. Old shipping days in Boston. ped his gun and ranfor a great part of a day in order to get to his offices before the shiparrived. The chief amusements of the Fankwaes, a word appliedby the Chinese to foreigners, were tennis, rowing, regattas on theCanton River, race meetings for horses and ponies at Hong Kong,Foochow, or Shanghai, and yacht racing. A member of Russell & Co.,in joking about the small value that a Chinaman placed on his life,used to say that in these races it was customary to carry Chinamenas ballast, and if the wind dropped they were given a few cashand told to swim ashore. Li
. Old shipping days in Boston. ped his gun and ranfor a great part of a day in order to get to his offices before the shiparrived. The chief amusements of the Fankwaes, a word appliedby the Chinese to foreigners, were tennis, rowing, regattas on theCanton River, race meetings for horses and ponies at Hong Kong,Foochow, or Shanghai, and yacht racing. A member of Russell & Co.,in joking about the small value that a Chinaman placed on his life,used to say that in these races it was customary to carry Chinamenas ballast, and if the wind dropped they were given a few cashand told to swim ashore. Life in the early days however was rather dull, as foreigners werenot allowed to leave Shameen Island. Besides this, not a letter or anewspaper that had just arrived on a ship from home was ever deliv-ered uiltil she had bought her return cargo, as the success of thevoyage depended upon keeping secret all the details of the homemarket. As a result it often happened that the foreigners at Canton 22 OLD SHIPPING DAYS IN BOSTON. HOUQUA, THE WELL-KNOWN HONG MERCHANT AT CANTON From a painting in the possession of one of the partners of Russell & Co., now living inBoston. had to wait six weeks before receiving letters that they were almostsure had come by the last ship. Every foreigner had his nickname among the Chinese, and oftenthe same word, for instance, that meant to the foreigner fine fellow,by changing the intonation very slightly would mean to the Chinesedamn fool, or something equally unflattering. It can easily be seenhow careful a newcomer had to be. ? HOUQUA The most celebrated Hong merchant at Canton was Houqua, andthrough him all of Russell & business in that city was also acted for Perkins & Co. besides having many transactions 23 OLD SHIPPING DAYS IN BOSTON! direct with the United States, and was always a warm friend of theAmericans. While discussing Houquas honesty one evening at thehouse of Russell Sturgis, then head of Baring Bros., it was claimedt
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