0AM0EN S C A V E , MACAO— B E A R V IEW
must be an unfit resort for any but the smaller vessels of a squadron, and
consequently, an unfit place for a naval dépôt. The Susquehanna, the Plymouth,
and the Supply, all grounded on going in, and the last remained
thumping on the North Sand twenty-two hours, and was only saved from
total loss by a providential change of wind. The Mississippi was carried, in
the confusion of her pilot, out of the channel, but by good fortune did not
stop, though she ran into nineteen feet water, one foot less than her draft,
on the South Sand, but the power of the engines proved her salvation. The
wealthy foreign merchants established at Shanghai, who are gathering a
plentiful harvest from the increasing trade of the place, should contribute
some of their thousands toward rendering the navigation less dangerous. I t
is but justice to say that a willingness has been expressed by some of these
gentlemen to subscribe liberally toward the accomplishment of the desired
object, and, in fact, a boat had been ordered to be built in the United States,
for the purpose of towing vessels up and down the river.
Shanghai is built upon the left bank of the river Wampon, a branch of
the Yang-tse-Keang. Near the mouth of the Wampon is the village of
Woosung, the station where the foreign merchants formerly established their
receiving ships, and the trading vessels their anchorage. Nothing can be
less picturesque than the scenery of the banks of the Wampon in the approach
to Shanghai. Monotonous flats of alluvial grounds stretch their wide ex
panse on either side of the tortuous river. The fertile fields, rich with an
abundant harvest of rice and grain, are encouraging prospects to the eye of
the agriculturist, but the poetical observer is sadly disappointed in a view
which presents a dead level of landscape, without a mountain, a hill-side, or
even a tree to relieve the monotony. .
In front of the city of Shanghai, quays have been built out, and along
them extend the storehouses and sumptuous residences of the foreign merchants,
which have, been constructed since the termination of the opium war
with Great Britain. Here are to be found wide and well graded streets,
beautiful gardens, and all the comforts and conveniences that are to be met
with in any part of the world. Two Gothic churches, one belonging to the
English, and the other to the American Protestant Episcopal mission, show
an encouraging success of missionary effort, and excite the hopes of the
Christian, for the progress of his faith.
The Commodore was a guest, while at Shanghai, of the American firm of
Russell & Co., in whose splendid establishment, as at Macao, every want was
satisfied. So complete are the conveniences of these residences, and so perfect
every appointment, that the stranger finds himself surrounded with all
the necessaries and luxuries of his own home. A trifling incident will illustrate
the effectiveness with which the most insignificant demands of the guest
are complied with. The Commodore was asked if he liked soda water, to
which polite inquiry he responded that the only mineral water he cared for