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those of the Gulf Stream, so as to make a difference between the waters of the Gulf and the waters of the Bank of 21 dgs. 13′ Fahr.: and these differences are all owing to permanent causes, forbidding that equalization which might otherwise be hoped for, if not expected. The attention of the scientific was first called to the high temperature of this current and the coldness of the shallows, where the lower strata unite with the upper, along the borders or edges of the Bank, by Blagden, Jonathan Williams, and Benjamin

Franklin.

Let us now direct our attention to the equatorial current; after which there will be no difficulty in tracing out the whole system of circulation established for THE SEA. On referring to the maps, we find the extreme breadth of the Pacific, north of the equator, to be four thousand five hundred and fifty marine leagues, or thirteen thousand six hundred and fifty miles-between South America and New Holland, in latitude 30 dgs. S., it is only two thousand nine hundred and seventy leagues, or eight thousand nine hundred and ten miles; the Atlantic, which is about one thousand miles in width at the narrowest part, between Europe and Greenland, outstretches itself to sixty degrees of longitude, under the Northern tropic, where it is four thousand one hundred and seventy miles in width, without including the Gulf of Mexico.

"Between the tropics, and especially from the coast of Senegal to the Caribbean Sea, the general current, and that which was earliest known to mariners, flows from east to west," and is called

the equatorial or equinoctial current. Its average rapidity is about the same in the Atlantic and Southern Ocean, and "may be estimated there," says the Baron Von Humboldt, " at nine or ten miles in twenty-four hours-or from fifty-nine to sixty-five onehundredths of a foot every second of time; while between the tropics, it varies from five to eighteen miles in twenty-four hours, or from one third of a foot to one and two tenths per second." Upon this fact, it may be well to fix our attention-it may help us hereafter, while hunting for the cause, to know that between the tropics the current runs faster than elsewhere, and that, although the western equinoctial current is felt as high up as 28 dgs. N. latitude, and about as far South, it "is felt but feebly," to use the language of Humboldt himself.

"The

Let us now endeavour to trace this equatorial current. eastern point of South America being in upwards of dgs. S. latitude, the great mass of ocean-flood is unequally divided. South from Cape St. Roque, the current is turned down the coast of South America, and between 30 dgs. and 40 dgs. S. latitude reacts toward Africa. North, from Cape St. Roque, it bends to a general course N. 62 dgs. W., and with the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, maintains that direction to the mouth of Rio Grande del Norte, two thousand five hundred and sixty miles. Along this coast, the equinoctial current is inflected northward, and augmented by constant accumulations from the east; the whole body, pouring through the various inlets between the Windward Islands of the West Indies into the Caribbean Sea, and thence between Cuba and Yucatan into the Gulf of Mexico. In the latter reservoir it has reached its utmost elevation, and again rushes out into the Atlantic, through the Cuba and Bahama, or Florida Channels, and sweeping along the coast of the United States and Novia Scotia to about 50 dgs. N. latitude, meets the Arctic current from Davis' Straits, and from the Northern Atlantic Ocean-two leading facts relied upon by the celebrated St. Pierre, who undertook to supply the acknowledged inefficiency of Sir Isaac Newton's theory of the tides, by showing that they proceeded from the daily fusion of the polar ices-"a capital theory, no doubt," said a member of the Academy, "but contradicted by the facts." ." "After meeting the Arctic currents from Davis' Straits, and from the Northern Atlantic Ocean, this prodigious mass of water is turned towards Europe and the north-west of Africa, and is finally merged in its original source within the tropics." Here is the end of the Gulf Stream, and the beginning of the equatorial.

And now let us look after the causes and the consequences of this extraordinary system of circulation. Apart from the tides— owing no allegiance to that law, whereby two mighty waves are

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always lifting themselves up on opposite sides of the earth, and rushing together in worship of her-" Night's shadowy Queen!"' Whose pearly chariot driven

Across the starry wilderness of Heaven,"

"sets all the tides and goblets flowing," undisturbed alike by the daily revolution of the earth upon her own axis, and by her yearly revolution about the sun-what is it that originated, and what is it that upholds the extraordinary system of circulation, we have been considering? Are we to say it is a miracle, and stop there? Are we to acknowledge it a mystery, and go no further? Is it for this that we are gifted as we are, and called together by the stars themselves the interpreters of God-to judge of him by his works?

cause.

Holding, that where one cause will explain a given effect, it were a waste of time to look for another, we are disposed to believe that this great "whirlpool of fifteen thousand miles in extent" originated with and is maintained by the heat of the sun, and by nothing else. To say that it is effected by the pressure of the trade-winds is to mistake one of the effects, at least, for the To say that it is owing to a higher temperature of the waters themselves under the equator-to their greater degree of saltness or to unequal evaporation, though true enough as a part of the process, and representing successive and beautifullyadjusted stages of the operation, would bring us not one step nearer the truth, if treated as the efficient or proximate cause Nor should we help the matter one jot or tittle, by referring the whole to the joint or separate attractions of the sun and moon, or to the daily and yearly revolutions of the earth. All these have their influences-but they are not, neither separately nor together, the real cause of that astonishing system of circulation which we are labouring to get acquainted with.

Let us now try to find out the cause for ourselves. We will suppose the earth stationary-the whole ocean at rest-the atmosphere itself stagnant and motionless-the sun riding high in heaven-the whole pretty much as we find the sea described by Coleridge in his great picture calm :

"Day after day-day after day,
We felt nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship,
Upon a painted ocean."

Under these conditions, what would be the natural and immediate consequences to the sea from the laws already established?

The sun up-the stagnant atmosphere would be stagnant no longer. The whole mass would begin to stir with new life—to burn with bright commotion. Flushing and trembling through all its depths, and filled with penetrating warmth, how could it continue motionless for a single hour?

In the language of science, the atmosphere would be rarifiedmade thinner and lighter by the warmth of the sun. It would lift itself up and spread itself out on every side. That uniformity of pressure which, as with the hand of God himself, keeps the Sea in her place, would be partially withdrawn. It would begin to stir with new life, and thither to that particular spot the waters of the great deep would hurry from all parts of the earth, and pile themselves up; and if the Earth herself were to continue motionless, while the sun was blazing steadily upon the sea, through an illuminated atmosphere, trembling and shivering with vitality, it would be contrary to all that we are acquainted with in the laws of motion. There would be such hurricanes and whirlpools, for ever and ever, multiplying and spreading themselves on every side, that the Earth herself would begin to revolve-or to stagger, if she did not revolve, along her appointed path.

But leaving this part of our inquiry, let us now suppose the Earth set in motion, exactly as we find her; the sun and the moon working together just as they are now, and what would be the inevitable consequences to the sea?

Within the tropics, we find all the waters of a region spreading itself out on each side of the equator to the extent of twenty-three and one half degrees of latitude, constituting a belt of forty-seven degrees in width, encompassing the whole earth, continually

operated upon by the heat of the sun, just as we have supposed. The atmosphere in that region, therefore, must be continually rarified, and always lighter than elsewhere. The atmospheric pressure upon the sea being, therefore, always less in that region than beyond it, on either side of the equator, the waters there must always be somewhat higher.

And now the waters are piled up, and the earth in motion from west to east-of course, they-the waters-would begin to flow in a contrary direction, that is, from east to west, if they were not acted upon by other causes, or prevented by certain peculiarities of structure in the earth; and we have but to take a map, or an artificial globe, and trace the circulation of the sea, from its beginning, as the equatorial current within the tropics, until, as the Gulf Stream, it finds its way back there, and is "merged in its original source," to find these very phenomena happening-and happening, too, in the very order mentioned !

CHINA AND THE CHINESE.

NO. VII.

WALKS ABOUT MACAO.

as to the spot from whence any sound proceeds, it is necessary to be familiar with that sound itself.

In the early part of the day, except in the hotter seasons of the year, it was my custom to walk through a street that runs nearly parallel with the Praya grande, or frontage occupied by European dwellings. This street is chiefly occupied by Chinese, who sell to foreigners the productions of the country, and inversely to natives the goods that come from abroad. These men speak Portuguese, in a corrupted form, with fluency, and not unfrequently a little English, mutilated and mixed up with foreign words, after a very odd fashion. Many of these fellows are very impudent, and seem, while they get their bread by strangers, to despise them the more heartily on that account. If the customer puts the question in Chinese, he was not considered worthy of having it returned in the same language. Of this I saw many examples, till by our perseverance they were fairly made ashamed of themselves. There were others who formed exceptions to this, and became the first to compliment us with some terms of honourable addition. By means of the latter many copies of the New Testament were circulated, and some read apparently with great interest. The first-fruits of success among them seemed to promise that they would, if my stay had been prolonged, have been very useful instruments, not only in diffusing the sacred volume, but also in creating a taste for reading it. Wearing apparel for both sexes, not excepting the lady's bonnet, is prepared by men, who sit on each side of a long table, and work in the most harmonious and cheerful assiduity. As labour is cheap in China, their charges are very reasonable. In these shops the strolling musician, the minstrels of the country, often find entertainment; their songs are listened to with attention, and their services rewarded by a small donation. When a foreigner draws near, and plants himself in the midst of the auditory, they profess to despise the music, and make him the subject of jest and ridicule. My anxiety to become acquainted with everything Chinese, readily induced me to bear with equanimity any smiles or jeers that they could use, till I had learned the name of the instrument, noted the manner of performance, and formed a judgment of the effect. This changed the aspect of things, for the wildest among the Chinese grows interested the moment he sees a foreigner marking with attention anything that the country affords. He accepts it as an indirect and tacit compliment, and forthwith begins to entertain a respect for that fan kwei whothus shows himself a man of observation. It would not be very entertaining to describe any instruments I may at any time have seen in the hands of these bards, and to communicate an idea of their effects would be impossible. But I may mention one musician, who, for simplicity of apparatus, could not be surpassed. He ate his rice, with a modicum of meat, fish, &c., when he could get them, out of a blue and white saucer, by the help of two chop-sticks, which were two pieces of wood squared and coloured. These, as the reader knows, are but a wooden knife and fork in their original. simplicity; and on this occasion served the purpose of a musical instrument or dining utensils at pleasure. He held the saucer in his left hand, and placing one stick between the ring and middle finger, was enabled to move and strike it upon the bottom of the vessel as the rhythm required. With the right hand he held the other stick, and rolled it upon the edge of the saucer, or beat it with a springing stroke, in a fantastic and playful manner. formed the accompaniment to a song with a quavering and plaintive air, which seemed to afford the auditors great pleasure, who listened with that help from association which the poor foreigner lacked, and which, after all, is one of the main ingredients of all our pleasurable feelings.

As my residence was very near to the aviary of Mr. Beale, the lighter slumbers of day-dawn were often dissipated by the loud and dolorous call of the gibbon (Hylobates agilis), as it swung from branch to branch; the heart-cheering note of the Chinese blackbird; or the stentorian halloo of the Paradise bird. I used to rise at the summons, and after the ordinary rites of purification, and an offering of confessions and thanks to my Maker, set forth for a stroll upon the Penha, a line of hills on the western side of Macao. On my way I seldom missed the native pie, which though a solitary bird has a laughing note, as if its heart were full of glee. It is only solitary in reference to its own kind, as it delights in the society and neighbourhood of man. If my walk preceded sunrise, I was indulged with a song from the shrike, which, though it utters a loud, harsh, and ear-grating cry all the rest of the day, has a very pretty wee bit of song for the early passenger. As we climb the unequal height of these hills, we never fail to see a bevy or two of dogs, who seem to meet for consultation, and also, it may be as, a court of requests to try delinquent curs for their misdemeanours; for now and then the whole bevy, by common consent, chase away one of their number, and heap every kind of indignity upon him in his disastrous flight. A path cut along the slope of the hill nearest the town has on one side a nest of gardens, where the tree aloe forms a conspicuous figure, near a fence of the fair and sweet-scented alpinia, and various groups of fig and other trees of constant verdure. On the other side of the path, as we pass along, we find a small inclosure, with a summer house, and a profusion of different kinds of amavaush. If our excursion is very early, the Chinese washerman passes us as he hies towards a scanty stream of water, where he finds an element prepared to his hand, turns a grip into a keeler, and mounts a copper upon a mass of earth hollowed out for a furnace. In this way he obtains all the essentials of the wash-house, and cheerfully plies his task from morn to eve, and teaches us that to be happy, in the qualified sense of the word, one has only to be occupied. At the termination of this walk is the basin, into which a fountain distils in a small crystal stream. It is an enchanting spot in miniature, where, shut up by the shrubs that fringe the platform on which he is standing, the visitor may well lose himself in studious musings. If he happens to visit it in spring-tide, his reverie would be interrupted ever and anon by a strange sound, like the striking together of two metallic bodies, which seems to proceed from some of the eminences above The termination of the street, in which we are supposed to be him. He looks round with expectation, and as he can hear nothing wending our way, introduces us to a square, where the Senatelike the rustle or footfall of a living creature, he gazes on every house and the Foundling make their appearance. This open space object with wonder and surprise. At length, perchance, after half- affords room for the fortune-tellers, druggists, and all kinds of a-score visits to the same spot, he discovers, by accident, that dealers in "inconsiderate trifles." In the front of the senatethese strange sounds proceed from the frogs near the margin of house, on my left hand, sat a youth, who advertised his pretensions the basin, just by the spot whereon he is standing. He thus sees by a pair of showy placards, with several other items of announcean example of a truth in acoustics, that in order to give a guess | ment. I once presented him with a gospel, which he received

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66

THE LONDON SATURDAY JOURNAL.

without forgetting the supercilious leer that pertains to a scholar On another occasion I fully satisfied with his own attainments. advanced towards his table, as he was surrounded with a circle of admirers, with a book in my pocket, which was intended for teaching the Chinese to Manchoo Tartars. It was after the Hamiltonian system, and had the words of the two languages in corresponding columns; for the Manchoo Tartars, like the Chinese, Japanese, and Coreans, write from top to bottom. As the little volume was just peering above the edge of its lodging place, it caught the eye of the scholar, who held out his hand and demanded a sight of it. This demand was immediately complied with, and the book was 'foreign handed for his learned inspection. It is a book with " characters," he remarked, as his eye travelled up and down the columns. They are Manchoo characters," said the stranger, interposing. 'They are foreign characters," rejoined the scholar, who, from some defect in the accent, did not catch the sense of the words. The stranger then took a pencil, and wrote upon the white metallic plate used by all these fortune-tellers, "they are the characters of Taon kwang," the present emperor of China. As it is customary for natives to applaud a foreigner whenever he gets the better of a Chinese in a matter of scholarship, the stranger looked round for a contribution of smiles and acclaims; but instead thereof, he saw an agonizing frown upon every face, in the midst of an ominous silence. He wondered at first, but upon reflection he recollected that he had thus innocently struck upon a string that vibrated very harshly in the ear of a Chinese. He feels that his prince is the fountain of honour, and is taught to regard him as the pattern of all perfection. Merged in good feelings and sentiments, he forgets, may be, that the archetype of perfection is a foreigner, a Tartar, and has been so ever since 1644, when the northern bands overran the country, and added a foreign yoke to that of despotism. It is such incidents as these that teach us that the least sensitive of the people may easily be made to feel the humiliation of stooping to an alien sway. I had given no offence, for one of the bystanders came up as I was asking a Chinaman some questions the next day, and said a great deal more about my acquaintance with Manchoo, Mandarin, and so forth, than I deserved. A short distance from this table some of the travelling A cloth is dealers in simples usually spread forth their wares. extended upon the ground, some bottles of earthenware, a variety of paper parcels, and a large assortment of pitch plasters are placed Placards are laid upon the ground, or set up in order upon it. by the help of a bottle or something of the sort, which gives the spectator an outline of what he has to expect from the vender's skill and stock. One of these happened to be a man from one of the middle provinces of China, Keenignan, if I understood him rightly, who, of course, used a different dialect from that of Macao and Canton, but who contrived, by accommodation, to make himself understood by the crowd. I found him, at our first interview, occupied in a case of surgery, though, as will presently appear, of a very humble description as to the result. A poor sightless man, charmed with the elocution and fluency of the quack, consented to place himself upon a stool that he might undergo an operation for the recovery of his sight. The man of adroitness then cut a seam behind the ear, and squeezed and rubbed the conch to elicit a As soon as this was over, he, with maximum quantity of blood. much apparent eagerness, asked if the patient could see the light, who, raising his eyes, replied in the negative. The operator, no ways abashed, forthwith began to say what he would do for restoring his sight, if certain conditions were first fulfilled, to which I have no the poor fellow replied at every cadence, by saying, money.' At the further corner of this square we enter a narrow street filled with shops for the sale of all kinds of vegetables, fresh and dried fish, with a variety of articles for the use of the Portuguese, as well as the Chinaman. It is here we often see the former chaffering for a root or a miserable fish, for many of them are very poor, and disdain every kind of manual labour. They are, once for all, a wretched set, if we except a few of the better families, inflated on one hand by pride, and trodden down into the mire of ignorance by the domination of a swarm of priests on the other,

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who are the worst mannered and least instructed that are to be
found within the pale of the papal hierarchy. At the end of this
street we obliquely enter another, with large shops on each side,
furnished with ladies' shoes, books, draperies, dressing-cases,
tobacco, ropes, earthenware, rice, cakes, &c., where the indus-
trious native may purchase, at an easy price, whatever his means
will afford. Some of the shops are limited to one sort of goods, as
dried fish, ropes, baskets, and shoes, for example; others contain
an assortment of almost everything that is pretty or useful. I
often rested in one where they sold musical instruments, glass
bottles, in imitation of the European fashion, copper boxes for
opium, and almost a countless variety of articles beside. The
Ere they have
buyers as they pass, stop, gaze awhile, demand the shopman's
price, offer their own, and march off to the next.
got many paces the shopman calls them back, and makes an
abatement in the original demand, which, being deemed insufficient,
is rejected; and the buyer starts off afresh, but is immediately
summoned back with an announcement of another reduction, and
after hearing some of the shopman's eulogies, the latter advances a
trifle upon his first offer, and thus the parties gradually approach
There is a great deal of apparent warmth in all this,
each other, till the bargain, after much debate, is either given up or
completed.

but nothing that leaves the bitterness of anger behind, it being
fully understood that it is the tradesman's duty to get the highest
price possible for his goods, and the buyer's to obtain them at the
least cost he is able. It is amusing to see how little girls who
come to spend a few cash for some trifle enter into the spirit of
this practice. As I was one day sitting in the same shop, one of

I

these little maidens, with a child slung at her back, asked the price
of some scarlet cord, which exceeding her expectations, she threw
I spoke kindly to her, but was answered with a
it down in a great passion, and remained stationary for some time
in a sullen muse.
frown. At length a playmate came by, and was instantly pursued
by the angry girl, who was too pleased with the notice of a
foreigner to resist the temptation of telling her joy to another.
have more than once intimated in these papers, that whatever
affectation may assume in China, young and old, rich and poor,
male or female, are alike infallibly moved with a sort of en-
chantment, the moment they find themselves the objects of the
stranger's notice or complacency. Another of these experienced
buyers came for three cash worth, about one-third of a penny, of
blue dye; the shopman gave her three spoonfuls for her money,
when, after standing a moment in breathless astonishment, she
"It is
demanded, with a shout, whether that was all he meant to give
her? To appease her he added another spoonful, and off she went
to congratulate herself upon the bargain she had made.
naught, naught, saith the buyer; but when he is gone his way he
boasteth."

This street terminates in the market-place, where all kinds of
vegetable, fish, fowl, and meat are sold in abundance. In the
winter we have a profusion of oranges, which are sold, when
stripped of their peel, to the native for one cash, or the tenth part
of a penny. In the early part of the summer we see large quanti-
ties of unripe peaches, plums, and so on, which the people, old and
young, devour very eagerly, for they love a sour taste, and slight
the unwholesome tendency of such questionable fare. These are
succeeded by the leichees, a fruit, when fresh, with a transparent
pulp of very keen acidity, and one that is relished by the same
acid-loving folks while it lacks both its proper size and flavour.
man's taste for pickles. All kinds of drupaceous fruit, plums,
In close connexion with this fondness for sour fruit, is the China-
peaches, &c., and every sort of edible root, ginger, radish, &c., are
The vinegar employed for this purpose has
to rice and meat.
preserved in vinegar, and eaten for the sake of the relish they give
nothing to recommend it, either in scent or appearance; and as no
kind of spice is put into it to flavour and preserve the fruit or root,
foreigners feel no temptation to share with the native in the use of
this delicacy. Beside, they are not kept in jars or bottles, but
are set forth in tubs well piled, and in prodigious quantities, to
attract the olfactories of the passengers. At the large shop for the

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sale of these things, hard by the residence of the chief magistrate, I have sometimes inquired the name of some particular fruit, and received a very obliging answer, for which I presented the master with a copy of the New Testament. The house of the chief magistrate presents a wretched exterior, and might be likened, not unfitly, to one of our country workhouses, before such edifices began to be replaced by the splendid structures which we now see starting up in various parts of the country. The interior is perhaps of a different complexion, for the ladies that live within its walls are remarkable for their gorgeous apparel; and after I had the pleasure of seeing some fourteen of them in their visit to Beale's residence, I have often asked myself in substance, as I passed, where can so much comeliness and gaiety find a proper lodging in this miserable house of correction? The beadles and police-officers that used to throng the door at times were a very sorry set; and it strikes me, that only the worst of men, who are unable or unwilling to work for a reputable livelihood, will condescend to accept such appointments. I have now and then seen an enormous cangue upon the neck of some naughty fellow, who was condemned to stand certain hours for public scorn. In fact, this cangue, or wooden collar, is nothing but a sort of moveable pillory, and the counterpart of that disgraceful punishment among our forefathers, happily laid aside in these days of Christian benevolence. The cangue is sometimes worn by a Chinese culprit for a month at a time; and as the hand cannot be put to the mouth, the wearer must be fed by others.

I once saw some of these sorry rogues of officers leading away a poor fellow by a chain round his neck, from whose mouth the blood was streaming. I looked on the crowd to see what pity such a spectacle might raise in the bosoms of those who looked on, but could observe few traces of genuine passion. Some said, "He is a bad man, and has been dealing in opium," a crime of which, perhaps, only a few shopmen in Macao could plead guiltless, and yet no one seemed to feel for the criminal. He had been beaten upon the mouth with a flat piece of bamboo, perhaps to the number of sixty blows, that he might have something in the shape of pain and anguish to digest in the loathsome den of a Chinese prison. How happy would China be were Christian legislation to cast only a ray or two of its benign influences upon the judicial proceedings and the prison-discipline in that country! At another time I witnessed a sight of a less revolting character nay, one in which sympathy was fain to take a pleasurable part. A native was bent upon going into the gootang's (a magistrate's) hall, to state his own view of a certain case, which a large crowd of officers were determined to prevent. The man struggled to get forward, but the officers thrust him back, tore his clothes, and ploughed deep furrows in his flesh with their long nails-those emblems of idleness. This usage daunted not his courage a whit; and what was a great deal better, did not ruffle his temper. The conscientious feeling that he was right seemed to animate him with a spontaneous cheerfulness, and lighted up a smile in his face that was a great contrast to the angry scowl of his opponents. Before we take leave of the magistrate's dwelling, let us say a word about the Chinaman's tail, which seems to have a closer relation to the bench and the prison-house than anticipation might have led us to conjecture, unaided by experience. When an injured or an offended person has a mind to bring the object of his displeasure to justice per compendium, by a short cut, he seizes him by the queue and hales him, amidst uproar and noise, directly to the magistrate's house. When a police-runner would secure the flying culprit, he grasps the unlucky tail, and escape is next to impossible, for the prisoner can neither fight nor run. It has been my lot to witness this in several instances, and I have taken occasion to tell the bystanders that this peen, or tail, was a very bad thing, and that a man had better cut it off than live in danger of such humiliating usage. The tail, I have somewhere said, is the badge of slavery; but here we see it is not only the badge, but a very convenient instrument of the same.

The

thence get a view of Green Island, situate in the middle of it, the
island called the Lapa, and the hills upon the island of Heang
Shan. The hospital of the Medical Missionary Society, a capa-
cious and well-built edifice, capable of accommodating two hun-
dred patients of the in-door class, with a large inclosure and out-
buildings for the temporary lodgment of such as come from a
distance, and yet have no need of the watchful care of an hospital.
In our walks we sometimes took our path through the narrow and
long-drawn streets of a Chinese village, where the everlasting
barking of the curs made a troublesome discord in our attempts to
cultivate a friendly acquaintance with the inhabitants. Some of
the houses are neat, with only one aperture in front for light and
entrance; others are less respectable; and not a few wear a
miserable aspect, not so much, perhaps, from the wants of the
inhabitants, as from a disregard of cleanliness. But we do not
see worse sights in Macao than we may find any day we choose in
London and all large cities, where the opulence of one class seems
to draw from the resources of the other. Yet I allow that the
personal uncleanliness of a Chinese is greater than I remember to
have witnessed in any other country where it has been my lot to
travel. The natural result of this is a brood of cutaneous dis-
orders, which in frequency and assortment are not to be matched
in any other part of the world, if we except Arabia, which seems
to have been the cradle of many of those disorders which infest
Europeans. After crossing a bridge composed of single slabs of
granite twenty feet long, we make our way by the head of the inner
harbour towards the village of Mongha, and pass a small guard-
house on our way. We have occasionally stopped here to talk
with the inmates, who were always a merry set of fellows. The
wife of the principal was, like many of her countrywomen, clear-
headed, sober, and quick of apprehension. When the strangers
expressed themselves imperfectly, or with a wrong accent, she
easily caught their meaning, and kindly set them right.
weapons consisted of various kinds of pikes, which made a for-
midable appearance; but the more terrible an instrument is in
figure, the less effective is it in use. Leaving the guard-house on
our right, we pursue our way by a paved road towards the Barrier,
and pass under the shelter of a hill well covered with trees and
shrubs, in the midst of which stands a neglected temple that
affords a lodging to the forlorn and houseless beggar. And now
I speak of beggars, I am reminded that not far from this spot I
threw some copper pieces to one, who seeing that I had mingled
a piece of silver with them by mistake, spontaneously brought it
back again. Before we reach the peninsula on which the barrier
stands, we cross the area of a Buddhist temple, where, save at day-
fall, when the drum beats for vespers, all is stillness and tran-
quillity. It is a line of buildings in front, which are sacred, with
many domiciles behind, and is delightfully shaded by Indian fig-
trees. A charming spot for the operations of some two or three
zealous missionaries who, instead of living in listless apathy and
dreaming unconcern like the priests of Buddh, would give them-
selves to the work of instructing the poor people around them,
who would soon rejoice at the change. For the least instructed
among the natives have sense enough to observe the difference
between those who live for themselves, and those who live and act
mainly for the good of others. If once the arm of despotic power
be broken, there will be no field for missionary efforts like that
of China. I long to see that preliminary effected. The isthmus
whereon the barrier stands is soft and sandy, save where the tread
of frequent passengers has reduced a certain line to a compara-
tive hardness. It is on this narrow neck of land that the foreign
inhabitants of Macao, both male and female, display their horse-
manship. In this exercise they are never joined by Chinese, for
the native horses seen in the south are an ill-groomed and badly-
conditioned race of animals, and would therefore make a sorry
figure by the side of the graceful and high-mettled steeds used by
foreigners. The governor's stud at Canton may have something
more sightly, since he has a veterinary surgeon to look after their

After passing the magistrate's office a few paces, we find our-health, and who sent me a book on the treatment of disorders selves upon one of the quays of the inner harbour, and from incident to this noble animal, written by his own hand, and

altogether the result of his own experience. This neck of land is crossed by a wall, with something like a tower in the middle, perforated by a wide door, which is guarded by two large pieces of ordnance. The garrison is composed of about sixty men, who live in dwellings behind the wall, and are in their outward bearing, whatever their prowess may be, but a poor apology for soldiers. Such a group of ugly fellows it was not my chance to see in any other spot in the south of China. The natives entertain a strong opinion as to the correspondence between the lineaments of the outward and inward man, for on their stage they never allow a person with an ill-favoured visage to do a well-beseeming act. A part of this wall was once broken down, which tempted a companion of mine to take a look behind it. This aroused the attention of the watchmen, who from the top of another part of the wall upbraided the strangers for their temerity; and to impress them with proper sentiments of respect, sent one of their champions to display his activities before them. This personage threw himself into a variety of menacing attitudes, looked fiercely, and accompanied each remarkable evolution of body by something between a bark and a shout. At this his admirers laughed aloud, as if noise had been a proper substitute for blows. I observed his movements long enough to satisfy myself that nothing but show was intended, and then turned and left him in the full enjoyment of all the honours he had won. In our way back we pass again, on the other side, the village of Mongha, which is fairly seated in a grove, though the tenements and the aspect of the tenants, ill accord with such a rural scene. Here, again, we see a temple within a large area, well shaded by trees, and finely situated for contemplation and retirement. A few priests, with their clean shaven heads, may always be seen, who spend their hours in thoughtless silence or in unmeaning chit-chat. After quitting the village, we usually cross a pleasant expanse of rice-fields, studded with here and there a cottage. At one of these lived a dropsical patient of mine, who, after he was cured of the complaint, never forgot the debt he owed to his benefactor. A friend said to him many months after his recovery, "You are well now;" "Ah," said he, "thanks to the gentleman." If we prefer another route, we pass through a lane walled high by nature's own materials, encounter the glancing butterfly, and listen to the harsh notes of the evening shrike, as he summons his companions to seek a shelter for the night among the recesses of a grove that clusters upon the slope of a distant hill. At this hour we meet not a few specimens of British fair, some mounted upon horses, some wafted in the capacious and elegant sedan of China, and many who have a taste for exercise, afoot; among them many of the generous sons of our favoured isle, in whom the poor native rarely misses a benefactor.

A troop of Macao Portuguese presents a scope for the physiognomist of no ordinary interest; for, from the fashion of intermarrying with natives of all countries, the Macao people have blended all the varieties of the human race, so that a lecturer might select such a troop for the theme of his discourse, and point out one by one all the chief characteristics of the different families of mankind. He would not lack matter for entertainment, for a man must be very sad indeed who could look on such a motley sisterhood without feeling a strong propensity to laugh. Now and then we see a bevy or group of Chinese gentlemen from the north of China; these are distinguished by their love of recreation, and by the shrike or butcher-bird, which they carry upon a cross in their hands. The bird is like ours, remarkable for its spirit; and, as we see in China, not less so for its docility. It is this that has rendered it a great pet, though it is commonly accused of eating its own father and mother; which is a fable, I take it, as it feeds on lizards, worms, and other vermin, in a wild state, so far as I have had an opportunity of ob serving.

On our return, we wind along through shady alleys, over a green lawn, and so on till we reach the front street of Macao, where a moon-shaped range of buildings makes a very goodly

figure, and shows what an immense advantage the architecture of the West has over that of China, wherever either effect or accommodation is concerned. But here we pause; and we may also intimate here, that two or three papers more will bring this series on "China and the Chinese" to a close.

ANECDOTE OF BURNS.

WHEN Robert Burns was a very young lad, he had happened at an ale-house to fall into a company consisting of several sectarians and members of the Episcopal and Presbyterian Church. When warm with potations, they entered upon a keen debate about their respective persuasions, and were upon the point of using arguments more forcible than words, when Burns said, "Gentlemen, it has now been twice my hap to see the doctrines of peace made the cause of contention; I must tell you how the matter was settled among half-a-dozen of honest women, over a cup of caudle, after a baptism. They were as different in opinion, and each as tough in disputation, as you are, till a wife, that had said not a word, spoke up- Kimmers, ye are a' for letting folk hae but ae road to heeven. Its a puir place that has but ae gate til't. There's mair than four gaits to ilka bothy in Highlands or Lowlands, and it's no canny to The dissay ther's but ae gait to the mansions of the blessed."" putants of the ale-house were silenced, and Burns led the conversation to the merriments of carlings over their cups of caudle.

THE HARP.

A GHOST STORY.

THE secretary and his young wife were yet in the gay and glittering spring of life. Neither interest nor a mere passing inclination had united them. No; love, ardent, long-tried love had been the seal of their union. They had early become acquainted with each other's sentiments; but the delay of Sellner's preferment had constrained him to put off the completion of his wishes. At length he received his appointment, and the next Sunday he led his true love, as his wife, to his new dwelling. After the long and constrained days of congratulation and of family festivals, they could at length enjoy the fair evening in cordial solitude, undisturbed by any third person. Plans for their future life, Sellner's flute, and Josepha's harp, filled up those hours, which only appeared too short for the lovers; and the sweet harmony of their tones was to them a fair prelude of their future days. One evening, they had enjoyed themselves so long with their music, that Josepha began to complain of the headache. She had concealed an indisposition which she had experienced in the morning from her anxious consort, and an, at first, unimportant attack of fever was, by the excitement of the music and the exertion of the mind, the more increased, as she had from her youth suffered much from weak nerves. She now concealed it no longer from her husband, but anxiously sent Sellner after a physician. He came, treated the matter as a trifle, and promised that she would be much better in the morning. But, after an extremely restless night, during which she was constantly delirious, the physician found poor Josepha in a state which had all the symptoms of strong nervous fever. He employed all the proper means, but Josepha's illness got daily worse.

On the ninth day, Josepha herself felt that her weak nerves would no longer sustain this malady; indeed, the physician had already mentioned it to Sellner before. She knew, herself, that her last hour was come, and with tranquil resignation she awaited her fate.

"Dear Edward," said she to her husband, as she drew him for the last time to her breast, "with deep regret do I leave this fair earth, in which I have found thee, and found true happiness in thy love; but now I may no longer remain happy in thine arms, yet shall Josepha's love still hover o'er thee, as thy good angel, until we meet again on high!

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Having said this, she sank back, and fell asleep for ever! It was nine o'clock in the evening. What Sellner suffered was inexpressible; he struggled long for life; the shock had destroyed his health; and when, after many weeks' illness he recovered, there

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