76 
MISCELLANY. 
time, made a great noise by beating gongs and firing guns, and fol- 
lowed the opium ships until they were fairly outside. The admiral 
now, sent up a report to his government to the effect that he had 
fought a great battle with the barbarians,'' and had driven them away 
from the shores ; or very probable he said that he had blown some of 
their vessels to pieces, and sunk the rest in the depths of the sea. In 
the mean timC; even before the report was half-way to Peking, the 
opium vessels had quietly taken up their old anchorage, and things 
were going on in the usual way ! Such is a specimen of the way in 
which affairs are managed in China. — Ibid. 
Opium used in China. — The opium from Bengal, which consists of 
two kinds — namely, Patna and Benares — is always of a good quality 
and pure ; but the Bombay Malwa is now so much mixed up with 
other ingredients, that the Chinese smuggler will not buy it until he 
has had an opportunity of testing its quality. This is done in the fol- 
lowing manner : — having selected the chest or number of chests which 
he wishes to purchase, they are opened, and betakes out three or four 
of the worst looking cakes, cuts a small piece from each, and dissolves 
them in a copper ladle over a charcoal fire. When the opium is 
melted, it is poured out into a coarse paper filter. If it is not of the 
worst description it readily passes through the paper into a small basin 
which is placed under it. When it will not pass through the filter, the 
Chinese call it Man-ling ; by which name they designate opium 
which is so bad, or so mixed with extraneous ingredients, that it will 
not dissolve in water or pass through the paper filter. This description 
of the drug, is of course, only bought at a very reduced price. 
When the mixture passes through the filter, the paper is carefully 
examined, and if any sediment remains, such as sand or rubbish, with 
which the opium is frequently adulterated, it detracts considerably 
f^pm its value. The filtered mixture is now put again into a clear 
copper pan, and boiled slowly over the charcoal fire, until the whole 
of the water is evaporated, and nothing remains but pure opium. The 
drug is then poured out into a small porcelain cup, and stirred round 
and examined with great care. At this stage of the process, colour 
forms the principal test of its quality, and as the smuggler stirs it round, 
and holds it up to the light, he pronounces it to be " timg-Jcow/^ if it is 
thick like jelly ; paJc-chat,^^ if it has a whitish colour ; " hong-chat,^ ^ if 
it is red : and ^'hong-see-paJc/^ if it is opium of the first quality, or like 
that sent round by the East India Company. — Ibid. 
Opium Smoking. — Opium is prepared for smoking much in the same 
manner as I have described, and is kept in small cups, which are 
