Page:Illustrations of China and Its People vol. II.pdf/53



INTERESTING craft are the old weather-beaten junks which lie at anchor in the Canton river, waiting till the monsoon is favourable, to proceed upon their voyages. The usual destination of such junks is one of the ports on the China coast, or at furthest, Siam, Java, Borneo, or the Straits of Malacca. At their moorings, as represented in No. 46, these huge, clumsy vessels seem like mid-stream dwelling-places, fastened down by solid foundations to the river's bed, but when full rigged for sea, they look well, and even at times make good sailing before the wind; indeed, in every way they are more manageable than appearances would betoken. Yet the least favoured of our square-rigged ships will easily outsail the fastest of them. This is a fact which is making its way into the Chinese mind, but the process is slow and gentle, like that by which I have seen a pebble that had been caught in the hollow of a rock in the Upper Yangtsze, and that, with the action of the water and a few particles of sand, had drilled its way deep into the hard stone. Native builders have made a compromise between their old junks, and the foreign ship, and the new model, thus adopted, has been presented to the reader in Vol. I. junks and junk-rigged craft are not uncommonly charged with lighter dues at their ports of destination. This spurious advantage is, however, ignored by the higher class of native merchants who trade at the open ports, and who readily avail themselves of the speed and security afforded for the transportation of merchandise by # steamers and high-class sailing ships, many of which are jointly owned by foreigners and Chinese, and by companies in which Chinamen have subscribed for shares. The foregoing considerations will make it plain that the complete abolition of the ancient junk is nothing more than a question of time.

There are many evils in China which the governing class alone have power to redress, and which they will rapidly sweep away when it is their direct individual and collective interest to do so. One of these is the old tax, still levied in some quarters, on ships when they enter a harbour. This is a violation of treaty which is supposed to abolish all local dues on ships, yet at Takow and Taiwemfu, the district authorities collect one hundred and sixtyeight dollars on a ship, and one hundred and forty dollars on a barque, when arriving at port, taxing other vessels also according to a fixed scale.

The eyes of a junk, as has already been explained, are introduced to scare away deep-sea demons, and have nothing to do with the popular fiction, " No can see, no can walkee." The ports painted on her sides are blind, but there are a number of guns mounted on her deck, and these are kept in good fighting trim. Armaments of this sort arc still necessary in the China seas, although acts of piracy there are not so common as of old. The hold is divided into water-tight compartments, and almost her entire capacity is used for stowage of cargo, even her deck being piled with bales and cases. Part of the crew are accommodated in berths, and the remainder are packed away among the merchandise. Her sails are of matting strengthened by and stretched on transverse ribs of bamboo. The anchor is of a wood that sinks readily in water, while the huge unwieldy-looking rudder is worked by a system of blocks and ropes which, at times, require the efforts of the entire crew of the junk.