How 19th-century Hong Kong and the Chinese people enchanted sailors on the first Brazilian circumnavigation of the globe
- While the Brazilians were captivated by Hong Kong, they were not as impressed with Macau – save for Portuguese poet Luís de Camões’ cave – or indeed the British
The first Brazilian circumnavigation of the globe included stops in Hong Kong and Macau in 1880 and led to the delegation’s discovery of a whole new world, as recounted in this excerpt from a new book about the voyage:
On the afternoon of May 28, 1880, the Vital de Oliveira arrived in Hong Kong. For a long time, the Brazilian corvette’s crew did nothing but answer the salutes of warships from various parts of the world that were in port. According to the Vital de Oliveira’s logbook, “there were 11 salutes”.
As soon as the ship dropped anchor, the crew received on board Agostinho Guilherme Romano, Brazil’s consul in Hong Kong, who accompanied them on their visit to the city’s Portuguese association, the Club Lusitano. The crossing from Singapore had taken eight days, “with favourable winds and a propitious sea”.
The Vital de Oliveira’s commander, Julio César de Noronha, noted that from Aden there had been lightning every night, but that was all. “At 3:17 in the afternoon of May 28, we anchored in Victoria Bay [Victoria Harbour] with eight fathoms of water, muddy bottom […] The English corvette Cosmus and the hulk Victor Emmanuel, the German frigate Prince Adalbert and the Italian corvette Victor Pizzani, under the command of the Duke of Genoa, were anchored in the harbour.”
Victoria Harbour, although sheltered, had suffered enormous damage from a typhoon in September 1874, which had also devastated Canton and Macau. “In Hong Kong there are naval resources of all sorts, and England has made a small armoury where she repairs her ships,” the logbook notes. “The climate is so hot and humid that the hygrometer is always kept at the maximum limit of its range; the rains are frequent and the mountain tops are usually veiled in fog.
“The SW [Southwest] monsoon, whose regularity is so well known, blew for three days, giving way to Northeast, which was the dominant wind direction during the 19 days we were in Victoria Harbour. The number of junks and steamers, both in the harbour and on the canals and coast, is remarkable.”