speak next about the Grand Canal and the Great Wall; but I will defer49 it for half an hour for a recess50, for I think you must be tired of the dry details I have been giving you," said the professor, as he stepped down from the rostrum.
The company then promenaded51 the deck for the time indicated.
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1
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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consuls
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| 领事( consul的名词复数 )； （古罗马共和国时期）执政官 （古罗马共和国及其军队的最高首长，同时共有两位，每年选举一次） | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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6
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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barge
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| n.平底载货船，驳船 | |
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stewards
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| （轮船、飞机等的）乘务员( steward的名词复数 )； （俱乐部、旅馆、工会等的）管理员； （大型活动的）组织者； （私人家中的）管家 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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monsoon
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| n.季雨，季风，大雨 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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orb
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| n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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awnings
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| 篷帐布 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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consort
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| v.相伴；结交 | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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squeaks
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| n.短促的尖叫声，吱吱声( squeak的名词复数 )v.短促地尖叫( squeak的第三人称单数 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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emigrants
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| n.（从本国移往他国的）移民( emigrant的名词复数 ) | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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derisive
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| adj.嘲弄的 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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Buddhist
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| adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒 | |
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monarchs
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| 君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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densely
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| ad.密集地；浓厚地 | |
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42
turbid
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| adj.混浊的，泥水的，浓的 | |
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tricky
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| adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的 | |
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44
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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45
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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46
inundation
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| n.the act or fact of overflowing | |
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testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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48
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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49
defer
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| vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从 | |
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50
recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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51
promenaded
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| v.兜风( promenade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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