C O C H I N C H 1 N A, 
Sed jussa coram non sine conscio 
Surgit marito ; seu vocat institor 
" Seu navis Hispanse magister 
" Dedecorum pretiosus emptor." 
fl 
" The conscious husband bids her rise, 
When some rich factor courts her charms, 
*' And calls the wanton to his arms. 
*' Then prodigal of wealth and fame, 
" Profusely buys the costly slianie." 
These observations on the indifference, on the part ef the 
men, for the honour and chastit}^ of the sex, and tlie abandoned 
and profligate character of the hitter which is the necessary 
consequence thereof, are by no means confined to tiie common 
people : they apply indeed more forcibly to the first ranks in 
societ}^, the officers of government. These men, fully as de- 
bauched as the Chinese Mandarins, carry not even that 
appearance of decency which those find it expedient to ob~ 
serve. Of the facility with which they are disposed to 
transfer their women to strangers our party had several 
curious instances. From the following, among many others, 
a tolerably good notion may be collected of the value put 
upon them in a pecuniary point of view. An officer of the 
Lion was one day sent on shore to purchase a couple of bul- 
locks for the use of the ship's company. As the price had pre- 
viously been fixed at ten dollars a-head, the officer had only to 
count dow^n the money before one of the magistrates of the place, 
and receive his bullocks. The Mandarin, taking up the dollars, 
dispatched a couple of his attendants, Avho shortly returned 
with a fine young girl, whom the magistrate handed over 
to the officer. Whether this gentleman's modesty was too 
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