Letter from Hattie to Frank, July 7, 1875

Letter from Hattie to Frank, July 7, 1875

Fortification--China; Boatmen (Persons); Letter writing; Insurgency; Corn

Harriet is writing to Francis about how Henry is away working at his Concordance and Lucy, Mattie and herself are all busy writing to America while on the Linchau River. They walked in the morning and found some old fortifications which were used by people seeking refuge when the land was in a state of rebellion. The inside of the fort is now home to a cornfield. While they were there an old man told them of what it was like in the fort twenty years ago when people were living there. The boatmen are working very hard to keep the boat upright while sailing down the river.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #2

Unpublished

1875-07-07

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_149

Lin Chau River -
July 7th 1875
My dear Frank
I think Mattie
is intending to write up a
journal of what we have
seen and Enjoyed since
leaving Canton and if so
she will tell you about
all that has transpired during
the past two weeks. nevertheless
I must have my say too
if it is only a repetition and
if you do get more letters than
you have time to read.
The writing fever seems to
have attacked us all this
afternoon only Henry has Escaped,
he is working away at his
Concordance. Lucy Mattie and
I are all seated around one
table busy with pen and ink.
I imagine these will be the
first letters that have ever been
sent to America or indeed
any other land from the

Linchau River. WE had a
grand walk this morning
which I expect Mattie
will tell you about - climbed
up a hill to some old fortifications
which more than twenty
years ago afforded a refuge
to the inhabitants of the
surrounding country. The
land was then in a state
of rebellion and overrun
with robbers and for fear
of these the people betook
themselves to the hills and
caves. The place where we
were this morning was one
that Nature had made
almost inaccessible and
with a little help from
man, walls thrown across
from one [?hill?] to another
it seems as though it must
have been impregnable.
The inside of the fort
is now a peaceful cornfield
The old man who tends
the corn came up while
we were there and gave

us some account of the old
times when there were over
a thousand men women
and children in the fort.
They were there for four
or five years. There are
two immense rocks one on
Either side and in the face
of one of these we found the
Entrance to a large cave
down into which we scrambled
with considerable difficulty.
We felt well repaid for our
exertions however. When we
were ready to leave the place
the "old man of the mountains"
led us down by a path which
we had not found in going
up or rather which we had
only followed part of the way.
We found in the village
below many who told us that
they had been among the
dwellers in the caves and
rocks twenty years ago.
We found beautiful real
English Ivy growing in the
cave and brought some

cuttings with us which we hope
we can persuade to grow in
Canton. WE also found snow-drops
growing wild. Altogether the
country here reminds us so much
of home, walking through the
corn-fields carries me back to
the days when I used to Enjoy
dropping corn. This is a
beautiful river, the water clear
as crystal and a very swift
current the rises so
rapidly and Every little
way there are rapids and
little waterfalls. "The say" there
are nearly 300 such places
before we get to Lin chau city.
Sometimes the boatmen have
to work very hard to get over them
unless a boat is skillfully managed
it will sometimes whirl around
and go down stream. This
morning our boat turned in
this way for the first time .
They worked so hard to
keep it form turning but the
force of the current mastered them
and they had to go back + try again.
[Note: Written sideways in the left hand margin]
We received the motto "God bless our home." which you sent us
by the last mail. It was longer in coming than the letters sent
at the same time. We are [u]so glad[/u] to have it again and
thank you so much for giving it to us.

[Note: Letter concludes sideways on page one]
We have just come over a very hard one. It is distressing to see
the boatmen work as hard as they are obliged to. Fortunately
we have a nice
wind this afternoon
which helps them.
We are just now
passing a very
fine pagoda of
nine stories the
first one we have
seen on this river.
and are nearing
the district city
of Yeung Shau
and as I am
nearing the End
of my sheet
of paper I will
say good bye
for this time -
Ever your aff sister
[u]Hattie[/u]



林洲河 -
1875 年 7 月 7 日
我亲爱的弗兰克，
我想玛蒂打算写一篇日记，
记录我们离开广州后的所见所闻，
如果是这样，
她会告诉你过去两周发生的一切。
尽管如此，
如果只是重复，
如果你收到的信比你没有时间阅读的多，
我也必须发表我的意见。
整个下午的写作热似乎都袭击了我们，
只有亨利逃脱了，
他正在忙着写他的协调书。
Lucy、 Mattie 和我都围坐在一张桌子旁，
忙着用笔和墨水。
我想这将是第一批从林乔河寄往美国或任何其他国家的信件。
今天早上我们进行了一次盛大的散步，
我希望马蒂会告诉你 - 爬上一座小山到一些古老的防御工事，
二十多年前这些防御工事为周边国家的居民提供了避难所。
那时，
这片土地处于叛乱状态，
盗贼横行，
人们因害怕这些盗贼而逃往山丘和洞穴。
今天早上我们所在的地方是大自然几乎无法进入的地方，
在人类的一点帮助下，
从一座山到另一座山的墙壁似乎是坚不可摧的。
堡垒内部现在是一片宁静的玉米地。
当我们在那里时，
负责收割玉米的老人出现了，
向我们讲述了堡垒里有一千多名男女老少的旧时光。
他们在那里呆了四五年。
两边各有两块巨大的岩石，
面对其中一个，
我们发现了通往一个大洞穴的入口，
我们费了很大的力才爬进去。
然而，
我们觉得我们的努力得到了很好的回报。
当我们准备离开这个地方时，
“山中老人”带领我们沿着一条我们上去时没有找到的小路，
或者更确切地说，
我们只走了一部分路。
我们在下面的村子里发现了许多人，
他们告诉我们，
他们在 20 年前曾是洞穴和岩石中的居民。
我们在山洞里发现了美丽的真正的英国常春藤，
并带来了一些插枝，
希望我们能说服它们在广州生长。
我们还发现了野生的雪花莲。
总而言之，
这里的乡村让我们想起了家，
走过玉米地让我回到了以前喜欢种玉米的日子。
这是一条美丽的河流，
水清澈如水晶，
水流湍急，
涨得如此之快，
每一处都有急流和小瀑布。
“说”这样的地方近三百个，
才到临州城。
有时船夫必须非常努力地克服它们，
除非船被熟练地管理，
它有时会旋转并顺流而下。
今天早上我们的船第一次这样转弯。
他们非常努力地让它保持转动，
但电流的力量掌握了他们，
他们不得不回去再试一次。
[注：写在左边空白处] 我们收到的座右铭是“上帝保佑我们的家”。
您通过最后一封邮件寄给我们的。
它的到来比同时发送的信件要长。
我们很高兴再次拥有它，
非常感谢您将它提供给我们。
[注：信在第一页横向结束] 我们刚刚收到一封非常困难的邮件。
看到船工们尽他们的义务努力工作是令人痛心的。
幸运的是，
今天下午的风很好，
这对他们有帮助。
我们刚刚经过一座非常精美的九层宝塔，
这是我们在这条河上看到的第一座。
快到杨绍县城了，
当我快写完纸的时候，
我要和这一次说再见了——
你的妹妹，
海蒂

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