Trade Winds (Choc Lit) (35 page)

‘It sounds so much worse than any rain I’ve ever heard in Sweden,’ Jess commented as she huddled in the little cabin with Killian. She stared towards the port-hole which was covered with a shutter, but where the water still seeped in from time to time. ‘And how can a ship possibly take such a battering and not sink?’

‘They call this a
tai-fun
,’ Killian said, ‘and Campbell told me it’s normal weather for this part of the world. Everything happens on a larger scale here.’ That seemed to include the thunder and lightning, which reverberated all around them. They listened to the waves crashing against the sides of the ship.

‘Do you think the masts will break?’ Jess asked, her voice quivering slightly.

Killian shrugged. ‘The crew have done what they can by lowering the top masts and yards, furling and fastening all the sails and tying down anything that can move. Now all we can do is pray.’

It was stuffy and hot inside the little cabin, the sultry heat of early September nearly unbearable. Despite this, Killian sat down next to Jess on her bunk and put his arms around her. She didn’t resist and leaned against him with a small sigh. Killian was content just to hold her and thought to himself that if they had to die this night, he wanted to do it with Jess in his arms.

Their prayers were answered, however, after an agonizingly long night and day, when the storm abated at last. On the third of September they arrived at Macao. Here a pilot came on board to guide them through the entrance to the Pearl River and four days later they anchored near the official entry of the river leading to Canton.

‘So this is the famous
Bocca Tigris
,’ Killian said. He was standing on deck with Jess and Adair, and the three of them studied their surroundings. There were two rounded forts, one on either side of them, surrounded by trees. These guarded the river entrance, which was a narrow space between a peninsula of the mainland and a small island. They could see soldiers inside the forts, looking back at them through openings that were presumably for shooting arrows, which was rather intimidating.

‘What does the name mean, do you know?’ Jess liked the sound of it and was curious.

‘I read that it’s Portuguese for
The Tiger’s Mouth
, but apparently they got it slightly wrong. The Chinese themselves call it
The
Tiger Gate
.’

A boat approached and some Chinese mandarins, high-ranking officials, came on board. Jess leaned over the railing to look at them more closely. ‘What do they want? They’re not hostile, are they?’

‘No, but the Chinese make sure everyone follows their rules, otherwise we’re not allowed to trade with them. They’ve come to inspect the ship and issue passes for us to continue upriver, I think. Mr Campbell told me there are lots of procedures. This isn’t our country, we have to follow their laws now.’ He glanced at Adair and smiled. ‘That goes for you too, young man. I have no idea what they do to pickpockets here, but I’d guess it’s not pleasant, so just you behave, all right?’

Adair tried to look offended, but failed. ‘As if I’d try onythin’ like that here,’ he said.

‘See that you don’t. I’m serious, Adair, I don’t want to lose you.’ Killian ruffled the youth’s curly black hair which was as wild as ever.

‘Me neither,’ Jess said. ‘You’re to be my baby’s honorary uncle, aren’t you, so don’t get into any trouble.’

Adair smiled sheepishly, but she could see that he was pleased they cared.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

They were allowed to continue at last, up towards Whampoa, the ship’s final destination. It was slow going because the current was strong and they had to be towed most of the way. Jess sat on the sundeck watching the beautiful view along the river. There was greenery as far as the eye could see and a soft, slightly hilly landscape with some trees. Mostly they passed meadows and rice fields. Interspersed with these were tiny villages, forts and several very high towers with strange roofs that tilted up at the corners.

‘Those are pagodas,’ Killian told her, settling himself beside her for a while.

‘They’re fascinating, but then everything here is,’ Jess replied. ‘You know, I’m really glad I came after all. This is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.’

Killian smiled, but shot a worried glance at her huge stomach. ‘You’re feeling well?’

‘Never better. Don’t worry, the baby’s not due yet. He or she should be born on dry land.’

‘That’s good. Mr Campbell wants me to go on to Canton with him for a few days. Will you be all right staying behind? Apparently the Chinese don’t allow foreign females in the city.’

Whampoa, where the ship would anchor, lay two miles downriver from the actual city of Canton, but the large European vessels couldn’t sail that far because the river was too shallow. The supercargos and other members of the crew who were needed in Canton would have to continue by junk or sampan. It wasn’t too far and Jess was sure she could get a message to Killian fairly quickly if she needed to.

‘Yes, I’ll be fine. I’ll have Adair to watch over me and I’ll bar the door to the cabin at night.’

Killian was reluctant to leave her, but at the same time he was eager to see the Chinese city he had heard so much about from Campbell. A large junk, flat bottomed and square, tall fore and aft, took them up the river. Killian looked around with great interest. As they came nearer the city, the traffic on the river increased and they were surrounded by other junks and the smaller sampans, a similar vessel but much simpler. The noise all around was almost deafening. The owners of the sampans all seemed to be selling something or other and were shouting in loud voices, waving their arms around for good measure. It was like a huge floating market and Killian was fascinated.

‘Canton is more like three separate cities,’ Campbell explained while they made their way through the confusion. ‘There’s the official city surrounded by walls, which we Europeans are not allowed to enter unless we’re invited.’

Killian caught sight of the tall, thick sandstone walls with many towers, both round and square, and several gates. Nothing could be seen of what was inside, apart from rooftops, more towers and a pagoda. ‘I hope we are invited then. I’d like to see it,’ he said.

‘Most likely we will, but you never know. The second part is the suburb, which is where we’ll be spending most of our time. That’s where the so-called factories are situated. They are the warehouses and living quarters of us foreigners. Most back onto the river and each country has its own factory. Our first task is to rent one. Sweden has never traded with China before and so doesn’t have one specially built.’

‘And the third part?’

‘Ah, that’s the “floating city”. Look around you. There are houses built on stilts by the edge of the water and then all the junks and sampans here have been arranged into what looks like streets on the water. Whole families live on each one, although it must be terribly cramped for them.’

Most of the boats had what looked like little houses or huts built on deck. Some were only crude shelters made of bamboo, others much sturdier constructions. Killian wondered how the people survived in such conditions, but could only suppose they managed somehow. He was overwhelmed by all the unfamiliar sights and sounds. It was as if he had entered a completely new world, one where he didn’t fit in. But he was determined to make the most of it and learn as much as he could of the Chinese people and their customs.

‘Where do we go first, have you any idea?’ he asked as he followed Campbell along the quayside. Although there were other foreigners here too, he felt incongruous in his European clothing. Wearing his grey wig as usual, Campbell stuck out even more, but he seemed unconcerned.

‘Of course. We’ll go and see Tin-qua, a wealthy and important merchant I did business with last time I was here. He should be able to rent us a factory by the waterside.’

This proved to be the case and the merchant seemed very happy to welcome them. He and Campbell greeted each other as was the custom by putting their hands together, bowing a little and saying something that sounded like ‘haw-haw’. Apparently this meant ‘I wish you all good’ or words to that effect. Killian thought it a strange greeting, but copied Campbell. It wouldn’t do to be impolite.

Tin-qua was dressed in a long robe made of dark silk. It was doubled across the breast and fastened with small, round buttons and it reached quite far down the leg. The sleeves were wide and long enough to cover the merchant’s hands. Underneath he wore some sort of wide trousers and boots made of silk. When he turned to escort them to the factory, Killian caught sight of a long plait hanging down the man’s back, all the way to his thighs. Perched on the top of his head was a round silk hat. It was more exotic than Killian could ever have imagined and he had to hide a smile of pure joy. He could hardly believe they were finally here.

The factory they were offered was a long, two-storey building which backed onto the river. At the other end it opened directly onto one of the main streets of the suburb.

‘This will be excellent,’ Campbell declared, and concluded his negotiations with the merchant while Killian listened. Good-natured haggling seemed part of the deal, just like it did at home in Europe. ‘Now we’ll send for supplies and men and get started,’ Campbell continued. ‘There’s a lot to do and not much time. We can’t stay more than five months, otherwise we’ll miss the winds that will carry us south again. Let us begin!’

The crew had cheered when they dropped anchor at Whampoa, but as they and Jess soon found out, nothing very exciting happened there. Lots of other European ships were anchored nearby, and each one was assigned a
bankeshall
. This was a kind of large, but very basic bamboo warehouse built on the river bank especially for them. In it they stored the cargo and the ship’s equipment, which was taken ashore for safekeeping. Some of the crew members slept there too since they had to guard everything night and day. It was also used as a workshop from time to time.

The ship had to be unloaded, cleaned up and repaired so that it was ready to face the long journey b
ack to Europe. This meant a lot of work, especially for the ship’s craftsmen. There were endless tasks − the rigging had to be repaired, the hull needed caulking, the sails were torn and had to be mended. Since the same type of work was going on aboard all the other ships around them, there was a constant racket that nearly drove Jess mad. She tried not to complain and instead thanked God she had reached China safely.

The supercargos and some of the crew went to the factory in Canton. ‘They’ll be takin’ turns,’ Adair told Jess, ‘so’s everyone gets tae set foot in the city at least fer a while. I cannae wait tae go!’

Jess would have liked to visit Canton as well, but Campbell vetoed this. ‘You shouldn’t really be here at all, my dear,’ he said, firmly but not unkindly. ‘I’m afraid foreign women are not allowed so it’s best if no one sees you.’

Jess knew she couldn’t argue with the man. He had been kind enough already and although it was frustrating to be so near and yet not be able to see the city, she had no choice but to follow his orders.

On the third day, Killian came back and told them a Chinese official was on his way to measure the ship.

‘Measure it? What do you mean?’ Jess was intrigued as this seemed an odd thing to do.

‘We have to pay them some sort of tax and the price depends on the size of the ship and how much cargo we can carry, as far as I understand it. The thing is, you’ll have to stay in the cabin and keep quiet. I don’t know what the rules are about bringing women this far – hopefully there are no laws against it – but we don’t want to take any chances. They probably won’t measure the cabins, so please just hide in here until I come and tell you they’ve gone.’

‘Very well.’ Jess resigned herself to another boring afternoon and stood up to massage her back, which had been aching on and off since the previous day. The baby was growing very large and it was too heavy for her small frame. She sincerely hoped it wouldn’t get much bigger or she’d never be able to push it out. She sighed and thought what a relief it would be when it was finally born.

A sumptuously dressed mandarin, whose title was apparently Hou Pou, arrived with great pomp. Killian stood to one side and watched while the official was greeted by Campbell and Graham. Hou Pou – or
The Hoppo
as most Europeans called him – was the chief director of customs in the province and had to be treated with the utmost deference. His visit was therefore a very formal procedure, including an exchange of gifts between him and the supercargos. The mandarin was then invited to take some refreshment in the captain’s cabin, while his men got on with the job of actual measuring.

Killian chose to stay on deck and followed the Chinese men discreetly to make sure they didn’t go anywhere near Jess. He watched as they chattered among themselves and made notes on paper. Their language was incomprehensible to him, and he wondered what they were saying. It felt strange not to be able to communicate at all and he was relieved when an interpreter – or linguist as Campbell called him – joined him and started to explain a little of what was going on.

‘Mr Li calculating loading capacity,’ the linguist told him. ‘Special rules for measuring.’

Killian had noticed that they seemed to have rules for everything. Although this obviously made it easier for the officials to run the country, he wondered what the people who had to obey all these laws thought about it.

There were Swedish sailors working up above, finishing off the job of taking down all the sails and carrying them over to the
bankeshall
. Killian glanced up, admiring their fearlessness, then shuddered. He had climbed up to the top once, just to prove to himself that he could, but he never wanted to do it again. It had been one of the most terrifying experiences of his life.

As he watched, one of the men cried out and almost lost his footing, kicking out at a small spar in the process. This dislodged it, and Killian saw it falling rapidly towards the deck. A quick glance showed him that the man called Li was standing right where the spar was likely to end up. With lightning reflexes, he shot forward and pushed the man out of the way, both of them falling to the deck out of harm’s way, just in the nick of time.

A great commotion broke out all round them, with Li at first shouting at Killian and glaring at him. Soon he fell silent when he realised what had happened. He said something to the linguist, who came over to help them to their feet, and then turned to Killian.

‘Mr Li say to thank you very much. Save his life. Owe much gratitude.’