Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1841-10-16
From Lord Jocelyn's /" Sir Months Nth M
Chinese ErDedifion,p

From Lord Jocelyn's " Sir Months Nth Mt
Chinese Erpedition."'
THE OPIUM SMOKER IN HIS HtAyEx.-Onne
Of the objects | had the curiosity to visit, "a,
Chusan) was the opium smoker in his heaven;
and certainly II isa most fearful sight, although
perhaps not 80 degrading to the eye az the
drunkard from spiritsi lowered to the leyeI oil
the brute, and wallowing in filth. The iairt
smile and death-like stupor, however, OF the
opium ~debauchee, hal something far more
awful to the gaze than the bestiality Of the
other. Pity, II possible. takes the place Of
other feelings, a. we watch the faded, dull,
sluggard look of the being abandoned 10 the
power Of the drug, while disgust is uppermost
at the sight of the human creature levellcd to
the beast by intoxication. One Of the streets
in the centre Of the town (Singap0re) is who'll
ly devoted to shops for the sale Of opium and
here may be seen, in the. evening, after the
labors of the day arc over, crowds Of Chinese
who seek these places to satisfy their depraved
appetites. The rooms in which they sit and
are surrounded by wood touches, with places
for the head to rest upon, and generally a side
room 10 devoted to gambling. The pipe is a
reed OF about an inch in diameter, and the
aperture in the bowl for the admission Of the
opium is not larger than a pins head. The
drug ID prepared with some kind Of conserve;
and a very small portion is sufficient to charge
it, one or two whiffs being the utmost that can
be inhaled from one pipe, and the smoke is
taken into the lungs as from the hookah in
India.
On a beginner, ore or two pipes will have
an effect, but an old stager will continue
smoking for hours. At the head OF cath couch
is placed a small lariipy no fire must be held
to the drug during the process Of inhaling ;
and from the difficulty Of filing and probably
lighting the pipe, there is generally a person
who waits Upon the smoker to perform the
office. A few days Of this fearful luxury, when
taken to excess, will give a pallid and haggard
look to the face !; and in a few months, or even
weeks, will change the strong and healthy
man into little better than an idiot skeleton.
The pain they suffer when deprived Of the
drug after a long habit, no language can Ok
plain, and it is only when to a certain degree
under its influence that their faculties are
alive. In the houses devoted to their ruin,
these infatuated people may be seen, at Q
o'clock in the evening, in all the different
stages. Some enteflnlg half distracted to feed
tie craving appetite they had been obliged to
subdue during the day ; others laughing and
talking wildly under the effects Of a first pipe;
whilst the cotFches around are filled with the
different occupants, who lie languid, with an
idiot smile upon their co%untenance, too much
under The influence of the drug to care for
passing events, and fast merging to the wished
for contamination. The last scene in this
tragic play is generally a room in the rear Of
the building, a species Of dead house, where
lie stretched those who have passed Tito the
state of bliss, the opiurA spoker madl9. seeks
IAN emblem of the long sleep to which ha is
blindly hurrying.
EFFECTS OF ABoLtrtoS-Under this head
we find the following communication in the
Cincinnati Enquirer:
1t appears from good authority, that the run
of southern travel to the north and east has
taken the Mississippi west by the lakes, ex-
pressly to avoid this city. My informant says
that st. Louis is crowded with southerners,
either to Spend the summer, there, or on their
way to the eastern cities that st. Louis boass
are thronged with passengers, and that more
than fifteen hundred persons have arrived there
from the eouth in a single week. Thus the
Queen city has not only lost her reputation,
but is losing thousands of dollars that would
have been expended here by those wealthy
and liberal strangers.
Some decided means must be adopted to re-
trieve our character, and to quell these dis
turbers of society, or we SHAH incur the con-
tempt and hostility Of all our southern neigh
bors. Tl1ese wreckless creatures are still in
terfering withthe domestic peace and security
of our adjoining State, and we soon expect to
hear of sorrTe act of retaliation that will startle
the most torpid among us.
The recent attempt to seal away some
negroes from Boon county, KY, is said to have
been coneerted by a, certain DR.. s., agent
for the abolition society of this city. Even a
female member Of it lately took up her abode
in a family near Covington, for the purpose Of
enticing away their servants and carriei over
incendiary tracts for their instruction. Slaves
who are not disposed to leave their masters
are pursued into our streets. Ladies from
Kentucky canno visit our city in a carriage
without danger Of losing their driver. They
cannot bring a servant to carry home their
purchases from our stores or markets, but
they are assailed by 4 posse of buck negroes
or persons ii lighter skins-bh darker prin-.
ciples. A young lady from Newport brought
a servant gill to carry her bandbox from the
milliners s-77she was pursued to the ferry-boat
by two black stays. A lady from Covington
came to one Of our stores with her child and
great fat wench followed her muse
into a store, and asked if she did not wish to
be free. Where was the chiyalry of the
Of the yard stick !. The farmers and
drovers who supply our markets with tho best
of beef. can no longer bring their negroas 10
assist in driving their cattle. The Kentucky
trade must take another direction. Inter-
course and gshd feeling viii diminish, until
animosity and hostility will take their places.
All these unpleasant consequences arise
from the Interference Of . few negroes and
mostly foreigners, wh5 are employed
here for purfbsss of mischief.
BAvARIAN wehEN.-The Bayarian women
are celebrated for their innate kindness and
goodness. and there is a saying with respect
to them which has grown in aonde parts OF the
almost proyerbial,. {" Sic rerden aichts
lie. They will refuse nothing"
Without inquiring too infinitely into the exact
amount of veracity to be ascribsd TO this say
ing, we give the following anesdote ~illustra-
of their character:
A young opera singer of Munich, who was
with All Englishman, having worn
hllhself out by excess Of joking and laughter
dlring the day, became sleepy in the evening,
and not occupying a corner Of the coach,'foun
his head rather inconvenienE A Bavarian
lady, who sat next to him, protesting she could
never sleep in a coach, surrendered her place
to him, and in a fey minutes his head was re-
cumbent on her shohlder, his arm around her
waist, and he slept profoundly. When the
coach stopped to chaige horses, the English
nsn and he walked,t 70 view the ruins of slittle
Gothic church in the moonlight and of ask
ing him if he was acquainted with the lady
on whose shoulder he had slept so'well, he
-.pliod q haua nororroon hor hoforo.. hut u,a