Part 19 (2/2)

Upon a si the previous summer, when a nuerent pirates received su their anchor cables cut, thus causing them to float down the river

Upon Mr Gouverneur's request the _Adams_ sent a detachment of marines on shore It was quartered around the Consulate and its presence quickly had the desired reat relief to both foreign and native residents Later all apprehension was removed by the speedy departure of the unwelcome marauders Meanwhile the Consulate had receivedfollowing the departure of the shi+ps we noticed a large number of boxes in our courtyard and also several sheep tied to the flag-staff For a ti of this queer collection and were con it to the usual incomprehensibilities of Chinese life Mr Gouverneur went in search of our interpreter, hoping that he could explain the situation, but to our surprise he had fled We learned that he stood in great awe of the pirates and feared their vengeance if he told all he knew about them Mr Milne, the British interpreter, finally came to our rescue It seeifts--”kumshaws,” as the Chinese term them--from the pirates to the American and British Consuls and Mr Milne

At first we had no idea what the boxes contained, and Mr Gouverneur sought the advice of Willia_ of Russell and Co been a resident of China, as to what should be done with this strange consigned that, as a matter of policy, they be accepted and the British Consul, Walter H Medhurst, agreed with hiroups and solish Consul and Mr Milne their respective shares The sheep took the lead, and it was indeed a curious procession that atched froh of relief over the departure of this ”embarrassment of riches,” and commenced to plan for the disposal of our own share A few lance out of the hen, to my utter dismay, I saw the procession so recently _en route_ to the British Consulate reenter our courtyard We were informed that Medhurst had weakened and refused to receive his share of the ”ku conduct and ie that if he refused to accept the piratical gifts he would regard it as a personal matter This had the desired effect and a second time the procession wended its way to the British Consulate The boxes proved to contain hams, rock candy, dates and other provisions which we immediately sent to the Aiven to Mr Sloane to do with thehout our Chinese life to be a reeable co and successful career in the East, he died in China just on the eve of his embarkation for America

He neveracquainted with his brother, Sanate, at Garrison's-on-the-Hudson; and, owing to our agreeable association with his brother, both Mr and Mrs Sloane alelcoreat cordiality

I have already referred to Commander (afterwards Rear Admiral) James F

Schenck, USN Our association with hiuest at the Consulate and we soon discovered in him a o he was considered the most clever _raconteur_ in the Navy Commander Schenck's Executive Officer on the _Adaarded as a pleasing and congenial guest Subsequent to his life in Eastern waters, his career was unusually interesting He was a native of North Carolina and, resigning his co of the Civil War, subsequently entered the Confederate Navy, where he was finally assigned to the command of the celebrated cruiser _Shenandoah_

This shi+p, forland for 45,000 by Jaent of the Southern Confederacy in Great Britain, to take the place of the _Alabae_ in June, 1864 She left London in the fall of the same year and fitted out as an armed cruiser off Madeira

She then went to Australia and, after cruising in various parts of the Pacific, sailed for Behring Sea and the Arctic Ocean, where she met with remarkable success in her depredations upon Northern shi+pping She captured thirty-eight vessels, mostly whalers, and the actual losses inflicted by her were only sixty thousand dollars less than those charged to the _Alabama_ Captain Waddell first heard of the downfall of the Confederacy when off the coast of Lower California on the 2d of August, 1865--between three and four months after the event--and, as he had captured in that interval about a dozen shi+ps and realized that his acts land where, early in Noveovernment

She was turned over to the United States, was subsequently sold to the Sultan of Zanzibar and was lost in 1879 in the Indian Ocean She was the only shi+p that carried the flag of the Confederacy around the world In Decelehart of Annapolis, and died in that city a nuo

The American Consulate was the rendezvous of all Naval officers who caratification Lieutenant John J B

Walbach, a son of Colonel John DeBarth Walbach, a well-known officer of the Army, Dr Philip Lansdale, Dr Benjaett and Lieutenant (afterwards Rear Aduest in Washi+ngton after ain at the Capital, where we took pleasure in discussing our Chinese observations and experiences While in China I also became acquainted with Captain and Mrs Eliphalet Nott of Schenectady, the former of as a nephew of the venerable President Eliphalet Nott of Union College He commanded his own vessel, the _Don Quixote_, and was usually accoes by his wife--a mode of life that i through the streets of Foo Chow ayly-dressed woman seated in a chair decked with flowers I was informed that she was a Chinese ho was about to sacrifice herself upon the pyre in accordance with the custom of the country I subsequently learned that when this woman reached the place appointed for the cere reed to apply the torch that should launch her into eternity The crowd, however, was disappointed, for at the last e failed her and she announced that she ! The wo found expression in a riot which, however, was speedily quelled by the authorities

The Chinese nation was the victi, and the perpetrators were Alishmen whose unquenchable avarice overcame their moral convictions I refer to the iniquitous manner in which opium was introduced into the country and subsequently sold to the natives Large fortunes were accufros from the representatives of Christian countries China at this time was unable to cope by force with the Western nations, but she did not renounce the right to protect herself frole When, however, she asserted this right, as she did on a certain occasion by seizing and burning the deadly drug, she made herself liable for heavy indele In consequence of this act, six hundred thousand dollars passed through Mr Gouverneur's hands as US Consul Even in recent years the Chinese Eht to protect his subjects froo tea was cultivated around Foo Chow, but in time it was abandoned and the poppy took its place A few years ago an edict was issued prohibiting the cultivation of this flower and I understand that tea is again a product of this region When I resided in Foo Chow, some of theof opiue and wealthy firm--that of Jardine and Matthewson--actually eunboat to assist it in the accoe It will be re, then one of the richest o he frequently asked the wealthy ot their money Whether or not he had in lish fortunes had been accumulated in his native land does not appear; but if his question had been directed to the heads of some of the business houses in Foo Chow and elsewhere in China while I was there, it certainly would have produced, to say the least, no little embarrassment

Poor China has suffered ners Pillage and theft have n invaders in a manner wholly inconsistent with the code of honorable warfare, and acts have been committed that would never be tolerated in conflicts between Western nations It was said that the title of Comte de Pelikao was conferred by Louis Napoleon upon General Charles Montauban for having presented the Eenie with some superb black pearls taken from the Imperial Summer Palace when it was looted in 1860 At the same time and in the saeold and silver and a wealth of ancient es were ruthlessly perpetrated in the sa chapter in the Boxer troubles Unhappy China! She has felt the aggressive hand of her Western ”brothers” ever since the unwilling invasion of her shores

About this time China was the resort of many adventurous Americans, soood,” with a view of seeking their fortunes We becaustus Joseph Francis Harrison, ain Chinese waters His early life had been spent in Morrisania in New York, where he had become familiar with the name of my husband's relative, Gouverneur Morris, and was thus led to seek our acquaintance

One day he came to the Consulate apparently in ill health and told us he was in a serious condition It seelish physician whose violent remedies had failed to benefit him and had prompted hied us for shelter and we accordingly gave hiuest We knew but little of medical remedies, but we did the best for hihted to see that our patient was convalescing One day hter Maud visited hiratitude, he presented to the little girl the ”Pirates' God,” one of his most cherished treasures--a curious idol, which is still in her possession On the back of it he wrote the following history:--”This idol, together with the whole contents of two large pirate boats, was captured after a severe fight of three hours, they having undertaken to take us by surprise; consequently thirty or forty were killed The restashore The boats and contents, too, were sold”

Foo Choas a region frequently visited by typhoons, in consequence of which a h During the latter part of our residence in China we experienced the terrors of a storm remarkable for its severity and in the course of which a portion of the Consulate was blon After spending soe in the e in the _Hong_ of Augustus Heard and Coet, as we sat in this lonely cellar with the ele children, ”I want to go ho that Mr Gouverneur received the following note froe J Weller, the representative of this well-known firoing up--the ill probably abate a little soon, and perhaps then Mrs G and the children can come _Make_ the coolies carry the chair Three can do it

The seree with Mr

Gouverneur, in consequence of which we decided to return ho the Mexican War had made serious inroads upon his health, from which he never entirely recovered It was hoped that his life in the East would be beneficial, but it proved otherwise

Meanwhile, the Civil War was raging in the United States, but the news concerning it was very stale long before it reached us We did not receive the particulars of the battle of Bull Run, for example, until three months after its occurrence In view of the turbulent state of affairs at hoht it important that Mr Gouverneur should remain at his post of duty until the arrival of his successor, and he decided to do so During these days of uncertainty, however, my husband deemed it wise that, if possible, I should return with the children on a shi+p sailing under the protection of the British flag, and I quite agreed with him In due time the favorable opportunity presented itself, and I ee_

The wisdo from Foo Chow after my departure was captured by a Confederate privateer When I went to China I took two little girls with hter we named her ”Rose de Chine,” in order to identify her more intimately with the land of her nativity Soon after her birth, several Chinese asked irls do you keep?”

We were the only passengers on the _Mirage_ and, besides having very superior accommodations on board, ere treated with every consideration by its captain We were three e and the captain called it s We fell in with many vessels _en route_ and, to quote our skipper, we found thes, some very friendly and others stern and curt” When in mid-ocean we passed an American vessel, the _Anna Decatur_, which seemed like a welcome from home as it was named after a former New York friend of mine, Anna Pine Decatur, a niece of Commodore Stephen Decatur, who married Captain William H Parsons of the merchant service Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, USN, a brother of Anna Pine Decatur, was a constant visitor at our house in Houston Street inone of his cruises he was stricken with a serious illness which resulted in total blindness He subsequentlyhis wife and children, his genial nature was not changed by his affliction In 1869 he became a Commodore on the retired list, but some of the family connection objected to his use of this title, as in their opinion the world should recognize only one Commodore Stephen Decatur, the naval hero of 1812

As we neared New York harbor I beca e was almost over, when I noticed that the usually pleasant expression on the captain's face had changed to one of extre, Captain?” and to !” He then told rounds, but that in all his experience, even in Chinese waters, he had never known the barometer to fall so low; and, to add to his anxiety, there was no pilot within sight! It was a very cold Februaryreached the zero mark, and I went at once to my cabin to prepare for the worst The captain meanwhile commenced to make preparations for a severe storm, but before we realized it the tempest was upon us and our vessel was blown far out to sea, where for three days ere at the mercy of the elements The rudder was tied, the hatches battened down and there was nothing left to do but to sit with folded hands and trust to that Providence whom even the waters obey

[Illustration: MRS GOUVERNEUR'S THREE DAUGHTERS

_Miss Gouverneur, Mrs Roswell Randall Hoes, Mrs Willia in hts entirely alone and without even the co sound of a human voice Our life preservers ithin reach, but I fully realized that they would be of but little avail in such a raging sea During those anxiouscabin and quite oblivious of ier, I wondered whether it would be my destiny to close my earthly career on Rockaway Beach, near the spot where I had first seen the light of day; but soon after those anxious rateful, as the captain told me that if the wind had been in another quarter all of us would have perished within a few hours

Gradually the winds and stor cal subjected to the annoying presence of a Custoh seas had prevented his visit When I reached land I learned that the awful stor the whole eastern coast and had carried death and devastation in its track The children and I were driven to my mother's late residence, 57 West Thirty-sixth Street, but she was no longer there to greet me, as she had passed into the Great Beyond the year before my return; butthere, both of ere unmarried I had received such kindness froe that I felt I should like to hter becauests

CHAPTER XIII

THE CIVIL WAR AND LIFE IN MARYLAND