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Article A VISIT TO CANTON. ← Page 5 of 14 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Visit To Canton.
together with pears of Shan-tong , and jujubes of Pe-tche-li . Here are seen large tubs , containing live fish , from the Choukiang , and baskets of bamboo , filled with reddish-brown dogs , destined for the tables of the Luculluses of Canton . Here , too , are exhibited smoked water-dogs , flattened as if they had been put into a press ; shoulders of cats strung like beads ;
bunches of dried rats suspended in front of the shops , side by side with quarters of beef and mutton , and fattened pigs . The perpetual movement and pell-mell confusion in this street , the noisiest in Canton , are indescribable : an unlucky stranger , venturing without a guide into the midst of the Maelstrom , would be in danger of being carried away by the
crowd into a labyrinth of streets , which are all so uniform and alike , each shop displaying the same vertical signs , that the only chance of regaining his way to the factories , would be the thread of Ariadne , or a lucky meeting with some honest mandarin . A Chinese woman never shows her face on foot in Physicstreet ; by no chance is the button of a mandarin ever seen in the midst of this crowd . The women and the mandarins have their litters and bearers , although these are not the only
people who use this aristocratic conveyance : the very poorest bachelor will sometimes sport his equipage , with its bamboo seat and reed blind ; and the humble sicou-tsai may be seen bent double and crouching at the bottom of this narrow cage , and carried through the crowd by two vigorous coolies , like a grand signor , upsetting everything in his passage . The right
to ill-treat the passers-by in this manner is no restricted privilege in Canton ; it belongs alike to the powerful dignitaries who precede their lictors and executioners , and the half-naked street-porters , who , with their arms extended behind them , support a fiat pole laid upon their broad shoulders , a flexible leverat each end of which are suspendednicelbalanced
, , y , the large baskets full of vegetables , or the ambulatory fishponds which are earned about in every quarter of tho town . No quarrels or fights , however , take place amongst these men , who push , squeeze , and knock against one another without any ceremony : patience is the prominent characteristic of a Chinese . A rich merchant will remain quietly seated at his
desk , whilst an importunate beggar stands in his shop , under his very nose , striking two bamboo sticks together , and splitting his ears with the most annoying charivari . There he will sit , with imperturbable composure , amidst all this din , poring over his accounts , or engaged in the most important
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Visit To Canton.
together with pears of Shan-tong , and jujubes of Pe-tche-li . Here are seen large tubs , containing live fish , from the Choukiang , and baskets of bamboo , filled with reddish-brown dogs , destined for the tables of the Luculluses of Canton . Here , too , are exhibited smoked water-dogs , flattened as if they had been put into a press ; shoulders of cats strung like beads ;
bunches of dried rats suspended in front of the shops , side by side with quarters of beef and mutton , and fattened pigs . The perpetual movement and pell-mell confusion in this street , the noisiest in Canton , are indescribable : an unlucky stranger , venturing without a guide into the midst of the Maelstrom , would be in danger of being carried away by the
crowd into a labyrinth of streets , which are all so uniform and alike , each shop displaying the same vertical signs , that the only chance of regaining his way to the factories , would be the thread of Ariadne , or a lucky meeting with some honest mandarin . A Chinese woman never shows her face on foot in Physicstreet ; by no chance is the button of a mandarin ever seen in the midst of this crowd . The women and the mandarins have their litters and bearers , although these are not the only
people who use this aristocratic conveyance : the very poorest bachelor will sometimes sport his equipage , with its bamboo seat and reed blind ; and the humble sicou-tsai may be seen bent double and crouching at the bottom of this narrow cage , and carried through the crowd by two vigorous coolies , like a grand signor , upsetting everything in his passage . The right
to ill-treat the passers-by in this manner is no restricted privilege in Canton ; it belongs alike to the powerful dignitaries who precede their lictors and executioners , and the half-naked street-porters , who , with their arms extended behind them , support a fiat pole laid upon their broad shoulders , a flexible leverat each end of which are suspendednicelbalanced
, , y , the large baskets full of vegetables , or the ambulatory fishponds which are earned about in every quarter of tho town . No quarrels or fights , however , take place amongst these men , who push , squeeze , and knock against one another without any ceremony : patience is the prominent characteristic of a Chinese . A rich merchant will remain quietly seated at his
desk , whilst an importunate beggar stands in his shop , under his very nose , striking two bamboo sticks together , and splitting his ears with the most annoying charivari . There he will sit , with imperturbable composure , amidst all this din , poring over his accounts , or engaged in the most important