MAIL SKETCHES IN CHINA BY A LADY.-No. III.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 304, 26 December 1874, Page 4

MAIL SKETCHES IN CHINA BY A LADY.-No. 111.

TO iroNGICONG BY STU

We went on board the-French mail sfeanior at night, and at daylight the steamer got under' weigh/ but, about twelvo miles from Shanghai, we found ourselves upon a mud bank at the barbetween the Shanghai river (the Whangpo) and the place where it runs into the Yang-tsze-kinng. There we stuck hard and fast nil day yesterday and all last night. ' The steamer heeled over, and lay so low on one side that we were quite alnrmed. It was also very disagreeable. We could hardly crawl about, and the doors of the cabins on one side would hardly open. Mine and my friend's, in whose care I was, wpre on the high side, so that they would not keep shut. The ship's cooks could hardly cook anything, and even with difficulty could keep the fires agoing, It was like living on the fi;cp of an uncommonly stoop slippery hill. As to lying in bed it was more like standing. The captain sent a boat up to Shanghai for help ; so I wrote a note to L- ,_and sent it by it, but that was all the writing T could manage. ' We required, all .our efforts to sit and talk, and in this'way our time was spent. In a short time two tug-boats and some lighters arrived, andall night was spent taking out cargo to lighten the steamer. At daylight steam was got up ; and, with the assistance of the tugs, a strenuous effort was made,to get her off. The effort was prolougod in vain until twelve o'clock, when an American steamer came in, saw our condition, and came to our help. With this additional assistance we soon got off, with a bump. We then steamed down the river for a few miles, accompanied by the tugs, and the lighters in tow; and, when wo reachod deep water, we' stopped, took in our cargo again, and for the last hour wo. haro been going on our way rejoicing. This is Saturday, and on Tuesday forenoon we should be in HongKong. Had nil gone right from the first, we should have got in on Sunday. One fortunate thing for.r-'.e is that the mail is on board, , This is the steamer that takes it right through to Ceylon, and it cannot well happen that I shoxtld lose my mail. We proceed on our way to the coast of China. This coast is always rough, and to-day we roll and pitch in a most peculiar manner beautifully calculated to turn ordinary stomachs inside out, cspo-* cially after a French breakfast. They do make such oily, greasy messes. To-day they sent us fish fried in" lard, and chopped onions, and then scrambled eggs done in oliyo oil. The oil lay in pools all through the eggs. I ate it, but it was enough to sicken any one whose internal construction was>not'of brass. I would not caro

to travel by the French line again—every .. thing is so,dirty, and yet this is one of their lnrgest and best steamers. It goes 'rijjht through- from Shanghai to Marseilles, and. takes your mail as far as Ceylon. But I must disembrace this. It is getting so rough I can hardly maintain my position at the table. The passengei's have gradually disappeared, until-there is only one left, and he is a queer, leatherfaced old cove, who sits bolt upright, and nods and nods, and whispers to himself , all day. I must now finish this. If we get into Hong Kong on Tuesday we shall go on to Macao. I shall be heartily glad . to find myself on land after this short, biit disagreeable trip, I will furnish you with my subsequent movements in another letter.

HONG KONG RACES. I wrote you last from Hong Kong. Your letter left the morning before the races. "We enjoyed them so much. .Not so much the races themselves, but the old friends whom wo met. Besides, the Hong-Hong racecourse is so pretty. It is quite a little valley, almost round, and on all sides, are hills covered with dense wood.- ' There. is always a regiment of ' British soldiers, and the bright red coats and uniform seen about look so homelike. There Wore crowds also from the British, French, and American men-of- . war lying at Hong-Kong. This season it was .particularly gay. There was the Grand Duke Alexia of Hustia and his party. . The ".Russian fleet was in the harbor, and the British, French, and Americanadinirals were all there, with the various officers. TO CANTON." After the races, we stayed three days longer in Hong Kong, ana then 'yre went on to Canton, and there we stuyed ten days. In that.time we had ample opportunity of seeing all thnt. was, to be seen of the city. My chief" delight was to go about among the streets in my chair, and ' stop find get out wheuever T saw a tempting shop. In Canton it is so easy to do thii, for there the people have got so accustomed ,to seeing foreigners that you ran «nlk about in the heart of the city, and tittle or no nrlice betaken of you—at least 'nothing to make it" unpleasant. "When you go into a shop there may a few Htop,,.Bncl make a small crowd around the door, but that is all. Then the streets, though they are so narrow and busy, ore clean,'and you can walk comfortably along. My.favorite shops were the embroidorv work ones. It is made and sold' in the sump place. So when buying yon have n good opportunity of the work going on, It is all clone by 'tfreh-. The mont exquisite work—flowers, birds, and all sorts of things, done • on-satin and silk, and in all colors of silk f and floss thread. The Cantonese are the besr workers in this department perhaps in (!•/> world. Then I liked to prowl about the crockery shops, and pick up odd littlo tea-cups, See. vVe also went 'to see all the best temples; but, when you see one, yfiu see nil. They are all dingy, Idw.dirty halls—all red paint, and gift, and fusty, musty.smells, and ornamented with huge,, gilt, .'musty idols. It ff really piti'z'os we to Jhink 'how human being's with the smallest grain of ,'reasdn can put faith in sneh',ab'surd figures. VISIT TO A CHINMSB .FAMIY OF HIGH BANK T had some friends in Canton who suggested that I should call upon a Chinese family _ of. high rank—suggesting at the fame time that one of them would accompany me, and secure the introduction. I wns'gtad to take tho« chance. , So Miss jj_ -oaitl s h e would send, 'and, let them know that we Were coming, that we might find them all at, home, an.d.thcn we'd go the next afternoon.- Accordingly I went for her next dny and we set off to- . gethcr. We had about a mile to walk through the streets. Our ehairs followed us, that at any moment we could get into them. But in the lirst instance we preferred fo walk, as'we could talk as' we went fllonp. The people we met all mode remarks to each other, and wondered" who the book lady had got with her. All tlrruch that district Lilly.Hr——is known a* the book lady, from her going about and

reading to the people in their houses, and having a school. She has been brought up all her-life in Canton, in constant, intercourse with the natives ; and therefore speaks the language' as good as a native. She told me it was amusing sometimes to hear the remarks they make as she walks about all alone through the streets, attended only by her big dog, and sometimes her old Dinah, who was the. family nurse when they were young —a dear old lady to whom I was introduced. She is now a Bible woman among her own kindred. At last we arrived at the house we were bound for. It stood in a.quiet street, with only dwelling houses in it. No shops. All you could see are tremendously high stone walls, on both sides of the narrow street, making it nearly dark —the street is not five feet wide —here and there was r a small narrow door. Ifc looked like the outside of a big prison. Miss H fold me it was one of the best family streets, and only wealthy jjeople live in it. I'd prefer, my home to be in a livelier quarter. We knocked at the door, and it was instantly opened by a Chinawoman, and wo entered a small square open court with a well in the middle, and from thence were shown into a large square hall with a stone floor, of a sort of marble. On each side of the hall wore four small stone-topped tables at equal distances, close against the wall, and between each ta.ble, a stiff looking chair with a stone seat. On the wall were a few long narrow stripes of pictures. At the end of the hall there was an altar thing, with a red.embroidered cloak on it; and fixed up behind it, a figure of the Godess of Heaven. At each side of the idol being red banners with the titles of the master of the house in gilt letters. On the altar stood a bronze tripod, for burning incense, in, and two high bronze vases, with a Jbunch of peach blo4?om in each. This was the , whole ; furniture and ornament of the swell 'sitting-room of the family—their best drawing-room. It was lighted by a sky-light of oystershell, shaved thin, instead "of glass. No peep 6ven of the sky could be got through. Such a dim window, and it wa ; the only window in the room, well, you will sny, we have heard enough about that: go on. So I will, but I wanted to give you an idea of the. lively existence led bychineae of high rank. "At each, side of the altar was a door, communicating with the rest of the house As soon as we got.into thi; hall, or sitting-room, we were met by the Jady of the house—the first wife, an oldish woman, with grej'ish hair, dressed up in the tea-pot handle style, I cannot tell how it is done, but only it shows a handle like a tea-pot. My amah used to wear i L, and often when angry with her I used to feel ineb'ned to seize hor by the handle, and bang her nose on the table ! an inclination which I never gratified. "The old lady's dress was all of silk, hemmed with embroidery. She had very small feet, and walked upon a stick. Behind her came a very small amah - a child of eight or ten—carrying her mistress' pipe. .The old lady ■ shook hands, and seemed very glad to see us, and asked us to sit ' down on two of the a forementioned chairs, ■; with our backs to the walls, in a most orderly way. In a second or two three other ladies came in similarly dressed, but they had their face 3 painted — rery much powdered, first with white powder, then with bright red on the cheeks, eyelids, and lips. They had flowers and ornaments in their hair. All had handsome dresses. Some blue silk trousers, and purple coats, some with blue coats, and green trousers; and all with handsome embroidery for trimming, and in bright colors ; and each lady was followed by a small amah, carrying a pipe. They all seemed glad to see me, and were quite friendly and : at home with Lillie Happer, shaking her by both hands, and patting her back, and asking all kinds of questions about me. More ladies came, similarly dressed and attended. They all sat round on the stiff' chairs against the wall, and, when they were all full, an amah brought small square stools, on which the extra ones sat right in front of us. The kittle amalts all stood round, and supplied their various mistresses with short but frequent whiff of their Jong brass pipes. Soon a whole crowd of bigger amahs came, all carrying children of various ages, and in all colors of dress—little trousers, and short jackets fastened up to the throat; Some had silver anklets and bracelets, and big rings of gold or silver round the neck. The boys had tiny embroidered caps/ with gold or silver ornaments fixed, on them. There were also a number of other children came in.—boys and girls from sixteen to five years ; and some two or three girls were carried in, of-four, six, and seven years, owing to their feet undergoing the crushing process. Soon the hall was almost full. The "ladies all came and examined my dress, and even asked to inspect, my garments narrowly. I had quite expected to be "put through" Id this way, and dressed accordingly. They were delighted with everything ; but the greatest marvel was my crystal locket, in which wen.' portraits of L and W- — ; —. They tried on my gloves, and put up my parasol, and altogether had a general survey. Then a I able 1 was placedin the middle of the hall, and four very unconffortable-looking stools set. Tea and sweetmeats were brought in, and we were asked to sit down. The two eldest wives sit with .us. 'I enjoyed fine, delicate tea, withotit milk or sugar. It is used very weak, and is quite refreshing. The sweetmeats were not so nice, having a Chinese flavor. However, we had to eat • some. Miss Happor, of course, is quite accustomed to all their mummeries, and can even cat with chopsticks. All the ladies were the wives of one man. There were ten of them : and, in all, about twenty-eight children. They afterwards showed us some of their bedrooms., We entered, from the hall, a large covered court, and around this were a. number of small rooms, each furnished with a small table, a chair or two, a sort of toilet table with a looking glass, a lamp, and a box with things for dressing the hair, a figure of some god, and a box or two of cloth ps in corners. The beds were simply plain brown wood frames, on four legs, wi!h open basket-work bottoms, on which lay cotton mats, too thin to be called mafctrese.*. Each had a long narrow shelf along the bock, and on this lay the bcd-quills, when not in use. They have no blankets —only thick-wadded quilts of colored cotton or silk. The posts hxkV cornices of the beds are carved, and some nre gilded. Allhave mosquito curtains. Off these were little sitting rooms, which, from the things lying about seemed to be nurseries as well. But no; where was there a book, or a sign of work, or anything like occupation? All the time I was there they kept cracking and eating melon .feods. ■There is hardly anything in them to e?i(, -but they seem to eat and- crock, them "by way of occupation, They seldom or ever

go.out; never see any men save the husband, or any very near relations. I never saw a more aimless life ; yet they seem content and happy enough. It seems strange any mortal can be content with such.a life, Miss' Happer visits constantly among the people—mostly the poorer classes. There are few families.of hio-h rank where she can go. The one I have described, and a few' others. She never goes into any house where there are men, but she spends an hour at a time and longer with the women, and reads to them —-for none can read for themselves. She says they sometimes seem interested, and sometimes she thinks they like it merely as. a change. She has a school of girls, and I thought it must want some self-de-nial to spend her life in this way. But I am sure I have wearied you with this long yarn. Henceforth, we must prepare for returning home again. Already, I have spent two months in this quarter; and, though our friends are anxious to retain us, and we like the place so much, yet our holiday is past, and we must return.

Sir Watkin Williams (Liberal), in addressing his friends at Denbigh, predicted that before Easter there would be a complete reconstruction of the British Cabinet. Funeral reform seems to be taking root in Melbourne.. The late Dr. Tracy left a memorandum of instructions for his funeral, which was as far as possible acted uron. He desired that there should be no funeral trappings, no emblems of mourning, no feasting, no vulgar display of nodding plumes and glazed hearses, and that everything connected with his interment should be as simple as possible. .It would be well if all family men took to heart the example, and relieved their surviving families' of a supposed obligation to expend large sums ' with the undertaker for a grand funeral. On the 19th irist., a skeleton, or remains of a skeleton, supposed to be those of a European, were found in the old engine shaft of the Imperial Crown Company at the Thames. There can be no conjecture yet as to how the unfort'inate creature whose skeleton it is came by his death, a3 the discovery was only made just previous to our going to press. The skeleton was come upon in clearing out an old shaft, and a trousers and vest were found.with it. • , -

A young man, named John Gibson, was on Monday remitted from the Greenock Police Court to the Edinburgh authorities on a charge of stealing a sum of ;€l2, the property' of his employer, a tailor and clothier in Edinburgh. Information cf the theft was received in Greenock on Friday, and Gibson was, in the course of that afternoon,: found on board the New Zealand ship Ben Cruachan, which was about to sail, and in which the would, be -emigrant had managed to stow away*