Posted by Peter H on November 17, 2008 at 17:27:58 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Well, I'm not at all surprised... posted by AC_B on November 16, 2008 at 22:22:40:
I am dismayed at AR showing such a lack of judgement in choosing steamers
You might say that he paid for his mistake:
The Loongwo passage had been previously booked by AR, who may not have known much about the types of steamer. Or perhaps he had no choice. He later wanted to go from Shanghai to Peking by coastal steamer, but had “very great difficulty on getting berths on any of the coasting passenger ships”. David Jones (author of Ransome in China) adds a note that these ships were normally provided by the Butterfield and Swire subsidiary, the CNCo. Instead, AR got a berth on a cargo steamer.
The latter, like the Suiwo, gave him, as a writer, some very useful and down-to-earth insights into China, and in particular the poverty there (AR notices many rats on board the ship). And of course he made a note what he saw for future use – the setting off of firecrackers, and a line of men under a ‘dragon-skin’, in the Chinese New Year. As always, AR made the best of it, playing chess with a fellow-passenger, and consoling himself that he had “fared much worse in the Baltic without hearing apologies from the steamship companies”.
Finally –– may I suggest that Andrew’s evident knowledge of the Chinese steamer companies and vessels would make a wonderful paper to accompany the account of AR’s China visit, if he ever should care to write it. There are a number of Ransome outlets who, I’m sure, would be glad to publish it.