ClIAP. VIII. 
FLOWER-BOATS— CHOP-BOATS. 
121 
having windows in the sides, ornamented with pictures 
and flowers of various kinds. The compartment at the 
bow is occupied by the rowers, and that at the stem is 
used for preparing the food of the family to whom the 
boat belonefs. 
The boats of the Hong merchants, and the large 
flower-boats, are very splendid. They are arranged in 
compartments like the others, but are built in a more 
superb and costly manner. The reader must imagine a 
kind of wooden house raised upon the floor of the boat, 
having the entrance near the bows, space being left there 
for the boatmen to stand and row. This entrance, being 
the front, is carved in a most superb style, forming a 
prelude to what may be seen within. Numerous lanterns 
hang from the roof of these splendid showy cabins ; 
looking-glasses, pictures, and poetry adorn their sides i 
and all the peculiarities of this singular people are ex- 
posed to our view in these their floating palaces. 
Then there are the chop-boats, which are used by the 
merchants for conveying goods to the vessels at Wham- 
poa ; the passage-boats to Hong-kong, Macao, and vari- 
ous parts of the country ; the mandarin-boats, with their 
numerous oars, which have a strange appearance as they 
pass up and down the river (I have seen a single boat 
of this kind with forty oars on each side) ; and, lastly 
the large un^^deldy sea-going junks. There are various 
modifications of all these kinds of boats, each adapted 
for the particular purpose for which it is designed At 
festival times the river has a singularly gay and striking 
appearance, particularly at night, when the lanterns are 
lighted, and numberless boats gaily decorated with them 
VOL. L 
G 
