To the Editor of the "gum tu make.
At Collyer's Dock the Norru-Curya Day New: Romolasueceeded in weathering the Tudine, the Cinthe having a lead of about a mile.
Sir,—We have read the leading article Down the bight to Black Point, the Clutha in your paper of 24th September, and must cot a slant of wind and lay down merrily, express our regret that such strong views ut as she got to the Point, the wind fell should have been ventilated before their off altogether, and the tide set her right basis had been verified. Your informant across the river. The Romolo hugged the has apparently possessed no knowledge of shore all round the Point and in the the Agreement which has been made. bight below it, and when the Cluthe Amongst the various statements that tacked back to the Pootung shore, the other cutter was some distance ahead, appear in your article we are concerned only to deal at present with the following and the Undine almost caught her, but "he Chinese Telegraph Administration soon dropped back again, Down to Gough consents on receiving a subsidy of is. Island, the Komola sneaked along ahead, 100,000 to keep up the rate of 82a word hugging the shore, the Clutha and Undine to Europe." following out, in the stream close-hauled, We give this an unqualified contradiction, the wind rising and falling and shifting as stich an arrangement has not been made about in the most provoking manner. or even contemplated.
Whonever the wind came true, the (lithe We trust that it is unnecessary to state, overhauled the Romolo, and as it came a both for the honour of ourselves and the little more aft, the two cutters hoisted negotiators on the Chinese side, that the their ib topslls and romped down the insinuation of irregular and improper means ship channel past Gough Isha with the having been brought to bear to influence ind abaft the beam, while the Undine the latter is equally groundless. was struggling along' close-hauled some We have no hesitate in Sit] that no distance behind them. The worthy sam-cleaner arrangement, or one more free from pan wan entrusted with the S.¥.C. tag all personal interests was never made in ad concluded that the intended course this or any other country. was tuo long by a mile-and-a-half, and had As soit as we are able to do $0 we pro-luckily come to an anchor above the bar, pose to make public all the points in the near the bottom of Guugh Island spit, Convention which concern or interest the which was rounded us follows public, and have every confidence that the Romolo 20m. 00s. result has been to fairly reconcile the in-Chita. 20m. 45s, terests of the administrations concerned, Undin 33m, 50s. and of the public, After rounding, the Romolo stood strai We therefore do not doubt that your back for home, tinder the impression that sense of impartiality and justice will cause she would have the wind free, while the vent to withdraw the injurious and Clutha made across for the Pootung she statements to which you ha given circula-'The Romolu soon discovered her mistake, tion, We are, Sir, and nade n tack, but when she was headed Yours faithfull, for Shanghai again, the Clithe was half Warren Jupp, J. Hes: mile ahead of her. The Undine followed the Clutha's lead, and toiled the two cutters, which in the light wind with their high canvas, wore sailing two feet to her one, All three yachts were close Miscellaneous. hauled on the port tack, with a strony flood under them until half Gough Tsland and Black Point, where the came free, the two cutters, with We have arrived at Peking, and T am spinnakers set, being now almost out of quite convinced that whatever wonders it sight of the Undine, the Clute main-tay have to offer, xuthing—no! nothing taining hor lead. At' the Point House it could surpass the wonder of the journey to was & dead calm for the Uidine, and it. And when you consider that every high from this point she merely drifted in official throughout the Empire has to travel over the flood. The cutters, being so this same way in order to be confirmed in ahewl, held the wind longer, but by the his high appointment the wonder is en-time they reached the lower limit of the hanced. From Tientsin you can ride to harbour, for them too it was little more Peking, if you are strong enough. Sir a drifting match, and they crossed Harry Parkes did it in the day, the year the winning line as und before he died. But if you don't feel equal Chuthus 6m. 405- to riding 80 miles at a stretch, or 80 miles Romela lih. Lin. 19s. relieved (7) by nights at Chinese inns, you must come the way we did, taking boat up The corrected olticial times elapsed the Peiho as far as Tungchow. We left Tientsin at two o'clock on Thursday, and Clutha... lin. 03s. reached Tungchow at 9 p.m, Sunday, having Komolu 53m. 00s. been very lucky, as it appeared. We had j The Cluthe winning by 1 minute and 57 A south-west wind all Friday, spinning us seconds. The Undine was nearly. three-along certain reaches of the ever wriggling, narders of an hour behind the Chu, and rather: than winding, Peiho. Along the lid not. cross the winning line. It was a reverse reaches thornen hadlto tow or peleus. perfect sailing day, bar the want of wind, On Saturday the wind was so high that we which it is hoped will not interfere with had to lie to in the middle of the day, thornen the race for the Fairy Challenge Cup next being unable to make any way against it by Saturday. towing. And we only made a very few miles Some dissatisfaction was justly expressed that day. Tu the afternoon it rained and at the restriction of the yachts to the ship. was altogether cheerless. But on Sunday we channel going and returning. This is al lad a fine westerly breeze again. Although in favour of the cutters, whose high sails a river the Peiho in this part of its course catch the wind over the land by Gough is decidedly more canal-like and uninterest-Island, and it would be only fair that the ing than the English canal down which I China-rigged yachts, with their smaller had some thought of travelling last year, till I decided it would be too tedious. But after all there is a charm about this exceedingly slow mode of progression. The world does not really stand still with you, but you feel as if it did. You get interested in the boats you pass or meet, coming down stream, laden with plants in pots—-twodwarf orange trees with oranges upon them I saw once,—or bringing down strawbraid or taking up brick tea, such quantities of brick tea, which had, I suppose, come all the way down the Yangtze from poor water-beleaguered Hankow of the Willow Avenues and ravening mosquitoes, and round further whose on strings and strings of by sea from Shanghai to Tientsin, and
dignified camels Siberia-wards we subsequently saw. What brick tea costs in the nal instance don't know. But when I think of the amount of labour expended on its transport I feel it ought to be precious to the Siberians.
Every now and then we got out and walked along the banks looking backwards at the long zigzagging procession of boats, each with one large sail, or at other times each with a bare mast, Looking like " long line of telegraph poles. And beside us was the line of real telegraph poles, and one thought of the coming railway, and that the foreigners who would approach Peking in the old historic way were already numbered. For there will be nothing to tempt you to provide yourself with all the necessities of ife for a three or four days' trip when once the railroad is open, and you can book direct. There is nothing to be seen upon the road, that cannot be as well seen elsewhere; mud banks, sand hills, millet and sorghum fields with poor crops, niceish trees, fences gay with convolvulus flowers, mud houses, ulud roofs, and level banks crowded with all the disreputable refuse of a village. Then woud-cutters—one or two very substantial coffins stood out prominently alongside of thes, a nvala and s pony ploeghleg, or donkey and an ox, never a pair of animals of the same kind. All these things one looks at with " pleasant interest as one saunters, or floats by. But you can see them elsewhere, or you can never see them, and be none the worse for the miss. Then it is true you can shut yourself into the boat cabin, and study colloquial Chinese cording to Sir Thomas Wade, or write letters home to say how you are enjoying yourself, or drink tes, or smoke, just as your previous way of life disposes you to act, when there is no restraining influence further than the size of the cabin. A native boat is not quite as luxurious as " Shanghai house-boat, though it is well enough, except. in the matter of no opening the cabin from the inside. So that when we were shut in, Talways thought, now if the buat were to heel over we should be drowned inside like mice ina trap. Another exception T make, not in favour of the cracks, which grew portent ously larger, as the boards shrank with the increasing dryness of the air, and whicl must let in an inordinate draught in w when the air is more cold than kindly. towards the end of September we found it hard enough to keep warm at night, We had two cabins, but one was pretty well all bed, being a raised ottoman sort. of place, under which boxes can be put, and on which mattresses are laid. We had to provide ourselves with everything we wanted, even to acovking stove, and paid nine anda half dollars fur our boat including drink money. This at the present rate of exchange is under 30 shillings. The men fed themselves. So did we. Itis tiresome that travelling in China, you can buy nothing by the way, except chick-tens and eggs, and sweet potatoes, delicious, land cabbage, horrible! It is. tiresome also that the makers of tinned things will not put dates upon their tins, therefore in those outports—which Shanghai fine ladies always pronounce as if they were only peopled by outeasts,"—we have to put up with the tinned milk, that somehow did'n'tsell at Shanghai. Could not the local representatives of the Army and Navy
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.