176 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. X. 
and as the smuggler stirs it round, and holds it up to 
the light, he pronounces it be Jji^ " tuTig-lww" if it is 
thick like jelly ; pale-chat," if it has a whitish colour ; 
" hong-chat,^' if it is red ; and " kong-see-pak/' if it is 
opium of the first quality, or like that sent round by the 
East India Company. 
Opium is prepared for smoking much in the same 
manner as I have just described, and is kept in small 
cups, which are made for the purpose. The smoker 
lays his head upon a pillow, has a lamp by his side, and 
with a kind of needle he lifts a small portion of the 
opium to the candle ; and having ignited it, he puts it 
into the small aperture of the bowl of the pipe. The 
candle is applied to the bowl during the process of 
inhaling, and the smoke is drawn into the lungs in the 
same manner as an Indian or Chinese swallows tobacco. 
A whiff or two is all that can be drawn from a single 
pipe, and, therefore, those who are accustomed to the 
use of the drug have frequently to renew the dose. 
, No one who has seen anything of the habits of the 
Chinese will deny that the use of opium, particularly 
when taken to excess, has a most pernicious effect both 
upon the constitution and morals of its victims. From 
my own experience, however, I have no hesitation in 
saying that the number of persons who use it to excess 
has been very much exaggerated ; it is quite true that a 
very large quantity of the drug is yearly imported from 
India, but then we must take into consideration the vast 
extent of the Chinese empire, and its population of 
800,000,000 of people.* 
* The population of China has been estimated lately at 367,000,000. 
