804 
CHINESE NAMES OF ANIMALS. 
developed in them on this point as it is with the 
Chinese. Their monsters are equally as quaint, but 
are never so astounding in their proportions, or 
so grotesque in their hideousness, as the terrible 
dragons, unicorns, and phoenixes you see painted 
on the inside of the screens facing the Yahmuns, 
or public buildings, of China. 
Our visitors brought off for sale the knotty wens 
of trees; snake-gourds as tall as a man, and no 
thicker than a cucumber ; strange plants, with mot- 
tled leaves; cowrie shells; branches of coral; and 
even toads and rats, in small square cages, were 
offered to us by those who were anxious to dispose 
of them. 
In the names which the Chinese give to animals, 
the poetic nature of their language, and their 
fondness for simile, are strongly indicated. Among 
them the cat is a ‘‘ household fox the bat becomes 
the “ heavenly rat ;” the porpoise is the “river pig ” 
while, strange to say,* the scaly ant-eater is the 
“hill-carp,” and is said to be the “only fish that 
has legs.” Some of the Japanese names of animals 
