Near them were the untidy knots of sailors who had just fought the flagpole into the stony soil. An honor guard of twenty marines was drawn up in two neat lines beside the flagpole, the scarlet of their uniforms a sudden splash of color. They were all waiting for the Royal Navy officer to begin the ceremony. Scattered about them were other clusters of traders, and officers from the expeditionary force.

He was standing on the foreshore with two of his fellow China traders. “The whole of China at our feets and all we takes be this barren, sodding rock.” “A pox on this stinking island,” Brock said, staring around the beach and up at the mountains. “Tai-pan” was Chinese for “supreme leader.” In a company or army or fleet or nation there is only one such man - he who wields the real power. His Excellency and the admiral were longwinded.” Struan stared at the island for a moment.

Struan walked down the gangway, got into the prow of his longboat and smiled at his younger half-brother, Robb, who sat amidships. He was forty-three, redheaded, and his eyes were emerald green. He was armed as usual - knife in the crease of his back and another in his right boot. His blue frock coat was silver-buttoned and his tight white trousers were tucked carelessly into seaboots. “Nae hurry, lad.” Struan was a giant of a man, his face weathered by a thousand storms. “Won’t be a moment, sir,” the officer said, trying to contain his awe of the merchant prince who was a legend in the China seas. “Yes, sir!” The marine leaned over the side and echoed the order. Struan’s longboat to the midships gangway!” “Belay there!” the young officer of the watch called to the scarlet-coated marine. And it was Struan’s stepping-stone into China. Useless to the mandarin - the name given to any official of the Chinese Emperor - in whose province it lay.īut Hong Kong contained the greatest harbor on earth. Bordered on the east and on the west by dangerous shoals and reefs. Squarely in the path of the monstrous storms that yearly exploded from the Pacific. Uninhabited except for a tiny fishing village on the south side. Thirty square miles of mountainous stone on the north lip of the huge Pearl River in South China. And now he was going ashore to witness the formality of taking possession, to watch a Chinese island become a jewel in the crown of Her Britannic Majesty, Queen Victoria.

The prize of victory - the island - was something he had coveted for twenty years. The war with China had gone as he had planned. It was dawn - a drab, chill Tuesday - January 26th, 1841.Īs Struan walked along the main deck, he glanced at the shore and excitement swarmed over him. Surrounding her were the rest of the fleet’s warships, the troopships of the expeditionary force, and the merchantmen and opium clippers of the China traders. The 74-gun ship of the line was anchored half a mile off the island. Struan came up onto the quarterdeck of the flagship H.M.S.

Tai pan book