76 



LUNCHEON. 



Chap. IV. 



them were very interesting. I observed a series 

 of pictures which told a long tale as distinctly as 

 if it had been written in Roman characters. The 

 actors were all on the boards, and one followed 

 them readily from the commencement of the 

 piece until the fall of the curtain. Numbers of 

 solid straight-backed chairs were placed round the 

 room, and a large massive table occupied its 

 centre. This table was completely covered with 

 numerous small dishes, containing the fruits of 

 the season and all sorts of cakes and sweetmeats, 

 for which the large towns in this province are 

 famed. In addition to these there were walnuts 

 from the northern province of Shantung, and 

 dried Lefechees, Longans, &c., from Fokien and 

 Canton. Then there were many kinds of pre- 

 serves, such as ginger, citron, bamboo, and others, 

 all of which were most excellent. A number of 

 small wine-cups, made of the purest china, were 

 placed at intervals round the table. 



Several of the old gentleman's friends had now 

 joined us, and we took our places round the table 

 with the usual ceremony, each one pressing the 

 most honourable place upon his neighbour. The 

 day was excessively warm, and I felt very little 

 inclination to eat, but I was pressed to do so on 

 all sides. " Eat cakes," said one ; " Eat walnuts," 

 said another ; " Drink wine," said a third ; and so 

 on they went, asking me to partake of every dish 

 upon the table. It was useless to refuse, for they 

 seized hold of the different viands and heaped 



