144 
CHARACTER OF YIN. 
sider any specimen of the kind a very interesting present ; and sent 
me, the next day, what he wished me to suppose a stone snuff-bottle, 
but which was only a very rude imitation of blood-stone in glass. 
Yin, an old soldier, with ruddy complexion and laughing eyes, cared 
very little about the arts or sciences of his own or any other country. 
The only produce of Europe that seemed to interest his attention was 
port-wine or cherry-brandy ; differing, in his taste for the former, from 
most of his countrymen. 
The judge of Pe-tchee-lee, who had accompanied the Embassy from 
Tung-Chow, also left it at Sang-yuen. This man, a Tartar by birth, 
professed a great knowledge of Europe, obtained from books pub- 
lished in the Chinese language by the Missionaries ; and took an 
opportunity of displaying it, in a conversation with Mr. Morrison, 
the day before he took leave of the Embassy. England, he said, was 
divided into four parts ; and wished to know if it had four kings. 
He was rather supercilious in his remarks on the small extent of 
Great Britain, compared with other countries ; and especially with 
China. “ Your country is very small ; our’s (appealing to Chang, 
who was present,) is too large ; it is very difficult to govern : my civil 
jurisdiction alone extends to the Gourkas.” Wishing to impress his 
auditors with his intimate acquaintance with the domestic affairs of 
England, he observed, “ All your teachers of religion wear beards ; 
and you have loaves of bread three or four cubits in diameter.” My 
reader will require no further illustration of the soundness and extent 
of this gentleman’s information. He was, however, better informed 
respecting the geography and history of European states, than any 
other Chinese with whom the Embassy became acquainted. 
Several gentlemen, in walking through the streets at Sang-yuen, 
fell in with three blind men playing on a dulcimer, a guitar, and a 
violin. Two of them accompanied the instruments with their voice, 
singing a duet, and keeping exact time with the tune. The harmony 
was pleasing. The performers were rewarded with a small gratuity ; 
and on some soldiers crying out “ Ko-tow,” prostrated themselves, 
and bowed their heads nine times to the ground. 
