115 



upon hearing it, tliey congregate and re-enter 

 ttwj hd$t The fiist duck that enters it rewejtded 

 with 'dom^ ^ddy, %b hsit h whipped for being 



(lilatdry ; so tliat it is ludicrous to see the last 

 UiYiU (knnwiiio- liy sad experience tlie fate that 

 awaits tlieui) making efforts e7i masse to fly over 

 the baek of the others, to escape the chastisement 

 inikted upon the ultimate tluck. 



A large quantity of a kind of alabaster or 

 gypsum is brou^lit down from the northward in 

 laru'c jiniks to Canton ; it is called in the Chi- 

 nese language Siickj oo^ and is used by them, as 

 wdl as by European?^ Jtt a pnlverissed itatig, 

 m a dentifrice : it is employed and highly 

 esteenn'd l>y tJie Chinese as a tlsmi^ for the purpose 

 of allaying the ardent thirst in fevers, and is con- 

 sidered by them noiirlshimj as well as eooliug. It 

 is pulmer^ied ai»} iQ 1^ adnll^liou ic^f 

 powdered Sr'ag^H^as4y» whitsh il b^is im 

 appeatance a very close resemblance ; indeed, it 

 is (t'xce]^t by the taste) not easy to distinguish 

 one from the other. 



Dr. Cox presented me ^ifeete«ii in spirits 

 of«. my venomous snake, which is mk uneoni^ 

 monin China; this one had sonu- time since bitten 

 a Chinese servant in the Dutch llong, ami occa- 

 sioned his death in a few hours. The head of the 



