To

ANN ELIZA SMYTHE OF CHICAGO

The translator dedicates her part of this little volume.




THE SHIPWRECK.


CHAPTER I.

Two Young Friends.

At the mouth of the great river of Canton lies a maze of islands large
and small, of which the most important is Hongkong on account of its
fine harbor. More than half a century ago the English seized upon this
island and forced the Chinese to cede it to them. Then it was little
more than a barren rock with a low swampy shore on which were a few
villages inhabited by poor fisher folk. The swamps have been drained,
gardens planted, and villas built, until now the once barren heights
vie in beauty with the grass-grown slopes of the hills at the foot of
which in the shade of great trees nestle pleasant little fisher
hamlets. On the north side of the island stands the capital city,
Victoria, in which tier above tier, stair-like the rows of houses and