ONE DAY IN CANTON.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1854, 15 July 1874, Page 3

ONE DAY IN CANTON.

Ohr friend Mr J. Small, the comic singer, writes the following for the Otago Daily Times: — After I had transacted all my business in Hong Kong, I made up my 'mind to pay a visit to Canton, so, on Saturday, Slat March, I steamed from the wharf in the Hong Kong, Canton, and Macao Company's steamer Kin Shan, for the Celestial city. The trip was entirely devoid of interest, save for the speed with which it was performed, the distance from wharf to wharf being eighty-six miles, and was ran in six hours. The . fareß in these steamers are exorbitant in the extreme towards European passengers — Bdol equal to 365, beiDg the first-class charge ; the second-class, 2dol; and the third, Idol ; the cheap place being literally . packed with the lower class, while the second cabin is invariably crowded by the j - swell Qhinese, who settle themselves down - to their opium smoking the moment the vessel leaves the Hong Kong wharf, nor do they cease until she reaches her destination, thus rendering the atmosphere of the place so obnoxious to Europeans that . they are compelled perforce to fly to the cabin, and pay the exorbitant tariff demanded by the company for a saloon fare.' As soon as the steamer arrived at the Canton wharf, she was boardod by scores of boat women, each one plain orously soliciting jny patronage.- I may mention that all the passenger boats on the river ' are worked by the gentler sex, while their lords and masters are either employed in the larger junks and cargo boats, orfdl-. lowing various occupations' on shore. Handing my portmanteau to one of the women, she smiled her ' thanks, and trotted, off gaily with her load, until she reached her sampan, where three other, fine, strong, able-bodied girls, were waiting, who as soon as I was seated, rowed me gently down the stream, till we got over on the opposite side, called Uonan, where I forthwith took up my quarter^ at 'the Canton Hotel, at a charge of three ppllars per diem, this somewhat high rate, and the intense civility of the proprietor, were the only two things remarkable in the establishment. In company 1 with my polite host, I Bpent the alter-. .; noon rambling over the Honan portion of the city, and having secured the services of Mr Ah-Chum, a Chinese. . guide, to pilot me through the old and new cities of Canton on the following morning, I returned to the hotel. After making, a hearty dinner, I sat on the balcony until midnight to witness a grand display of fireworks given by gome qweli Chinese in a large hong adjoining the flbtej. Notwithstanding that the rain wa3 descending in torrents on the following morning, punctual to his appointed time, my guide waited for me at the hotel. He informed me everything was in readiness for our tour of inspection. He was an if amoofting cuss " in his own lujk waj,

and spoke English with great fluency, although he had — so he informed me — never been to school, but having onco heard a thing he never forgot it, "so you see," aaid he, ." I must have a good head." Having two chairs and six stalwart coolies to carry us, wo. started at 10a.m. to see the sights worth seeing in Canton. The first place was a dog and cat meat restaurant in -the. "western suburbs,! and, hanging by the hind legs, we saw quite a number of broad-backed", plump little puppy dogs, with their dear diminutive tails turned up for. all the world like a capital P, just steaming hot from the copper— properly done up, and ready to be taken. Now, gentle readers, don't turn up .your noses ; and, likewise, don't exclaim "ugh!" for they looked very inviting — and if they were at all like the Poa dogs of the Sandwich Islands (at which place 1 partook of one roasted — thinking in my innocence that it was sucking pig), 1 can vouch for their being delicious. My guide informed me that the meat was very dear, and was therefore only procurable by" the wealthier classes in the city of Canton. The next place visited was the Temple of the 500 Genii, which contains 500 idols —at least I presume so. I certainly did not take the trouble to count them, but I dare say they are "all there." In addition to the above, there is abo a magnificent seven-storey marble pagoda in the centre of the building. There are also seventy priests belonging to the temple,; one of whom, as we were about to depart, asked me for a "cumshaw" (gift). In an, instant my. hand was iw my pocket, from whence I drew a five cent piece, which I magnanimously presented to the heathen priest. His reverence receivecj it with many bows, his pious, face actually beaming with smiles, as hq " chin chih'd'f us out of the sacred edifice. ..":••'. I • Once more betaking .ourselves to our chairs, my guide led the way to the Temple of Longevity. This was certainly a tip-top place, supported, so I was iri- ' formed, by the swell Chinese, the temple', priests, and prayers being all No. -1. i But prayers are an expensive item ih the Temple of Longevity ; for at the time of ©ur visit, the priests had just concluded a nine days', constant praying, which cost the .wealthy supporters of the building the sum of 600dol, "anfd what do you think of .that ?" said my guide. I answered, " that in my opinidn they ought to be good for the price j" After interviewing the lesser images, we arrived at the pedestal whereon sat the God of Longevity, a merry, big, fat idol, with a half -inebriated smile upon his great broad face. Imagine a figure ten times as corpulent as was Daniel Lambert, and thrice as tall as the Chinese giant Chang. Such a remarkable picture would be bjut a Tom Thumb alongside this monstrous heathen deity. I stood gazing at the merry laughing god- until a smile stole over my own countenance, which my guide noticing, asked what I was laughing at. To which I replied, "Why, at the god. "Yes," said my Mongolian conductor, "he looks awfully jolly, don't he ?" This being a swell place I had to "cumshaw" the priest and the gatekeeper, the former receiving ten, and the latter five cents. j . On leaving the temple I requested my guide to pilot the way to a Chinese eating house, for the purpose of refreshing jthe inner man, as in addition to being, wet and cold, I also felt hungry ; in. a iev minutes we arrived at the establishment of Ching Hong, and proceeded at once up to the " top side," or aristocratic par^; of the building, leaving the chair coolies to refresh themselves below. The ' ' c ( do w chow" placed before us, of which I partook heartily, was really stunning, arid" the quality of the tea, of which I drank several . bowls, was excellent. This was certainly the cheapest feeding I ever had. I only paid 40 cents^-equal to Is 8d English money — foe eight people. I From the tea shop we proceeded to the Temple of Horrors. Herein the. traveller, beholds the ten modes of punishment in. flicted by the Chinese authorities for various crimes, illustrated by carved figures, representing the victim, the ; executioners, the authorities, and a goodly sprinkling of spectators. One punishment described a man standing between; two broad planks, with two executioners, one in front, the other behind, sawing the poor wretch in two, from the head downwards, with a small croBS-cut saw, which was all besmeared with red paint to represent blood. Horror No. 2 was descriptive of a man being boiled in oil, the executioner standing over the cauldron with a sort of crutch rolling the victim over and over. Herror No. 3 represented •a criminal in a kneeling position, bound hands and feet, while the executioner was in the act of lowering a red-hot, bell over him, under which the victim is left to be roasted to death. Horror No. 4 described a man lying on his back under-neath-a. sort of crane, from the top of which-a block of stone or wood decends I upon . him occasionally, ■ the weight not being: sufficient to kill him outright, but. /only to smash a few ribs, or something of that' kind each time it falls, until at last the ; body of the poor wretch is fairly pounded into a pulp. This punishment is called "grindiug to death." There are six other' punishments for the lesser crimes,: but: as they are not half so horri,ble, as .those above mentioned, it would be Uninteresting to describe them. The vicinity- of -the Temple of Horrors is the. resort of thousands of .Chinese gamblers,' sing-song ; people^ fortune-tel-lersj idlers, thieves, fruit-sellers, .vendors of chow-chow, &., while a stream of . people, constantly , .thronged the inside to | witness the horrors; depi°t e^- W the various compartments. The day was fast drawing to a close, so my guide gave orders for our homeward i return. In about an hour we arrived ; at -thie river, j After paying my guide- and chair jsoolies, I was paddled over to the Honan Bhore, and reached my hotel just: in time for dinner. The next day being wet and -miserable, I determined on returning to Hong Kong. . j