92 TOPICS OF CONVERSATION. 



were Malva, were all these celebrated gardens 

 contained. 



The principal topics of conversation, as the 

 space in front of the factories is traversed over 

 and over again by the foreigners, are opium, 

 Areka-nut, (erroneously called betel-nut,) pepper, 

 rattans, and cotton. The different reports that 

 have been set in motion, (gaining as they proceed 

 from mouth to mouth during the day,) are dis- 

 cussed early in the morning : true, or untrue, is 

 immaterial ; every body credits them, and they 

 serve pour passer le temps. If one person meets 

 another, a cool bow of acknowledgment is made, 

 and he passes on his way ; or he may be doomed 

 to run the gauntlet, if any important event has 

 been started, with every one he meets, at the 

 corner of every hong, at the risk of being scorched 

 by the sun, or, if taken under shelter, exposed 

 to a chilling blast : as the day advances, he will 

 find the tale increased to such an extent, that the 

 person who heard it in the morning would hardly 

 recognize the bantling by the evening : the 

 three black crows is a mere trifle to some of 

 their inventions : one relates mutinies happen- 

 ing on board an Indiaman, of the existence of 

 which even the commander was ignorant : a 

 slight illness of a lady at Macao, by the time it 



