Anticipating no trouble, for we had passed freely through the streets without any sign of hostile ity whatever from the Chinese, we attempted to obtain one of' the sampans which had been disembarking Chinese passengers from the Honam during the afternoon. It soon became abundantly clear to us, however, that while the owners of the sampans would convey Chinese, they steadfastly refused to take Englishmen.
'We then' sought permission to crawl under the barbed wire stretched across the bridges, but! this was refused.
"Chinese Labour Army"
If we had known what was in store for us during the next 40 hours or 0, we would have swum eross the creek, but what we actually did was to go back to the Bund in the hope of getting a motor-boat from the Hotel Asia. It was about 9 pin, when we got back outside the Customs' Wharf, and at this point an engaging little Chinese in a sun-proof ress ed us in very fair English.
By this time a party of youths in dirty trousers and singlets, with Fandoliers of German ammunition strapped round their waists, and who were armed with rifles, had closed in on us, and on the instruc tions of the sun-proof-coated dividual, these pushed us into singularly unsavoury-smelling salt-fish shop a few yards away.
This, the sun-proof coated person explained, was a branch office of the "Chinese Labour Army," and added that we should have provided our-{selves with "passes" before coming into Canton. This omission, however, could, he said, be rectified in about 15 minutes if we would go before a "gentleman" who would provide us with "passes."
Roughly Searched Matters then begun to change their complexion rapidly. A Chin-one in native costume and a Panama hat suddenly appeared, and that he was a personage of some conse. quence was shown by the rapid stiffening to attention of the in dividuals with rifles, who at once losed in on us again.
Hands were thrust into our pockets and passed roughly up and Gown our bodies. Our legs were slapped with enormous gusto, and even the turn-ups of our trousers carefully scrutinized. Protesting vigorously, we were subjected to a thorough and unnecessarily violent search.
We were than bundled into rieshas, and dragged at q slow walk-pace along the Bund eastwards, guarded on all sides by our rather motley armed party, who now and again had much difieulty in keeping off the huge crowd, many thousands strong, who were following the procession, Several times ugly rushes by parties of four or more ruffianly it @ividuals armed with staves and bamboo-poles, were stalled off only when our captors levelled rifles. Impreeations filled the air on all hundreds of coolies brand-les, and all manner of implements at us. It very ugly situation, and it lasted for about three-quarters of an how By this time we arrived at a lace called the Tung Yin Gardens, which we soon found out to be the headquarters of the Canton Labour Army. Here we got out of our rieshas, the guards with dificulty Keeping off the hostile crowd, were taken hurriedly into a very dirty matshed edifice, where two individuals were sitting behind 2 cart of bamboo grille.
Dirty coolies, many of them carrying bandoliers of ammunition, lay about on trestle beds or on the beards of the floor, spitting and making the offensive noises common to their kind, Suddenly our nondescript guards closed round us again, and we were marched through the gardens to ancther, snd' slightly more ornate, building: Here two more officials sat writ "passes" would speedily be given to hidden watchers.
'Meanwhile, a strong party of tatteredemalion soldiers in blue uniforms and sandals, and armed with rifles and long bayonets, had been marched into the room, and a huge crowd outside had' started tremendous clamouring. The walls of the building, which were constructed of bamboo poles closely. Tashed together, reached only about halfway to the ceiling, and repeatedly numbers of coolies clambered and looked in at us, shouting, and spitting in our direction. AS often as they climbed up, however, 20 often did the soldiers push them back, sometimes using the butts of their rifles. The uproar of the crowd outside increased in intensity until it became a tumult.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.