172 NOTES OF XBAVEL IN CHINA. 



pigeon, mi flin. cum down side mi housie, talke mi so fashion mi kick 

 up bobbery along you." To which the Chinaman will reply : "mi 

 savey no casion makey flaid, can secure do plopel pigeon long you 

 flin all same fashin long you." 



Fighting with crickets is a common amusement among the 

 Chinese, and the belligerents can be purchased in small cages. A 

 foreigner wishing to ask for a cricket will say : " mi wantchie makey 

 look, see those two pieces ting makey fightie." — "Haiyah hab got 

 can catechie chop-chop," will be the Chinaman's reply. 



This language is as simple as it is absurd, but the words must be 

 arranged as the Chinaman has been accustomed to hear them, or he 

 will not understand what is said. It is spoken in all the ports of 

 China open to foreign trade, and there is no disposition to adopt a 

 purer one. No matter how fluently the China merchant may speak 

 this " pigeon English," he cannot understand anything that is spoken 

 among the foreigners themselves ; and this is on the whole fortunate, 

 as remarks are daily made at table about the country and its 

 institutions, which would not be at all gratifying to a mandarin to 

 hear. 



The majority of the streets are very narrow, and it would not be 

 a difficult matter for a person to get by one single step from one side 

 to the other. Most of the retired streets are occupied by tradesmen, 

 those of a similar calling keeping together and occupying a whole 

 side of a street. A long row of houses solely occupied by shoe- 

 makers, will be seen on one side, and on the other side an equal num- 

 ber of tailoring establishments or trunk makers, all of whom ,are 

 hard at work. One would fancy that it would be to the interest of 

 all parties were they to distribute themselves throughout the city, 

 but it is to be inferred that they each have patrons who find out 

 their favorite link in the long chain, and visit no other. In many of 

 the streets are to be seen shops containing goods of foreign manu- 

 facture, and there are many other indications of the benefits which the 

 Chinese are deriving from foreign intercourse. Ugly looking imple- 

 ments of torture standing in racks, and under the custody of police- 

 men, occupy a position in every street, then- disreputable guardians 

 being a greater source of dread to the people than the polished steel 

 itself. The police are poorly paid by the Government, and make up the 

 deficiency by practising enormities upon the people, which dare not 

 be introduced into any civilized country. They are complained of 

 at times by the people, but no heed is given to their petition, unless 

 it is accompanied by a certain amount of money which the sufferer ia 

 unwilling and in most instances unable to furnish. 



