great number of small compartments filled with occupants
of every class, and attended by a swarm of longtailed,
blue-robed waiters and native musicians, who
played on curious one-stringed instruments, accompanied
by tambourine and now and then by a song in tones of
nasal development. The table was crowded with little
porcelain plates, no larger than saucers, and ivory chopsticks,
which I at first found very difficult to handle,
and requested that a knife and fork might be brought,
which raised strong opposition on the part of my entertainers,
who insisted that the character of the
establishment ought not to be prejudiced by such a
revolutionary innovation; and as most of the dishes
produced did not tempt me to go beyond tasting, I
soon got reconciled to the limited use these small
instruments of torture were called upon to perform.
The menu was an extraordinary mixture of ingredients,
sweet, salt, sour, and spicy. I t consisted of:
BIRD’S NEST SOUP.
SHARK’S FINS.
RAGOUT OF YOUNG PUPS, with Lotus Seed.
FISH ROE, in brown sugar.
BLACK PUDDING, of Duck’s Brain and Blood.
STAR-FISH.
RAT’S TAILS, fried.
COMPOT OF STURGEON’S GILLS.
SEA-SLUGS, with spices.
The Chinese pay extravagant prices for bird’s nests ;
to my taste the soup had an agreeable flavour of
weak chicken-broth. The Sea-slugs, also called Sea-
cucumbers, are the French bêches devier (Holothuries),
sometimes a foot long. For food they are boiled
until soft, then dried in the sun, and served disguised
by an enormous quantity of aromatics of all sorts.
Amongst the fruit, I thought the O ' O
Lychee (Nephelium litchi) (Plate XXII.) very
pleasant in its dried state ; it is enclosed
in a thin brown shell, and has the appearance
of a large raisin of a sweet sub-
acid flavour; eaten fresh it is very luscious.
Warm sam-chow, distilled from rice, and some other
similar concoction of a rose colour, where handed round
during the meal in little porcelain cups, and, after
dinner, tea and cigars. I am glad to have steadfastly
gone through this delectable ménu as a matter of
curiosity, but should not care to repeat the operation.