Eastern Reminiscences, 31 



and poop were divided off by massive bulkheads, pierced so that 

 the European crew and passengers might at any moment pour 

 in a destructive fire on their Chinese fellow-travellers. The 

 appearance of Canton far exceeded anything in the way of cities 

 he had seen ; it was truly astonishing ; a scene of prodigious life 

 and activity. At Canton foreigners live on a little island called 

 Shameen, which is separated from the town by a canal, over 

 which there are two or three bridges, strongly protected by 

 gates, which are closed every night. These gates were put up 

 recently, he believed, because the mob came over from Canton 

 and had destroyed many of the European houses. This attack 

 was not, however, altogether unprovoked. He had a letter of 

 introduction to a gentleman, who kindly provided a chair with 

 the two bearers and a guide to take him to see the various 

 sights of the city. Soon they reached the midst of the town, 

 with its million and a half of inhabitants on a very little larger 

 area than the town of Belfast. If one were to imagine Bridge 

 Street reduced to the breadth of a narrow lane, lower the tops of 

 the houses to the level of the shop windows, take out all the win- 

 dows, leaving the shops open, and in some parts roofed to keep 

 off the sun, and then down the sides of the shops and from 

 overhead hang countless boards emblazoned with golden and 

 red characters telling of the class of goods sold within ; sprinkle 

 a good deal of scent over all (not attar of roses), then cram the 

 place with people, and behold Canton. The whole passage was 

 one of knock, jostle, crush, but, being seated on a good chair, 

 he was indifferent. When buying from the Chinese one has to 

 keep his wits about him, as the Chinese are smart at all sorts 

 of swindles. He saw a dog and a nice clean little puppy hung 

 up for sale in a butcher's shop. He saw also a rat hung up for 

 sale. Yet Chinese do not eat dirty things, and they set a good 

 example in the clean and tidy way in which they put out meat 

 and vegetables for sale. A duck hung up for sale in Canton 

 appears not unlike a flatfish, owing to the way it has been 

 prepared for the market. A common article of food is the 

 cuttle-fish. The shops are very numerous. In the furniture 

 shops there are beautifully carved chairs and tables made of 



