20 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. II. 
Amoy is a city of the third class, seven or eight miles 
in circumference, and contains about 300,000 inhabit- 
ants. It is one of the filthiest towns which I have ever 
seen, either in China or elsewhere ; worse even than 
Shanghae, and that is bad enough. When I was there 
in the hot autumnal months, the streets, which are only 
a few feet wide, were thatched over with mats to protect 
the inhabitants from the sun. At every corner the 
itinerant cooks and bakers were pursuing their avoca- 
tions, and disposing of their delicacies ; and the odours 
which met me at every point were of the most disagreeable 
and suffocating: nature. The suburbs are rather cleaner 
than the city ; but as it is not customary to use carriages 
of any kind in this part of China, the roads are narrow. 
It is from this place and the adjacent coast that the 
best and most enterprising Chinese sailors come. Many, 
or rather most of those who emigrate to Manila, Singa- 
pore, and other parts of the straits, are natives of Amoy 
and the coast of Fokien, and hence this place has 
generally been the head-quarters of the foreign junk- 
trade. During the war it was remarked by our officers 
that the merchants here showed more knowledge of 
English customs than those at other places did, and all 
were acquainted with our settlement at Singapore, and 
spoke highly of it. 
Since this port has been thrown open several foreign 
merchants have established themselves, and the trade, 
although small when compared with that of the more 
northern port of Shanghae, is still considerable. Indian 
cotton, cotton twist, long-cloths of English and American 
manufacture, and opium, seem to be the principal articles 
