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The finest dressed part of the population was decidedly the jet-black, with his white flowing mantle and spotted turban. The upper class of Chinese merchants are exceeding polite, and seem intelligent. I visited the establishment of Whampoa and Co. Whampoa was above the middle height, stout, and with a large, well-developed head.
This yard was at that time in the possession of a Mr. Cowper, a yankee, if I am not misinformed, but had been originally established by a Chinaman. Every thing necessary for repairing a vessel appeared to be on hand, and Mr. C. was then engaged in coppering the one on his dock. Whampoa Reach is the anchorage for merchantmen, and is the most convenient place to Canton for that purpose.
We had a fine passage to Canton, or rather to Whampoa, which is as far up the river of Canton as ships go. The mouth of the river is known as the Boca Tigris. The captain kindly took me to Canton; it is a most curious city. On the river are thousands of boats, the greater number not more than fourteen feet long, and twelve broad, and covered over with a bamboo roof.
Henry the Fourth sanctioned a scheme with this object, but it came to nothing; and Colbert only succeeded in obtaining the right for his countrymen to land their goods at Whampoa, the river port of Canton.
The richest Chinaman at Sincapore is Whampoa: he supplies the navy with stores, and has a thriving business. His country house is a favourite resort of the naval officers, and he gives excellent dinners, and very agreeable parties. His champagne is particularly approved of. There is little or no amusement at Sincapore. During the afternoon every body is asleep.
After remaining one month at Whampoa, and a large proportion of the crew getting on the sick-list, we were at length allowed to leave for our old anchorage in the Typa, where we learned that the puissant Sen, his generals, and his judges, had quenched the revolt, and the misguided wretches, whom he had in pity spared, were sorrowfully retracing their steps.
That brief trip seems a mere trifle as I write of it here and now, so far in distance and in time from the river at Whampoa, but I truly think it was as perilous a voyage as any I have made; for pirates, or Ladronesers as they were called, could not be distinguished from ordinary boatmen, and enough true stories of robbery and murder on that river passed current among seafaring men in my boyhood to make the everlasting fortune of one of those fellows who have nothing better to do than sit down and spin out a yarn of hair-raising adventures.
On the nineteenth of December, ordered again to Whampoa, to relieve our consort, and protect American interests from that imaginary wolf, the rebellion. Christmas day passed by there gloomily, and the new year commenced unprofitably. Went up to Canton, to witness a theatrical performance, by amateurs, and was delighted. The room was well fitted up, and the appointments excellent.
We remained in Whampoa Reach, awaiting the issue, amidst the delightful odors of decaying paddy fields, and lulled to rest by the harmonious music of myriads of mosquitoes.
At Whampoa young Webster went up to the Hong along with the others, and drove what bargains he could, and cleared a tidy little sum. But it was nowhere near enough to save the family. If only they could get the money to tide them over, they'd weather the gale. If not, they'd go on a lee shore.
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