72 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. . 



as they best can. When the marriage is very unsuit- 

 able, there is the remedy of suicide, to wliicli the 

 Chinese have so frequent and fond recourse against 

 the diseases to which flesh and spirit are heir. A 

 touching instance of this occurred at Canton some 

 years ago, in the case of a young accomplished girl, 

 who had been unfortunately married to a brutal hus- 

 band. When on a visit to her parents, she com- 

 plained to a small party of her unmarried sisters and 

 cousins of the misery she endured, and declared her 

 intention of drowning herself. " Oh ! " said these 

 young ladies, " if that is married life, we shall drown 

 ourselves too." So they all joined hands together, 

 and, walking into a fish-pond, became brides of Death. 

 On the occasion of the marriage there was much 

 feasting and drinking going on. Almost all the party 

 had very flushed faces when we went over, and the 

 foreign wine which we brought added to the mirth. 

 Even Wong a Shui, who was in his mandarin's hat 

 and dress, ceased to lean against an imaginary Avail, 

 and became exceedingly talkative and jolly. Only 

 Wong Kum Sau's cadaverous face remained un- 

 moved, as his tall form towered above his friends, 

 and his keen eye noted their weakness. One old 

 man was particularly pleasant. He made the nearest 

 approach to a speech that I ever heard delivered by a 

 Chinaman, saying that he was so delighted to wel- 

 come us ; that he was glad to see foreigners (Fan 

 Yan, he did not use the objectionable Fan Quei, or 



