Portuguese Settlement of Macao

The land of the boxers, or, China under the allies, da autoria de Gordon Casserly, foi publicado em 1903.

Macau surge no capítulo X intitulado "In the Portuguese Colony of Macao" e que inclui as seguintes abordagens:

"Early history of Macao - Its decay - A source of danger to Hong Kong - Fleet of the Hong Kong, Canton, and Macao Steamboat Company - The Heungshan and its passengers - Guarding against piracy - Macao from the sea - An awkward Chinaman - The Boa Vista Hotel - View over the city - The Praia Grande - Around the peninsula - In the Public Gardens - Administration of Macao - A night alarm - A mutinous regiment - Portuguese and Macaese society - A visit to the Governor - An adventure with the police - An arrest - Insolent treatment of British subjects - Redress - An arrest in Japan - Chinese gambling-houses - Fantan - The sights of Macao."

No post de hoje destaco a descrição que o autor faz da sua ida a Macau a partir de Hong Kong, incluindo não só a viagem na embarcação a vapor, como também a sua passagem por locais como a Porta do Cerco, o Jardim de S. Francisco (denominado como public garden) onde assistiu à actuação da banda municipal, o jardim da Flora, o hotel Boa Vista, etc...

Forty miles from Hong Kong, hidden away among the countless islands that fringe the entrance to the estuary of the Chukiang or Pearl River, lies the Portuguese settlement of Macao. Once flourishing and prosperous, the centre of European trade with Southern China, it is now decaying and almost unknown killed by the competition of its young and successful rival. Long before Elizabeth ascended the throne of England the venturesome Portuguese sailors and merchants had reached the Far East. There they carried their country's flag over seas where now it never flies. An occasional gunboat represents in Chinese waters their once powerful and far-roaming navy. In the island of Lampacao, off the south-eastern coast, their traders were settled, pushing their commerce with the mainland. 

In 1557 the neighbouring peninsula of Macao was ceded to them in token of the Chinese Emperor's gratitude for their aid in destroying the power of a pirate chief who had long held sway in the seas around. The Dutch, the envious rivals of the Portuguese in the East, turned covetous eyes on the little colony which speedily began to flourish. In 1622 the troops in Macao were despatched to assist the Chinese against the Tartars. Taking advantage of their absence, the Governor of the Dutch East Indies fitted out a fleet to capture their city. In the June of that year the hostile ships appeared off Macao and landed a force to storm the fort. The valiant citizens fell upon and defeated the invaders; and the Dutch sailed away baffled. 

Until the early part of the nineteenth century the Portuguese paid an annual tribute of five hundred taels to the Chinese Government in acknowledgment of their nominal suzerainty. In 1848, the then Governor, Ferreira Amaral, refused to continue this payment and expelled the Chinese officials from the colony. 

In 1887, the independence of Macao was formally admitted by the Emperor in a treaty to that effect. But the palmy days of its commerce died with the birth of Hong Kong. The importance of the Portuguese settlement has dwindled away. Macao is but a relic of the past. 

Its harbour is empty. The sea around has silted up with the detritus from the Pearl River until now no large vessels can approach. A small trade in tea, tobacco, opium, and silk is all that is left. The chief revenue is derived from the taxes levied on the numerous Chinese gambling-houses in the city, which have gained for it the title of the Monte Carlo of the East. 

Macao is situated on a small peninsula connected by a long, narrow causeway with the island of Heung Shan. The town faces southward and, sheltered by another island from the boisterous gales of the China seas, is yet cooled by the re- freshing breezes of the south, from which quarter the wind blows most of the year in that latitude. Victoria in our colony, on the other hand, is cut off from them by the high Peak towering above it; and its climate in consequence is hot and steamy in the long and unpleasant summer. 

So Macao is, then, a favourite resort of the citizens of Hong Kong. The large, flat-bottomed steamer that runs between the two places is generally crowded on Saturdays with inhabitants of the British colony, going to spend the weekend on the cooler rival island. The commercial competition of Macao is no longer to be dreaded. But this decaying Portuguese possession has recently acquired a certain importance in the eyes of the Hong Kong authorities and our statesmen in England by the fears of French aggression aroused by apparent en deavours to gain a footing in Macao.

Attempts have been made to purchase property in it in the name of the French Government which are sus pected to be the thin end of the wedge. Although the colony is not dangerous in the hands of its present possessors, it might become so in the power of more enterprising neighbours. Were it occupied by the French a much larger garrison would be required in Hong Kong. Of course, any attempt to invade our colony from Macao would be difficult; as the transports could not be convoyed by any large warships owing to the shallowness of the sea between the two places until Hong Kong harbour is reached. One battleship or cruiser, even without the assistance of the forts, should suffice to blow out of the water any vessels of sufficiently light draught to come out of the port of Macao. If any specially constructed, powerfully armed, shallow-draught men-o'-war—which alone would be serviceable —were sent out from Europe, their arrival would be noted and their purpose suspected. Still an opportunity might be seized when our China squadron was elsewhere engaged and the garrison of Hong Kong denuded. 

On the whole, the Portuguese are preferable neighbours to the aggressive French colonial party, which is constantly seeking to extend its influence in Southern China. In 1802 and again in 1808 Macao was occupied by us as a precaution against its seizure by the French. When garrison duty in Hong Kong during the damp, hot days of the summer palled, I once took ten days' leave to the pleasanter climate of Macao. 

I embarked in Victoria in one of the large, shallowdraught steamers of the Hong Kong, Canton, and Macao Steamboat Company, which keeps up the communication between the English and Portuguese colonies and the important Chinese city by a fleet of some half-dozen vessels. With the exception of one, they are all large and roomy craft from 2,000 to 3,000 tons burden. 

They run to, and return from. Canton twice daily on week-days. One starts from Hong Kong to Macao every afternoon and returns the following morning, except on Sundays. Between Macao and Canton they ply three times a week. The fares are not exorbitant—from Hong Kong to Macao three dollars, to Canton five, each way; between Macao and Canton three. (...) The steamer on which I made the short passage to Macao was the Heungshan (1,998 tons). She was a large shallow-draught vessel, painted white for the sake of coolness. She was mastless, with one high funnel, painted black; the upper deck was roomy and almost unobstructed. The sides between it and the middle deck were open; and a wide promenade lay all round the outer bulkheads of the cabins on the latter. Extending from amidships to near the bows were the first-class state rooms and a spacious, white - and - gold - panelled saloon. Forward of this the deck was open. Shaded by the upper deck overhead, this formed a delightful spot to laze in long chairs and gaze over the placid water of the land-locked sea at the ever-changing scenery. Aft on the same deck was the second-class accommodation. Between the outer row of cabins round the sides a large open space was left. This was crowded with fat and prosperous-looking Chinamen, lolling on chairs or mats, smoking long-stemmed pipes with tiny bowls and surrounded by piles of luggage. Below, on the lower deck, were herded the thirdclass passengers, all Chinese coolies. The companion-ways leading up to the main deck were closed by padlocked iron gratings. At the head of each stood an armed sentry, a half-caste or Chinese quartermaster in bluejacket-like uniform and naval straw hat. He was equipped with carbine and revolver; and close by him was a rack of rifles and cutlasses. All the steamers plying between Hong Kong, Macao, and Canton are similarly guarded; for the pirates who infest the Pearl River and the network of creeks near its mouth have been known to embark on them as innocent coolies and then suddenly rise, overpower the crew and seize the ship. 

For these vessels, besides conveying specie and cargo, have generally a number of wealthy Chinese passengers aboard, who frequently carry large sums of money with them. The Heungshan cast off from the crowded, bustling wharf and threaded her way out of Hong Kong harbour between the numerous merchant ships lying at anchor. In between Lantau and the mainland we steamed over the placid water of what seemed an inland lake. The shallow sea is here so covered with islands that it is generally as smooth as a mill-pond. Past stately moving junks and fussy little steam launches we held our way.

Islands and mainland rising in green hills from the water's edge hemmed in the narrow channel. In about two and a half hours we sighted Macao. We saw ahead of us a low eminence covered with the buildings of a European-looking town. Behind it rose a range of bleak mountains. We passed along by a gently curving bay lined with houses and fringed with trees, rounded a cape, and entered the natural harbour which lies between low hills. It was crowded with junks and sampans. In the middle lay a trim Portuguese gunboat, the Zaire, three-masted, with white superstructure and funnel and black hull. The small Canton-Macao steamer was moored to the wharf. The quay was lined with Chinese houses, twoor three - storied, with arched verandahs. 

The Heungshan ran alongside, the hawsers were made fast, and gangways run ashore. The Chinese passengers, carrying their baggage, trooped on to the wharf. One of them in his hurry knocked roughly against a Portuguese Customs officer who caught him by the pigtail and boxed his ears in reward for his awkwardness. It was a refreshing sight after the pampered and petted way in which the Chinaman is treated by the authorities in Hong Kong. There the lowest coolie can be as impertinent as he likes to Europeans, for he knows that the white man who ventures to chastise him for his insolence will be promptly summoned to appear before a magistrate and fined. Our treat-ment of the subject races throughout our Empire errs chiefly in its lack of common justice to the European. Seated in a ricksha, pulled and pushed by two coolies up steep streets, I was finally deposited at the door of the Boa Vista Hotel. 

This excellent hostelry—which the French endeavoured to secure for a naval hospital, and which has since been purchased by the Portuguese Government —was picturesquely situated on a low hill overlooking the town. The ground on one side fell sharply down to thfe sea which lapped the rugged rocks and sandy beach two or three hundred feet below. On the other, from the foot of the hill, a pretty bay with a tree-shaded esplanade—called the Praia Grande —stretched away to a high cape about a mile distant. 

The bay was bordered by a line of houses, prominent among which was the Governor's Palace. Behind them the city, built on rising ground, rose in terraces. The buildings were all of the Southern European type, with tiled roofs, Venetian-shuttered windows, and walls painted pink, white, blue, or yellow. Away in the heart of the town the gaunt, shattered fagade of a ruined church stood on a slight eminence. Here and there small hills crowned with the crumbling walls of ancient forts rose up around the city. 

Eager for a closer acquaintance with Macao, I drove out that afternoon in a ricksha. I was whirled first along the Praia Grande, which runs around the curving bay below the hotel. On the right-hand side lay a strongly built sea-wall. On the tree-shaded promenade between it and the roadway groups of the inhabitants of the city were enjoying the cool evening breeze. Sturdy litde Portuguese soldiers in dark-blue uniforms and kdpis strolled along in two and threes, ogling the yellow or dark-featured Macaese ladies, a few of whom wore mantillas. Half-caste youths, resplendent in loud check suits and immaculate collars and cuffs, sat on the sea-wall or, airily puffing their cheap cigarettes, sauntered along the promenade with languid grace. Grave citizens walked with their families, the prettier portion of whom affected to be demurely unconscious of the admiring looks of the aforesaid dandies. A couple of priests in shovel hats and long, black cassocks moved along in the throng. 

The left side of the Praia was lined with houses, among which were some fine buildings, including the Government, Post and Telegraph Bureaus, commercial offices, private residences, and a large mansion, with two projecting wings, the Governor's Palace. At the entrance stood a sentry, while the rest of the guard lounged near the doorway. At the end of the Praia Grande were the pretty public gardens, shaded by banyan trees, with flower-beds, a bandstand, and a large building beyond it—the Military Club. 

Past the gate of the Gardens the road turned away from the sea and ran between rows of Chinese houses until it reached the long, tree-bordered Estrada da Flora. On the left lay cultivated land. On the right the ground sloped gently back to a blufif hill, on which stood a lighthouse, the oldest in China. At the foot of this eminence lay the pretty summer residence of the Governor, picturesquely named Flora, surrounded by gardens and fenced in by a granite wall. Continuing under the name of Estrada da Bella Vista, the road ran on to the sea and turned to the left around a flower-bordered, terraced green mound, at the summit of which was a look-out whence a charming view was obtained. From this the mound derives the name of Bella Vista. In front lay a shallow bay. 

To the left the shore curved round to a long, low, sandy causeway, which connects Macao with the island of Heung Shan. Midway on this stood a masonry gateway. Porta Cerco, which marks the boundary between Portuguese and Chinese territory. Hemmed in by a sea-wall, the road continued from Bella Vista along above the beach, past the isthmus, on which was a branch road leading to the Porta, by a stretch of cultivated ground, and round the peninsula, until it reached the city again. 

After dinner that evening, accompanied by a friend staying at the same hotel, I strolled down to the Public Gardens, where the police band was playing and the "beauty and fashion" of Macao assembled. They were crowded with gay promenaders. Trim Portuguese naval or military officers, brightly dressed ladies, soldiers, civilians, priests and laity strolled up and down the walks or sat on the benches. Sallow-complexioned children chased each other round the flower-beds. Opposite the bandstand stood a line of chairs reserved for the Governor and his party. 

We met some acquaintances among the few British residents in the colony ; and one of them, being an honorary member of the Military Club situated at one end of the Gardens, invited us into it. We sat at one of the little tables on the terrace, where the dlite of Macao drank their coffee and liqueurs, and watched the gay groups promenading below. The scene was animated and interesting, thoroughly typical of the way in which Continental nations enjoy outdoor life, as the English never can. Hong Kong, with all its wealth and large European population, has no similar social gathering-place; and its citizens wrap themselves in truly British unneighbourly isolation. 

The government of Macao is administered from Portugal. The Governor is appointed from Europe; and the local Senate is vested solely with the municipal administration of the colony. The garrison consists of Portuguese artillerymen to man the forts and a regiment of Infantry of the Line, relieved regularly from Europe. There is also a battalion of police, supplemented by Indian and Chinese constables—the former recruited among the natives of the Portuguese territory of Goa on the Bombay coast, though many of the sepoys hail from British India. 

A gunboat is generally stationed in the harbour. The troubles all over China in 1900 had a disturbing influence even in this isolated Portuguese colony. An attack from Canton was feared in Macao as well as in Hong Kong; and the utmost vigilance was observed by the garrison. One night heavy firing was heard from the direction of the Porta Cerco, the barrier on the isthmus. It was thought that the Chinese were at last descending on the settlement. The alarm sounded and the troops were called out. Sailors were landed from the Zaire with machine-guns. 

A British resident in Macao told me that so prompt were the garrison in turning out that in twenty minutes all were at their posts and every position for defence occupied. At each street-corner stood a strong guard; and machine-guns were placed so as to prevent any attempt on the part of the Chinese in the city to aid their fellow-countrymen outside. However, it was found that the alarm was occasioned by the villagers who lived just outside the boundary, firing on the guards at the barrier in revenge for the continual insults to which their women, when passing in and out to market in Macao, were subjected by the Portuguese soldiers at the gate. No attack followed and the incident had no further consequences. At the close of 1901 or the beginning of 1902, more serious alarm was caused by the conduct of the regiment recently arrived from Portugal in relief. Dissatisfied with their pay or at service in the East, the men mutinied and threatened to seize the town. The situation was difficult, as they formed the major portion of the garrison. Eventually, however, the artillerymen, the police battalion, and the sailors from the Zaire succeeded in over-awing and disarming them. The ringleaders were seized and punished, and that incident closed. 

The European-born Portuguese in the colony are few and consist chiefly of the Government officials and their families and the troops. They look down upon the Macaese—as the colonials are called — with the supreme contempt of the pure-blooded white man for the half-caste. For, judging from their complexions and features, few of the Macanese are of unmixed descent. So the Portuguese from Europe keep rigidly aloof from them and unbend only to the few British and Americans resident in the colony.