APPEITDIX. 299 



pig, and ejaculated "Dog ! " After satisfying ourselves that this 

 was the veritable article, he also showed us a kettle in front of 

 which was an inscription in Chinese, which, he said, translated 

 into English, read : " Black cat, served hot." I told him I wanted 

 to try some, which fact he communicated to the proprietor, who 

 escorted us up a pair of rickety bamboo stairs into a dirty little 

 room on the second floor, in which there were four small tables 

 with benches at their sides. Sitting down at these, we soon had 

 the satisfaction of seeing two liberal-sized plates of stewed cat 

 and dog before us. The cat was cut into much finer pieces than 

 the dog, but both dishes looked and tasted, for aU the world, like 

 stewed rabbit. Owing to the two previous meals which I had 

 discussed, my appetite was not very good, and I could hardly do 

 more than taste of these two dishes. Proceeding down-stairs, I 

 asked to be shown any live dogs and cats that might be on hand 

 awaiting their fate, but, with the exception of one small, half- 

 starved cat, there was nothing of the kind to be seen. I am sure 

 that the dog was genuine, because I saw the feet attached to the 

 hindrquarter, but I could not vouch for the other dish being gen- 

 uine cat, because there were no identifying marks to be seen. 

 This ended our experience with Chinese viands, and from what I 

 have seen, and the inquiries which I have made in China, I am 

 satisfied that the stories which have been current all over the 

 world in relation to the Chinese habitually eating cats and dogs, or 

 rats and mice, have been greatly exaggerated. Indeed, it may be 

 said to be the romance of travellers rather than a statement of 

 things as they actually exist. The principal article of flesh diet 

 among the Chinese is pork ; of this they use immense quantities, 

 mostly, so far as I can judge, in a fresh state. Poultry, especially 

 ducks, are also a very large item, and from these they very skil- 

 fully take out the bones, press them flat, salt and dry them and 

 use them as preserved provision. So great a demand is there for 

 these, and ducks not making very good mothers, the Chinese 

 have invented hatching establishments, where immense numbers 

 of ducks' eggs are accumulated, and, by keeping up a uniform 

 degree of artificial heat, they are successful in hatching out nearly 

 the whole of them. "We visited one of these establishments near 

 Canton, and found it very interesting. As , soon as the ducks are 



