294 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



undoubtedly very large, if we may judge from tlie crowds wliicli infest those parts of the city of 

 Canton accessible to foreigners. 



Each city has its own laws with respect to mendicants, and its own charitable institutions. 

 In Canton there are four principal benevolent establishments : one for widows, another for 

 foundlings, a third for furnishing coffins for the dead relations of indigent families, and the 

 fourth for "loafers." They are all, however, so badly managed, that they answer very 

 indifferently the purpose intended, for it happens very generally in China, as is too often the 

 case in Christianized countries, that those who have the control of these institutions contrive to 

 embezzle the revenues, and thus make themselves rich by taking care of the poor. Whether 

 thieving is one of the recognized functions of these beggars or not, is not known ; but it is 

 quite clear that they can and do turn their hand with great skill to occasional small pilfering, 

 in which they show themselves as great adepts as the most accomplished pickpockets in any part 

 of the world. 



The Americans, during the detention of the squadron on the coast of China, had occasion to 

 become practically acquainted with the mode of carrying on business on the i^art of the lower 

 or laboring classes. Among these, the boatmen and boatwomen were those with whom there 

 was, of course, the most frequent relations. The men-of-war, as in fact do most of the 

 merchant vessels, employ what is called a fast boat, which is always in charge of a ski^iper. 

 This man's family, if he have one, which is almost universally the case, lives with him in his 

 boat, and assists in rowing, steering, managing the sails, and in otherwise conducting the craft. 

 The children are born and grow up in the boat, rarely leaving her, and, in proportion to their 

 number and strength, contribute to the profit of their father, who happens to be the proprietor. 

 The females lend a hand as readily as the males, and both sexes are seen laboring alike. A 

 skij)per who has the misfortune to be childless, has to employ six or eight laborers to assist him 

 in the management of his fast boat ; while he who has been blessed with a numerous progeny 

 can dispense with these expensive assistants. Forty dollars a month is the ordinary rate paid 

 by ships for the hire of one of these boats. 



There are various other descriptions of boatmen and boatwomen plying their curious craft in 

 the Canton river ; there are those who manage the flower boats, the hong boats, the pull-away 

 boats, the numerous fishing boats, and the Tanka boats. The latter, and their jiicturesquely 

 costumed female tenders, have been already described somewhat in a previous chapter ; but it 

 may not be iminteresting to give some additional details in regard to them. They are used as 

 passenger boats to carry people backwards and forwards from the laud to the shipping in the 

 harbor. In construction they are short, but broad in beam. In the centre there is a canopy of 

 matting under which the passengers sit or recline. The crew generally consists of two women, 

 who are often quite young, and who are generally joint proprietors, and a little female appren- 

 tice of twelve or thirteen years of age. One of the elder girls sculls and steers the Tanka boat, 

 the other sits in the bow and rows, while the chief function of the youthful apprentice is to 

 collect the fare, see to the comfort of the passengers^ and make herself generally useful. 



These girls rarely leave their boats except to purchase their simple food of rice, dried fish, 

 and leeks, which they cook on board, except in very boisterous weather, when it becomes 

 necessary to haul their craft on shore. On the latter occasion they are always ready to lend 

 each other a hand, and getting their l)oats liigh and dry on tlie land, and snugly protected, 

 they form quite a group on the whore, like a flock of amphibious marine birds, and avail them- 



