Notes
Preface 1. Chinese bureaucrats—from a Portuguese root mandar, to command or order, influenced by a Sanskrit, via Hindi and Malay word mantri meaning ‘counsel/councillor ’—were called mandarins and were strictly ranked, though exactly how varied by dynasty. In the mid-nineteenth century Qing, there were nine civilian and nine military ranks, each distinguished by a badge (補子, bŭzi) on the chest and a differentially coloured button on the top of the official hat (清代官帽, Qingdai guanmao). 2. For the jugglers, see The Leeds Mercury, 8 May 1847. 3. The Kon Tiki (1947); the Mayflower (1956–57); the Ra (1969–70); the Tai-ki (1974); the Golden Hind (1973–80); the Hokulea (1976–present); the Sohar (1980–81); the Argo (1984); the trireme Olympias (1985–94); the Batavia (1985– 2000); the First Fleet (1987–88); the Santa Maria (1990–91); the Hsu Fu (1993); the Endeavour (1994–97); the Matthew (1997); L’Hermione (1997–present); the Duyfken (2000); the Samudra Raksa (2003–04); the nao Victoria (2005–07); the Götheborg III (2005–07); the Godspeed, Susan Constant and Discovery (2007); the Sea Stallion (2007–08); and the galleon Andalucia (2008–10) cover the relevant date range comprehensively enough to make the point. 4. ThisissueisexploredmorefullyinStephenDavies,‘MaritimeMuseums:WhoNeeds Them?’, Nalanda-Sriwajaya Working Papers No.11 (Singapore: Nalanda-Sriwajaya Centre, Institute of South East Asian Studies, 2012) at http://nsc.iseas.edu.sg/documents /working_papers/nscwps011.pdf; and Stephen Davies, ‘Re-contextualizing the Prime Meridian: Interpreting Maritime Museum Collections for an Asian Audience’, paper presented at the 2011 Conference of the International Congress of Maritime Museums, Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC, 10 October 2011. 5. For an excellently told story that exhibits exactly this historical interment of the world of the Western hewers of wood, see Robert Bickers, Empire Made Me: An Englishman Adrift in Shanghai (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004). 6. Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years before the Mast: A Personal Narrative of Life at Sea, edited by Homer Eaton Keyes (New York: Macmillan, 1939), preface, referring to Notes James Fenimore Cooper’s sea story The Red Rover: A Tale (London: Henry Colburn, 1827), e-book at http://www.authorama.com/ book/two-years-before-the-mast. html; accessed on 10 February 2013. Introduction: Views from Different Seas 1. I shall use junk throughout this book to refer to the larger sea- and river-going Chinese vessels. It is a distinctly unsatisfactory term, either Javanese or Fujianese in origin, and as inadequately related to the Chinese vocabulary of ship and boat types as the equally unsatisfactory and etymologically errant dhow to the world of Arabic craft. Only its establishment in general English usage argues for it. It would be better to replace it with the generic English ship. See Pierre-Yves Manguin, ‘The Southeast Asian Ship: An Historical Approach’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 11, no. 2 (1980): 266–76. 2. William Tarrant, The Hongkong Almanack and Directory for 1846: With an Appendix (Hong Kong: Office of the China Mail, 1846). 3. Remarkably little is known about Hong Kong’s first Harbour Master: he has no entry in May Holdsworth and Christopher Munn (eds.), Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2011). Pedder was born in Ryde, Isle of Wight, in 1801 and joined the Royal Navy in 1814. His early service is not known, but in 1820 he joined HMS Liffey (50, 1813–1827; see Samantha Cavell, ‘A Social History of Midshipmen and Quarterdeck Boys in the Royal Navy, 1761–1831’, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Exeter, 2010, App. G7). He was made lieutenant in 1824 (see http://www.pbenyon1.plus.com/Nbd/exec/ OPQ/Index.html; accessed on 9 February 2013). He obviously lacked influence, since he is next recorded in HM Coastguard 1836–39—traditionally a parking place for officers unable to get a berth in a serving naval vessel. There is record of his having contemplated developing a site—perhaps to build a house—at Bell Mead, Whippingham, Isle of Wight, in 1831, though negotiations were evidently broken off (see http://www. nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=189jergps &cid=3-8&kw=Pedder,%20William#3-8; accessed on 9 February 2013). We know that before joining the Nemesis and subsequently coming to Hong Kong, he had been married and had a son (The Naval Chronicle, vol. 7, 1838, p. 503: ‘At Fleet, near Weymouth, on Monday 21st of May, the lady of Lt. W. Pedder, R.N., of a son.’), but whether his family...
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