A Woman's Journey Round The World, From Vienna To Brazil, Chili, Tahiti, China, Hindostan, Persia, And Asia Minor By Ida Pfeiffer
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I
Must Also Take This Opportunity Of Mentioning That I Never Drank, On
Board Any Other Vessel, Such Clear And Excellent Water - A Proof That
It Is Not So Easily Spoilt By The Heat Of The Tropics, Or A
Protracted Period, As Is Generally Imagined.
It all depends upon
care and cleanliness, for which the Dutch are especially celebrated;
and I only wish that every captain would, in this respect at least,
imitate their example.
It is rather too bad for passengers to be
obliged to quench their thirst with thick and most offensive water -
a disagreeable necessity I was subjected to on board every other
sailing vessel in which I made a voyage of any length.
Victoria is not very pleasantly situated, being surrounded by barren
rocks. The town itself has a European stamp upon it, so that were
it not for the Chinese porters, labourers, and pedlars, a person
would hardly believe he was in China. I was much struck at seeing
no native women in the streets, from which it might be concluded
that it was dangerous for a European female to walk about as freely
as I did; but I never experienced the least insult, or heard the
slightest word of abuse from the Chinese; even their curiosity was
here by no means annoying.
In Victoria I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with the well-
known Herr Gutzlaff, {91b} and four other German missionaries. They
were studying the Chinese language; and wore the Chinese costume,
with their heads shaved like the natives, and with large cues
hanging down behind.
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