296 



TEA DISTEICTS OF CHINA. 



Chap. XVII, 



He left me on his errand, and I sat down amongst 

 the beggars. Never before had I had the honour of 

 such company, and I devoutly hope I may never 

 have again. Some of them were covered with natural 

 sores, and others with artificial ones ; while the low 

 forehead, restless eye, and sturdy form of others told 

 of a mind diseased. Ail were unshaven, and covered 

 with dirt and filth. Beggars are numerous in China, 

 and generally belong to three very distinct classes* 

 The first are really objects of pity, and consist of the 

 blind, the lame, and others who are covered with 

 filthy cutaneous diseases ; the second are those who 

 endeavour to make themselves pitiable objects by 

 artificial means ; the third and largest class consists 

 of persons who are weak-minded or insane. The 

 community of beggars is found scattered over the 

 empire in large numbers : it has its own regulations 

 or laws, and there is really a " king of the beggars." 

 The beggars in China are a privileged class, and, as 

 they beg from door to door, seem to demand charity 

 as their right more than as a favour. They are a 

 great nuisance to the shopkeepers in large towns, 

 who cannot get rid of them without giving them alms. 

 Although a shopkeeper or householder is thus com- 

 pelled to give a little to each, yet the sums given are 

 often exceedingly small. The coin of the country is 

 well adapted to this state of things. A hundred 

 Chinese copper "cash" are worth only about four- 

 pence of our money, and a beggar rarely receives 

 more than one cash. Often he gets even less than 

 this, and in the following curious manner : — In every 



