Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara Volume Ii Part 17

The _Novara_ did not remain long behind us. A few days later, on 29th July, she sailed gallantly up in an hour and a half, from Wusung, on the top of a spring-tide, and with favourable breezes, and on reaching Shanghai was welcomed with pride and delight by the German residents here--the first s.h.i.+p-of-war of a first-cla.s.s German power that had ever been seen in the river Wusung.

FOOTNOTES:

[112] The a.n.a.lysis of these hieroglyphics, by which abstract ideas are sought to be expressed, is extremely interesting. Thus a heart with the badge of slavery over it represents "anger;" a hand, and the sign for the middle, signifies an "historian," because it is his duty not to lean to either side; by the sign of uprightness and motion is represented "government," because it must always observe probity in the transaction of affairs; to indicate the idea of a "friend" two pearls are represented side by side, because friends.h.i.+p is as rare as two pearls, exactly resembling each other! The well-known French missionary Huc, in his valuable work on the Chinese Empire, gives a variety of most interesting particulars respecting the Chinese language.

[113] A very abstruse treatise upon the preparation of the Chinese ink is contained in the important labours of the Russian Emba.s.sy at Pekin, relating to China, published in German by Dr. Abel and Mecklenburg, Berlin, F. Heinike, 1858, vol. ii. p. 481. The information is borrowed from a small treatise which was written in 1398 by a certain Scheu-zsi-Sun, who had been for thirty years engaged in the fabrication of the India ink. The author therein mentions how, after he had tried every known method, and every substance usually employed, without attaining any result, he at last put them all on one side, mingling only pin-soot with glue together, and diluting this mixture with but hot water, again kneaded it thoroughly, and thus succeeded in getting an ink "black and l.u.s.trous as a child's eyes." According to another method, India ink is prepared, besides pin-soot and lime, of a sort of tincture, consisting of the following various pigments,--pomegranate-rind, sandal-wood, sulphate of iron and copper, gamboge, cinn.o.bar, dragon's-blood, gold-leaf, musk, and glair. This tint is said to be remarkable for preventing the glue from getting spoiled by age, or the colour changing, and may be thus kept for any length of time. 1/2 lb. of glue and 1/4 lb. of this colouring matter are the proportions for one pound of pin-soot. However, only a very small portion of the different materials used seems to possess the power ascribed to them, and many are used out of mere prejudice, and not at all to the advantage of the ink prepared.

[114] This custom is of remote antiquity in Oriental countries, as witness the circ.u.mstances attending the birth of Ishmael, and also of several of the children of Israel.

[115] Many European residents at Hong-kong and Shanghai have Chinese mistresses _bought_ in this way, who are bound to live with them only so long as their masters choose.

[116] The t.i.tle of this work is:--"_Notices sur le vert de Chine et de la teinture en vert chez les Chinois, par Natalis Rondot, imprime aux frais de la Chambre de Commerce de Lyon, a Paris, 1858._"

[117] The Chinese of Shanghai called the plant _Li-lu-schu_, and the substance obtained from it _Gah-schik_.

[118] We give the following translation of one of these proclamations: "Listen, O listen, ye detestable barbarians! We, patriots and honourable subjects of the reigning dynasty, wish to hold up a mirror to you, that ye may see what ye are doing, and what like you are! Only in speech, and in no other respect, do ye differ from wild beasts! We have understanding, we observe laws and commandments; but you are blind and dumb, and will not receive advice. You must--there is nothing else for it--you _must_ be cut off to the very last man!... Since you first came to the MIDDLE KINGDOM, you have done all that you can to destroy us; you have shot at us from your s.h.i.+ps; you have poisoned us with opium, you have erected devils'

houses (churches) within the walls of the city! Nay more, in order to hold your horse-races, you have profaned graves, and not suffered the dead to rest in peace! Insatiable as sharks, greedy as a set of silk-worms upon a mulberry tree, the more you get the more you want. Even our most trifling profit you have taken to yourselves. Now, however, the cup is full, Heaven in its wrath has decreed your destruction,--our people shall cut you off with divine weapons of fire. Hearken now, O people, to the four following rules for the extermination of the barbarians: All barbarians must be beheaded, that our reproach may be removed, and our Middle Kingdom be no longer insulted. So runs the order of the leader!--To none other shall any disaster happen, no one shall be molested. Whoever strikes back, shall himself be struck.... The day of vengeance shall be secretly appointed. We shall circ.u.mvent the barbarians with treachery, we shall fall on them unawares, and destroy them. Natives who are in the habit of attending their schools, or of serving them, or of trading with them, must leave them and return to their old pursuits. If they remain, then the subjects of the exceedingly beneficent dynasty as well as the barbarians, the diamonds and the hailstones, shall be destroyed together.... After the destruction of these hideous hordes, their possessions shall be distributed among those who have distinguished themselves on the day of battle. So runs the order of the leader!"

[119] Yeh, as is well known, has since died in imprisonment at Calcutta.

[120] In front, Canto X. v. 25; XII. vv. 79-80. On the back, Canto VI. vv.

95, 131, and Canto VIII. v. 42.

[121] Even these four dollars sustain a reduction during the first year, since the emigrant must for the first year pay one dollar a month to defray necessaries, partly provisions, partly clothes, supplied to him to the amount of $12, before his departure.

[122] J. F. Crawford, Esq., British Consul-General at the Havanna, in an official doc.u.ment respecting the number of Chinese imported in the course of one year into Havanna proves that in the case of the Peruvian s.h.i.+p _Cora_, 117 out of 292 coolies perished owing to bad water. In one single year (1857) 63 s.h.i.+ps, of 43,933 tons, cleared from Chinese ports for the Havanna, with 23,928 Chinese labourers, of whom 3842, or above 16 per cent., died during the voyage.

[123] We give in the Appendix the original text of one of these contracts, which the Chinese emigrants have to sign preparatory to their going on s.h.i.+p-board, together with a translation, and shall leave the reader to judge whether those are very far wrong who denounce the system as but another form of slave-trade.

[124] The cruelty and injustice with which the poor Chinese emigrants are treated, have repeatedly had the most appalling consequences. The "_China Overland Trade Report_," published at Hong-kong, under date 28th February, 1861, gives the particulars of one such tragedy, which had shortly before occurred on board of one of these emigrant s.h.i.+ps. On 22nd February, the American s.h.i.+p _Leonidas_ sailed from Canton for the Havanna with a number of coolies on board. Near what is known as the Macao pa.s.sage, a tremendous noise was suddenly heard in the between-decks. Two of the mates, on descending to inquire into the cause of the disturbance, were attacked with knives and severely wounded. Meanwhile some of the coolies had overpowered the captain and his wife, and had inflicted on them several dangerous wounds. However, the crew ultimately succeeded in driving all the coolies into the hold, though not till after the 29th had been pa.s.sed in constant fighting. In their desperation they sought to set fire to the s.h.i.+p, by preparing a regular pyre of combustibles, to which they set fire.

Ere long, however, the smoke became so intolerable in the hold, that they themselves speedily made every effort to extinguish the fire. The s.h.i.+p returned to Canton. Out of 250 coolies, 94 were dead, of whom some were shot, some were drowned, some suffocated. Singular to say the French man-of-war _Durance_ refused to render any a.s.sistance. Other accounts speak in the highest terms of the efforts of a German missionary to put a stop to this practice of kidnapping, dignified by the name of emigration, it having not unfrequently happened that young Chinese were openly carried off to Macao, and there as openly sold. This is the more readily credible, inasmuch as the Chinese are most desperate gamblers, and after they have lost all they possess, think nothing of staking their personal liberty.

Thus, a short time since, the son of respectable parents in Sunon was sold by the Emigration Society at Macao for 40 dols., and it was only by the most unremitting efforts of the German missionary already mentioned that the wretched lad was re-purchased for 60, and thus escaped a terrible destiny. Two other Chinese were s.h.i.+pped at the same time, the bargain in their case being recognized.

[125] See "Chinese Repository," vol. x., of October, 1849.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Flower Boat on the Wusung at Shanghai.]

XV.

Shanghai.

Duration of Stay from 25th July to 11th August, 1858.

A stroll through the old Chinese quarter.--Book-stalls.--Public Baths.--Chinese p.a.w.nbrokers.--Foundling hospital.--The Hall of Universal Benevolence.--Sacrificial Hall of Medical Faculty.-- City prison.--Temple of the G.o.ddess of the Sea.--Chinese taverns.--Tea-garden.--Temple of Buddha.--Temple of Confucius.-- Taouist convent.--Chinese nuns.--An apothecary's store, and what is sold therein.--Public schools.--Christian places of wors.h.i.+p.-- Native industry.--Cenotaphs to the memory of beneficent females.--A Chinese patrician family.--The villas of the foreign merchants.--Activity of the London Missionary Society.--Dr.

Hobson.--Chinese medical works.--Leprosy.--The American Missionary Society.--Dr. Bridgman.--Main-tze tribe.--Mission schools for Chinese boys and girls.--The North China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.--Meeting in honour of the Members of the _Novara_ Expedition.--Mons. de Montigny.--Baron Gros.-- Interview with the Tau-Tai, or chief Chinese official of the city.--The Jesuit mission at Sikkawei.--The PaG.o.da of Long-Sah.-- A Chinese dinner.--Serenade by the German singing-club.--The Germans in China.--Influence of the Treaties of Tien-Tsin and Pekin upon commerce.--Silk.--Tea.--The Chinese sugar-cane.-- Various species of Bamboos employed in the manufacture of paper.--The varnish tree.--The tallow tree.--The wax-tree.-- Mosquito tobacco.--Articles of import.--Opium.--The Tai-ping rebels.--Departure from Shanghai.--A typhoon in the China sea.-- Sight the island of Puynipet in the Caroline Archipelago.

Shanghai, or Shanghai-Hein (the city near the sea), is divided into the Chinese city proper, enclosed within walls twenty-four feet in height, and the foreign quarter, which has been laid out beyond the walls since the year 1843, and is as much distinguished by elegance as by comfort. Old Shanghai, only accessible by three of the six gates with which it is furnished, contains 250,000 inhabitants in a superficial area of nine Li, or about two and one-third English miles, and, including the population of neighbouring towns, who are constantly flocking to and fro, about 400,000.

The streets are filthy and singularly narrow, so much so that occasionally it is difficult for two men to pa.s.s each other, the small cross streets vividly recalling Venice, or the "lanes" of London. It is with difficulty, and only by a constant succession of cries and hearty buffets, that the bearers of merchandise can force their way through these intricate pa.s.sages, and find their way to their destination. The houses, for the most part one and two storeys in height, usually consist of shops on the ground-floor, each with a flaming superscription in gigantic characters, which, the better to arrest the curiosity of the pa.s.sers-by, is generally hung diagonally across the narrow street. The living throng, which throughout the entire day surges to and fro here, is so immense and so various that it leaves upon a stranger an impression even deeper than that made by the crowds and bustle of Piccadilly or Regent Street, on a fine day in the height of "the season." The grotesqueness and filth of almost everything that meets the eye rather adds to the singularity of the spectacle, and while the visitor on the one hand speedily finds ample justification for extricating himself from the din and confusion, he nevertheless encounters at every step some new object of attraction and absorbing interest.

Entering the city through the east gate, on whose walls, by way of example to the mult.i.tude, are suspended in sacks and wicker-work numerous skulls of rebels and murderers, on whom justice has been done, we find ourselves in China street, one of the princ.i.p.al streets of Shanghai, and in which are most of the best cla.s.s of native shops. It is however no wider or cleaner than the other streets of the city, and might be termed a "lane"

with far more propriety than a street. We were conveyed within the lofty, gloomy "enceinte" of the walls in the sedan-chair of the country, after which, under the guidance of Mr. Muirhead, an English missionary, who in the kindest manner had offered to be our _cicerone_, we proceeded to stroll through the town.

Close to the east gate we entered a book-stall, in which were heaped up immense piles of st.i.tched books. A number of Chinese in white nankeen jackets, their foreheads smooth shaved, and each with a "tail" behind dependent to the heels, started forward to inquire the strangers' wants, and minister to them. Our inquiries however were by no means merely dictated by the desire to gratify a silly curiosity. A learned countryman, Dr. Pfizmaier, one of the profoundest of Chinese scholars, had intrusted us with a list of fourteen rare Chinese books, the purchase of which seemed to us specially desirable, and we accordingly made every exertion, with the a.s.sistance of our companion, himself well acquainted with Chinese, to crown our search with success. With one exception we succeeded in purchasing the entire catalogue, and therewith gladly brought to an end our wearisome stay of upwards of an hour in the close steaming book-shop, exposed the while to a more than tropical temperature.

Chinese authors are, it must be allowed, terribly prolix in the treatment of their subjects, and instances are by no means uncommon in China of works, especially those of an historical nature, extending to from forty to fifty volumes! Thus, for example, the "Seventeen Historical cla.s.sics"

consists of 337 parts:--"Mingschintschuen" (History of the most renowned ministers and statesmen), of thirty volumes:--"Singpu" (Lives of remarkable persons), of 122 parts:--the "Encyclopedia of Matuanlin," with its additions, even reaches the immense number of six hundred volumes!![126] Books are generally far from expensive in China; for a few dollars, comparatively, one may, owing to the cheapness of labour and of cost of production, purchase quite a large supply of ordinary literature.

Adjoining this book-shop is a public bath establishment, where for 16 copper cash[127] (rather less than 1_d._ sterling), one may get a vapour bath, while six cash more are paid for keeping custody of the habiliments.

The bath is far from being elegant or comfortable, but when one reflects on such extraordinary cheapness, it seems as though the very utmost had been attained. It consists of a large apartment, filled with steam, which is from time to time renewed, by das.h.i.+ng hot water upon stones, maintained at a high temperature, while ranged in readiness all round are a number of tubs of cold water for cooling the bather. In one of these establishments about thirty persons may bathe at once, and as John Chinaman, despite his filthy manners, is pa.s.sably clean about the body, as testified by the pains he is at with his head and hands, these places are as extensively patronized as they are greatly needed.

Our next stoppage was at a p.a.w.nbroker's, an inst.i.tution which, to all appearance, has been far longer in vogue in China than in Europe, and is made great use of by the wealthy as well as the poorer cla.s.ses. In the Celestial Kingdom, the same custom prevails as with us of p.a.w.ning the winter habiliments in summer, and summer apparel in winter; and this not so much for the sake of the money borrowed upon them, as to have them kept in safety and carefully preserved, especially in the case of costly furs.

In China the usual advance is of one half the value, upon a very low computation of the article pledged, for which the monthly charge is ten cash per 500, or twenty-four per cent. per annum. Whatever has not been redeemed at the end of three years, or of which the interest has not been paid, is put up to auction and knocked down to the highest bidder, the proceeds going to the benefit of the establishment. The utmost per-centage allowed by law is three per cent. a month; but it must not exceed two per cent. in winter, in order that the poor may be enabled to redeem the articles pledged. The broker gives a ticket for the articles pledged, which have a definite value, and may be sold in the street. Thieves find these establishments very handy for disposing of their plunder, as they deface or destroy the p.a.w.n-ticket so as to prevent the rightful owner from regaining possession of the stolen articles. When a p.a.w.nbroker sustains any loss through theft, or the outbreak of fire on his premises, he must make good to his customers the value of the destroyed articles that had been left with him as pledges. If, however, the fire has broken out in the house of a neighbour, he is only bound to pay one half of the loss he may sustain. The establishment is managed by fifty individuals, whom the concourse of people flocking in to pledge or redeem property keeps in constant activity.

Considering the notorious and openly avowed indifference everywhere manifested throughout China for the poor, the sick, and the unfortunate, the number of charitable inst.i.tutions to be found in all parts of China is very surprising, all which, as has lately been proved, do not owe their origin to the introduction of Christianity, but had been in a flouris.h.i.+ng condition for a long time previously. Thus in several of the streets of Shanghai, we came upon hospitals for children and foundlings ([Chinese character(s)]), of the latter of which the one we visited was founded by voluntary contribution so far back as 1710. This humane inst.i.tution has a landed property of about 30 acres, by the produce of which, as well as frequent public collections, it is supported. In 1783, this orphan hospital was amalgamated with an asylum for old and decrepit persons, and others incapacitated for labour, and one wealthy Chinese gentleman provided 3000 taels[128] for this praiseworthy object, but somewhat later this joint plan was abandoned, and the Orphan Asylum remains to this day self-supporting, while the poor, the sick, and the aged are relieved every month at the Custom-house out of funds specially set apart.

At the period of our visit we found thirty infants in the building, who had been deposited by their mothers in a basket suspended in a recess at the entrance. After the new-born child has been deposited, a signal is given with a bamboo-stick, after which the receptacle is turned inwards and the innocent without delay taken charge of. Each child has its own wet-nurse or attendant.

The building is lofty, roomy, and pa.s.sably clean, but the children, one and all without exception, have a sickly appearance, and seem to suffer much from eruptions and affections of the eye. There was not one child above two years of age. It is worth recording that every one of these children was of the female s.e.x; their male offspring, even when illegitimate, the mothers seem much less disposed to part from. It frequently happens, moreover, owing to the low considerations in which the female s.e.x are held, that even legitimate children of that s.e.x are occasionally committed to the silent receptacle of the foundling's basket.

We inquired of one of the overseers what was the destiny of these unhappy children when they grew up, but could get no satisfactory reply. We were informed that they were occasionally adopted as children by those who had no family. But more extended inquiries leave us rather inclined to believe that these poor waifs of humanity const.i.tute a not inconsiderable contingent to that unhappy cla.s.s of beings who, carefully brought up, clothed, and fed by speculative foster-mothers, are at a suitable age sold for concubines to the well-to-do Chinese.

One very remarkable charitable inst.i.tution, for which there is no parallel in Europe, is the Tung-jin-tang ([Chinese character(s)]) or Hall of United Benevolence, founded by a number of philanthropists in 1804, for the interment of the poor. This establishment, through its legacies, donations, and voluntary contributions, speedily became so wealthy that it has been enabled to take up, in addition to its original business, other objects of a not less humane nature. It pensions poor widows of respectable families with 700 cash (about 1 8_s._) per month; it presents persons above 60 years of age, if sickly and unable to work, with 600 cash (about 1 4_s._) a month, and provides, free of charge, wooden coffins, as also digging implements, for those who are too poor to inter their dead relatives. Another humane occupation of the society is the interment of coffins containing dead bodies, which used to be exposed on the bare ground in various parts of the city. Finally, it was the intention of the founder of this charitable inst.i.tution, so soon as the money should permit, to erect schools for the poor, to provide warm clothing in winter for the helpless, as also to buy up animals destined for the slaughter-house, and set them at liberty again.

The proceedings connected with the direction of the inst.i.tution are transacted in public, and the managers for the time being are bound to furnish for each year a detailed report[129] of the management. This humane inst.i.tution has since its foundation undergone many reforms, and at the period of our visit was confining its sphere of usefulness to three main objects: 1st, The pensioning aged and broken-down persons of both s.e.xes, with 600 cash a month. These however were not supplied with the money, but were for the most part taken into the house itself, or at least supported through it. 2nd, The dispensing free of charge of various so-called universal medicines, for headache, stomach-complaints, fever, diarrh[oe]a, spasms during the unhealthy season (June to October). On the 3rd, 8th, 13th, 18th, 23rd, and 28th of each month (that is, on every date ending with a 3 or an 8), during the continuance of the sultry, damp, unhealthy season there was also provided for the sick and poor, gratis, advice from Chinese physicians in the great hall. 3rd, The furnis.h.i.+ng coffins for the interment of those who died without means, or on payment in part by families not altogether penniless. In one of these extensive magazines we saw a coffin bearing the number 1084, which was just coming into requisition. During 36 months 1000 coffins and upwards had been supplied to poor families for the interment of their dead! As we were leaving the building, we remarked in the princ.i.p.al apartment a large quant.i.ty of paper, partly written upon, partly in shreds, all heaped up.

On inquiry as to the object of this collection, we were informed that it was for no industrial purpose, but solely to be ascribed to the profound respect the Chinese have for every sort of writing. They regard written leaves as positively holy, and are particularly careful that no written paper shall chance to fall into improper hands, that might make a wrong use of it. For this reason the society pays for every pound of old waste paper which the poor of Shanghai pick up in the street and bring to the Inst.i.tution three copper cash, and when the pile has attained a sufficient height it is set on fire at a particular season.

Built in close proximity to this "Hall of United Benevolence" is the sanctuary of the medical profession, or, as Mr. Muirhead translated for our benefit the gigantic Chinese inscription over the portal, "the sacrificial hall of the medical faculty." This is a temple erected at the expense of the nation to a celebrated Chinese physician, whose stature, in an easy, erect att.i.tude, cut in wood the size of life and richly gilt, is erected upon a platform somewhat resembling an altar. Part of the drapery consists of gigantic leaves, while his folded hands clasp a lotos-flower.

In front of the image is placed the inscription: "The shrine of the spirit of the King of Medicine." Above the idol are the following words in Chinese, cut in the stone and gilt, "The divine husbandman and sacred ruler!" and thereafter, "For all ages the instructive teacher."

This renowned physician had, it seems, inst.i.tuted many experiments on himself with new healing remedies, and according to popular belief had attained to an exact knowledge of all that was going on in the human frame, so that he could point out the seat of the malady by simply placing a piece of common window-gla.s.s upon the pit of the patient's stomach, and looking into it!

Adjoining this College of Health is the city prison, or Tschi-hin, in which, when we saw it, were confined about 100 prisoners in the various wards. In that set apart for the worst cla.s.s of criminals, we saw about 40, heavily shackled and manacled. Three of these were confined in low wooden cages, about three feet in height and width, and four feet in length, and fastened to each other by iron chains running through. These men also wore iron rings on their feet. One of these unfortunates was sentenced to 70, and each of the other two to 60, days of such durance, without being suffered for one moment to come out from the cage, which was placed on the ground, and like a hen-roost, was provided with perches running through it, so as to interfere still further with freedom of movement. Their food consisted of rice and vegetables. According to their own showing, these three were sentenced to this terrible punishment in consequence of some affray, but we had reason to believe that some more serious matter was the real cause of their having this penalty inflicted on them. We gave the unhappy wretches a few pieces of silver. Each hastily secured the donation in a corner of his cage, and seemed in his forlorn condition doubly sensible of the value of a metal whose influence, especially in China, is so powerful, so all-pervading, and so infallible.

One very peculiar inst.i.tution is the Wei-kwan, a sort of Council Chamber, situated on the N.E. side of the city between the walls and the river, in which all matters in dispute between mercantile men are adjusted, and in conjunction with which is a temple in honour of the G.o.ddess of the seas (Tien-Mu). In the centre of the council-room is a large elegantly-shaped iron pan (Schang-Lu), in which the merchants and seamen frequenting the hall burn slips of paper, on which are written the wishes of those making their offerings. Also money, fruit, &c., are here sacrificed, and Chinese mariners, whose "junks" have come unscathed through a storm, or have been preserved, make their thank-offerings in the shape of elegant little models of their s.h.i.+ps, which are placed in various parts of the building.

This hall was founded in 1270 by the Sung dynasty, on a site where certain Chinese believed they had observed that the tumultuous tide of the Whampoa river gradually lost its violence, as it approached the spot, a phenomenon which to them seemed of marvellous significance. Under the Yuen and Mui dynasties the temple was repeatedly plundered and burnt to the ground, but was rebuilt through the influence of a Tao-priest. In 1735, an imperial edict ordered the observance of certain religious ceremonies from time to time, an example which has been followed to the present day.

Directly facing the G.o.ddess of the sea (called also Kwan-Yin, Queen of Heaven),[130] who is represented by a life-size figure placed at the bottom of the apartment, a large stage is erected, on which Chinese dramas are represented for their entertainment from 10 o'clock in the morning till nightfall.

In one part of the immense pile of buildings there are also provided dwellings for such Chinese merchants as visit Shanghai from the interior of the kingdom, and have neither friends nor relatives in the city with whom they can take up their residence, for public taverns are in China only frequented by the very lowest cla.s.ses. We entered one of these Chinese hotels, which we had come upon during our ramble, and inspected the eating-rooms and bed-rooms, which are usually situated on the first floor. The usual charge is from 100 to 140 cash a day for board (4_d._ to 6_d._), and from 20 to 40 cash for lodging (1_d._ to 2_d._). The gloomy, filthy, cavernous aspect of each room makes even a moment's stay intolerable. The victuals supplied consist chiefly of rice, vegetables, and fish. In the interior, board and lodging in these taverns is very much cheaper, and the well-known and highly meritorious English missionary Dr.

Medhurst, who, in 1845, traversed, in the dress of a Chinese, a large portion of the silk and tea districts, relates that the customary charge for supper, bed, and breakfast next morning altogether amounted to 80 cash only, or about 3-3/8_d._![131] In the streets of Shanghai, the eating-houses are greatly out-numbered by the tea-houses, where one gets a cup of tea for 6 cash (1/4_d._). These, like our own cafes, are laid out with little tables, stools, and benches. As soon as a guest enters and takes his seat, a Chinese attendant brings a cup, throws into it the proper quant.i.ty of tea-leaves, and pours boiling water upon it. After the lapse of a few minutes the hot light yellow liquid is hastily swallowed, but avoiding the leaves which are swimming on the surface, and usually serve for a second or even a third infusion. These tea-houses are crowded with visitors throughout the day, who sometimes transact business here over a cup of tea and a pipe of oiled tobacco, sometimes resort hither to wile the time listlessly away.

The chief place of amus.e.m.e.nt, however, of the native population of Shanghai is the Tea-Garden (Tschin-Huang-Mian), or temple of the Emperor, which contains numerous gardens laid out in Chinese fas.h.i.+on, and booths of all sorts, besides the attractions of jugglers, singers, actors, soothsayers, musicians, and mountebanks, all driving their respective avocations. The whole scene is eminently characteristic of the grotesqueness of Chinese taste. Artificial ca.n.a.ls and tanks filled with green stagnant water, redolent of miasmatic effluvia, amid which the Lotos opens its lovely white blossoms, quant.i.ties of zig-zag bridges with beautifully carved bal.u.s.trades, islands with artificially constructed rocks and grottoes, subterranean pa.s.sages, flags of all shapes and sizes, bearing the most bombastic inscriptions--such are the chief attractions of a Chinese People's Garden, every large town boasting one such, erected at the expense of the State, in which from early morning till late in the evening a vast crowd of human beings is incessantly surging to and fro, intent on pleasure, dissipation, or profit. The rabble, however, have not access to every part of the Tea-Garden, a certain portion being set apart for the recreation of the chief officials of the city (Tau-Tai). This portion, shut off by a lofty wall, is elegantly laid out, and is made attractive with all manner of dwarf trees nursed with great care and expense, besides the usual grottoes, artificial hills and precipices, pavilions, &c. Hither the head magistrate occasionally resorts to pa.s.s the warmest hours of the day, and dozes away undisturbed by the cares of his onerous responsibilities. All the public gardens of China present almost the identical features of the one we visited; a park without artificial islands and wooden bridges, without ca.n.a.ls (in lieu of paths), without pools of stagnant water thickly covered with the broad leaves of the _Nelumbium_, would, in the eyes of a Chinese, be deprived of its chief pleasure and its greatest attraction.