V to o o EC 2/1921 U.S. NAYt^ po^s of tJiQ wi 'Il"l'"""lllllll'"'"'lll'""l""lllll' IIIIIIMIIIIIIimiH"lll"llllllllllllllilHlllllilMll IIIIIIIIIIIJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII.IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHMII, CANTON DITTY BOX GUIDE BOOK SERIES BUREAU OF NAVIGATION NAVY DEPARTMENT Legend ® Chong-Yuen-Fong | (g) Cheung-Shau-Tsi fTempie 0* Urgevit/I ® Y M.CA. (7) Chen-Hoi-Lao ( F.^e-sfonel) F^oda) @ Wa^Tai-IOcUgooil FlowtrPagodJ® Ho.-Tung-Tsi ( Buddh.at Temple) WalfamTszl Temple o( 500 Gods), Location of Former WaJIs of Canton © Ng-Sin-Kwa/.(TempleofFi,eCenii) r A CHINESE JINRIKISHA RUNNER WITH HIS RAIN-PROOF COAT CANTON CHINA Published by BUREAU OF NAVIGATION under authority of the Secretary of the Navy \ \ GIFT Contents Page Introduction --------.. ...._ii The River Pirates -__ j5 Sunrise in Canton -------.___... 10 A Battle for Life ---------....2'' On Shameen Island --------.....95 Coffins and Gongs --... .98 The Passing Walls ^^ Celestial Temples -----...._. ..2c The City of Death 2S "Rats, Cats, and " -------.... .49 Idols and Pottery ---..... «/: The Chinese Fleet ._.,<« Wati and Honan ----.-_. SO Clipper-Ship Days --------.....51 4.'3S67i Foreword INCE warships flying the .Vmorican flag havo made the world Sof waters their cruising grounds and since they carry with them scores of thousands of seagoing ^imericans, the per- sonal interest of the Nation in ports, far and near, is ever increashig in recent years. In order to furnish valuable information to officers and enlisted men of the Navy who visit these ports, the Bureau of Navigation is preparing individual guidebooks on the principal ports of all (piarters of the globe. Although every effort has been made to include accurate information on the most important subjects connected with this port, it is realized that some important facts may have been omitted and that certain details may be inaccurate. Any information concerning omissions or inaccuracies addressed to Guidebook Editor, Bureau of Navigation, will be appreciated. The information will be incorporatetl into revised editions. Acknowledgment is made to the National Geographic Society for its suggestions, both as to editorial ])()licy and the int(>r(>sting details con- cerning this port and its environs. Acknowledgment is also made to Underwood & Underwood and Publishers' Photo Service for the following photographs, which are <'opy- righted. Nine Introduction P TITE artery of yellow water, which runs to the China Sea from' the heart of Kwangtung Province, the traveler finds the river port of Canton, where he sees many mibelievable things — unhelieva])le from the occidental vicnvpoint — even though he views them through the unclouded windov/s of nis own inquisitive Western soul. Canton is a city of walls and temples; narrow streets and lanes of water; flower boats and other river craft; jostling humanity and high-pitched voices; sedan chairs and perspiring coolies; native merchants and prodigal sons; foreign merchants and diplomats — an old, old city, whose lower classes think cockroaches in honey and snakes in broth a rare combination well suited to the most fastidious tastes. Those travelers who bide a while in Hongkong before embarking on the water journey to Canton will be rewardecl with a colorful glimpse of Chin(>se life; })ut the island has been under British rule for so long a time that it is more European than oriental. In Canton the reverse is true. As Hongkong is British, so Canton is Chinese — deliberately, stubbornly, patiently Chinese. The noses in Canton have never been counted, for the Government has found it impossible to carry out a census with any degree of accuracy. Eleven The Chinese population has been estimated at 1,250,000; but the guess is much too conservative in the opinion of the stranger just arrived in Canton, for there seem to be more yellow men within the ancient city than in all the rest of the round world. Chinese here, Chinese there, Chinese yonder — so many Chinese that the impressionable traveler in Canton dreams o' night of shuffling, felt-clad feet, oblique eyes, saffron faces, singsong voices, cotton trousers, and voluminous shirts; not to mention the clash of Chinese cyml)als and the wailing of mourners in the frequent funeral processions and other common sights in this river port of wSouth China, in the Province of Kwangtung. Canton is so old that even the native custodians of local tradition have lost count of the years since it was founded. Some of the ancient coolies crouching near the wharves and sunning their wrinkled skins look as if they might be able to tell the age of their city; but a whimsical question elicits only a request for alms, mumbled with a mouth which nas lost its teeth, so that the owner meets withdilhculty in chewing even the small portions of food needed to keep the spark of life aglow in his shaky body. Canton is one of the most important trade centers of China, loeingthe fimnel through which tlie exports of Kwangtung and Kwangsi provmces are poured in the hohls of waiting ships and carried to the foreign markets. Scores of thousands of coolies are engaged in the task of handling the great volume of trade which comes through Canton. They toil the long Twelve day through for the gain of a few cents; and apparently never dream of makhig further wage demands on thoh' foreign and high-caste employers. Or if the coolies dream such dreams of sudden wealth, they keep them to themselves, for they have labored under the same conditions all their lives, and th(nr fathers and grandfathers did the same before them. So they believe — do the coolies — that they are fortunate in earning enough to keep the wolf from the door; they toil by day and by night, with hardly a word of serious complaint. They are a fatalistic people, many of them willhig, curiously enough, to work all their lives for the purchase money of a coffin in which their bodies can rest after death. Occasionally a coolie acquires wealth, either by a stroke of luck in his own locality or by emigrating to another country, where he succeeds in making enough to live in comfort for the remainder of his life. If such is the case, he usually returns to Canton, is soon drawn into the whirlpool of native life, and lives an envied life of leisure as an independent Cantonese. The most important exports of Canton are tea, silk, paper, and pre- serves, and firecrackers — most of them going to the United States, where they are used, for the most part, in helping the small boy make himself heard on the Fourth of July. In former years a majority of the imports and exports of Canton were carried in British bottoms, but with the amazing growth of the American merchant marine it is expected our countrv will take over a Thirteen groat deal of the trade which has hitherto been monopoHzed by the British — although the occupation of Hongkong in 1842 by our ally in the World War puts us at a disadvantage, which, however, should be largely overcome by American initiative. Canton communicates by steam with Hongkong, Shanghai, and Macao. Present conditions necessitate the passage through the former of nearly all commodities sent to Canton from the United States and Europe. A plan to establish a free port near Macao has been considered for several years, and the carrying into effect of such a plan would doubtless lessen the present importance of Hongkong. Canton is about 100 miles by rail from Hongkong, and the trip can be made in five hours' time; but many strangers prefer to travel by way of the Chukiang River, since the view is incomparably better and less tiresome. So in the following pages we shall travel up the Chukiang River to Canton, experiencing some of the thrills which come from the presence of river pirates, who pui-sue with dihgence the ancient profession of their f()r(>fathers of more barbaric days and against whom ships must ever ])e on guard. After tlie interesting river trip we arrive in the harbor of Canton. Making our way among the innumerable and strangely-fashioned boats, we struggle thi'ough the throngs of chattering men and boys who swarm along the water front, and proceed to make the best of our visit in this Chinese port. Fourteen CANTON THE RIVER PIRATES HE cruise to Canton be- gins, in this instance, from the Harbor of Hong- kong around the evening hour of ten, when the vel- vety bhickness of the hot oriental night has settled around the trav- eler, makinw him feel a bit uncomfort- able — as if he were shrouded in a thick, woolen blanket and confined in a warm room on a July day. Tn the city of ^'ict()ria. resting on the rim of tli(> harbor, there gleams a profu- sion of lights which silvers in ])laces the mist hanging over the island. The liglits are constantly flickering, some dyin^ nil of a sudden and others blazing torth where tlie fingers of night had been piling up dark siiadows just a moment before. A weird ciy aris(^s from the water front and is flung ])-?:-k by the multifold echoes. The cry comes from a group of men engaged in a dispute on one of the piers. The echo seems to startle them, for they run, bending low and glancing over their backs. The clump, clump of police boots is heard, and a thread of light from a flash-liglit travels through the gloom. A spurt of orange-colored flame and a staccato "crack-crack." Some one is being reckless. A broad beam of li^ht from a search- light on a warship, whose outlines are vaguely discernible in the distance, at- tracts the attention — ^since all men re- semble moths, in that they are more or less fascinated ])y light. The warship fiashes a signal to an invisible receiver. The flood of liglit is checked as suddenly as it was released. Points of reflected light glisten from the tops of small waves in the harbor. It's a question whether the light comes from tlie city or from the crescent moon which hangs from a wreath of clouds in the sky. The voyage begins, and after cross- ing the harbor the river steamer is lost for a time in a tortuous channel A\Tiggling in and around tlie maze of small islands between Hongkong and the mainland. In al)()ut two hours' time the ancient Bogue fortresses come into view, and the Fifteen CANTON Across Canton River steamer soon finds itself in the brown waters of tlic; Chukiang liiver — or the Pearl, or the Canton J?iver, as it is some- times called by foreigners. It is on the Chukiang Jliver that the crews of pas- senger boats take all possible precautions Sixteen against attack by Chinese pirates, who resemble criminals the world over, in that they are more prone to operate at night than in daytime. But the sim never renders the Chinese cousins of "(\i|)'n Flint" so timid as to keej) them from attacking a steamship in broad (hiylight if the opportunity presents itself. The local governments have found it impossible always to protect shij)s against the danger of assaults by river pirates; so the steamship companies, in self-defense, place armed guards on board tlie Canton boats. The guards are equipped with rifles, revolvers, and sometimes shot- guns, which often serve to scare off, at long range, suspicious looking individuals. The value of life is not so great in this particular stretch of country as in the Occi(kmt, and the guards take no risks, preferring to shoot first and ask questions afterwards a course of action reminiscent of early days on the American frontiers. The guards are on the al(M-t. although no pirates have shown themselves on tlu^ river for weeks, and the possibility of a skirmish lends spice to what would other- wise be an uneventful trip. CANTON On either side of the muddy river are phintations devoted to tlie cultivation of rice and hananas. and at intervals little groujis of houses come into view — shadow^^ through the dark curtain of night which has definitely fallen over the land. The river pirates do not make them- selves heard or seen on this particular trip: but the passengers, assured that it might well have happened otherwise, are told that fully 20.0()() pirates live along the Ohukiang P.iver and in and near Can- ton. Occasionally the outside world hears of passengers and crew being murdered and a ship burned by the pirates on the Chukiang River; then all precautionary measures are redoubled. Expeditions are sometimes sent out by the Government in search of river pirates. Upon the successful conclusions of such trips scores of the half- wild captives are executed. Sometimes the Government raiders are defeated, and the pirates, emboldened by their success, make further forays against steamships and drive, for a time, many of the smaller craft from the Hongkong-Clinton river trade. Low-Caste Women in Rice Fields There are three or four companies o]) crating steamers between Hongkong and Canton, one of them being known as the British Line (the Hongkong and Macao Steamboat Compan}'). Steamers Seventeen CANTON River Boats Alive with Native Passengers owned by this line — the KinsTian, Ileung- shan, Honan, and Faishan— leave Hong- kong at 10 p. m., arriving in Canton at 6.30 o'clock in the morning. Steamers from Hongkong to Canton and return are also operated by a Chinese Eighteen 'v-. , company, whose rates are cheaper than the Britisli company's. Its ships, the Kivangtung and the Kvxingsai, arc often patronized by tourists. These boats leave Hongkong at 9 p. m., arriving in Canton at G.30 o clock the next morning. The traveler desiring to visit Canton by rail should board the train at Kowloon, the terminus of the Canton-Hankow Railroad. The line, built by the Chinese, was extended by the British, who plan eventuall}' to make it a direct line to Paris. SUNRISE IN CANTON lAYING eluded the river pirates, the steamer makes rapid headway up the Chukiang Iliver, and as the sky l)rushes the darkness from its face and the sun sends great streamers of crimson and purple light from behind tlie gray clouds massed on the eastern horizon, the out- skirts of Canton come into view, and there is a rush of work on the deck as the pas- sengers make ready to land, all thoughts CANTON of murderous river pirates momentarily banished from their minds. The sun is still hesitating below the rim of the earth when the steamer from Hongkong breasts the muddy waters of that part of the river whicli flows through the fringes of Canton. Most of the buildings in Canton croucli low, as if apprehensive of an angry, sweep- ing blow from the typhoons brewed occa- sionally in the atmospheric kettle of the China Sea. They are more humble, these buildings, than the skyscrapers of the American continent. One of the lords among them is the five-storied Pagoda which looks calmly down on other struc- tures from its superior height. Seasoned travelers prefer to arrive in Canton early in the morning, for then the life of the city may be observed under more favorable conditions. The maxim "early to bed and early to rise" is ob- served in Canton as well as in the service, for, as the steamer approaches the wharf, the river seems to be alive with scores of craft, ranging from unwieldy junks to small sampans, which dart in and out among the slower moving, more sedate Funeral Boats, Canton boats, as children })lay tag aroimd a crowd of their elders. Every boat paddler appears to be trying his best to throw his or her voice across the river, and the range varies Nineteen CANTON astonishingly — from the bass of the doep- chostpd moiiiitainpor on the rail of a near-by junk, to the sereechy, nerve-rend- ino; falsetto of the ano;rv Chinese woman in the fnel-ladeji sampan, as she beats her son. The sampan, it appears, has just escaped being rammed by a junk under full canvas, and the unfortunate son is blamed for the near collision. The monotonous singsong of Chinese voices is silenced for tlie moment by a sudden outbui'st from the native sailors on a funeral boat ancliored near the shore. The crew evidently believes the only way to mourn the dead is by constant, per- sistent, never-ending lamentations. Very shortly the uproar is augmented by the dashing together of gr(\-it cymbals. The inquisitive passengers on the steamer are inf'()rm(>(l that the crew isfriglitening away evil sj)irits, who thrive on quiet, and who, if left in peace, miglit bring harm to the bo(Hes of the dead on board the funeral boats. • A questionable whifl' from another funeral boat, hard by the bank farther up the stream, is resj)onsible for a ques- tion. The travehM- hears, by way of reply, Twenty that some of the dead have been on the boat for five or six months. They will remain there until the time is auspicious for burial. Each of the funeral boats seems to be trying to outdo the others in making the welkin ring. The din soon grows so deaf- ening that the traveler lialf expects to see tlie dead arise and poke their heads above the lacquered sides of their coffins on the deck of the funeral l)oat. Across tlie river from Canton the trav- eler sees the cities of Wati and Honan, where he will view many sights almost as strange as those in Canton if he chooses to spare the time necessary for a visit in the two suburban districts: but, as a rule, the majoritv of strangers find Canton so indescribalily fascinating that they hesi- tate to roam through the neighlioi'ing sections in s(\ir('h of attractions, which must iiidubitably prove less interesting tlian those of Canton. The ship passes more funeral boats, more junks and sampans, and now and then the j^assengers see small fishing boats rowed by native women, who dip nets into the muddv waters of the river and crv out CANTON angrily when the fisli evade the trap tliiis set for them. And, since the dripping nets come out of the water empty more often than not, the reader can imagine the crescendo of feminine screams which assails the ears just as easily as if l;e him- self were there to see and to hear the fisher women call down the wrath of Heaven on hoth the fish and any humans who may happen to be within screaming distance. Tlie crews on the fishing boats seem to fear the wrath of th.ese Chinese Amazons as much as the people of medieval times feared the wrath of bedraggled, hook-nosed witches, who were supposed to spend most of their time concocting strange brews in three-legged kettles and riding in the clouds astride brooms all hung with cob- webs. There is something weird and uncanny about it all — funeral boats, screaming fisher women, brass c\Tnbals, junks, sam- pans, river pirates, lacquered coffins, half- naked men, howling mourners, cock- roaches in honey, and snakes in broth. It is almost unbelievable, alm:)st impos- sible of conception to us Americans who usually live a sane, well-ordered sort of existence. The people of an American city, were they to live their lives in sucli a fashion as do those in Canton, would be considered eccentric, if not actually mad ; but the Cantonese take their mode of livi:ig and their customs as calmly as 3'ou please and find nothing unusual or strange about them. And it is tliis feel- ing; which makes Canton so enchanting to trousered, shirted, shoe-wearing, soap- using Americans. In Canton we find once more the eternal truth of that trite, shrewd observation: "One-half of the world knows not how the other half lives." The least that can be said for Canton is that it is different. Exceed- ingly, strikingly, abrupt Iv different. Can- ton is Canton, just as >\ow York is New York, and Paris is Paris, and Mexico is Mexico. It couldn't be otherwise. A breeze has sprung up by this time, and the surface of the river is broken into iiuni])eiiess ripples which dance a sort of listless, rhythmic, measured dance, and cause the smaller boats to move up and down as the bol)ber on a fishing line rocks in the watery bed upon which it is rest- Twenty-One CANTON Good View of Canton Across Canton River iiig— always on the alert and ready to ilash the signal which tells of a tentative nibble at the hook below. The steamer continues up the river and, as the sun finally shakes itself clear of the horizon and steps out on the roof Twenty- Tiro of the world, the landing place comes into view and the passengers make ready for their venture into the unknown high- ways and byways of life in the city of Canton. After a period of maneuvering along the water front, the steamer — as if afraid of crushing the smaller boats which clutter up its path — moves slowly into its berth; the gangplank is thrown out, the passen- gers walk from the steamer and almost immediately become engaged in what is apparently a desperate light for life and security of limb. A BATTLE FOR LIFE N American who has lived in his own country and has become accustomed to seeing the Chinaman as a quiet, unassuming, stoical, and perhaps a ])it comi)lacont. sort of a per- son, is apt to be ai)ruptly disillusioned — in one respect at any rate — when he lands from the Hongkong steamer at the Canton wharf. A majority of the CANTON Chinese in Canton are just what the Chi- nese one ordinarily sees in the United States are not. As Canton is dilTerent, so the Chinese in Canton are different. The arrival of a steamer is usually the signal for an onslaught by howling, cursing men and boys who appear to be either direct descendants or near relatives of the river pirates hiding along the banks of the Chukiang River on the road to Canton. They come by way of land and they come by way of water. Some hop nim])ly from sampan to sampan ; others climb the rail- ing ofTicially considered as being an ade- quate barrier against trespassers. They screech and yell in such a ferocious manner that the more timid among the passengers turn pale and wonder whether they have survived the voyage from Hongkong only to meet a greater danger in Canton. The crowd of yelling, half-naked Clii- nese is reinforced by others attracted by the din which silences even the brassy clatter of native musical instruments on the funeral boats drifting along in mid- stream. vSome of the natives finally succeed in reaching the side of the steamer, and as Street in Canton the passengers, in doubtful mood, cau- tiously walk down the gangplank, the Chinese fall uj)on them, and for a while it appears that a race riot of respectable proportions is brewing. Twenty- Three CANTON Crowds of Chinamen Watching Passengers at Pier, Canton All occidental list is douhlrd. It falls upon an oriental chin. And if the air were filled with shouts and yells a moment ago, it is now Hooded with llie same. The men passen^^ers prepare to light to the last gasp for the women and children — Twenty-Four their hearts being filled with the same ardor possessed by the berserkers of old who, it is said, had quite a reputation for bravery in their time. It is a hattle for life, apparently. The travelers appeal to the ship's officers who endeavor to make themselves heard above the uproar. But the exercise of so many vocal organs has temporarily crippled the sense of hearing, and the officers' words go all unheeded by their charges. Another occidental fist is d(ml)led, and its possessor (a grim, red-faced man resembling a traveling salesman) uses it to such good advantage that another oriental is tumliled over, but is less for- tunate than the first, inasmuch as he sails head over heels into the river and is fished out by a screaming fisher woman who vol- leys curses on the heads of the excitable "foreign devils." 'fli(^ score is now two to nothing, the occidentals being in the lead, and further casualties are in the ofhiig, when a short breathing spell enal)les the now hoarse ship's officers to make themselves heard to the i)assengers. CANTON ''Stop," they shout. "Stop! Don't do that." And they rush to the rescue of a passenger engaged in an international argument ^^'ith tvro giant natives. The rescue is effected, and the ship's officers turn to the passengers. ''These natives are not cutthroats, nor bandits, nor river pirates," they say, "but just porters and sedan-chair coolies. They're looking for customers, not blood." The travelei's, some angry and some a]:)prehensive before, now cast slieepish grins at one another. The grim, red- faced man (resem])ling a traveling sales- man) gives a dollar to the native whom he had thrown into the river and the first casualty among the natives is given a similar amount. The peace is no longer disturbed. The renewal of shouts, cries, and yells among the porters and sedan-chair coolies, a crash of cym])als from the funeral l)oat on the river, and the wail of a fisher woman who has just lost a catch of fish by reason of a broken net, signals the end of the battle for life on the Chukiang River at the port of Canton shortly after break o' day. ON SHAMEEN ISLAND T SEEMS that the porters and sedan-chair coolies, who so valiantly stormed the steamboat at the landing, are to be dis- appointed after all, for arrangements have been made ^\'ith the Victoria Hotel to send chairs and coolies for the passengers, and the early arrivals among the natives obtain only one or two patrons from the entire company of travelers on the ship. The sedan chairs from the hotel are quickly occu])ied, the porters take up tluMr burdens of luggage, and the travelers are carried along tlie Bund, across a bridge, and find tliemselves on the island of Sha- meen, wliich serves as a place of residence for a majority of the foreigners living and visiting in Canton. The island of Shameen — "built on sand" — was constructetl ])etween the years 18.59 and 1862 by joint action of the British and French. Slightly less than one-third of the island is under the control Tuenty-Five CANTON Banyan Trees on Shameen Island, Canton of the French while the remaiiuUn- is gov- erned hy the British. Before the French and British engi- neers l)egan their task of improving the island and making it hahitahle for foreign- ers, Shameen was a low sand bank in the Twenty-Six river and hardly in tne category of places fit for human residence. Bnt the inge- nuity of the engineers transformed the island into a healthful, heantiful, residen- tial district, and Shameen is now consid- ered the best section of Canton, although as far as the picturesque is concerned it is surpassed by the native districts of the city. Shameen is well protected against pos- si])Ie attacks by bandits or river pirates. The bridges leading to the island from tlie mainland are guarded day and night, while barbed-wire entanglements stand on the shores, evidently for the purpose of discouraging marauders irom among the river population. Natives are forbidden to go on the island miless permission is granted by the British or French, and the few natives who pass back and forth are searched for weapons by the guards at the bridges. Europeans, howevei*, ai'e seldom stop])ed by the sentries. Probal)ly the best view of Canton is obtainable from the island of Shameen, and many travelers prefer to see the city from across the river, rather than mingle CANTON with the natives in the hot, dusty streets or along the narrow passages of water M'hich thread hoth the residential and business quarters of Canton. But the stranger who has traveled all the way from the other side of the world to see something of manners and customs in Canton, does not hesitate to leave the hotel in Shameen, recross the river, and ride by sedan chair above the heads of the thrones in the streets ; and when his indi- vidual tour of inspection is completed he can say with truth that he has had his hand on the heart of Canton and has felt the throb of life along its narrow streets and alleys and waterways. In seeing Canton he will have seen much that is typical of China — for the foreigner has not gained the foothold here that he has in Hongkong, and the Cantonese, for tlie most part, dress and act and speak as their ancestors did centuric^s ago. Only most of them have discarded the cpieue since the establishment of the Republic, and the feet of the women are not l)oujid so gen- eralh' as in the days of the Empire. But with very few other changes the major part of the population of Canton has. Figures Clothed with Growing Plants in the Gardens played a conservative part in the game of life, dis])laying their respect for their fore- fathers by doing as then- forefathers did. If Americans were to follow the same cus- tom, we would still be wearing powdered wigs, knee breeches, embroidered coats, Tuenty-Seven CANTON ruffles, buckled shoes, and rapiers; or coonskin caj)s, leather coats, and leggings with buckskin fringes, moccasins, and car- rying powder horns and long squirrel rifles — Daniel Boone style. COFFINS AND GONGS HE traveler steps into his sedan chair, which is promptly lifted to the shoidders of the sturdy coolies, and he begins his journey through the na- tive clistricts of Canton via the same bridge over which he passed on his trip to the island of Shameen. Visitors occasionally venture into Can- ton afoot, but seldom repeat the experi- ence, inasmuch as many of the natives on the streets are stripped to the waist, and since the pedestrian is invariably jostled about in the narrow streets he finds his clothing the worse for wear after it has ])een in contact with the bodies of the half-naked Chinese. Twenty-Eight The change from the wide thorough- fares, shaded by tamarind trees, of Sha- meen to the narrow evil-smelhng streets and alleys of Canton is depressing for the traveler sensitive to odors: but the trip will have its redeeming features, for he will view sights more weird on his journey about that city than he viewed on his cruise up the muddy waters of the Chu- kiang River. The traveler is prepared for one of the strangest of his many experiences in this city by the Chukiang River. Hardly is the trip through the heart of Canton be- gun wlien it is halted by the interruption of traffic on the street over which the coolies are proceeding, and by the now familiar clatter of gongs and the wail of oriental voices^ — some weak, some strong, some tearful, and some jo}"fuL A word of inquiry brings the answer that a funeral procession is passing througli the streets, that all traffic is halted out of respect for the dead. The interruption of traffic appears, from an American viewpoint, to be the only mark of respect for the dead, inasmuch as the mourners conduct themselves in a manner CANTON that would he considered sacrilegious in an occidental country. It apj)ears that a funeral of a promi- nent merchant of Canton is taking place. As the procession comes into view the populace cranes its necks in morl)id curi- osity, not hesitating to make critical re- marks ahout the appearance of the cofhn, the price which must have heen paid for it. and so on. Ahead of the hicr marches a Chinese hand, the memhers playing on all sorts of alleged musical instruments, whose value is evidently determined hy the noises pro- duced through frenzied manipulation of the keys, slides, and strings. Several of the handsmen are pounding on metal drums whose "music" suggests the din in a hoiler factory, and every now and then the advance guard reluctantly ahandons its playing on the instrimients to let forth hlood-curdling screeches, which send shiv- ers frolicking up the backs of the by- standers. Several coolies come next in the pro- cession, staggering under the weight of great loads of flowers, whose fragrance drowns, for a m.oment, the odor of sewage Cantonese Girl (lowing down the middle of the street. P'ollowing the "flower coolies" are others bearing i)latform affairs on which are ari'angcd trays of food, principal among them being one which supports a whole roast pig, fat and brown. One American Twenty-Nine CANTON Leaving Canton in Sedan Chairs, China spoctutor remarks that lie will never, never a":ain permit the serving of roast pork at his table on Christmas day. The male relatives of the dead mer- chant are next in line. The}'' walk afoot and are followed 1)V the female relatives in sedan chairs. The first contin