Ningpo to Shanghai in 1857/Haou-long to Ho-pe-chee
In Haou loong there is not one opium smoker. Infanticide (Female) is practised occasionally by the poorer people, but the practice is deprecated. Not far distant from the village is a Monastery, to which tradition assigns the residence of a dragon, but the animal has not been seen lately. Seven lé from Haou loong a Sou' sou' Westerly direction is the village of Wan chè, of 100 families, and four lé further on, the village of Neu ang koe. The scenery in this neighbourhood is very pleasing,—the hills being covered with lofty firs, here and there varied with groups of waving bamboos, which, at a distance, appear like wreaths of cloud on a dark back ground.
Tow vow yuen is a small place one mile from Neu ang koe, and five lé further, still in a sou' westerly direction,is the Wong-koong ling (Prince Duke Pass) at the top of which is a small Temple and Ding or rest house for travellers. The walls of this Temple are of the most simple construction, viz uprights and frame work of wood, with split bamboos interwoven daubed with mud.
Tchang koe is a good sized village in a valley S. W. from Wong koong ling, and from which it is distant one mile. The bed of a wide ford is passed en route, over a bridge of six apertures, formed by granite uprights, the road way of the bridge being a mere split bamboo platform lashed on spars.
The Poo-coo Ling (Pigeon Pass) directly South from Tchang koe, is a tiresome ascent of over fifteen hundred feet;—the mountain, a huge granite boulder, being still three or four hundred feet above the Pass. This pass marks the boundary of the Ningpo and Funghwa Districts. The view from the top is fine. Running east and west, at a distance of eight or ten miles, is another chain of mountains, between the base of which and the Poo-coo mount a stream meanders under a smaller line of hills, the plain within being covered with Mulberry and tallow trees over what would be taken for pasture land, but that the few cattle foddered render such plots unnecessary. Wheat, Beans Grassicher, Clover, Peas and some Tea Bushes are all to be found here in the spring of the year—the Hills, as before told of, being studded with firs as thickly as they can stand.
Four or five lé from the foot of Poo-coo mount, in a southerly direction, is the village of Song neu haen with a population of 300 families. A little outside the village at its entrance is a huge hollow tree, 24 feet round, the branches of which cover a space of a hundred feet and upwards.
On the way from Song new haen to Shang loen-hing, a small temple four lé further south, the traveller espies, in a south easterly direction, a peculiar rock called Ye-ling Tung san, standing upright between two rocks, as high, apparently, as one of the loftiest Pagodas. This curiosity of nature is at no great distance from the district city of Fung wha. Still travelling south, Shang yuen, amid a clump of bamboos, is distant one mile,—thence to Che kaou the route inclines a little to the west of south for some two miles further.
At Che kaou they manufacture bricks grooved—a device for saving material. Close by the Pottery is the stream seen from Poo coo mount. Turning from West, a hundred feet wide, this rapid stream is confined by a high mound from spreading over the valley. The Pigeons giving a name to the Mountain are here seen in goodly numbers. They are of a brown colour, their wings tipped with white. Oil cake from Cotton seed is manufactured here in some quantity. At the entrance of the village on a small mound, is a pavilion to the God of Literature, Che kaou is a thriving place of over a thousand families, and dealers here give as many Cash in exchange for a dollar as can be got at Ningpo; but they do not change them willingly.
One mile west sou' west of of Che keaou is Song sah, a small piace. A Bridge over the stream bed on the road to it is of simpler construction than that last described—the uprights being mere poles, with a floor of split bamboo, roughly wove.
Sing coong dong, two miles S. S. W. of Song sah lies in the route by which cattle are sent to market from Tachow; and Zee copoo dow, a village of 400 families, is four lé Sou' west of it.
From Zee eopoo dow to Tong fong she, a village of 3000 families, the distance, still sou' westerly, is five lé. A tablet under a roofed bridge at this place records the spirit of a scholar in the Sung Dynasty of the name of Leo dow, who started, with a contribution of 300,000 Cash, a project for cutting a Canal from the adjacent River Tong. This canal, five thousand Chang (about thirteen miles), in length, was repaired in Kanghe's reign, and an additional record planted.
The River Tong or Koong Tong spoken of is a wide though shallow stream running from the westward. From Ing fong sze, a village of 300 families by its right bank, to Kong ling, another village of similar size, the distance in a westerly direction is five lē. The water here about has a strong iron smell. The people of the locality exhibit more than usual energy in the construction of causeways and embankments against the ravages of the stream. Though unswollen by floods, this stream runs at a rapid rate,rendering its navigation by the means employed viz, bamboo rafts, a work of much difficulty. On the bamboo rafts spoken of, articles of commerce are transported immense distances. Working against the current they are moved singly. Laden and passing down, as many as twenty may be seen lashed together in pairs when the stream is wide enough. These rafts are formed of the stoutest bamboos procurable, bent at the small ends by means of fire, so as to form a prow three feet above the floor which consists of some half a dozen bamboos swifted together. By placing bundles of bamboo branches on the top, a fine platform is constructed, and goods of the most delicate nature, as well as passengers can be transported with speed and safety. The agility exhibited by the prow-men with their bamboos, in keeping the rafts in a proper direction, is remarkable. Another description of raft is formed of short pieces of firewood, bundled in rows, like chains,—buckling up and floating over obstacles in its path, and righting to a level when in deeper water.
From Kongling, to the three hundred family village of Sang look, the distance is five miles and a third, and 2 lé further on, in the same course of S. by W. Sang chong is reached, a straggling place reported as numbering a thousand families.
From Sang chong to Hoè, a village of 300 families, the distance Sou' sou' westerly is one mile, and thence to Ching kong, a village of similar size, Sou' west 4 lē. Tea is grown in gardens bordering the road side here, and in some instances on the walls. A lofty mountain bearing S. by E. called Kou foong san attracts the traveller's attention at this place and for miles onward. Ho pè chee, the next stage, a distance of 7 lē S. S. W. is not far from its base.
In the village of Ho pè chee there are about 200 families of Wongs and 80 of Sungs. Though so short a distance from that emporium of news Ningpo, (under 25 miles) but little is known by the inhabitants of what is going on in the outer world. The fact of that place having been in the hands of the English in 1840 is not known to the common herd; and but little desire to learn of things from afar is indulged in even by the most educated. For wealthy men to tell of all they know, is to lay themselves open to the squeezing propensities of the officers of their Government, by whom the most trifling matter is made use of when the game is sure. Permission for a foreigner to reside under the same roof for more than one night, or even for that period, is sufficient cause for an extensive mulct. Taverns or Monasteries are the only sleeping quarters for travellers.