Physician—Visitors—Day's employment—Taken before the mandarin—Letters and clothing from Chusan—Chinese clothes—Irons taken off—Return home—Salamanders—Amusements.

The next morning one of the Melville's boys was taken ill of the dysentery; the doctor came to see him, and prescribed some medicine, which came in the shape of a bitter brown mixture; it did him no good, for in a few days he grew so much worse, that he was removed down to the jail again, where, by-the-bye, the two marines who were ill had been left, as they were unable to bear the moving. Poor fellows! they felt very much being separated from their comrades, and left behind; but it was of no use complaining; they were obliged to submit. As for the boy[10] that was taken from us, (the same that I dragged out of the water when we were wrecked,) he left us, I might almost say, with a determination to die, so entirely did he despair; his forebodings were too true, as he died shortly after in the jail.

The window was besieged all day by well dressed persons, who came to see "the lions;" at first we only looked again, but getting bolder by degrees, we turned beggars, and from every fresh batch that came to the window, we requested something—either money, tobacco, or cakes, not being very particular: if they refused to give anything, we immediately slid the panels to, which most effectually prevented their seeing us, and the soldiers, our guard, very soon turned them out. Our grating was blockaded continually in this manner for more than a week, when the visitors ceased to come, and we were left in quietness.

Being in so crowded a state, and never allowed to go out of the room, on any pretence whatever, the air soon became very unwholesome; and animals, the natural consequence of such a state of things, began to show themselves, and, in spite of our utmost exertions, increased upon us; so that if the warm weather, which was very favourable to them, should continue, we stood a fair chance of being devoured alive. But our deplorable condition fortunately raised up another nation, which, though living upon the same body, made desperate war upon the other creatures, and by this means they kept each other under. The principal employment in the morning was to overhaul our clothes, and kill all we could catch—a most disgusting way of passing the time, but yet most necessary; the rest of the day was spent either in walking up and down the room, spinning yarns, or sleeping.

After remaining in this place about a fortnight, we were one evening surprised by the appearance of the compradore, who came to ask if we wished to send to Chusan for anything, as he was going there. As I knew nobody there, and felt sure that Lieut. Douglas, who was as kind and attentive to us as opportunity allowed, would write, and acquaint the proper persons with our situation and wants, I did not write, neither did any of the others; he therefore went away, saying, that in about three weeks he hoped we should all be free; but he added, "Mandarin big rogue;" however, this was far better news than I expected, and I looked forward to his return with pleasure and anxiety.

Time passed on pretty well after this, and things were going on as usual; those who had been ill of dysentery on board the ship were gradually getting better, fear having worked wonders; when about a fortnight after the compradore's visit, we were roused one evening by a noise in the passage, whilst we were at supper. The board which had before attended us, again made its appearance, and as soon as we had finished our repast, all the white men were walked out of the room, and, after waiting a short time in the yard, sedans having been collected, we were placed in them, and carried to the chief mandarin's house. After passing through numerous streets, we arrived at a green plot railed in; against the railings were placed several small flags, some yellow and some red, but all having Chinese characters upon them. Passing through a gate, we came to a pair of large folding doors, on each fold of which was painted a gaudy figure, bearing a sword, and very much resembling the king of diamonds in our cards, only not half so good looking. On each side of this huge door was another smaller, through one of which we were taken, and here our sedans stopped, and we alighted. At the end of this new yard was a canopy of red and green silk as usual; we sat under this canopy until we were summoned before the mandarins. We were then led through a large place, which appeared intended for an ornamental garden, several rocks being placed here and there, round which the path wound; but I saw no flowers, and very few green things of any description.

The room in which the mandarins were assembled, was rather a large chamber, open in front, as it was the hot season; several couches, and glazed arm-chairs, were arranged about the room; four large paper lanterns were suspended from the ceiling, and as the evening drew in, they, and many more placed in other parts of the room, were lighted. One or two more mandarins arriving, there was a great deal of bowing, and salaaming, and tea-drinking, after which they proceeded to business.

The compradore now made his appearance, and produced several letters, which he handed to me to read: on opening them, I found that they came from Chusan, with various articles of clothing, and other comforts for Lieut. Douglas and Captain Anstruther, clothes of all sorts for Mrs. Noble, and a quantity for the child which was drowned; but nothing whatever arrived for the crew; although Lieut. Douglas had written for necessary clothes for us, as well as for himself. I read the letters over to the compradore, making him understand, as well as I could, the nature of the contents, and he repeated them to the mandarins, whose official took them down in Chinese. When we had finished reading the letters, Mrs. Noble, Lieut. Douglas, Capt. Anstruther, and the mate, were brought in, and their letters given to them; they were also permitted to open their stores. We were now allowed to converse together for a short time. Until now, I had not been able to speak to Mrs. Noble since the wreck. The mandarins soon called us up, and told us, by the interpreter, that all was peace, and that in six days we should be sent down to Chusan; but, after giving us this agreeable intelligence, they inquired if we had any clothes for the cold weather, which would soon come on. I immediately said, "If we are going so soon to Chusan, we shall not require any of your clothes." They sent out, notwithstanding, and soon after a basket was brought in, containing our future raiment, which the mandarins distributed amongst our party. They gave to each man a large loose coat, and a pair of leggings, made of dungaree, and lined with cotton.

They were very warm and well calculated to keep out the cold, but very clumsy and heavy; still they were not to be refused, and indeed had it not been for this kindness of the mandarins, we should have been exposed, almost naked, to the approaching inclement season. But this anxiety to provide us with clothing for the cold weather, made me doubt very much whether six days, or even six weeks, would find us on our way to Chusan. As it turned out, it was exactly sixteen weeks from that day before we were released.

After another consultation amongst the mandarins, we were all called up again, and the irons taken off our legs, beginning with Mrs. Noble. This was a great relief, as our legs were quite stiff with their long confinement, and in most cases the iron had worked into our flesh. Whilst they were being taken off, the compradore desired us to tell the Lascars, who had been left behind in the prison, that if they made no "bobberee," their irons would be taken off also.[11]

Being once more unfettered, we were again separated from Lieut. Douglas and his party, and led away to another room, the ceiling of which seemed very much inclined to come down on our heads. There was a table here, and a couch. I had no sooner taken my seat on the latter, than a well-dressed Chinese put writing materials before me, red paper, Indian ink, and a small brush. He made signs for me to write, salaaming low at the same time; I immediately complied with his request, and wrote a few lines for him. I had no sooner done this, and returned his brush, than he produced a handful of pice, and presented them to me; my finances being very low indeed, this donation was not to be rejected; I therefore accepted them, and found he had given me between fifty and sixty pice, (about four pence in our money,)—very good pay, I thought, for writing half a dozen lines.

In this room refreshments were brought for us; hard-boiled eggs, fowls and pork cut into small pieces, and two sorts of cakes, one being plain, with small seeds on the top; the other very like dumplings, with minced pork inside. In fact, there was as much as we could eat, and all was good of the kind; at any rate, we completely demolished the good things, and then we returned to our sedans, and were carried back to our rooms. Here we found the Lascars anxiously awaiting our return; we told them that the mandarins said we were going to Chusan in six days, which good news raised their spirits very much, and they began to abuse the Chinese, especially the female part of the community, for having imprisoned them at all. The next day our jailer brought us shoes and stockings of Chinese manufacture, and made signs that the Lascars' clothes were being made, and would very soon be ready.

In the course of the same day, my friend of the previous night came and requested me to write something more for him; I of course consented, and he then produced some plain white fans; I wrote a few lines upon them, and he seemed much pleased with my performance; Wombwell also wrote on one for him. In return, he gave us two a basket full of sweet cakes, which were very acceptable; he came to see us several times afterwards, and never failed to bring some token of his gratitude with him.

Time wore away: the six days went by, and we were not released; some said they were perhaps waiting till the Lascars' jackets were ready, but they were brought, and we were still kept prisoners.

With the new clothes came also some of those horrid creatures by which we had been tormented; these coming fresh from the tailors' hands, made us observe our guards a little more closely, and we could plainly discern that they were swarming with vermin. We were glad to find that what we had at first set down to our own dirt and unwholesomeness, was more attributable to the dirt and laziness of our jailers and other people. Even the walls had their inhabitants, for they fell down out of the rafters upon us.

Days and weeks passed on, and we gave up all hopes of a speedy release, expecting nothing less than an imprisonment of a year or two; but I cannot say that I was now much troubled with the fear of losing my head. During this time we were sometimes amused with a fight in the yard, between two of the soldiers—a most unpleasant kind of combat, for they seized hold of each other's tails with one hand, and dragging the head down almost to the ground, clawed and scratched with the other hand, till the one with the weakest tail rolled over and gave in; we always tried to get out and see fair play, but the soldiers mustered too strong at these times. Sometimes, again, a drunken soldier would make his appearance, and coming to the window afford us a little amusement, for, getting hold of his tail, we made it fast to the grating, and then left him to get loose as he could; generally one of his comrades, attracted by his bellowing, came and released him; all this was not very edifying employment, but it served to pass the time, which, having no books or employment, hung very heavily on our hands.

The weather now changed, and the winter set in; we were glad to put on our thick clothes, which we found very comfortable, except that they afforded a great harbour to the vermin: this was, however, by this time only a secondary consideration, as the cold weather had rendered them very torpid, and they did not bite so hard. We had only two meals a day, morning and evening, and these being soon settled, and not being allowed anything in the middle of the day, we made bags of our old clothes, and at breakfast-time filled them with rice, when the servants were out of the room, and stowed them away for a mid-day meal. The servants discovered it once or twice, but we generally managed to secrete some rice from our breakfast.

The Chinese used now to carry about little teapots, full of hot water, at the spouts of which they were constantly sipping; and also a kind of salamander, an oblong brass vessel, with a handle to it, and filled with hot water; in the lid were several small holes, and the steam coming through kept them warm. They carried these things either in their long loose sleeves, or, sitting down, placed their feet upon them; but I should have imagined that the steam would have damped their clothes, and rather chilled than warmed them. About this time, having got rather free and easy with our jailers, one of our party slipped out into the passage, whilst the servants were removing the rice and dishes, and brought in the piece of bamboo and stick, which the watch used at night; in the evening we saw the soldiers searching for it, but we kept quiet till dark, and then we began to keep watch ourselves; but the noise soon brought our jailer in, who took the bamboo away, threatening to put us in irons. This threat made but little impression, for, a short time after, another of the party walked off with a teapot belonging to one of the soldiers; this we kept for several days, till the owner found out where it was; but we would not give it up unless he paid for it, and as our jailer and his own comrades only laughed at him, we obliged him to redeem his teapot with a hundred or more pice, much to his dissatisfaction.