. Wanderings east of Suez in Ceylon, India, China and Japan. having a dozen or more names. And an interesting tale it is, for it recountsdeeds of the sea quite as audacious and high-handed as anything performed on land by JesseJames and his stage-coach bandits. Up to fifteenor eighteen years ago the estuary bristled withChinese pirates, and wherever native fishermenand sailors foregathered, at Hong Kong, Cantonor Macao, schemes for holding-up and sackingsteamers carrying bullion and valuable merchan-dise were hatched with a frequency that gave aphase to local commerce that was anything butcomf
. Wanderings east of Suez in Ceylon, India, China and Japan. having a dozen or more names. And an interesting tale it is, for it recountsdeeds of the sea quite as audacious and high-handed as anything performed on land by JesseJames and his stage-coach bandits. Up to fifteenor eighteen years ago the estuary bristled withChinese pirates, and wherever native fishermenand sailors foregathered, at Hong Kong, Cantonor Macao, schemes for holding-up and sackingsteamers carrying bullion and valuable merchan-dise were hatched with a frequency that gave aphase to local commerce that was anything butcomforting, and more than one brave Yankee orBritish sailor went to his death fighting yellowthugs against overwhelming odds. The public de-capitation of a handful of these murderers ap-peared to place no check on the outlawry. Once a Canton-bound steamer, carrying themails and a considerable amount of specie, hadher progress obstructed by two junks that wil-fully forced her into shoal water. In the confu-sion that followed the grounding, a score of cool- 268. Macao, Monte Carlo of the East ies, who up to that moment had been regarded ashonest deck passengers, rushed to the pilot-houseand engine-room and murdered every white manon board. Practically everything of value wasthen transferred to the junks, now convenientlyalongside, and the spoil was landed at such pointsin the estuary that made official detection well-nigh impossible. This is but a sample of thestories you may hear while yellow-faced China-men are serving your food, and it must be con-fessed that it affords a sense of confidence toknow that the grates of the stairways are actuallylocked, and that the rifles of the guards are loadedwith ball ammunition. As he sips his black coffeeat the termination of luncheon, the captain as-sures you that until within a few years a skipperwas suspicious alike of every native deck passen-ger and every fishing junk indicating a disposi-tion to claim more than its share of the channel;b
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjecteastasiadescriptiona
