136 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



But the sketches of imaginative boyhood were, in this as in so many other instances, disiDclled 

 by the sober realities of maturer years. There was nothing of all this beautiful picture of 

 crowded and happy life. There were, indeed, boats and people, pagodas and cottages, bridges 

 and trees ; but there were also filth and noise, poverty and misery, lying and roguery, and, in 

 short, anything but a picture of quiet content and Arcadian simplicity. 



On the visit of the Commodore to Canton, he, together with several of his officers, was accom- 

 modated at the house of Mr. Forbes, the consul of the United States and head of the firm of 

 Kussell & Co. Mr. Forbes was absent at the time, but the hospitalities of his establishment were 

 most freely dispensed by one of his partners, Mr. Spooner. So well known was this establishment, 

 and so highly appreciated were its proprietors by the Chinese, that all that was necessary in 

 making a purchase in the city was simply to direct the shopkeeper to send the article to the 

 house of Mr. Forbes, and there never was any hesitation in assenting at once. The same may 

 be said indeed of all the American houses, with resj)ect both to hospitality and the confidence 

 of the Chinese. 



The comparatively small space occupied by the foreigners on the river side is, notwithstanding 

 its limited extent, quite a pleasant spot. The whole quarter contains but about four acres. 

 The foreign merchants occupy the large buildings in the rear as places of business and abode, 

 while the front, which includes a half of the whole area, is beautifully laid out as a garden, 

 with an English church in the centre, and the flags of diflerent nations floating from tall poles 

 planted in various spots. The grounds are arranged with walks and ornamented with shrubbery 

 and flowering plants, presenting a delightful resort in the freshness of the morning or the cool 

 of the evening. The stranger is struck with the peculiar aspect of the place, when on one side, 

 in proximity to low, dingy, Chinese houses, buildings of European structure rise to the height 

 of three or four stories, while on the other, the river is densely populous with the inhabited 

 boats. The foreigners term their residences and places of business factories, but the natives 

 designate them as Hongs, which is the usual Chinese word for a commercial establishment or 

 warehouse. 



Although there are but few of the larger or public buildings in the foreign quarter, which is 

 but a suburb of the city, there are all the ordinary varieties of streets, houses, and bazaars. 

 Foreigners generally confine their visits to that part adjacent to the garden before mentioned, 

 through which Old and New China streets run. 



The only hotel in the place frequented by Europeans and Americans is near the latter street, 

 and is quite inferior. It is (as has been intimated) the hospitable practice of the foreign 

 merchants to invite strangers to their princely establishments, where a generous proftision and 

 a warm welcome are extended to the visitor. In addition to Old and New China streets, there 

 is, hard by, a narrow^ filthy alley, not inappropriately called Hog lane, and filled with the 

 most abandoned portion of the people^ who minister to the vicious appetites of the foreign 

 sailors, supplying them with wretched grog and other dangerous stimulants. 



There are no drives or walks leading directly into the country from the foreign quarter ; the 

 residents are, therefore, limited to the river, where, in the evening, they exercise themselves in 

 rowing their swift little boats. On the opposite side of the river, however, on the island of 

 Honan, there is a walk extending a mile or more to a Buddhist temple ; but there is little that 

 is attractive in the surroimding country, and nothing peculiar about the temple, which is 

 similar to the other joss houses. On a visit which was made to this spot by one of the officers 



