8 



120 feet in height, which was constructed on a new plan by- 

 Sir W. G. Armstrong and Co., and so strongly braced and sup- 

 ported by exterior iron rods that it has withstood the shaking of 

 two earthquakes and the force of several typhoons." 



Such progress in the lighting of the coasts of China is 

 perhaps without a parallel in the history of the cares and 

 precautions that a Government can take for the protection 

 and advantage of its fisheries and fishermen as well as the 

 maritime commerce of the world. The work itself will 

 be a lasting record of Sir Robert Hart's administration : 



" Famam extendere factis, 

 Hoc virtutis opus." 



5th. Boats in general. — " The original model of the junk " 

 (according to Williams) " is said to be a huge sea monster ; 

 the teeth at the cutwater define its mouth, while the long 

 boards on each side of the bow form the armature of the 

 head, the eyes being painted on them ; the masts and sails 

 are the fins, and the high stern is the tail frisking aloft." 

 As regards the eyes, which are so conspicuous on all 

 Chinese junks, most of the foreign steamers trading on the 

 coast have them painted on their bows or paddle-boxes, as 

 a concession to Chinese ideas ; their use being defended in 

 the picturesque dialect known as "Pidgin English" by 

 the remark — 



" Spose no got eye, how fashion can walkee ! " 

 The large trading junks, of which there are some fine 

 models in the Chinese Collection, are finding important 

 rivals in the steamers of the China Merchants' Steam Navi- 

 gation Company, which, commencing in 1872 with two 

 vessels of 1,168 tons, had in 1880 a fleet of twenty-nine 

 vessels of 20,747 tons ; and considerable additions have 

 since been made. 



