was that from Congress spring in Saratoga; the next morning the servant
entered his room with a hottle of it. During the stay of the ships at
Shanghai there was a constant succession of dinners and halls, and the
officers were entertained everywhere with the most generous hospitality.
The native city is a great contrast to that part of the suburbs inhabited
by the foreign residents, although the portion of the latter occupied by the
natives is miserable enough. Shanghai, proper, is enclosed within a wall,
and has the appearance of most of the Chinese cities. The place is quite
large, and very populous. Its streets are narrow, like most of those of the
native cities, not being much more than eight or ten feet in width, and are
intersected by dirty alleys, which lead to the rear of the small and contracted
dwellings of the Chinese, who live in the midst of foul air and all kinds of
filth. The filthiness of Shanghai gives no favorable idea of the domestic
habits of the people ; a slight glance at the men and women usually met in
the streets was quite convincing enough of their want of reverence for what
the proverb says is “ next to godliness.” During the stay of the Commodore
at Shanghai, the shops had been emptied of their contents and carried
into places of safety, in expectation of an attack upon the city by the rebels;
consequently, the bazaars had a dull look, and but few of the native fabrics
could be seen.
The domestic trade of the city has been immense for a long time, being
carried on in all directions with the vast interior of China. A multitudinous
population swarms in that part of the country which stretches back of
Shanghai, and the commercial intercourse with the large city of Nankin and
others, with their millions of inhabitants, and incessant trading activity, was
constant, until interrupted by the Chinese rebellion. The trade of Shanghai
has been stated to be as large as that of any part of the world, not excepting
even London.
The immediate neighborhood of. Shanghai is highly cultivated, and fertile
fields stretch in all directions as far as the eye can reach, rich with their harvests
of cotton, rice, wheat, barley, beans and potatoes. The markets of the
town are well supplied, and at moderate prices, with beef, mutton, poultry
game, fish, and vegetables of all varieties. Among the different kinds of
game, the pheasant, woodcock, and snipe abound, and of the fish, the shad is
common during its season, of good size and flavor; some, indeed, larger than
are seen in the United States, though in taste inferior to those caught in our
rivers. Fruit is scarce, and of inferior quality, as the Chinese pay but little
attention to its cultivation; some cherries, however, were tasted, which proved
to be tolerably good, and it was said that the peaches were also good. All
the varieties of Chinese manufactured articles can ordinarily be obtained at
Shanghai, and especially a silk of famous fabric, woven at Su-Chan, a neighboring
city. But the intestine disturbances prevailing deprived the Commodore
of any but a hearsay knowledge of many of these articles, which,
AMERICAN CONSULATE AND PORT OF S H A N G H A I.