ie 
Cuar. VIII.] PREJUDICES OF THE CHINESE. 117 
was also calculated to produce erroneous impres- 
sions, particularly on the minds of the young, and 
make them regard us with superstitious horror, 
In these times it was quite common for us to hear 
such expressions as the following: “The devil's 
children are coming,” or ‘Come and see a devil’s 
child;” and not unfrequently “Kwei-tsz” was called 
out to us in derision. Several complaints were 
made of this conduct to the British Consul by 
parties who believed it to be very bad policy at the 
first commencement of the trade to submit to any 
marks of contempt, however slight; and strong 
remonstrances were promptly made by him to the 
Taoutae, or head Mandarin, of Shanghae. This 
policy was the very best which could have been 
pursued with the Chinese authorities; and the con- 
sequence was, that in a very short time the offen- 
sive appellation was rarely heard in the streets of 
Shanghae; and if some little urchin, remembering 
the lesson so early taught him, came out with it 
unawares, he was immediately rebuked by the 
respectable part of the bystanders. 
The following incident shows the kind of super- 
stitious dread in which we were held by the inha- 
bitants. A friend and myself were asked to a dinner 
given on board one of the vessels in the river, and 
as the cabin was much more comfortable than our 
cheerless, fireless rooms on shore, we remained until 
nearly eleven o’clock. Not only are the gates of a 
Chinese town closed after dark, but all communica- 
tion even with the streets in the suburbs is cut off 
1 
