398 COFFEE. 



pork, for the purpose of giving it richness and flavor. Course 

 In'o. 6 was composed of sharks' fins cut into thin strips and stewed 

 •with eggs ; these fins also tasted much like gelatine. No. 6 con- 

 sisted of boned-duck, boiled; it was stuffed with mushrooms, 

 bamboo-shoots, dates, and various aromatic herbs---a very good 

 dish. Course No. 7 consisted of boiled snails with salad; the 

 orthodox way of eating these is to break off the small point of the 

 shell, which destroys the vacuum, and then a gentle suck at the 

 larger end places the toothsome morsel at your disposal. I tried 

 one and it was very good, but I had hardly become accustomedto 

 the idea of eating snails, and did not feel hungry enough to eat 

 more. Course No. 8 consisted of boiled rice with " conch " water, 

 which, as near as we could understand, was simply rice-water, 

 with a few grains of rice left in it. Tea was served, and this 

 ended the dinner. Large basins of hot water were then brought 

 to wash our hands in, and small towels or napkins to dry them 

 with. I also forgot to mention that there were small pieces 

 of Chinese paper brought with the first course, which were in- 

 tended to be used as napkins. Altogether, the viands may be 

 said to be fairly palatable, and we could have made a good meal 

 had we not already eaten a moderate dinner at the hotel just 

 before starting, as we were fearful that we would not be able to 

 appreciate Chinese cookery sufficiently well to satisfy our appetites. 

 I then told our interpreter that I was very much dissatisfied at 

 not having a regular Chinese dinner ; that I wanted some cats 

 and dogs, or rats and mice, such as Chinese eat ; that, if we could 

 not get it there, we must go to some place where we could get it. 

 He assured me, in the gravest manner, that such things were not 

 eaten by the Chinese, except occasionally by the poorer classes, 

 when they could get nothing better. He volunteered, however, 

 to go with us and try and find a place where we could procure 

 " such tings." After paying our bill we started out in search of a 

 dog-and-cat-meat restaurant. 



After a long walk through the narrow streets, and making 

 various inquiries, our interpreter turned into an alley-way, and 

 stopping in front of a dark, dingy little eating-house, pointed tri- 

 umphantly to the claws that were still attached to a hind-quarter^ 

 of what might be mistaken for the fat hind-quarter of a young 



