Forty Years On The Pacific/Voyages Across the Pacific

by Frank Coffee

Vancouver to Auckland

IN keeping notes of my many voyages across the Pacific I have been able to collect odds and ends of information that are quaint, amusing and more or less valuable. It is interesting to contrast, for instance, the present luxuries of travel with the primitive simplicities of my first voyage on this ocean in 1878, which I made at the instance of Mr. J. W. Lyon. Then I was berthed on the old three-thousand ton Zealandia, from San Francisco, on which whale oil was burned in the lamps, and these extinguished at eleven o'clock. Now, we have electric light, first-class provisions in cold storage, large canvas tanks on deck for swimming, electric fans throughout the ship, cabins de luxe with private baths and laundry—in short, everything has improved for tropical traveling, including the temperature, which ranges from 77 to 85 degrees in the tropics of the Pacific.

I select some of the jottings from my note-books on a trip from Vancouver to Auckland in the Makura in November, 1913.

We left under the command of Captain Sid Phillips, and steamed through the outward passage to Victoria. The island scenery through Puget Sound is rery beautiful, with unexpected nooks tucked away amid forests of luxuriant growth. After a stop of three hours at Victoria we continued our voyage to Honolulu. With the exception of one day, when head-winds emptied the saloon of sea-sick passengers, the sea was untroubled.

The nine hours' stop at Honolulu is the pleasantest kind of break in the trans-Pacific journey. Indeed, that delightful spot is the pearl of the Pacific, the place to which good Americans ought to wish to go when they die. They would if they had any idea of its colorful charm.

It is usual for strangers approaching Honolulu to express dread of the heat ashore. No greater misapprehension could exist, for the climate is ideal, the thermometer registering from 55 to 85 degrees throughout the year. After these fearful passengers have spent a day in Honolulu and its environs it is a pleasure to listen to their enthusiastic comments on their return to the vessel at night. They fairly bubble with delight at the details of the picture that has been revealed to them during the day.

I find that nearly all travelers who are about to experience the tropics for the first time have a dread of the expected hot weather they are to suffer. But the tropical heat in MidPacific is not severe. On this voyage of the Makura it has been only 84 degrees so far. .1 have seen it as low as 77 and 79 degrees on different occasions. Trade winds afford blessed relief and often continue while one is in the tropics. Besides, aboardship, it must be remembered that the motion of sailing will create a breeze which could not be obtained on shore.

Most of the passengers on English ships dress for dinner, and in consequence money spent on a couple of white duck mess (Eton) jackets and white vests will guarantee a lot of comfort on a trip through the tropics. Travelers from the United States and Canada should provide themselves with three different weights of clothing, as they will undergo many varying temperatures.

Speaking of dressing for dinner reminds me that an English company trading between London and Yokohama and Australia almost insists upon saloon passengers donning the conventional garb for the chief meal of the day. I know of a case where a chap joined us at Fremantle, West Australia, and appeared at dinner in an ordinary tweed suit. Thereupon the captain sent a steward to him with his compliments and requested that he appear in "gentlemanly attire." On one voyage between Yokohama and Ceylon the captain sent a request to two saloon passengers, who were dining in ordinary everyday attire, to be good enough to retire to'their staterooms and finish dinner there. It may be pointed out, however, that a man can travel round the world with a tweed and a dress suit.

Before embarking on a sea voyage, ladies should arrange their wardrobe so as to have quick access to their most ravishing costumes, because the rivalry and criticism on board are keen, and the taste displayed equal to that met with in the biggest drawing-rooms and hotels.

There is plenty of time, while the ship plows smoothly through the Tropics, for dressing, eating, dancing and flirting. Many world travelers are met on the Pacific, and wide range of fashions compete for supremacy.

Up-to-date and down-to-limit dresses are noticeable, some with little more than shoe strings across the shoulders. In fact, a tendency appears toward rivaling the raiment worn by the Dusky Island Maidens.

Bulletins were posted daily on board the Makura, giving news received by wireless from both San Francisco and Honolulu stations. We were always eager to learn the latest event, for the daily-paper habit is one that stays with you to the most remote places. Wireless meets the need in mid-ocean.

To make time pass swiftly at sea all sorts of amusements are devised by individuals and committees. One of the best on this voyage was a fancy-dress ball. It brought plenty of excitement and merriment.

Three of our passengers were members of the Circumnavigator's Club—Mr. Paterson, of Melbourne, Pete Friend, of Vancouver, and myself. The qualification for joining this club is that the candidate must have circumnavigated the globe, and be nominated by three members. The idea of such a club originated with Mr. J. H. Birch, of New Jersey.

When crossing the equator at the 180th meridian of longitude, the three members of the club aboard the Makura gave a dinner to four new candidates for membership: Mr. C Holdsworth, general manager of the Union Steamship Company, of New Zealand, Mr. Fred Johnson, U. S. A., Mr. E. Hollingdale, electrician, of Sydney, and Mr. W. R. Davis, of Auckland, New Zealand. Flowers were scarce, but the tables were decorated with the flags of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States; and the dinner supplied by Chief Steward Waller would have done credit to the caterer of Epicurus.

As we drop a day out of our lives when traveling west across the 180th meridian, we had to date our invitations for the 13th-14th October. Incidentally, our Chief Engineer Peterson lost a birthday because of dropping the day, and thus he gained a year, figuratively speaking. Had we been going east we would have had a week of eight days, duplicating the day we crossed the 180th meridian.

Much curiosity is displayed by travelers in going over this imaginary line of the earth's surface, and our passengers on this occasion were no exception. There seems to be an idea that some phenomena will mark the 180th meridian. The Makura crossed in the night when eyes were useless to detect any change in water, air or sky, but one lady vowed that she felt a slight bump when crossing. She was evidently as sensitive as the princess who, sleeping on seven mattresses, was bruised by the pea under the bottom one!

Strange experiences are met with by traders at the 180th meridian, however. One schooner captain, traveling east on a Sunday, in east longitude, dropped anchor here and went ashore for the purpose of doing business with the natives. He encountered some missionaries resident there with sufficient influence to prevent the natives from trading on Sunday. Irritated, he hoisted sail and traveled eastward, and the next day dropped anchor on the eastern side of the 180th meridian, in west longitude, and encountered another Sunday! Going ashore, he found to his chagrin that the missionaries had educated the natives against work on Sunday on this island, too. Although badly in need of fruit and other foodstuff, he was compelled to bow to the order of the day, literally, and wait until the next sun brought a Monday at last. Those who have read Foe's "Three Sundays in a Week" will recall to what ingenious use he put the 180th meridian.

Another anecdote of the kind is worth tabulating. Not so very long ago a unique labor dispute occurred at the 180th meridian. As is well known, the Seaman's Union is particularly strong in New Zealand. Among other things, overtime is demanded by a crew at sea for working on Sunday. Now, a New Zealand steamer was on a voyage from Wellington to San Francisco, via Raratonga and Tahiti. The 180th meridian was crossed on a Sabbath off the east coast of New Zealand. As we have already seen, the next day would be reckoned as Sunday, so that the time would correspond with the chronology in west longitude. Embracing the opportunity, the sailors struck for two Sundays' overtime, and appealed to the Arbitration Courts of New Zealand. The judge admitted that the nautical position was a puzzle to him, so he called for experienced navigators to give evidence. After hearing all, the magistrate decided to give the complaining sailors one Sunday's overtime.

While we are on the equator, let us note an interesting fact. At the equator and south of it, the Southern Cross is observable in the sky all year. North of the equator, to about latitude 27, it is visible, in clear weather, from about seven P. M. to midnight, during the months of April, May and June. During January, February and March it is visible north of the equator between midnight and four A. M. For the other six months it is not observable except near the equator, because it is on the meridian in daylight.

The Makura steamed through the islands of the Fiji group, and we stopped twenty-two hours at the capital, Suva, where cabs and taxis were obtained for hire, "to see the sights." A cricket match was played between a Suva club and an eleven selected from our passengers. The match resulted in a score of 128 to 28 in favor of the local team.

At Suva and Honolulu the natives swim around the steamer, diving for the silver coins thrown overboard by passengers. It is rare sport. The late Hon. "Jack" Want, a popular Sydney barrister, used to tell a good story of a confrere who nearly lost his life once leaning over the ship's side at such a moment. He was so fond of fees, "Jack" said, that he had to be restrained from jumping in among the native swimmers to get a share of the silver thrown in the water.

Fijians do not take kindly to hard work, and in consequence many thousands of natives of India are imported to cultivate the crops. The population of the Fiji Islands is 87,000 natives and 90,000 Indians. A governor is appointed by the British parliament. He receives three thousand pounds a year. The total revenue is £240,000 annually.

The future of the Fijian Islands is described as uncertain, owing to the Indian Government blocking the importation of industrial labor—the contracts of the present laborers expire in 1921.

The natives are a happy lot, and they do not worry so long as they have enough to eat. Elephantiasis prevails among them, as it does in most islands of the Pacific. They respect the white man, which cannot be said of many aboriginal races. Fijians cannot stand the effects of liquor, and any person selling them alcoholic drinks is liable to a fine of fifty pounds.

The day before we arrived at Suva, we sighted several small islands, among them Fortuna and Alofa, which are in the French Protectorate, the resident governor being located at Wallis, a day's steam to the northeast.

Leaving Suva, we headed for New Zealand. Owing to smallpox in Sydney, nearly all of the Makura's passengers had to be vaccinated, which created a windfall for the ship's doctor. Which brings to mind that, until quite recently, the medico on board ship has been underpaid, a deep-sea fireman receiving within five dollars a month of the physician's renumeration. I am glad to record that doctors are now allowed to charge passengers for attendance when their services have not been made necessary by any accident or illness due to the ship.

San Francisco to Sydney

From another book of jottings, I gather the following notes of a voyage on the Sonoma, in October, 1914.

The residents of California get more pleasure out of life than almost any other people of the world. They are cheerful and hospitable. Incidentally, they are not slow about saying that if Columbus had landed on the Pacific coast of America first, New York would still be a cow pasture. But that is all they seem to have against Manhattan, though it is another way of saying Columbus made a mistake.

California is a very fertile State, as every one knows, and its people have displayed remarkable energy and intelligence in developing the natural resources.

When passing through the Golden Gate, Dr. Clarke, the ship's physician, pointed out Fort Baker, where are mounted 16-inch guns for the protection of the port. It is said that so terrible is the concussion of these guns that when practicefire is contemplated, three weeks notice has to be given to the large poultry farmers at Petaluma, north of San Francisco, as the concussion would destroy the generating power of the eggs. Petaluma is the largest hen-producing district in America, and some of the incubators have a capacity of seven thousand eggs.

Leaving the Golden Gate behind, and passing the Farallon rocks or islands, about thirty miles to the southwest, we proceeded on our voyage to Honolulu, occupying five days and eighteen hours. The trip was uneventful, with the exception that we passed the Sierra, coming from Honolulu. Captain Trask exchanged wireless messages with Captain Houdlette of the Sierra, who sent his regards to me, but warned Captain Trask that if he had any oranges on board, he had better hide them from Coffee, who would be sure to eat the supply, if he got his hands on it. Years ago I had traveled with Captain Houdlette and he knew this weakness of mine, but my appetite for oranges was nothing compared with the way he could devour alligator pears.

Some time later, Captain Trask's seamanship was tested in this trade when the Sonoma was two hundred miles from the Australian coast in February, 1919. It was discovered that something had gone .wrong with the port propeller, but the nature of the trouble could not be ascertained from the deck. The vessel was stopped and a small boat lowered over the side with Captain Trask in it. Twice he dove under the propeller before he could locate the cause of the accident, which was that a line had become entangled in the struts. There was considerable difficulty in cutting it loose. A heavy sea was running and a number of sharks were swimming about; but Captain Trask had had too many experiences with sharks afloat and ashore to let them interfere with his task. However, owing to the condition of the propeller, he decided to return to Sydney for repairs, which caused a delay of two days in the schedule. So pleased were the passengers of the Sonoma with his seamanship that they made Captain Trask a present of a silver coffee service.

Speaking about Captain Houdlette, reminds me of an event which took place about 1906. At that time, shortly after leaving Honolulu, bound north, I saw the Pacific Mail Steamer Manchuria (18,000 tons) ashore, just north of Makapuu Point. On the same night the American Transport Sherman, from the Philippines, ran ashore on the western side of the island. The Sherman was easily gotten out of its plight and the Manchuria was subsequently floated. But the day this was brought about, the directors of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company received a cable, saying that the Mongolia, which was a sister ship to the Manchuria, had also gone ashore on Midway Island, an American cable station, while on her way from Japan. The accidents to these two ships occurring about the same time and in the same latitude created considerable discussion, and various causes were assigned. It is a singular coincidence that only a few hours before, the Valparaiso earthquake had taken place and some navigators claimed that a tremor spread along the bed of the Pacific, causing widespread disturbances. It was at this time that one of these disturbing currents took Captain Houdlette of the Sierra some thirty-nine miles out of his course to the northwest. Certainly the earthquake unheaval at Valparaiso had far-reaching effects.

People who do not live much on the sea are often puzzled to understand why navigators make the Great Circle between ports in the North and South Pacific or Atlantic, hence, an explanation and description of the route between the Orient and America may be of interest to many of my readers. A ship sailing about due east from Yokohama to San Francisco would travel 4,700 miles. By sailing the Great Circle—which means a northeasterly course to 50 degrees north latitude near the Aleutian Islands, where she strikes the 170th meridian of longitude and then southeast to San Francisco—she covers 4,533 miles, thus saving about 167 miles. The distance from Yokohama to San Francisco, via Honolulu, is 5,545 miles. The time consumed in traveling this distance is ordinarily seventeen days.

To understand the Great Circle, take a string, draw it tight around a lemon. Now, move the string up and down, and this will illustrate the point I am trying to make about sailing the Great Circle. Capetown and Adelaide are 38 degrees south latitude. Vessels from Capetown to Australia, however, make this Great Circle by steaming south to latitude 50 degrees. To elucidate further, I may remind the reader that there are sixty miles in a degree of latitude, but only at the equator is there this distance in a degree of longitude, which tapers to zero at the poles. It must also be remembered that sixty nautical miles are equivalent to sixty-nine land miles.

On a voyage in 1898, when we had reached the line of the equator, I saw Captain Carey turn the Moana in a short space, when she was making fourteen knots, and rescue, in twenty minutes, Boatswain Robinson, who had" fallen overboard. Robinson had been loosening one of the guys on the foregaff and had caught on the head of a davit when he fell. A big school of sharks was rapidly approaching the life-boat when he was rescued and pulled on board ship. • I never saw so many sharks at once, except off the Fanning Islands. Robinson was a devil-may-care sort of fellow. When asked what he would have done if he had not been rescued, he remarked: "I could have swam about and waited for the next ship." He evidently had great faith in his ability as a fish, as the next ship was due in three weeks.

After the excitement of the man overboard and sharks had cooled down, Captain Carey told me some of his early experiences. It appears that he ran away from Cape Cod to sea, on board a whaler, at the eager age of fourteen. He went ashore on Chatham Island, off New Zealand, and stayed there, failing to turn up at the ship when he should. Later on he joined up with another whaler. On one occasion, while his boat's crew was trying to capture a whale, the line broke and the whale made off, harpoon and all. This harpoon had been made by a celebrated manufacturer, who stamped, dated and guaranteed all of his instruments. Many years later, when Captain Carey had grown to manhood, he put into Apia, Samoa, when the natives happened to be cutting up a bull whale, that had been washed ashore. In the whale was found the harpoon that had been lost by the whaling boat's crew when Captain Carey was a boy.

Last week a party of passengers in the second saloon were sitting on deck under my window, indulging "in heated arguments over the merits and demerits of various vessels. Among other assertions I overheard were statements that the food in the second saloons on certain boats was as good as that in the first saloon on a rival line. The man making the assertion had never traveled first cabin on either line, so he knew nothing about the quality of the food served there. As a general thing, you cannot get food on a dining-car or in a first class hotel equal to that on first class steamers for less than three or four dollars a day; besides, all chief stewards I have met will cheerfully supply anything obtainable, even though it may not be on the regular bill of fare. As a matter of fact, one can live as cheaply forty or fifty days on the Pacific as in the best hotels in London or New York.

Sydney to Vancouver

We left Sydney on July 6, 1916, on the Steamship Makura, with two hundred passengers in the saloon, and on Sunday, about noontime, we sighted the Islands of Three Kings, to the north of us; Cape Maria Van Diemen, New Zealand, to the south. It was at the Three Kings that the Steamship Elingamite was wrecked, in 1902, and a number of lives lost, together with a large number of gold sovereigns.

Two syndicates were formed to salve the wreck and they were successful in obtaining a great deal of treasure through the work of their divers.

In connection with the wreck of the Elingamite, a great wrong was inflicted on the commander, Captain Atwood, who had his certificate taken away. This was about 1901, I think. A fresh survey of these waters was made, and it was discovered that the islands referred to were three miles out of position, as shown on the British Admiralty's charts. Thereupon Captain Atwood's certificate was returned to him by the New Zealand Pilot Board and he received compensation for the injury done him.

From Sydney to Auckland we had two troupes of vaudeville artists on board, from the Tivoli (Hugh Mclntosh) and National (Ben Fuller) theaters, and needless to say there was plenty of gaiety en route. At Auckland about one hundred and fifty passengers disembarked and we took on about sixty more.

A hitch in our departure occurred, and inquiry revealed the fact that some firemen* were scheduled to come on board, and we could not sail until- they arrived. The Firemen's Union requires a certain number of men on each watch while at sea, and it insists that ships shall not depart until the entire number are on board. If they go to sea short-handed, the different watches are sa'ddled with more than their ordinary work.

After leaving Auckland, we passed the Great Barrier Reef, where the Wairarapa was wrecked, with great loss of life, in October, 1894.

Despite frequent agitations on the subject, the New Zealand Government has failed to place a light or bell-buoy at the Islands of Three Kings, and it is claimed by navigators that the coast of New Zealand is one of the worst lighted in the world.

We arrived at Suva, Fiji, in the afternoon of July 14th. Elsewhere I will devote much space to the Fiji Islands and will not expatiate here on them, only to say that I learned at this time from residents who joined the ship that qualifications for local club membership are much more tightly drawn on this little island in the Pacific than anywhere else on earth!

Leaving Suva on Friday, we crossed the 180th meridian of longitude, so that the next day was Friday also.

White traders and retired merchants operating on the Pacific have a club at Tavinuna, built across the 180th meridian. If they are playing poker late on a Saturday night in a room situated in eastern longitude, they can move at midnight into a room in western longitude and continue their game until another twenty-four hours elapse. Sunday laws do not bother them.

Our voyage to Honolulu was delightful. We stayed the greater part of a day there and the weather was of Oahu's best.

The voyage from Honolulu to Vancouver was uneventful. On the 25th we passed an American man-of-war, the St. Louis, about two miles distant, and at the same time saw a couple of whales and several schools of porpoises. At ten o'clock in the evening of July 28th we arrived at Vancouver, one day late, owing to bad coal.

When we passed the St. Louis, a Semitic passenger from New Zealand, rushed to his stateroom and reappeared with a horse-pistol that had seen service in the Maori War. He swore he would defend the ship. Mr. Ritchie, one of the directors of the Union Steamship Company, was on deck at the time and suggested to the excited Hebrew that he throw the weapon overboard as the best possible method of defence.

In traveling over this course, near New Zealand, on the Niagara, in 1917, little did we dream that the German raider, Wolf, was hovering by, lying in wait for us, and was only deferred from attacking us because some Japanese cruisers were in the neighborhood. The Wolf had sighted them by hydroplane. At the time I remember we thought it a great hardship because we were unable to send wireless messages from the ship, but on this occasion the rule was surely a fortunate one, as it would have given the Wolf knowledge of our position and she might have trailed us to disaster.

The Pacific Coast of the Northwest

Approaching the North American coast from Australia and the Orient we pass through the Straits of Juan de Fuca, twelve miles wide, which separate Vancouver Island from Cape Flattery of the State of Washington. At this point the tide rises some thirteen feet. We land at Victoria, the capital, a city with a population of 40,000, situated at the southern end of the island of Vancouver, which has an area of 16,400 square miles.

Up to 1913, the Niagara was under the command of the genial old Scotch skipper, Captain John Gibbs, Commodore of the Union Steamship Company's fleet.

He died in Sydney on August 15, 1918. Upon Captain Gibbs's retirement, Captain Moresby took command of the Niagara until July, 1914, when he retired to fill a responsible shore position with the Company in Sydney.

To the visitor it seems singular to find the capital of British Columbia located here. Not that it does not meet requirements. The climate of Victoria is indeed the most delightful in Canada, and as witness to this fact many English families have crossed the sea to make the city their home. Thermometer readings are generally a bore, so to offer the reader a plain unbiased opinion, I might mention that while dining at the Alpine Club at Banff, in the Rocky Mountains, I asked a much-traveled Boston lady what she thought of Victoria's climate. Enthused, she replied it was glorious, and if only the Stars and Stripes floated over it she would be content to live there forever.

After making a short stay we proceeded to Vancouver, a distance of about eighty miles, having the choice of two channels to go by, one of them taking us through a most beautiful group of islands.

If the passenger desires to spend some time in Victoria and on Vancouver Island in fishing, permission is readily given him by the steamship companies. Fish abound in the numerous lakes and rivers, and the scenery is unsurpassed. If the tourist should arrive in the shooting season, he would find good sport in bagging pheasants, pigeons and various other birds.

Arriving at Vancouver, we discover one of the prettiest marine cities in the world, and the Pacific terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway. This province of Canada possesses more natural water-power, valuable timber, minerals, coastal, lake and river fishing grounds, and scenic beauty than any commonwealth in the world. Such a claim would seem a risky declaration, but there are many to swear by it. A couple of weeks can be spent here to advantage, and at the end of that time one will be subject to its thrall. The drives are especially delightful.

Vancouver itself is so surrounded by ocean inlet and by waters generally that it forms a peninsula. The Canadian Pacific Railway for five hundred miles east, as far as Banff, carries one through the Cascade Range, Gold Range, Selkirk Range, and Rocky Mountain scenery of unrivaled grandeur, reaching in places an altitude of five thousand feet. In recent years tunnels have been driven—one of them five miles long— to avoid the steeper ascents. The railway furnishes every equipment of modern travel, and makes it as comfortable as possible for the traveler. I must add that this trip affords magnificent views of parks, lakes and rocky amphitheaters.

But the passenger leaving the boat may not choose to take this wonderful journey. He or she has the option of leaving the boat at Victoria and taking the Canadian Pacific Railway's steamer for Seattle or Tacoma, and then entrain to Portland and San Francisco, from which points choice may be made of a rail route across the United States.

Suppose we take a look at Seattle? This city is built on high hills which, in many places, have been cut down several hundred feet by hydraulic sluicing, the water being forced out of a hose at terrific pressure. Lakes Washington and Union, at the back of Seattle, so to speak, are beautiful bodies of water; and a drive on a fine day along the tree-shaded boulevard skirting Lake Washington is a treat. Recently, a canal eight miles long, connecting Lake Union and Lake Washington with Puget Sound, has been completed by the American Government. Great advantages are derived from this by mercantile shipowners and by the navy.

It is well known that ships in salt water soon become covered with barnacles—at least the ships' bottoms do. These barnacles increasing to tons in weight impede the speed of the vessels. They are Crustacea of marine growth, and when very young are free-swimming, until they fasten themselves to their permanent homes. So, instead of having to incur the expense of putting ships into dry-dock for scraping, the owners can take them through the canal into Lake Washington where the barnacles are killed by the fresh water, and thus easily removed. Fresh water is fatal to all marine growth. However, the barnacles do not drop off on entering fresh water, though this impression is prevalent.

Among the marine animals in these salt waters are the Teredo and the Limmoria, which cause serious damage to the soft wooden piles sustaining the piers. Of late years it has been found advantageous to import turpentine and ironbark piles from Australia, because they have been found to resist the ravages of the destructive Teredo. This creature, by the way, is a mollusc, and attacks the inside of the pile, while the Limmoria is a crustacean, and attacks the outside. They cannot live in fresh water.

My thoughts leap to another fact with the lightning-like character that often marks the globe-trotter. It is not so many years ago since the dividing line between British and American territory was decided upon; and only for the stubbornness of an old English surveyor British Columbia might have embraced within her borders the whole State of Washington. Some time in the middle of the nineteenth century, disputes arose as to the proper boundary line between the United States and British Columbia. Thereupon, the British Government sent representatives to the Pacific coast to investigate the contention, learn the literal lay of the land, its resources, and all the rest of it.

The whole country was a wilderness in those days. Now, the old English surveyor aforesaid was very fond of fishing, and to this pastime he devoted most of his attention rather than to investigating the resources of the country under dispute. He fished in any number of streams and finally got as far south as the Columbia River in Oregon, which, like the Fraser River in British Columbia, contains vast silver hordes of salmon. Our devotee of the rod tried his luck here, naturally, but the salmon would not rise to the fly. Such lack of sense and gameness disgusted the surveyor-fisherman, and the story goes that he returned to New Westminster, on the Fraser River, an old settlement, having formed the opinion that any country where fish would not rise to a fly was no d----- good, anyhow, so he would let the Yanks have it.

Whatever determined it, the American claims were appeased by locating the boundary at the forty-ninth parallel, in 1846.

Truly, in this part of the earth the soil is of the richest and best. And independent of that heritage, the streams, as we have already observed, are teeming with life, the salmon alone being a most bountiful gift from the gods. The forests abound with a variety of valuable and serviceable timber. The coastal waters are a constant source of delicious sea food such as the halibut, cod, whiting and sole.

Close to the coast runs the Coast Mountain Range, and in that section of the country dairy-farming gives excellent results. On the east of the mountain range the region is noted for its fruit, the Yakima and Winatchie apples, of the State of Washington, having achieved a world-wide reputation.

There is an abundance of rainfall on the west of the Cascade Range, but on the east irrigation is necessary and has been employed with the best of results.

Sydney to Canton

(A Voyage to the Philippines, China and Japan in May to June, 1913.)

On the day I was to sail from Sydney on the Yawata Maru for the Philippines, China and Japan, the morning papers described a storm raging at sea, stating that weather stations along the coast had their signals hoisted warning ships to stand off the land; so I decided to put my baggage on board the steamer and go overland to Brisbane by train. After a stay of twenty-four hours in Brisbane I joined the steamer bound north. It was a fortunate move on my part, for the captain told me that he had left Sydney at noon on Wednesday and had been compelled to stay out buffeting the waves until four o'clock the same afternoon. Then, owing to the rapidly falling barometer, he had decided to return to port and lie inside Watson's Bay until the tempest abated. He was not afraid of shipwreck, but he thought he would save his owners some expense for repairs if he waited for the subsiding of the hurricane.

We arrived at Thursday Island, nearly two thousand miles north of Sydney, on May 22d. The islanders, who are a mixture of negro races, dive for pearl shell and fish for bechde-mer, which is also called trepang and water-cucumber. It is a sea slug about eighteen inches long. In preparing it for consumption the slug is first boiled,- then dried and smoked. When ready for use it looks like burnt leather. It must be kept dry to remain fit for food. Among the Chinese and Japanese it is a very popular article of diet, particularly for stews and soups.

At Thursday Island Captain Dabelle, our pilot, left us. I may remark that all ships must take pilots inside the Barrier Reef along the Australian coast.

The negro races being migratory, I cannot say what number of the species remain here. But eight hundred Japanese pearl-divers find employment in these waters. Usually, the pearl boats are manned by mixed Malays and New Guinea boys. Fights are frequent.

Remuneration for divers is stipulated at a monthly wage for getting the pearl-shell, and it is understood that they can claim possession of all pearls found inside the shell. In 1917 a spirit of discontent spread among the pearlers. Fourteen Australian aboriginals cleared out in dinghies (small boats), one of which upset with the result that four of the fleeing rebels were drowned and eaten by alligators.

Considerable discussion has arisen regarding the difference between alligators and crocodiles. What in Florida, for instance, is called an alligator may be known as a crocodile in the Torres Straits. Even authorities on the subject disagree. Perusal of faunal writers shows that there is diversity of opinion in regard to the proper classification of these reptiles. The crocodiles indigenous to the northwest coast of Australia consist of two or three species. They differ from the alligator found in Florida, chiefly in the shape of the head— which is longer—and in the structure of the teeth; also, the feet are more webbed.^[1]

The tide at Thursday Island rises seven to nine feet, and moves at the rate of seven miles an hour. The anchorage is bad. Along the coast are rich deposits of sponges that bid fair to rival the far-famed beds of the Mediterranean. Thursday Island sponges are shaped like a clown's cap and are of endless variety. For many years the pearl divers had seen them, but had paid no attention to them, thinking they were merely a mushroom growth of no value. An American claims to have obtained a concession to exploit these promising fields.

Sponges vary in value from eight cents to six dollars and a half per pound. Australia alone uses $60,000 worth of sponges a year, and most of them are imported.

Pearl Shelling.—To the northwest of Thursday Island are situated the Aru Islands of the Dutch East Indies, the greatest pearl-shelling grounds in the world. In 1914, the largest pearl ever found, weighing one hundred and twenty grams, came to light there, and was exported to London, where it commanded the large sum of twenty-five thousand dollars.

Employed as divers for the shell are Japanese, Javanese, Chinese and Filipinos, as well as natives from the Dutch East Indies, including Banda, Ambon, Macassar, Kei, Timor; and even Singapore natives are to be seen among the diving crews. They make quite an assortment of humans. Here, as elsewhere, the Japanese are the most reliable divers, just as the Filipinos are characteristically stubborn and require stern management. Fights, of course, are common among the various divers, who have many racial distinctions and jealousies.

An industry, chiefly controlled by Levantine Greeks, is conducted about one hundred miles northeast of Thursday Island in waters about the Trobriand Islands. Here are being found beautiful and rare gems of pink, black and cream color.

White men, according to the terms of the lease, have a restriction placed upon them with regard to diving, for as they wear diving suits, it is compulsory for them to work below five fathoms; the water at a lesser depth than this is reserved for the Aru Island Binghis (native divers), in the Dutch East Indies, inasmuch as they work naked, and are not required to dive deeper unless they want to.

The pearl shelling fleet, in 1914, was made up of one hundred luggers and five schooners. Among the latter it is worthy of mention that the most renowned "black-birder" in the Pacific, the Sydney Bell, still carries supplies for her fleet of pearl luggers. As you probably know, "black-birding" is a term used for recruiting and kidnapping South Sea Island natives from their island homes, taking them far away and indenturing them for a term of years to planters who must have labor. These planters themselves have broad acres on many of the islands of the South Seas.

The mode of diving in the waters about Trobriand is remarkable. Instead of the divers walking along the bottom, as is the custom around Thursday Island and in Western Australia, the luggers are always under sail and slowly tow the divers in their wake. In this manner they are enabled to cover a much larger area than in the old-fashioned way. When the pearl shell is brought aboard the luggers, launches are set in motion collecting and transferring it to the schooner, where the white overseers open it and search for pearls, which adhere to the sides of the shell, or are embodied in the body of the oyster itself. Finishing their particular job, the overseers pass the shell to the natives, who scrape and wash it and afterward place it in the sun to dry. The white overseers sort the shell into six different grades, when it is packed by the natives for shipment. Pearls found in these grounds are not the property of the divers as they are among the Thursday Island workers.^[2]

The greatest menace experienced by the Binghi, or native boy, is the alligator, which is always on the alert for its dusky and defenseless victims, who, diving au naturel, fall easy prey to the watchful reptile.

Prior to 1914, pearl shell realized one thousand dollars a ton. It is used for the manufacture of buttons, cutlery handles, and various articles of ornament. Pay of the divers is surprisingly little when you take into consideration their daily risk. They receive only five hundred dollars a year. Native divers receive even less, their pay being about two dollars a month. The average "take" of a diver is from fifty to one hundred shells a fortnight, each shell in weight averaging about four pounds.

When the Great War began the exportation of mother-ofpearl ceased to Austria, the place of its principal manufacture into buttons, so prices fell. But the divers still kept busy to some extent by going after the Trochus shell—this is a spiral, coneshaped shell of a very brittle character and not so valuable, being gathered in shallower water. If a large enough Trochus cone is discovered, out of which a bracelet can possibly be carved, it is presented to a chief, who prizes it highly.

Owing to the movement of strong tides running, and the southeast Trade Winds or Monsoons, which stir up and discolor the water, divers can work only six days a fortnight, the rest of the time being devoted to the repairment of the fleet . At the most, they can work only eight months in the year, the Monsoons being much more prevalent and contentious from June to September.

Apart from the pearl-shell industry, a big trade is carried on in shark fins at Thursday Island, whence they are sent to Japan and China.

Let us jump for a moment to another quarter of the globe. The Arabs when diving for pearl shells in the Persian Gulf have a heavy stone attached to a rope which helps them to reach the sea floor. Work here is most profitable, and the Parsees and Armenians are the bosses.

One of the most interesting industries in the world is located on the Island of Tatokujima, in the Bay of Ago, Japan. Here are strange farm lands indeed, whose crops are lustrous pearl. Oyster shells have a smooth coating inside called mother-of-pearl or nacre, which the bivalve builds slowly layer on layer. Now the smallest foreign substance entering the shell of an oyster causes it an intolerable irritation, which the oyster endeavors to allay by coating it with this mother-of-pearl. The process may go on year after year, and any mollusc may form pearls in this way, but those produced by common oysters and clams have little or no value.

On the "pearl farms," about July and August of each year, small pieces of rock and stone are placed where the larvae is most plentiful in the oyster beds. This is the period when the greatest amount of stone "planting" is done. Soon after this act oyster-spats become attached to the rocks which are then removed to prepared beds in deep water. Here they are left for three years, then into each oyster is introduced a small seed-pearl to serve as the nucleus for a future pearl of size. After being left in the sea for four years more, the treated oysters are taken out and the pearls gathered in a glistening harvest.

The work is done by Japanese women, principally, who prove more efficient than men at it, and are able to remain under water at the task for as long as two and a half minutes.

Most of the shops on Thursday Island sell pearls and curios, and the prices vary amazingly. I bought eight pearls weighing fifteen carats for thirty dollars. Consulting a rival dealer, I found that he valued them at seventy-five dollars. When I showed them to the captain of the ship, he estimated their value at one hundred and twenty-five dollars. This was another instance of an old observation of mine, that not one man in a thousand knows the worth of a pearl, or, for that matter, of other gems.

A local pressman told me that when residents of Thursday Island go south to Sydney or Melbourne, in winter, they suffer so intensely from the cold that it takes them weeks to get back to their normal condition after they return home.

We took on board quite a number of Japanese pearl divers and Chinese, who were going back home.

We skirted New Guinea on May 23rd, 1918. Last night the Chinese celebrated their departure for home by setting off long ropes of fire-crackers. They made them into wreaths about ten feet long and a foot thick. What a row they made! The ropes or wreaths were attached to a pole and held out over the starboard bow. One rope of the fire-crackers, ignited, dropped inside the bulwarks. Seeking safety from the explosions, a wild scramble by the passengers in the well-deck resulted.

At this point occurred an incident which indicates the independence of the Japanese. A timid American couple rushed to the captain and protested against the fireworks exhibition. Cuttingly, the captain resented their complaint. He told them that he considered their interference an insult, as it cast doubt on his ability to handle the ship and protect the passengers. Captain Sukine was a very capable officer, and knew his business. It appeared that the Japanese Steamship Company paid for this fire-cracker display so as to please Chinese passengers and cultivate Chinese business. I must point out that Japanese steamships have suffered from Chinese boycott, and now they take extra pains to win over their Celestial brethren.

It was in these waters that the German raider, Wolf, sank the Matunga on August 6th, 1917. Alas, that was a far different explosion from the Chinese fire-cracker exhibition which so annoyed our American couple.

In traveling about the world I have often wondered which aboriginal tribe was the ugliest, and finally came to the conclusion that the natives of the islands in the Torres Straits took the palm. To see a yelling horde of beche-de-mer fishermen on a boat, one might easily imagine that the inmates of Hades were out for a picnic. However, a pearling overseer tells me that the Torres Straits natives are handsome in comparison with some West Coast New Guinea (Papua) boys. Here is a picture of them: They are heavy jawed, and when engaged in the gentle art of eating move their ears in harmony with jaws and teeth. They subsist mostly on fish, but if given a meal of rice it is as good as a Christmas feast to them, and they shovel it in with both hands, fearless of indigestion. They are fond of chewing betel nuts and expectorating red juice. Their style of dress—if it can be called dress—is grotesque: They wind their arms with twine and smear their bodies with cocoanut oil, and their headgear consists of feathers of birds of paradise, which are plentiful on the west coast of New Guinea. This bird, it will be remembered, is prohibited by law from importation in most countries of the civilized world.

The Yaivata Maru missed a typhoon by a short time. A sister ship, the Inaba Maru, had just come through one to the north of us. Our Japanese doctor received a letter on Thursday Island from a friend who described the effects of the typhoon. It tossed the Inaba Maru about a great deal, tore out the brass port-hole fittings, smashed glassware, chinaware and many movable articles. The damage was $75,000.

A typhoon was described to me as a mighty wind of extreme velocity, covering a vast area, and resembling a blizzard ; but it has no fixed direction and moves over land or sea with the same ease and force. In a cyclone, of which the center is a vacuum, the suction is so powerful that it draws in birds, which have been known to drop down helpless on the decks of ships. A cyclone usually travels in one direction and its path is generally less than a half mile wide. A typhoon is not necessarily a sea phenomenon, and on land one of them is terrible in its destructiveness—after one hits a town the spot looks as if it has been bombarded by 18-inch guns. In 1906 a typhoon in Hong Kong killed six hundred people. Great surprise was expressed in Shanghai at a shower of rice a few years ago. It was later ascertained to have been carried by a typhoon from rice fields twenty-five miles away.

The Philippines

Continuing our voyage on the Yawata Maru, we arrived at Manila, in the Philippine Islands, about daylight. The weather was perfect.

This group of islands was discovered by Magellan in 1521. The Spaniards took possession of them in 1565. They were ceded by Spain to the United States in 1898, or, rather, partly ceded, and finally given over on November 7, 1900, in consideration of $20,000,000. The group comprises 3,140 islands. The population was estimated in 1915 at 8,937,000, of whom 20,000 were Europeans and Americans, and 50,000 Chinamen.

After drifting around the city I landed at the Manila Hotel, a modern hostelry, for the construction of which it is stated the United States Government furnished half the capital. It is finely situated and has beautiful park grounds, where, every evening, a band of one hundred Filipino musicians play an excellent program. The leader of the band is a negro captain of the United States Army.

While in Manila I met Mr. and Mrs. Wade Knight. They had spent some time in Australia, and so we had common interests. Mr. Knight was a well-known Texas oil man and sought to woo the patronage of the Antipodean and Oriental markets. Originally, he was a New Yorker, and like a few others of that clan, could not see anything to compare with "good old Manhattan," and declared that he would rather be a lamp-post on Broadway than the Emperor of Japan. Mr. Knight has since died in America and sleeps beneath the Northern Constellation he loved so well.

There are some pretty drives around Manila, and the parks are attractive, with plenty of shade. A number of old fortresses are in evidence, and they give a historic touch to the scene. Many ancient churches, built in the days of Spanish occupation, meet the eye. I visited the Jesuit Church and was shown a very interesting library, museum and laboratory.

As it happened, we arrived on a national holiday, the occasion being the decoration of the American soldiers' graves.

English capital appears to be invested in most of the business concerns—cigar factories, tramways, electric light and gas companies, etc. At first, the Filipino is quick to learn mechanism, but he becomes careless at about the age of thirty. In fact, I was told that the humid climate has a very trying effect on the memory of those of all nationalities residing in the Philippines

When the United States sent a number of school teachers to the Philippines, it was noticed that the native boys began to have "swelled heads" from the learning that they received; so the school authorities changed their tactics and taught trades to the young arrogant intellectuals. Among the Filipinos the ambition to be employed by the civil service is widespread.

At one time rice was extensively grown in these islands, but in 1912 the American Government had to import ten million dollars' worth of rice to feed the inhabitants; indeed, about 1910 the American Government sent steamers loaded with rice along the coast for the natives, whose crops had either failed or were insufficient to meet their needs. Gratitude, we know, is rare in humans; therefore many of the natives would not take the trouble to go down to the shore for their rice supply, but insisted that it be carried to their huts up among the hills.

Early in 1913 there was a war scare, and the American authorities removed $35,000,000 worth of gold from the treasury vaults in Manila to the fortress of Corregidor, situated about twenty-eight miles down the bay. It is claimed that in this fortress a four years' supply of food and ammunition can be stored

Our Japanese captain smilingly remarked one morning that his country could march her troops overland and capture Manila before breakfast, but the difficulty would be to hold it after they got it.

The American Naval Station was at one time at Cavite, but has now been removed to Olongapo, which is about sixty miles from Manila.

At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War the Germans were maneuvering in Manila Bay, May 1, 1898, in a manner that embarrassed Admiral Dewey, the commander of the American fleet. Sir Edward Chichester, the British admiral, thereupon signaled to Dewey: "Blood is thicker than water,"—a message that was most heartening.

Admiral von Deidrich commanded five German ships, one of which, the Princess Irene—before the declaration of war— had sided with the Spanish troops against the Filipino insurgents. The German admiral was warned by Dewey to withdraw. From Admiral Dewey's book I learn that Deidrich was reluctant to retire, and the American naval hero was compelled to send Flag-Lieutenant Bromley to remonstrate with the German Admiral. Von Deidrich paid no attention to the first signal, so Bromley promptly fired a shot across the Cormorant's bow, which had the desired effect.

While in these waters Admiral Dewey was piloted by an Australian, Arthur Whit ford, of Geelong, Victoria, who later entered the service of the United States.

"Blood is thicker than water" is an old saying, concerning the origin of which wrong impression exists. The credit for originating the adage belongs to Commodore Tattnall of the United States Navy, who used it on June 25, 1859, when the French and English were having their troubles with China. The British Admiral Hope was at the mouth of the Peiho River, and two of his gunboats grounded, falling into the hands of the Chinese. Commodore Tattnall thereupon signaled: "Blood is thicker than water," and rendered assistance to the British fleet. Afterward, in 1861, when the rupture took place between the Northern and Southern States, Commodore Tattnall became a Confederate commander and distinguished himself.

That little glimpse of past history ought to stimulate the pride of Americans, perhaps to the point of visiting the locality. In such case, I can call attention to a popular line of steamers run by the Royal Spanish Mail, between Manila and Barcelona, Spain. On these boats passengers are treated right royally, champagne being supplied to them on Mondays and Thursdays.

Hong Kong and Canton

Leaving Manila behind, we headed for Hong Kong. The harbor of that Chinese port we discovered to be six miles long, and it was splendidly protected by mines and by masked batteries on the hills which rose on either side. Our captain informed us that on some days in Hong Kong harbor there is a preponderance of Japanese shipping, sometimes more of it than that of any other nation, although Hong Kong is the terminus of all big steamship lines of the world's trading in these seas.

On arriving I went to the Hong Kong Hotel, where the rates were from three dollars a day up, including meals. Settled temporarily, I made a trip to the office of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company to change my ticket. Very much to my surprise and pleasure, I met Mr. J. Shepard, a former member of our Sydney office staff, who had married a Sydney lady, and gone to Hong Kong to enjoy domestic life. They were kindness itself during my stay in the region. Like many others, they boarded and furnished their own rooms. It cost them five pounds gold weekly. House rent is high in Hong Kong, for thirteen per cent, on the actual rental paid is levied for general taxes. Hong Kong is a free port except for a duty on spirits. Even tobacco is allowed free of duty. Rickshaws, one of the characteristic institutions of China, are subject to a wheel tax of seven dollars annually.

Hong Kong is not a city, as many suppose, but an island, thirty miles in circumference. Victoria is the city proper. It is the headquarters for the British military garrison in the Far East, and a governor is sent on from England, with quite an entourage. The city of Victoria is built on hills, the highest point being 1800 feet, and reached by cable-tram. The humidity is often disagreeably intense, and the heat varies from 90 degrees to 100 degrees in July and August. At certain times a fog spreads over the city above the 1400-foot level, and shuts out the view of the harbor and city from those wishing to see it from highest places.

I forgot to mention that on the ship there were English army officers and a British doctor who practiced in Hong Kong. By some of the residents of the place, Hong Kong is described as a rendezvous of snobs. For example, "solid" business men were not eligible for membership in some of the local clubs because they are "in trade," while, on the other hand, a clerk in a bank or insurance office is admitted.

Among my purchases I bought three short white duck coats for a dollar and a half each and an Eton jacket for a dollar-seventy-five. The white Eton, or mess jacket, is worn by nearly every man at dinner. I had also a light tweed suit made to order in two days for eighteen dollars, and it was as excellent a fit as I ever had.

Female slavery still exists in China, deny it who may. A physician assured me that men in Canton and Hong Kong can obtain possession of children at various ages and adopt them, which simply means that they have bought them from their parents. And if the children try to run away from their masters, the police will render every assistance in tracing and returning the fugitives.

Chinese conditions and customs permit widest latitude in religion, which naturally includes the same "liberality" in morals. In Governor Blakis's time a man came to a public reception at Government House and brought three wives with him, much to the chagrin of many Chinese ladies. He posed as a Confucian.

I found that Eurasians, which are the offspring of a white and an Asiatic couple, occupy good positions in Hong Kong offices, and they are experts at invoices in all languages. Like the Eurasian, the mestiza is not understood in his blood-mixture by the average man. Now, the mestiza of the Philippines is the child of a Filipino mother and a Spanish, Chinese or Malay father.

At night, by boat, I journeyed to Canton, and arrived there at daylight. I went to the Victoria Hotel, in the foreign possession, for my breakfast. It is the only English hotel in Canton. Before I left Hong Kong Mr. Shepard had warned me to soak myself in disinfectant, as the Cantonese odors were intolerable to the visitor. Shepard told me only half the truth. I nearly collapsed several times from the stench that arose oh all sides as I went through the city.

There appears to be no certainty about the number of the population of Canton. It has been estimated all the way from three to seven millions. But there must be nearly half a million families living on boats — a real floating population. These boats are propelled by women, many of whom have babies strapped across their shoulders as they labor. Flocks of chickens are hatched aboard these houseboats, and when the tide is out a plank is laid from the boat to the shore so as to give the chicks a chance to run and feed among the stones.

Shortly after my arrival I got hold of a guide who hired two chairs for himself and me, and we had two coolies to carry each of us. Hour after hour these coolies trot along, perspiration pouring off them, but never a word of complaint.

It would take the pen of a Loti to describe Canton. I can offer only a glimpse. The thing that strikes the stranger first is the utterly pitiful existence led by the Cantonese in general. What would be considered alleys in any other part of the world are called "streets" there. In width they are from six to twelve feet, and crooked. The rays of the sun never penetrate to any extent between the walls of houses either side of the thoroughfares. There is little or no sewerage.

Various foreign countries have each a section allotted to them on the Shameen, which is the home of the different consuls, together with some soldiers, whose governments have erected splendid buildings.

The date of my visit to Canton proved to be the king's birthday, which was being celebrated as a holiday. An Indian band came all the way from Hong Kong to supply music for the festivities. Our coolies, under the direction of the guide, carried us about the narrow streets which in places reminded me of the dungeons under the Bridge of Sighs in Venice.

While sight-seeing I saw one method of keeping time which was used two thousand years before Christ, long prior to our clocks with their hands and pendulums. It was in the form of a water tower, and a regular drip of water caused a measure to rise and record the passing hours. Even as I was examining this curious and ancient contrivance the bells of the French Cathedral near by chimed the Angelus. This was a dramatic contrast between old and new inventions for keeping time.

On leaving this quarter of the city, we visited the temple of five hundred genii, or Chinese gods, which are represented by that number of brass images, all of them close to life size. A Chinaman may select any of these gods as a sort of patron saint, but if the one chosen does not use his influence to bring a male heir to the devotee, he can discard him, divorce his wife, and pick another wife and god, and continue this interesting experiment through the whole line of genii until the faithful seeker is the father of a boy! The same latitude is allowed throughout China in matrimonial affairs.

Oddly enough, a brass statue of Marco Polo is honored with a place among the gods. In the thirteenth century this Italian traveled over much of China, and his memory is revered to this day by the Chinese. Now, I had a hazy recollection of reading about Marco Polo in my school days, and being uncertain as to when he lived, I turned to my guide for enlightenment. He informed me that the illustrious explorer lived about forty years ago. I mention this incident to show what dependence may be placed on data furnished by guides.

I had the luck to meet a funeral. The hearse was a sort of long frame, or box, trimmed with streamers of vari-colored papers. Following the procession were two coolies who supported a frame which held a pair of roasted pigs used as an offering. Time was when the relatives of the deceased left these pigs at the grave, but my guide explained that now the mourners did not bury the porkers with the dead. They ate them instead, for it had become a common practice for others to do so if the roasted dainties were left in the cemetery. We hear of China awakening, and this has evidently been one of the eye-openers.

Later, we visited sections of the city which were given over to furniture-work, carving, hats, paper, linen and gold-braid curtains. Leaving there, we passed some butcher shops and restaurants, and I must confess that the stench was unbearable. Though on the lookout, I did not observe any watertaps on my little circuit, but once I did see a boy draw water from a well in the heart of the city.

Scarcely any women were in the streets, I noticed, and apparently they are kept inside most of the time. Under the conditions existing there I cannot understand how they manage to live.

No death, marriage or birth records are kept in China, so it is impossible to get any statistics on the death-rate. But Canton and Hong Kong are visited by every known disease, and it is no exaggeration to say that there are from twenty to thirty cases of plague daily. Smallpox is always prevalent, but in Canton the form of it is not so malignant as is found elsewhere in the kingdom. The Chinese have a very peculiar method of vaccination, which was probably practiced ages before Jenner introduced his. They obtain the pustules from a smallpox patient, dry them and grind them into a powder, which they inhale through the nose. The result of this treatment is that when they get an attack of the disease it is in a mild form.

I have this information from an English doctor, resident in Hong Kong, who was a fellow passenger on the ship; and he also stated that there are often two or three cases of bubonic plague at Hong Kong Hospital.

Never in my experience have I seen a ship pass through quarantine inspection in any port with as little examination as that given at Hong Kong. Battalions of Hong Kong microbes are always prepared, I have no doubt, for any new foe that may dare to enter their province on an incoming boat. One can fancy them defiantly exclaiming: "Come along, trot out your worst forces! We have beaten all previous invaders, and are ready for you!"

Being anxious to leave Canton early in the evening, I returned by train to Hong Kong. On the journey back I got acquainted with two English engineers and two Christian Brothers. In course of conversation their description of the beheading of criminals and the corruption of judges was enough to make one's hair stand on end. I cannot detail it all here, for it is too repulsive, but I may go so far as to say that the emissaries of the executioner visit the relatives of the condemned man the night before his execution and request a bribe or contribution on condition that they refrain from chopping up the body of the victim into small pieces. Also, a prisoner condemned to death may be visited in his cell the night preceding the day fixed for his execution by an emissary of the authorities, to see how much money he might be able to raise through his friends, with a view to getting him off with a light sentence—if the prospective sum be sufficient.

When there is no chance of obtaining a reprieve, the relatives bribe the jail officials to drug the condemned man, so that he will be as near insensible as possible while undergoing the butchery.

Among other objects I bought in Canton were three small tables, upon which they charged me five per cent, export duty. I was informed that if I had stopped off at every station on the railroad between Canton and Hong Kong, I would have been charged an export duty at each point.

This specific duty was put into effect by what is known as the Nankin Treaty, an instrument difficult for us to understand because values are fixed thus: If a chair, for instance, is valued at a dollar, the duty on that chair is five per cent. of this amount; but if in the course of time the cost of the chair should be doubled, the duty in the aggregate would amount to no more than on its original valuation. Such a system of taxation applies to the exports and imports of China, except on the island of Hong Kong, which is owned by the British.

The Cantonese will often ask a price in excess of what they will accept for an article. For example: A Seattle lady admired a brass vase and was bargaining for it through her interpreter with the merchant, who wanted seventy-five dollars gold; a Honolulu gentleman, Mr. Vida, who lives in Shanghai, was present, and dissuaded the lady from closing the deal; and later on he got it for her at thirty dollars; her guide-interpreter had been conspiring with the shopkeeper to rob the unsuspecting tourist.

Between Canton and Hong Kong the country is largely given over to rice-growing. The fruit I saw for sale consisted of pears, plums and peaches, all of them small and withered, not the size of an egg. Being the middle of June, possibly the better fruits were not yet ripe. As for the vegetables in Canton, nothing would induce me to eat them unless they were thoroughly boiled.

I have had considerable experience in the changing of money in different parts of the world, but the various values placed on currency in China puzzled me and every other traveler I met. The Chinese are clever mathematicians, and for "ways that are dark" the Chinaman at home is fully equal to the reputation given him by Bret Harte in California. The Chinese excel in banking and finance.

About ten years ago a Chinese manager of certain departments in the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank embezzled funds. He was arrested, but instead of prosecuting him the directors were compelled to release him, and this in spite of the fact that the amount of his default was four hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Why? Because he knew so much of the bank's affairs in the Far East, and had such a wide and Valuable experience, that the officials were unable to conduct their business without him!

China is full of wise old saws. The Chinese Buddhist has a saying that struck me forcibly: "Every man you meet should be your teacher." Another one is good: "The king and the beggar know more than the king."

Foreign Residents in China

In connection with the recent local census, says the China Critic, of Tientsin, it may be interesting to note that recent statistics collected by the Chinese Government showed that the total number of foreign firms in the whole of China in 1913, not including Hong Kong, was 2,862. The foreign population is given as 153,522 men, women and children, divided as to nationality as follows:

These figures do not include foreign or military forces serving in any port of China.

Indemnities

So many conflicting statements have been made concerning the amounts paid by China to foreign nations for claims arising out of the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 that I applied to Mr. George E. Anderson, American consul-general at Hong Kong (whom I had met in Australia), for authentic data on the subject. Mr. Anderson kindly complied with my request and wrote me as follows:

Dear Mr. Coffee:

Re the question of the Boxer indemnity paid by China. After the Boxer troubles in 1900 the various nations required of China an agreement to pay an indemnity to cover the amount of the nationals which had been destroyed through the trouble and the expenses of their military and other expeditions to protect such nationals, including the legations at Peking.

The indemnity allotted to each Power was as follows:

Russia £19,575,000

Germany 13,500,000

France 10,600,000

Great Britain 7,425,000

Japan 5,400,000

America 4,725,000

Italy 4,050,000

Belgium 1,350,000

Austria-Hungary 605,000

Holland and Spain 200,000

The annual payment of the instalments on these several sums was received by the United States until 1912 when the government at Washington calculated that it had received or was about to receive all that it was entitled to. It therefore remitted all the indemnity over and above the actual damages incurred. The Chinese Government, as a mark of appreciation of such action, arranged for the education in the United States of certain Chinese students, whose support was to be paid out of the indemnity funds thus remitted.

In a general way, the facts are as given.

Yours, etc.,

George E. Anderson.

Talking of indemnities brings to mind the historic wrong perpetrated on China by Germany in the looting of the famous bronze astronomical instruments from the precincts of the Forbidden City at the time of the Boxer uprising. The Allied Powers in their march on Peking had agreed that there should be no vandal thievery. But Germany was not to be bound by any such promise. At the direction of the late Field Marshal Count Waldersee these astronomical treasures were shipped to the ex-kaiser, who had them set up in the grounds of his palace at Potsdam. A few of the relics were also sent to France but were speedily returned to the Chinese. Germany, or the exkaiser, has never followed this righteous example. But the Peace Conference at Versailles will doubtless right this wrong, and the priceless fourteenth century instruments will once more adorn their proper setting in Peking.

Notes

1. The Sydney Bulletin describes a unique method of trapping crocodiles in the North: "Traps are erected and placed at a considerable distance from the water. When the trappers first adopted their unique profession.^they built a brush fence with a circular opening in the center, over which was placed a strong noose. Within was tied a dog, and when the bait began to bark, the lizards lost no time in leaving the water and trekking toward the trap, where they were finally secured."
2. If I may make a suggestion to the possessor of pearls, I would advise him or her to never carry them where they come in contact with the body —the heat of the skin causing them to lose their lustre.