Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 12, 2025
Of course he was to escape in the end, but so narrowly that all possible sail had to be crowded on to his little ship, and the whole crew set to work the big oar at the stern, while every soul on board shivered and shook as men should when pirates are after them. Ningpo itself in 1854 was the quietest place under the sun.
Even at Ningpo, close to our central point on the eastern coast of China, thin layers of ice are collected from pools and ditches, and successfully stored for use in the following summer. The inhabitants of the coast provinces are distinguished from the dwellers in the north and in the far interior by a marked alertness of mind and general temperament.
The 26th of June saw the vengeance consummated. With great bravery and determination the Cantonese under Poo Liang Tai swept the Portuguese lorchas up the entire coast and into Ningpo. The fight began afloat and ashore. Bullets whistled everywhere; the distracted lorchamen ran wildly about, hoping to escape the inevitable.
They were numerous; they had power, and they abused it: with the result that retribution came upon them so sure, so swift, so terrible that not only Ningpo but the whole of China was deeply stirred by the horror of it.
Rumours of Cantonese revenge began in the winter of 1856, when news came that all the foreigners in Ningpo would be massacred on a certain night. Some one thereupon invited the whole community to dine together; but Robert Hart refused, thinking that men who sat drinking hot whiskey punch through a long evening would be in no condition to face a disturbance if it came.
He saw clearly that the success of the foreigners in keeping him back at a distance of thirty miles from Shanghai, and in expelling him from Ningpo, signified his being shut in just as effectively on the east, as he already was on the west by the fall of every place except Nanking, and by the miserable inefficiency of the garrison in that place.
Fireworks were at intervals exploded, and occasionally a tumbler would perform some feat, but I felt little interest in the performance, and kept my eyes on the gallery containing the ladies, among whom I saw one or two very pretty faces. The wall round Ningpo is built wide enough for a carriage drive. It has embrasures, but no guns were mounted.
They say, 'Remember what happened at Ningpo during the last war, and observe the consideration and respect which is evinced towards you there. Treat other towns in China likewise, and the result will be the same. I question the soundness of this inference.
The banks of the river appeared to be highly cultivated, and the river was crowded with boats of all descriptions, some going up with the tide, others at anchor, waiting for the tide to change, to go in an opposite direction. The first that we saw of Ningpo was a low wall, from the middle of which rose a tall pagoda.
Let those who adopt Dutch customs, as at Amoy, continue, if they see fit, their peculiarities, and those who adopt other Presbyterian customs, as at Ningpo and other places, continue their peculiarities, and yet all unite as one Church. This subject does not relate simply to the interests of the Church at Amoy.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking