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Article A VISIT TO CANTON. ← Page 4 of 14 →
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A Visit To Canton.
his eloquence . As a merited testimony to his tried veracity , he had accepted , or adopted , the honourable surname of " Talkee-true , " which , he informed us , the English had given him for his strict integrity and candour . With what an amusing air of easy familiarity would this old opium-smoker incline his sallow , emaciated face on the shoulder of his hesitating customer , and say , with an insinuating air of self-sacrifice , — " You all my fliend—me talkee-true—foty tolla [ "
The silk stuffs manufactured in the Kiang-nan , and embroidered in the faubourgs of Canton , the cases of lacquered articles , covered with tiny painted figures , which ought to be inspected through a microscope , exposed us to no less dangerous temptation than the porcelain and bronzes of Old China-street . In the atelier of Lam-qua , we had an opportunity of seeing his
paintings in water-colours , the velvety brilliancy of which seems as if stolen from the wing of a butterfly . It took us above an hour to choose and collect , in an album , specimens of his art : deities brandishing their thunderbolts ; warriors emptying their quivers ; condemned spirits suffering the fearful punishments of the Buddhist Inferno ; mandarins
seated in their ivory chairs ; nymphs , like the fabulous birds of Paradise , without feet , gently poising themselves in space . At length we ceased our purchases , but not until our purses were emptied . Before taking leave , however , of the merchants of China-street , it is but right to do them justice . No
less cunning and adroit than the Jew of the East , as long as a bargain is in hand , no sooner is it concluded , than the Chinese merchant shows himself as scrupulously honest as the most respectable Osmanli in Constantinople ; his customer may rely entirely upon his care in packing the purchased goods , and pay him in advance without the slightest fear .
Old China and New China-streets are wide and regularly built , paved with large granite flagstones , and lined on either side with shops one story high . These streets are very little frequented , except by Europeans . In seeing them thus silent and deserted , a stranger would never dream of the immense crowd which is in agitation within a few steps from this quiet
quarter , of the bustle of people and goods going on in Physicstreet . This long , narrow , and crooked street runs east and west , between the factories and the islands of the western faubourg . Here are displayed , with artistic ingenuity , the mandarin oranges , with their crimson peel , the pamplemousses of Amoy , their rind carved with various figures by the graver ;
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Visit To Canton.
his eloquence . As a merited testimony to his tried veracity , he had accepted , or adopted , the honourable surname of " Talkee-true , " which , he informed us , the English had given him for his strict integrity and candour . With what an amusing air of easy familiarity would this old opium-smoker incline his sallow , emaciated face on the shoulder of his hesitating customer , and say , with an insinuating air of self-sacrifice , — " You all my fliend—me talkee-true—foty tolla [ "
The silk stuffs manufactured in the Kiang-nan , and embroidered in the faubourgs of Canton , the cases of lacquered articles , covered with tiny painted figures , which ought to be inspected through a microscope , exposed us to no less dangerous temptation than the porcelain and bronzes of Old China-street . In the atelier of Lam-qua , we had an opportunity of seeing his
paintings in water-colours , the velvety brilliancy of which seems as if stolen from the wing of a butterfly . It took us above an hour to choose and collect , in an album , specimens of his art : deities brandishing their thunderbolts ; warriors emptying their quivers ; condemned spirits suffering the fearful punishments of the Buddhist Inferno ; mandarins
seated in their ivory chairs ; nymphs , like the fabulous birds of Paradise , without feet , gently poising themselves in space . At length we ceased our purchases , but not until our purses were emptied . Before taking leave , however , of the merchants of China-street , it is but right to do them justice . No
less cunning and adroit than the Jew of the East , as long as a bargain is in hand , no sooner is it concluded , than the Chinese merchant shows himself as scrupulously honest as the most respectable Osmanli in Constantinople ; his customer may rely entirely upon his care in packing the purchased goods , and pay him in advance without the slightest fear .
Old China and New China-streets are wide and regularly built , paved with large granite flagstones , and lined on either side with shops one story high . These streets are very little frequented , except by Europeans . In seeing them thus silent and deserted , a stranger would never dream of the immense crowd which is in agitation within a few steps from this quiet
quarter , of the bustle of people and goods going on in Physicstreet . This long , narrow , and crooked street runs east and west , between the factories and the islands of the western faubourg . Here are displayed , with artistic ingenuity , the mandarin oranges , with their crimson peel , the pamplemousses of Amoy , their rind carved with various figures by the graver ;