26 The Gardens of the Stm. [ch. n. 



and station. A rich mandarin, however, loves and 

 marries her. Her young lover is the most dutiful of 

 sons, and a good spirit helps- him on ; while at the same 

 time a bad one causes the mandarin heavy losses by sea 

 and land. The undutiful daughter has her parents driven 

 from her husband's gates, where they had come to beg, 

 while her former lover succours them, and they ultimately 

 die, blessiag him. Eventually the mandarin is degraded, 

 -and the dutiful youth is elevated to Ms place for some 

 service he has rendered to one of the emperor's favourite 

 ministers. He then makes a speech, telling how good 

 and clever he has been, and ultimately marries the tiny- 

 footed daughter of the minister who has befriended liim. 

 Nor does the play finish until his "poor, but honest 

 parents " and the audience are convinced by ocular proof 

 that a son and heir has been bom of the union, a piece 

 of good fortune for which the rich but wicked mandarin 

 before him had hoped in vain. The character of the 

 youth was excellently played throughout by a young 

 Chinese lady from Hong Kong, and I do not remember 

 to have seen a male part acted much better by a female 

 actress anywhere. So that the Lottie Venns and Kate 

 Vaughans of our own stage must look to their laurels, as 

 •ere long they may possibly have to compete with the 

 ■" cheap Chinese labour " of the Eastern mimes. 



It was late that night as we drove back to our hotel, 

 and such a night as one can see only in the tropics, where 

 the moonlight is bright enough to read by, and streams 

 ■down like a gloriously brilliant bridal veil over sweet- 

 scented blossoms wet with dew, and the most elegant of 

 palm-t as, over the gorgeous floral treasures of eastern 

 gardens, and over the homes of thousands of dusky 

 brides. The sounds heard during the otherwise still 

 hours of evening or night are pecuhar, the clucking 



