420 A NATURALIST ON THE "CHALLENGER." 



where a constant attendant watches the sinking of the index 

 attached to the float, as the water slowly rnns out ; and when 

 an hour is reached, hangs out a board with the hour written 

 upon it on the city wall, and sounds the time on a gong. 



The small houses on the ferry-boats on the Canton Eiver, which 

 are the homes of the families which get their living by means of 

 them, are decorated all over inside with prints from illustrated 

 European newspapers, many of them of considerable antiquity. 

 It was amusing to find oneself confronted with " the Funeral of 

 the Late Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington." Pedlars and 

 dealers of all kinds ply their trade in the boat-towns in small 

 boats, with which they traverse the lanes and alleys of water. 

 From one of these pedlars I bought some jewellery, used by the 

 boat population, in which pieces of Kingfishers' feathers are set 

 in a gilt backing, so as to imitate, in appearance, very closely, 

 fine blue enamel. The play of colours on the feathers thus 

 mounted is extremely effective, and the jewellery is very 

 pretty. 



One of the places ordinarily visited in Canton by tourists 

 is commonly called the Temple of Horrors. Here the future 

 punishments of the wicked are set forth in a series of groups 

 of modelled figures, representing all horrible tortures conceivable 

 in process of execution. In one of these a man is about to be 

 pounded by demons upon an anvil, but is rescued by the 

 Goddess of Mercy (Quan Yin), who, standing on a hill-side 

 at some distance, is represented as letting down a cushion at 

 the end of a string, so that the cushion is interposed between 

 the body of the condemned sinner and the descending mallet. 

 This struck me as a very quaint way of indicating merciful 

 interposition by the Goddess. At this temple some women 

 engaged in some act of religious devotion were pouring liba- 

 tions of some kind of spirit at the foot of one of the pillars. 



At the bookshops close by the water-clock, a bookseller, from 

 whom I had bought some books, presented me with an old wood 

 block as a specimen at my request, and refused payment for it. 

 Yet the Chinese are commonly accused of being universally 

 grasping, in their dealing. 



The Government competitive examination buildings are 



