334 RAMBLES OF A NATUEALIST. [Ch- XX. 



others may be seen, through the windows, seated in the 

 saloon, drinking tea and smoking, while the upper win- 

 dows disclose many fair ladies in their boudoirs adorning 

 themselves for the delectation of their lords. Trading- 

 junks and passage-boats crowded with all classes of Chinese 

 swell the scene; and as they arrive abreast of the town, 

 a man standing on the high stem of each, beats vigorously 

 upon a gong, an exercise of a religious character, which 

 makes a din of a most unmusical and barbaric character, 

 but which, repeated every eveniag, soon falls unheeded upon 

 the ear. 



The great feature of the streets of Canton, next to their 

 narrowness and the badness of the pavement, is the wonder- 

 ful variety of chops which hang suspended from the various 

 parts of 'the houses. These chops are usually boards of all 

 sizes, and most variously coloured, and all of them bearing 

 Chinese inscriptions in letters of every degree of magnitude 

 and of the brightest hues. Sometimes the letters are green 

 on a black ground, or gold on black, or red on gold, or 

 white on red or brown, or vice versa, and the gaiety given 

 by them to the scene is indescribable. In some cases these 

 chops extend across the street, or along the front of the 

 shop ; but in most instances hang suspended and facing the 

 passenger. They contain not only the name and business 

 of the shopkeeper to whom they belong, but are often in- 

 scribed with some philosophical or pious sentence from the 

 classics. The shops themselves are all open to the street, 

 without any fronts beyond a kind of counter, upon which 

 the wares are exposed ; and the passer-by may witness in 

 them almost every feature of Chinese industry, fan painting, 

 ivory carving, silk weaving, toy making, idol painting, &c. 

 But I must leave to others the task of describing in detail 



