One has
only to think of how the crowd would gather if a China-man, in national costume, were to set up an easel and begin to paint in one of our own streets, to realise a
little of what I had to put up with. I had great crowds
of curious natives to manage and to humour, and in
other cases I had to persuade the officials to allow me
to sketch.
Their whole idea, it seemed to me, was that
a foreigner sketching meant making maps and plans
for some ulterior purpose.
The difficulty I experienced, and the long, patient,
persistent efforts I had to make, before I could persuade
those most highly educated and placed officials immediately in touch with the Throne even to petition the
Empress Dowager to grant me that permission which
I ultimately obtained - to work at the Summer Palace - was only one, though the most determined, effort to keep
me outside. But once I had obtained that, and become
known (and, I flatter myself, rather liked), and consequently favoured by those officials, my difficulties were
smoothed over as far as possible.
Then I had to contend with the climate, a very serious
matter; to work in extreme heat and extreme cold; at
times in very moist heat, and again in great dryness;
the mere keeping of my paper and materials in fit
condition was quite a serious matter.
Of the places I visited and illustrated the chief were,
in the order of my journey: Hong Kong, Canton, Macao,
and the neighbourhood of these places, in the south.
Shanghai was another centre, and from there I visited
and worked in the Soochow and Tahu or Great Lake
district, and at Bing-oo, Kashing, and Hangchow, with
its famous West Lake. In the north I visited Pei-tai-ho,
Shan-hai-kwan, Tientsin, and finally Peking, with its
world-famous palaces and temples. (...)
 |
| "A street in Macao" - legenda original do livro |
Capítulo 3 - Macao
The Old Portuguese Settlement and sometime Home of Camoens.
"Gem of the Orient, Earth and open Sea - Macao: that in thy lap and on thy breast
Hast gathered beauties all the loveliest
O'er which the sun smiles in his majesty." - Bowring.
The visitor to Hong Kong should not, if time
allows, fail to visit Macao. The delightful trip
on one of the well-equipped boats of the Canton
and Macao Steamboat Company is well worth doing ;
and Macao, with its history going back to 1557, when
the Portuguese first founded their settlement (I think
it is the earliest European settlement in China), is most
interesting. The Portuguese were allowed at that time
to build factories, and the Chinese built a wall to exclude
the barbarians.
The settlement is on a peninsula on the western side
of the Canton River, and the city, with its flat-roofed
houses of southern European character, is very pic-
turesquely situated. It lies on the level piece of land
forming the Peninsula, between bold and rocky hills at
either end rising some 300 feet.
The Chinese have always (notably in 1862) disputed
the ownership of this piece of territory, but their authority
has gradually diminished, and now the place has been
for some time regarded as a colonial possession by the
Portuguese. It was early occupied by the Jesuit mis-
sionaries, who established the grand old cathedral, beautiful even in its ruin, but still towering up into the sky,
and sharing with the old castle the domination of the
town.
Macao was the centre of a disgraceful and cruel trade
in coolies, a slave trade of the worst character, from the
middle of last century till it was abolished in 1874.
More recently the colonial revenue has been largely
gained from a tax on the notorious Fan-Tan gambling-
dens, which in 1872-73 yielded as much as 380,000 dollars
(Mexican), or close on £'35,ooo sterling. These and still
worse places are largely patronised by the Chinese and
Macoese (among whom half-breeds largely predominate),
and one is lost in amazement at the action of a European
nation in upholding such things and pandering to the
worst side of the Chinese character. But, for all this,
Macao is a fair place to look at and dream over; and
it is a more pleasant task to let one's thoughts go back
to days when, in 1568, Louis de Camoens, prince of poets
of his time, was exiled here as Portuguese Governor of
the Fort, for writing a satire on the Portuguese officials
at Goa, exposing their corruption.
His memory is kept green by the grotto which still bears his name, and here
he is said to have composed at least part of his " Lusiad "
(the national epic of Portugal), and probably in this
peaceful retreat he passed the happiest time of his
adventurous life.
" There never fails, intent on treacherous ends,
Some lurking foe to those whom Heaven befriends." ^
Nearly all the outer end of the Peninsula and close to
the river rises a small and rocky tree-covered hill, and
on this is situated the very beautiful Fisherman's Temple,
as dainty and picturesque a group of buildings, small
though they are, as I saw anywhere in the East.
My
guide induced me to visit the Fan-Tan gambling-houses,
the outsides of which are ornamental in a tawdry way;
the insides did not appeal to me, being rather dull and
dirty. We were taken upstairs, where, round a railed
opening in the floor, one looked down on the gaming-table;
but the game did not appear to me to have any charm.
We also looked in at a Chinese theatre, where one of
their everlasting plays was in progress. I cannot say
that there was any resemblance to Drury Lane.
There
was no scenery; the actors (there are no actresses, though
the men make up very well as women) wear cheap but
very gaudy costumes, and change their dresses on the
stage ; all the hangers on, such as we might term scene-
shifters, and the like, stood about the stage and watched
» "The Lusiad."
the performance, which was so weird I cannot find words
to describe it. It largely consisted of the performers
yelling at each other in very high-pitched falsetto voices
(caterwauling is the only noise I can liken it to), waving
their arms and walking up and down - the so-called
band adding to the din, cymbals, drums, and sort of
coach -horn, &, making every few minutes a great
banging - then a sudden hush, after which off they
would start again.
The men who take women's parts are raised on false
wooden feet, made quite small to give the appearance
of the small, bound feet of the women; their baggy trousers
are tied in at the ankle. The audience, although watching
intently, seem moved very little, and only signify their
approval slightly. There is no enthusiastic applause as
with us, though there is occasionally slight laughter.
While here I visited a charming Chinese residence.
The owner was from home, but I was most courteously
shown over it by his servants. The gardens were very
pretty - approached through quaintly shaped doorways in
the walls, and intersected by pathways lined by ornamental
stone-work and plants and flowers - sheets of water, with
the usual bridges leading to pavilions on islands, making
the whole very attractive. The residential part of the
house was very well furnished with fine Cantonese black
wood and many pieces of beautiful porcelain.
The No. I Boy brought out as a great treasure for
my inspection a book of photographs of London, asking
me if I knew these places; and on my saying so, I
was asked by my interpreter if I would explain them.
This I did, to their great delight. They were greatly
struck by St. Paul's, which I described to them as our
Chief Joss-House, and with the idea of the railways
which went under the houses and streets.
