Benjamin Couch “BC” Henry was a missionary in Hong Kong and southern China in the second half of the 19th century. Yet he was much more too – a keen observer, a skilled naturalist and an intrepid explorer. The bulk of his career in China was spent in what was then commonly known as “Ling-nam”, the Pearl River Delta and environs of Guangzhou (Canton). These excerpts of Henry's travelogue
LING-NAM
, published in 1886, contain one of the most detailed walking tours of Guangzhou that has survived. Similarly so his travels through the silk, tea and market garden regions adjoining the metropolis. And finally, we have Henry's ground-breaking account of his expeditions around Hainan Island in 1882, then the most extensive undertaken to date by a foreigner. Henry's portrait of southern China was built up over 20 years' work and exploration in the region and provides one of the most in-depth looks at southern Chinese life – from the growth of Hong Kong, to the bustling streets of Guangzhou, to Hainan's “Island of Palms”.
“Drifting slowly by a large collection of flower-boats, gay with lamps and mirrors, and richly furnished with black-wood sofas and embroidered curtains… Dire confusion is often created among the slipper-boats, whose anchorage adjoins, by the surging of the steamer against their outer lines, causing them to jump, and sputter, and dart about like a swarm of ants, shell-like craft, whilst they vociferously hurl maledictions at the great steamer.”