CHAPTER XXVII. EARTHQUAKES AND OFFICIAL VISITS. An Earthquake-Sensations it Produced-Its Effects-Additional Shocks-The Bowling Alley-Hairs in the Soil-A Shower of Sand-Visit of the Taou-tai to Col. Marshall-Chinese Visiting Cards-The Taou-tai's Appearance-Reception of the Dignitaries-A Chinese Military Review-The Soldiers and their EquipmentsTheir Discipline-Uncouth Weapons-Absurdity of the Parade-The Commissioner visits the Taou-tai-Reception-The Taou-tai's Residence-Chinese RefreshmentsDeparture. OUR attention was for a time diverted from the alarm and excitement occasioned by rumors of the approach of the rebels, through the unexpected visitation of an earthquake, which occurred on Thursday night, the 14th of April. On that evening, M. de Montigny, the French Consul, entertained Col. Marshall at dinner. Capt. Buchanan and Purser Barry, of the Susquehanna, Mr. Cunningham, Capt. de Plas, of the French steamer Cassini, and several other gentlemen were present. About a quarter past 11 o'clock, as the guests were taking leave, some of them being still in the passage, putting on their overcoats, for it was a dark, drizzling night, there was a sudden, violent noise, the timbers of the house cracking and the walls swaying to and fro. I was standing just under the eaves at the time, and my first impression was that the building was tumbling down upon me. I made a spring into the court, with a strange feeling of bewilderment, for every thing was reeling and unsteady. All this was the work of an instant. There was a cry from the ladies within, and they came rushing out in great terror, exclaiming: "an earthquake! an earthquake!" We stood in the open court-yard, awaiting a second shock. The earth continued to heave with a slow, regular motion, gradually diminishing, until the throbs ceased. It produced a slight giddiness and nausea in some of us. Im. mediately after the shock passed away, a wild outery arose from the Chinese city, and the large wooden drums in the temples were heard sounding far and near. The object of this was to soothe the great fish upon which the earth rests, and by whose uneasiness the earthquake was caused. On reaching the Consulate, we found that everybody in the house had felt the shock, and the chandeliers in the drawingroom were still vibrating from it. Mr. L., one of the clerks, stated that his attention was first called to it by seeing several doors which had been locked, fly open without any apparent agency. In the other house belonging to Russell & Co., a chimney was thrown down, and one of the joists drawn from its socket and forced through the ceiling. About fifteen yards of a high brick wall around Mr. Nye's house was overthrown, and a large Chinese warehouse in the city almost entirely destroyed. The dogs (of which there is no scarcity in Shanghai) howled dismally while the motion lasted. The direction of the wave was from north east to south-west, and the extent of its motion was, I should judge, about two feet. Shanghai is subject to slight shocks, but this was the most severe which had been felt for several years. The nearest volcanoes are in EFFECTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE. 341 the Japanese island of Kiusiu, about six hundred miles dis tant. About midnight two additional shocks were felt, but they were much lighter than the first. On retiring to rest, we found that a number of articles in the rooms had been thrown upon the floor. In the morning I walked up to the northern part of the settlement, where the shock appeared to have been much more violent than at the southern end. In Mr. Nye's godown (warehouse) the heavy bales of goods were hurled from their places. Several chimneys were sprung and walls cracked, but the nature of the soil on which Shanghai stands—an elastic, clayey loam, two hundred feet in depth-saved the place from greater injury. In company with some friends I went to the bowling-alley, the walls of which had previously showed a disposition to give way, and were supported on one side by props. After playing After playing an hour or two, we noticed that the southern wall had suddenly sunk outwards more than six inches, and was cracked from top to bottom. There had been, in fact, another smart shock at that very time, and we had not perceived it. The props alone prevented the whole building from coming down upon our heads. The Chinese servants stated in the morning that hairs were always found in the earth after an earthquake, and brought up two or three gray horse-hairs-or what appeared to be suchwhich they professed to have found in the yard. Several of the gentlemen immediately went down and commenced searching, and to their astonishment found numbers of gray filaments from four to ten inches long. They projected two or three inches from the soil, and were most abundant among the grass. They were strong, like a coarse hempen fibre, and were readily drawn out without breaking. After a careful examination with a powerful magnifying glass, it was found that they had not the tubular structure of hair, but what they were and whence they came, was a mystery. Some of the profane summarily accounted for them by declaring that the shock of the earthquake caused the earth's hair to stand on end, from fright. They were picked up in nearly all the gardens in town. The Chinese say they are only found for three days after a shock, which, so far as I could learn, also proved correct. Another circumstance attending the earthquake, was the shower of fine dust, which fell for two or three days afterwards. The same thing was noticed after the earthquake of 1846, which was less violent. The wind was from the north-west, and the sand, which some suppose to come from the great Desert of Kobi, in the interior of China, was so fine as to be impalpable, yet filled the air to such an extent that the sun was covered with a yellow film, and the view obscured as by a thick haze. The Chinese reported that a town about thirty miles distant had been entirely swallowed up, and that a tract of land a mile square had sunk, and had been replaced by a deep lake. We decided at once to pay a visit to the spot, hut on inquiry found so many contradictory stories regarding it, that it was quite impossible to discover where the town was. There were three or four slight shocks afterwards at intervals of two or three days. On the 9th of April, the Taou-tai of Shanghai paid an official visit to Col. Marshall, and to the frigate Susquehanna. He had given notice of his intention two days before, and came in state, attended by four mandarins, and with a long retinue of scarecrow followers. A little in advance of their CHINESE VISITING CARDS. 343 sioner. arrival, the cards of the dignitaries were sent to the Commis They were long slips of crimson paper, inscribed with rows of glaring hieroglyphics, and enclosed in crimson envelopes, The Taou-tai's ran thus: "Woo-keen-chang, of the Ta-Tsing Empire, by Imperial appointment Salt Commissioner, Intendant of the Circuit of the Prefectures of Soo-Chow, SoongKeang and Tae-Tsung, in the province of Keang-nan, holding the rank of Judge, promoted five degrees, &c., presents his compliments." One of the others was still more remarkable: "Lan-wei-wan, of the Ta-Tsing Empire, Haefung of the Prefecture of Shanghai, in the province of Keang-soo, and expectant of the office of Prefect, knocks his head and presents compliments." How titles would multiply in America, if all the "expectants" of office adopted this plan! We should be overrun with such characters as- -Hon. Elijah Pogram, Expectant Minister to Russia; Jedediah Peabody, Expectant Collector of Sag-Harbor-and so to the end of the chapter. The Taou-tai was received with all due distinction, and his interview with the Commissioner lasted about an hour. He was a small man, near fifty years of age (his mustache denoting a grandfather); his complexion was a pale, bloodless yellow, his eyes lively and piercing, and his rather contracted features expressed a keen, shrewd and unscrupulous character. He was formerly a hong merchant of Canton, and is still best known to foreigners by his old name of Sam-qua. He spoke the "pigeor English," or commercial jargon, with tolerable fluency, though the conversation was partly carried on in Chinese, by Dr. Parker. He was dressed in robes of a rich, stiff silk, embroidered with the insignia of his office, and wore a cap with the single peacock's feather and opaque red button of a mandarin of the |