The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-14 00:00:00

LOVE-MAKING IN CHINA.

(Extract of a Letter from Chusan.)
I was poking about the deserted town the day after
we were assigned our several locations, when in a street,
anything but a principal one, and at a window of a
house anything but an inferior one, I saw, or thought I
saw, a pair of eyes peeping from over a screen. and a
pair of hands resting upon the top thereof. The house
had its gable end to the street in which 1 was, and the
window was the heat round the corner. I caught the
vision as I passed—l returned, and returned, and the
eyes and hands were still there. Somehow or other I
concluded that they belonged to a female, but, as it was
clearly possible they might not, it would have been un-
satisfactory to go away wondering. I therefore looked
over my shoulder, and no one being in sight, I very
quietly slipped round to the door, and, not think-
ing it necessary to wait till it was opened, I ap-
plied my shoulder decisively to it, and it yielded
to the percussion. I had hardly got inside the
threshold, when the eyes and hands I had seen
made their appearance, in company with the rest of
the proprietor, the whole figure in a state of evident
trepidation. I believe you know 1 do not speak Chi-
nese, so I made no attempt to explain myself by words.
I dropped on my knees, and would have kissed the
young lady's foot, but she drew back, and I therefore
Kissed the ground two or three times, after which I
placed myself on one knee, and, concluding that Chinese
have hearts as well as other people, and probably in
the same place, I pressed mine with intense earnest-
ness, and looked--I am not exactly sure how I looked,
but I soon saw a woman is a woman all over the
world, for her little eyes sparkled, and her little hands
put back a little veil that was worked in gold
thread, and her little feet pattered towards me a step
or two—l cannot say my goddess walked, and alto•
gether she appeared as much impressed with my ap-
pearance as a modest man could reasonably expect.
I never was so surprised in my life at the ease with
which I reassured her, for, between ourselves, I ex-
pected, being of China, the precious porcelain would
break to pieces from very fright. I had only knelt
two or three minutes, struck my left side three or
tour gentle slaps, and clasped my hands, just by the by
AS you squeeze a lemon, when I saw that I was any
thing but a monster in her eyes. I would have given
ill possible promotion and prize money just to have
been able to say a thing or two in Chinese, but it was
out of the question. I had, therefore, but one resource :
I spoke English, and told her, of course, she had nothing
to rear, that no one living should harm her, and that I
considered she was a celestial of the first water, and no
mistake, left for the express purpose of striking into
dazzled bewilderment with her radiant beauty the
without savages. All this I have no doubt she fully
comprehended. In return she told me, in Chinese,
that all her family had fled in terror, she supposed,
for that on coming home late one evening from a
tea party, she found the house empty—she was pre-
paring to follow, and had got nearly out of the Western
gate, when her heart failed her at the sight of some
of our men, and she returned. She added that there
was not a soul in the house but herself, and that
she had been very frightened, but that she was not
frightened any longer. Have you ever seen La Micelle
di Portici .? Of course you have. Very well then,
you know how I got at all this. The house was a
very neat affair, indeed it looked like a large toy ;
there were five or six apartments leading from one
another, and up stairs, not exactly what we mean by up
stairs, but yet above the others (the ascent was little
more than a gentle plane) as many more. My little
friend refreshed me with a luscious liqueur, which she
gave me in a small glass globe, covered with gold fila-
gree work, and standing on a carved ivory stem, in shape
not unlike our modern champagne glasses. I think it
must have been decidedly intoxicating in its effects, for,
though I took but two glasses, I felt en alloverishness
very soon after. I might have gone to sleep, but the
curiosity of my fair hostess kept me awake ; and find-
ing that I really was a very harmless thing to play
with, she pulled me about almost as much as if I had
been one of their own puzzles. I think I re-
mained nearly two hours with her, ransacking in a
quiet way everything in the house, which she
allowed me to do, seeing the pleasure the novelty gave
me. This whole affair appeared to me when I returned
home like a dream. If women all over the world are
not riddles, what are they? The girl made me un-
derstand as perfectly as if she had been brought up
in a finishing academy near London, that I was not
to tell a soul of her existence. She showed me pro.
visions, dried fruits, and cakes, and wines, that would
last her ten years ; and seeing that I understood I was
to be mum, which I made her do by pretending to sew
my lips together, at which she laughed heartily and
clapped her hands, she invited me to call again, to
which I said yes, by slipping behind a screen, spring-
ing forward, and seizing her foot, which this time she
did not withdraw, but rather allowed me to examine, and
I can confidently say it was more like a small bag of
walnuts than anything else. I intend to keep my pro-
mise, and if I am not " found out" I don't think she
will be, while things stand as they do at present. I.
have hardly time to add that I am, my dear —,
your's very sincerely, —.

ESCAPE OF GAS AT STRASBURG

A melancholy accident occurred at Strasburg a few
days since, in consequence of a great quantity of gas
escaping from a faulty pipe into the rooms where a
tradesman and his wife, with their servant and three
children were sleeping. All except the father and
mother were suffocated. The Courrier of Strasburg
gives the following particulars of this occurrence, which
it states has thrown the whole town into alarm :
" About ten o'clock on Saturday morning M. Horst,
a teacher of the piano, uneasy at finding that the house
in which he lived was infected with a strong smell of
gas, sent for the chief agent of the Company to ascer-
tain the cause. They began by examining the ground-
floor, and on coming to the kitchen of an apartment
occupied by the family of M. Beringer, a dealer in
glass and other articles from the Black Forest, stifled
groans and other sounds of a dying person were heard
from the adjoining room. It then occurred to M.
Horst that, although the day was so far advanced,
not one of this family had been seen stirring ; he called,
therefore, for assistance, and had the room whence the
ominous sounds issued forced open. It was in darkness,
the shutters being still closed. When light was ad-
mitted the following horrible spectacle presented itself :
Six persons were lying in different positions, either
dead or in the last agonies. M. Beringer was lying
in the middle of the chamber with his face to the ground,
entirely dressed except his coat and waistcoat. Near
him, and in front of a stove, lay the servant, a young
woman, completely clothed. The wife, who was also
dressed, was lying on her bed, with the youngest child,
a little gill seven years old. On a mattress, near the
window, was one of the two sons, fifteen years of age,
with his drawers and waistcoat on, and near him,
on the floor his brother in his shirt. All were foaming
at the mouth, had their features contracted, and of a
violet colour, and their limbs distorted and stiff, as if
they had been suffering from violent convulsions.
Not one of them showed any signs of life except the
father, the rattling in whose throat had given the
alarm. Medical assistance was given, but all were dead
except the father and mother. It was afterwards
found that a considerable issue of gas had taken place
from the pipes into the house, and had no doubt caused
the accident. In the evening M. Beringer was still
alive, but was not expected to survive ; his wife re-
mained in a state of delirium."