freshly extracted from the stratum; it hardens just
sufficiently to do the cutting, yet retains an edge.
The celebrated quarries of Kuen-lun are in the
Caracash valley of Eastern Turkestan, but true jade
is also found in the Caucasus and the Ural mountains.
The largest porcelain shop is that of U-shing; there
were some beautiful large vases and bowls, very dear,
but not a piece of genuine old ware. Chy-loong is
the principal fruit preserver; here I tasted a great
many varieties,—ginger, lychees, very small limes,,
etc. Hundreds of tin boxes I saw being filled with
jars for export, and, from the prices asked, I expect
that one buys these things for less money at Fortnum
and Mason’s. My last visit was to a picture dealer,
and after looking into every drawer of his shop, and
selecting a few specimens to take home, I have come
to the conclusion that the art of painting in China is
quite in its infancy. They produce good results, as
far as mere colouring is concerned, but they are sadly
deficient in drawing, and especially of fore-shortening
they seem to have no idea. Their landscapes and
figures are without life; birds and flowers only are at
all true to nature, and those painted on the so-called
rice paper are exceedingly pretty, owing to the
material partly, but also to the brilliancy of colour.
The name of the former, however, is a misnomer, the
paper is not made from rice, but from the pith of a
tree, the Fatsiapapyrifera, which grows about twenty
feet high, and which also furnishes material for toys
and flower making. Silk and perfumery shops are
plentiful, and I was struck by the neatness of the
dwellings of the well-to-do Chinese, they are so much
superior to those of the Hindoos and Mahomedans in
India, and use tables and chairs, whilst the latter
invariably squat on a mat. In the shops of Canton
the natives speak a peculiar jargon or pigeon English :
on the outside, long narrow signboards, lacquered
bright red, are suspended vertically from the roof
to the ground, covered with an enumeration of the
wares for sale within,—they give quite a picturesque
appearance to the streets.
On leaving the bazaar quarter the first temple we
encountered was that of the “ Five hundred Genie,”
which is filled with gilt figures, life size, in sitting posture,
many of them making most grotesque grimaces. A large
monastery is attached to this temple, and its priests
live upon the offerings of the devotees, consisting
mostly of pork. Hence we passed through the gate
into the old Tartar town, which has a dirty and
deserted appearance ; here is the temple of the “ Five
Spirits,”—North, East, Centre, South, and West,—a