Cuar. VII.] LANGUAGE OF THE CHINESE. 103 
CHAP. VII. 
REMARKS ON THE CHINESE LANGUAGE. — ICE-HOUSES NEAR 
NING-PO DESCRIBED. — THEIR SIMPLICITY AND UTILITY. — 
NOVEL MODES OF FISHING.— FISHING CORMORANTS MET WITH. 
— THEIR ACTIONS DESCRIBED. —TWO PAIRS PURCHASED. — 
ACCOUNT GF THEIR FOGD AND HABITS. 
Iy sailing up the river towards Ning-po, I observed 
a great number of thatched houses, and desired 
my Chinese servant to go to the boatman and 
inquire what they were. He went immediately to 
the man at the helm, and, after a conversation of at 
least ten minutes’ duration, came back hanging his 
head, and slunk away without reporting the result 
of his inquiries. ‘ Well,” said I, “ what is the use 
of all these houses which we now see on the shore ?” 
With all the gravity in the world, he replied that 
the boatman said they were places built to keep 
Chinese soldiers in during the cold winter months. 
“ Nonsense,” said I, ‘ they cannot fill all these places 
with soldiers.” “Well,” said he, “he have talkie my 
so fashion.” As I could not conceive this to be 
true, I went to the man myself, and with the little 
knowledge of the language which I then possessed, 
soon found out that the buildings in question were 
ice-houses, for which commodity, he informed me, 
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