Round the World Rambles, etc

Front matter

IRouno tbe Movlb IRambles: A iltcorb of a HoUoay ®our BY JOHN KEER CAMPBELL, D.D., F.B.I.S., &c. AUTHOR OF Through Egypt, Palestine, and Syria," " Through United StaLs of America and Canada" " Through Classic and Bible Lands," " Pisgah Glimpses and Gospel Gleanings," " Life Problems" "Rambles in South Africa" " Hidden Springs of Israel" " Life Cameos" &*c. LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO. GLASGOW: ROBERT L. HOLMES, DUNLOP STREET. STIRLING: COOK & WYLIE, BARNTON STREET. STIRLING : Printed by Cook & Wylie, 9 Barntox Street. who To Captain Haiml, commander, and the other officers of The Royal Mail Steamer " Kaisar-i-Hind," SO LARGELY CONTRIBUTED TO OCR COMFORT AND ENJOYMENT DURING OUR VOYAGE FROM BOMBAY TO HONG KONG, AND FROM HONG KONG TO COLOMBO ; AND TO JUnny, my WiiU, Compagnon de Vntiage, This Record of our Round the World Rambles _6 ©e&tcafeb, WITH CORDIAL EXPRESSIONS OF RESPECT AND GRATITUDE, BY THE AUTHOR.

Preface

. It is the remark of a certain writer that "The Preface to a Book is generally more or less of the nature of an apology for the implied presumption of publishing the Book." Had it been otherwise, this volume might have been allowed to pass into the hands of the reading public without any Preface ; especially as the object of the Author in writing it has been sufficiently disclosed in the first or introductory chapter. While the Author has not been equal to the task suggested by Dr. Samuel Johnson of "carrying home the wealth of the Indies, inasmuch as he carried not the wealth of the Indies with him," he has, nevertheless, seen a little more than Dr. Johnson's traveller — " a large serpent in one of the Pyramids of Egypt " — and he has done his best to describe all that he saw in the different countries and places visited.

Throughout the record, he has not scrupled to follow, in a metaphorical sense, the order which Cromwell gave to Lely, the artist — " Paint me as I am." The title given to the volume was suggested by the Author's friend and namesake, ex-Provost Campbell, of Greenock ; but instead of "Pere grinations Round the Globe," he preferred the more humble word, " Rambles." The Author would beg leave to express his cordial sense of gratitude to the general reading public for the encouragement he has received in connection with the sale of his previous Books. Not being a member of the " Mutual Admiration Club," which is given to a little puffing to exalt a friend or to promote trade, he cannot forbear expressing his obligations to the Press, which, with one solitary exception, has been fair, and not malicious. Stirling, November, i8g6. CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Introductory

page Bay of Biscay, ... ... ... ... ■•• ••■ ■•• •■■ i Why 1 wrote the Book, .2 Round the World in Five Months, ... ... ... ... •■• 3 P. and O. Arrangements, ... ... ... ... ... ■■• ■■■ 6 The Kaisar-i-Hind and her Commander, 7

Red Sea, 27 The Place of Crossing, 28 Wells of Moses, 29 Mountains of Sinai, 3° Aden, CONTENTS.

Chapter V. Bombay

page Hotels and Public Buildings, 35 Parsees and their Religion, ... ... ... ... ... ... 36 Conversations with Parsees, ... ... ... ... ... ... 37 Towers of Silence, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4° Malabar Hill, 41 Caves of Elephanta, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 42

Chapter IX. Lucknow

Places of Interest in Lucknow, ... ... ... ... ... ... 63 First Announcement of the Mutiny, 64 The Sharp-Shooter in Clock Tower, ... ... ... ... ... 66 The Double Siege, ... ... ... ... ... ... 67 The Coming of Sir Colin Campbell, 68 Jessie of Lucknow, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... CONTENTS. IX

; FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF JAPANESE. Japanese Unique, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 191 Streets and Shops, .... 194 Doing Things Differently, 194 Novelties and Oddities, , ... 195 Japanese Women, 196

Chapter XXIV. Glimpses Of Religion In Japan

Shintoism, ••■' •■• CONTENTS. PAGE Buddhism, ... ... ... ... ... ... 203 Prime Minister of Japan on Religion, ... ... ... ... ... 205 Jesuits and Martyrdom, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 208 Bloodless Exploit by Commodore Perry, ... ... ... ... 209

Chapter XXIX. Yokohama

Climbing to the Bluff, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... CONTENTS. X1U. PAGE A Quiet Resting Place, 246 Church-Going, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 246 " John," the Beadle, 247 Inconsistent Christians, ... ... ... ... ••■ ••• ■•• 247 Sabbath Keeping, 248 "Two Drunks," 249 A Photographic Studio, 250 Schools, 251

Chapter XXXI. Japan

: PAST AND PRESENT. Japan, " the Child of the World's Old Age," 260 "Globe Trotters," 261 A Japanese Opinion, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 262 Dr. Griffis' Opir.ion, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 265 Sentiments of a Heathen Jap, ... ... ... ... ... ... 267 Buddhists alarmed, ... ... ... ... ... .. ... ... 268

Chapter XXXIII. Hard Questions

Changing the Programme, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 277 The National Anthem, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 277 Oil on the Troubled Waters, ... ... ... ... ... ... 278 Lead us not into Temptation, 279 Hardening of Pharaoh's Heart, 280 Were the Hebrew Prophets Inspired? CONTENTS.

Chapter XXXIV Homeward Voyage

: YOKOHAMA TO COLOMBO, page Incidents, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2S3 A Stirling Gentleman at Hong Kong, ... ... ... ... ... 284 Function on Board the Kaisar, ... ... ... ... ... ... 287 Presentations, ... ... ... ... ... ... 289

Chapter XXXV Homeward Bound

: COLOMBO TO PORT SAID. New Social Environment, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 291 Talkers and Story Tellers, ... ... . . ... ... ... ... 292 An Address on Mahommet, ... ... ... ... ... ... 293 Armenia and Armenians, ... ... ... ... ... .. ... 295

Chapter XXXVI. Homeward Bound

: PORT SAID TO LONDON. A Parsee Gentleman, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 303 The Rev. Clement Scott, D.D., of Blantyre, ... ... ... ... 304 A Profane Effort Arrested, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 305 A Word of Caution about Letters, .. ... ... ... ... ... 306 Additional Passengers, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 307 Specimens of the " New Woman," ... ... ... ... ...

Chapter I. Introductory

" There is a land of every land the pride, Beloved of heaven o'er all the world beside, . . . There is a spot of earth supremely blest, A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest . . . . . . Where shall that land, that spot of earth be found ? Art thou a man ? a patriot ? look around ; Oh, thou shalt find, howe'er thy footsteps roam, That land thy country, and that spot thy home." — Montgomery. HIS is true to nature, true to human experience. Sir Walter Scott on returning from Italy felt it and sang " Land of my sires ! What mortal hand Can e'er untie the filial band That knits me to thy rugged strand ? " Verily, in all the world, "There is no place like home." A week before we reached the shores of England we were in the Bay of Biscay. We entered the Bay on a glorious Sabbath morning, and the bugler in announcing the breakfast hour thrilled our hearts by playing the well-known tune, "Home, sweet Home."

Had it not been the Lord's day morning he would have been applauded. On any other day, had he gone round with his cap in hand, I believe he would have got a sixpence from each passenger. A INTRODUCTORY. On the previous day we were in the immediate neighbourhood of those islands and places on the coast of France which have since become sadly memorable by the Drummond Castle disaster. On the Sabbath morning the Bay or Gulf of France was calm — smooth as a sheet of glass, a perfect contrast to what it must have been when the London, in 1886, sank beneath the billows. Our thoughts were exercised on such matters when the bugler summoned us to think of "Home, sweet Home." Little did we think at the time that that beautiful Bay, that " Glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form glasses itself in tempests — the image of Eternity " — would so soon become coffin and grave for the hundreds of passengers on board the Drummond Castle.

How near the land of their sires, and yet how far away! How true, "the unexpected happens." On reaching our home in the City of the Rock after four months' rambling, we felt profoundly thankful to God that we had gone so far, had seen so much, and had returned without a single hitch or mishap. Not a few of our fellow-citizens welcomed us back, and at the same time gave expression to their desire to have a record of our travels. One gentleman did more than express the hope that such a record would prove a financial success. Notwithstanding all hints, promises, and possibilities, I did not for a time feel disposed or equal to the task of producing another volume. After a few weeks' rest at home, however, I began to consider how far I might be justified in withholding the information I had gathered in Eastern lands, and I came to the conclusion that I ought not to withhold it.

I had INTRODUCTORY. scarcely begun to transcribe my notes when a certain gentleman of the press wrote a paragraph saying : "It is understood that Dr. Campbell of the Marykirk Parish Church is writing another book." This, I know, was written in a friendly spirit, but the writer at the moment was absolutely ignorant of what I was doing or what my intentions were. Another gentleman of the press, who has always been unfriendly to me and to the church to which I have the honour to belong, inspired or wrote a paragraph ostensibly in the way of enrich ing the columns of a Glasgow newspaper, but indirectly that he might have it copied into the local paper with which he is connected for the special grati fication of its readers. This scribbler turned what was hypothetical in the original paragraph into a positive assertion.

Were this the general way of the press, it would have, like Haman, an inglorious end. But in this particular instance I thought I would try at least to prevent the scribblers from befooling the public. I therefore continued to write my story, which, I hope, may be found by my readers to have the freshness and accuracy which spring from first impressions. If it should seem to them that I have written certain things more plain than pleasant, let them attribute that to the fact that I have not yet acquired the art of concealing things which I believe ought to be known, or to the fact that I belong to at least one department of the School of Labouchere. In the first place, I would like to rebut the doubt which seems to be implied in certain remarks made by one or two of my compeers, that we have gone round the world in five months.

Such remarks in INTRODUCTORY. relation to modern navigation imply the position of the belated traveller. They would have had some meaning or force fifty years ago. More than twenty years of this dying century had come and gone before any steamer sailed the seas. Was it not in the year 1833 that the Boyal William crossed the Atlantic ? Was it not in the year 1838 that the first steamer from British shores crossed over to the great West World ? The Boyal William took twenty five days, and the British steamer seventeen days, to accomplish the journey. Now steamers accomplish the Atlantic voyage in about six days. Within recent years round the world voyages have become common. Scores of Europeans and hundreds of Americans have been round the world several times. A railway train moving night and day, or at the rate of thirty miles an hour, would go round the earth in thirty-five days.

A school-boy will tell us that the circumference of the earth is twenty-four thousand miles. Suppose, then, a steamer moving onwards night and day at the rate of fourteen miles an hour, four months would be ample time to complete the circle. The question has been asked, " How many miles have you travelled during these five months ? " My answer has been, "About thirty thousand miles!" These thirty thousand miles include our journeys in the Northern Provinces of India, and in Ceylon, also in the Straits Settlements, and in China and Japan. In the journey round the world, it is not necessary that the tourist should travel so many thousand miles in India, or that he should go to the extreme limits of the Island of Ceylon, or that he should go from INTRODUCTORY. 5 Hong Kong to Pekin, or even as far as Tokio, in Japan.

The tourist may say that he has gone round the world if he goes from Glasgow to America or to San Francisco, and takes steamer from San Francisco across the Pacific to Yokohama, that is, from the north to the far west, and from the far west to the far east, and then through the Inland Sea of Japan to Hong Kong and Colombo, and then over the Indian, Arabian, and Red Seas to the Mediterranean and the shores of England. We reversed this order by starting on our rambles at London. Anyone having the inclination, or anyone having time and money at his command, may accomplish a tour round the world in less than five months. The bare ticket will cost him a hundred and twenty five pounds. He will be none the worse, however, if he should double that sum for incidental expenses, especially if he intends to ramble.

I mention these things by way of answer to questions which have been put to me on the subject. In my book, Through the United States of America and Canada, published some years ago, I described what we saw and heard in these vast countries ; and, therefore, I will limit the record of our round the world rambles to what we saw and heard in India and Ceylon, in China and Japan. Having obtained my Presbytery's leave of absence for six months, and the Presbytery having declared themselves satisfied with the arrangements I had made with the Rev. W. Stevens, B.D., for carrying on my pulpit duties until I returned, D.V., early in June, we left the " City of the Rock " early in January for London. It was my intention at the INTRODUCTORY. time to spend the winter months in Egypt, but we had nothing fixed.

Egypt as a quiet resting place had many charms for us. The quiet surroundings of Heliopolis, a sail up the Nile to Luxor, Thebes, and Karnock, or it might be to Kartum, were much in the way of our inclination. But when I remembered the complaints which have been made by persons troubled as I am with insomnia, concerning noisy Arabs, barking dogs, and braying donkeys on the banks of the Nile, and especially the cost of a journey up the Nile, we resolved not to go. The cost of living for one person in one of the hotels of Cairo is from 17 francs a day, upwards. The cost of the Nile journey to the first Cataract for one person is £70. These sums doubled was more than we cared to pay, especially when we compared it with the cost of the tour round the world. I then tried to arrange with the P. and 0.

Steam Navigation Company for a reduction of the total cost for the round the world tour, but was unsuccessful ; they sternly demanded their pound of flesh. I confess I was not greatly enamoured with the P. and 0. Company's fleet of steamers. Ever since I saw the Tasmania, in 1887, wrecked off the coast of Sicily I was prejudiced. If ever there was a case of unskilful navigation, it was surely in that case. Nevertheless, we resolved to rise above prejudices, and brave all possible dangers. Having gone safely, and having returned safely, I now feel constrained to say that the P. and 0. commanders of the five different ships in which we sailed are most competent men. We found them all actuated by a high sense of responsibility, INTRODUCTORY. 7 and always attentive to duty. There were differences, however, which we could not fail to observe, but these differences had respect to taste and temperament in relation to their passengers.

One or two were far too consequential ; they lacked the ordinary measures of humanity. They were not like the late Duke of Wellington, men of detail. They seemed to wink at the exploits of fiery youths at unseasonable hours. There was some loud grumbling on this account, especially during the homeward voyage. Perhaps the P. and 0. Directors themselves are not beyond the need of certain hints, if they mean to abide by their motto, Quis Separabit, in relation to the East. A certain ex-M.P. on board gave expression to the sentiments of not a few of the passengers in the following remarks: "They (the Directors) seem to be trading on their already made reputation. The table provided is not equal to those of other Lines, certainly not equal to that of the Castle Line. Were Sir Thomas Sutherland, M.P., to take a trip incognito in one or two of the ships of the other Lines, he might learn something for the benefit of the Company he otherwise so well represents."

The ship Valetta is unworthy. She is old and dirty. Most of her best cabins are at the stern, and her vibrations there are most disagreeable. " In going to bed," said a passenger, " I feel as if I were going to sleep on horseback at the gallop." The Kaisar-i-Hind on the Shanghai and Bombay route is in many respects an excellent vessel. She furrows the ocean and glides along like a thing of beauty, ever steady, ever sure. Her commander, Captain Daniel, is a princely man. INTRODUCTORY. He is given to observe that " order which is Heaven's first law," and to maintain the best of discipline. His word and presence, while powerful, are at the same time as oil on the troubled waters. But the Kaisar-i- Hind is unworthy the name she bears. She is not suitably constructed for the sweltering heat that so constantly prevails on the China and Indian Oceans.

No accommodation other than the dining saloon is provided for the passengers against heavy rain or for reading and writing in. All the cabins are small and stuffy. This applies specially to the Captain's room on deck. A ship for the Indian and China route should be so constructed as to allow a full current of air to pass from stem to stern, or the first-class passengers, as in the Borne, should have their cabins forward. We promised to some of our fellow-passengers to make some such remarks as these, and we have made them hoping they may be taken in the spirit in which they are made, and that certain improvements in the ways indicated may be effected.

Chapter II. London To Aden

PARTING SCENE. LIFE ON BOARD. OUR FELLOW-PASSENGERS. |E were conveyed by a special train from Liverpool Station to the ship Borne at Albert Docks. The railway fare was one shilling and sixpence each. This was our first experience of the difference between the P. and 0. Company's arrangements and those of the Castle Line. The Castle Line Company convey their passengers free from London to Plymouth or Southampton. Those arriving from South Africa at either of these ports are similarly treated. - When we reached the docks, there was the usual bustle and confusion. Everyone seemed to be alike anxious, or, as the proverb has it, " as a hen on a hot girdle." The passengers were numerous, and their friends were more numerous. Soon the decks were encumbered with all sorts of boxes and bags, parcels and portmanteaus, and men and women rush ing to and fro in a state of desperation.

Not a few of the passengers were missionaries — fine-looking speci mens of humanity. So many of them, we learned afterwards, represented the London Church Missionary Society, so many the Baptist, so many the Church of England Zenana, and so many the English Presby terian Missionary Societies. The first movement of the Borne from the pier led to a scene of emotion on board and on the shore such as we had never seen before. On board and on the pier both parties began to sing, and had immediately to stop because of their intense emotion. They began again, but had again to stop. The parting was too much for them, even for some strong men, who simply looked on. My own heart was somewhat as the cup that runneth over. Some of the ladies fainted, and fell into the arms of their friends. Some retired from the scene, and sat down to weep, and some brave men and women con tinued to follow us from side to side till the Borne entered the Thames.

AU the missionaries travelled second class, which was becoming. They kept up a series of Bible readings and prayer meetings during the voyage, and these were attended by a considerable number of the passengers. One of the missionaries, the Rev. Mr. Trollope, bound for the Korea, conducted divine service in the first saloon every Lord's Day. We invariably attended these services, and liked them, excepting, of course, the reading of prayers, which always seems to us as the " vain repetition " which our Lord condemns. Mr. Trollope's sermons were eminently orthodox and practical. The majority of the passen gers in both the first and second saloons availed them selves of these services. Those who did not attend were unfriendly to the church established by law both in England and in Scotland, and, it might be said, to all churches whatever.

Some of the colonists, we learned afterwards, were of this latter class. Not a few of those who were the victims of mal de mer, and unable to be at the breakfast table, were never absent from these services. Anything of the nature of a storm in the Channel, or in the Bay of Biscay, seemed to inspire these persons with a devotional frame of mind. One of the things suggested to me in connec tion with these services was, why the Church of England service should always be to the front on board the P. and 0. steamers? It was ascertained that at least two-thirds of the passengers on board the Borne were not Church of England people at all, but belonged to the Presbyterian and Non-Conformist Churches. It would be only fair to these to encourage, occasionally at least, a service on their lines. In this matter, I but express the sentiments of a considerable number of our fellow-passengers.

These sentiments, I may say, found expression in a more practical form before the voyage was ended. Our Sabbath days on board were specially well observed in the light of the moral law, especially after 8 o'clock a.m. No kind of unnecessary work was done by the sailors, and no games of any kind were indulged in by the passengers. During the week our employments and amusements were various. So many of the passengers read books, novels chiefly, and did nothing else. So many of the men smoked and played at draughts, dominoes, and cards. So many of the ladies sewed and knitted, while others snoozed in their wraps on easy chairs, or, it may be, talked about everything in general and nothing in particular. Some of the more curious of both sexes were often on the outlook for porpoises, whales, or sharks, or for passing ships, or for the appearance of land ; they scrutinized all things visible and invisible by means of their opera-glasses.

Thus the hours of each day were variously spent between the ports of call. I own to have taken part at times at such games as "deck quoits," "shuffle board," "bull board," and one or two others, which, in the circumstances, for bodily exercise, were as necessary as they were harmless. I own to have played these games with at least two Princes and two Peers of the realm, and with one or two of our M.P.'s. These great ones of the earth made themselves most agreeable to the humblest of their fellow-passengers. When we were fairly out to sea, and the sea moderately calm, I began to look somewhat narrowly at our fellow-passengers, especially at such times as were helpful to the formation of a true estimate of their characters. I did not choose the Sabbath days for this work, when they were assembled for worship in the large dining saloon, or on the quarter-deck.

If there be times and places more than others when men and women should not be judged or mentally photo graphed, it is when they assume to be religious. Men and women are prone to be too conscious on the Sabbath days, and especially when they go up, even to an extemporised temple, to pray. I therefore chose to study the idiosyncrasies of my fellow-passengers when I myself was free from prejudice, and when they might be supposed to be free from self-consciousness; at meal times, for example. These times, however, are only passing moments, and not hours ; an evidence to begin with of the general weeness of mankind. When our ship at one of the ports filled up, there was no room at the dinner tables to accommodate all at the same time, or at 7 o'clock, the appointed hour for dinner, and about fifty of us had to dine at six o'clock.

This was a source of much grief to at least a dozen of the fifty. A complaint was made to the Chief Steward on the subject, and he, by written advertise ment, appealed to the whole company for volunteers to relieve the distress of the minority. "I see it," said one ; " I see it too," said another, " the cause of this grief and grumbling is that they cannot sufficiently display the grandeur of their Australian and Indian robes before the larger number at dinner." "No doubt," said another, " that is the reason why so many of our larger party are so long in coming to dinner, and why our dinner is so often spoiled, waiting on them." The whole three at once agreed to take places at the six o'clock table, and nine others volunteered to do the same. Thus the grief and grumbling of the vain ones was turned into joy and gladness.

All of us, I suppose, had marvellous eating powers on board the Borne. With respect to numbers we largely represented the three great eating nations of the world, the British, the German, and the American. These nations, it must be admitted, are also the three great leading powers in the world's commerce and civilization. Our eating powers, however, in no way interfered with our daily pleasures, or with the daily round of our employments or amusements. Thanks, some would say, to the ozone of the atmosphere. Few, if any of us, were melancholic ; all were buoyant and cheerful. We began with tea and toast at six o'clock in the morning, we had breakfast at nine o'clock, luncheon or tiffin, as they call it in India, at one o'clock, tea again at four p.m., and dinner at seven in the evening. With all this eating of meals from day to day for so many weeks or months, who of us could fail to grow fat ?

I did, for one. I came home, said the weigher, about three stones lighter than when I went away. Few persons, if any, ever think of the vast amount of provisions which must be stored up in a ship like the Borne, sailing between London and Australia, and having on board so many hundreds of healthy, hungry passengers. Many of us on this point were like the man who brought a load of potatoes to a small coasting vessel, and on being requested by the skipper to put the load into the hold, said — " Whar is that place ?" The skipper pointed to the hold and said, " Dear me, man, did ye never see a boat before ?" The man then craning his neck looked down and exclaimed, " Dod, she's boss ; weel, weel, I never kent they things was boss afore." There must be much "boss" space in these huge mail steamers.

There must be found some where in the hold of these steamers something like 100,000 lbs. of fresh beef, 10,000 lbs. of canned beef, 20,000 lbs. of mutton, 10,000 lbs. of lamb, 10,000 lbs. of veal, 10,000 lbs. of pork, 10,000 lbs. of fresh fish, besides so many live fowls, chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, &c, in other parts of the ship. Then think of the vast quantities of groceries there must be in the hold, tea, sugars, coffee, cheese, butter, ham, bacon, eggs, milk, vegetables, potatoes, &c, &c. In addition to all these stores, when the vessel is upon her long voyage she has to be replenished at the various ports of call. Notwithstanding the amount of food that may be supposed to have been consumed by the hundreds of passengers on board, it may not be out of place to say that it did not cost the Company more than one shilling and ninepence per head per day, while the cost to each first-class passenger was a little over one pound per day.