Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, May 18, 1880, by Various

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Title: Harper's Young People, May 18, 1880
An Illustrated Weekly

Author: Various

Release Date: May 20, 2009 [EBook #28895]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, MAY 18, 1880 ***

Produced by Annie McGuire

[Illustration: HARPER'S

YOUNG PEOPLE

AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY.]

* * * * *

VOL. I--NO. 29. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR
CENTS.

Tuesday, May 18, 1880. Copyright, 1880, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50 per
Year, in Advance.

* * * * *

[Illustration: LOADING AT SINGAPORE--[SEE SERIAL, "ACROSS THE OCEAN," ON
NEXT PAGE.]]

[Begun in No. 19 of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, March 9.]

ACROSS THE OCEAN; OR, A BOY'S FIRST VOYAGE.

A True Story.

BY J. O. DAVIDSON.

CHAPTER XI.

AMONG THE "COOLIES."

They found the city one blaze of lanterns, banners, and many-colored
fire-works. All the ships in the harbor were gay with brilliant bunting,
and the air echoed with the boom of cannon and the snapping of
firecrackers, in honor of the Chinese New-Year. In fact, it was quite a
Fourth-of-July celebration; and at night there began such a burst of
sky-rockets and fire-balloons that the whole town seemed to be in
flames.

Early next morning the _Arizona_ opened her ports to receive cargo; and
Frank, being told off to assist, saw for the first time one of the most
picturesque sights in the world--a gang of coolies at work. On the other
side of the "entering port," beside which he was posted, stood a Parsee
merchant, whose long white robe, dark face, and high black cap made him
look very much like a cigar wrapped in paper. Along the quivering line
of sunlight that streamed through the port came filing, like figures in
a magic lantern, an endless procession of tall, sinewy, fierce-looking
Malays, and yellow, narrow-eyed, doll-faced Chinamen, carrying blocks of
tin, rice sacks, opium chests, or pepper bags, and all moving in time to
a dismal tune, suggestive of a dog shut out on a cold night.

Each ma