Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1857-06-30
Canton and the Chinese.

The bombardment of Canton has caused
a general desire to know something OF the
city and the people who live there. This
we are able to supply from an account by
a recent traveller. .....
The town of Canton is nine miles in
circumference. 1t is the residence OF
Vceroy, and divided by walls into the
Chinese and the Tartar town. The pop
ulation OF the town itself is reckoned at
400, 900, while it is calculated that 600
persons live in the boats and schamps,
and about 10000 in the immediate vicln-
ity. The number of Europeans settled
here is about 200.
For some distance our road lay through
narrow streets or alleys paved with large
flags. In a small niche, somewhere IN the
front of every house, we saw little altars,
from one to three feet high, before which,
as it was yet early, the night lamps were
yet burning An immense quantity OF
oil is necessarily consumed in keeping up
this religious custom. The shops now
began to be opened. They resemble neat
entrance halls, having no front wall. The
goods were exposed for sale either in large
open boxes or on tables, behind which the
shop keepers sit and work. In the corner
of the shop a narrow staircase leads up
into the dwelling house above.
Here, az in Turkish towns, the same
regulation is observed of each trade or
calling having its especial street, so that
in one nothing but crockery and glass, in
another silks, and SO on, is to be seen.
In the physicians street are situated all
the apothecaries' shops as well, as the two
professions are united in one and the same
person. The provisions, which are very
tastefully arranged, have also their separate
streets. Between the houses are frequent
ly small temples, not differing the least,
however, in style, from the surrounding
buildings; the gods, too, merely occupy
the ground floor, the upper stories being
inhabited by simple mortals.
The hustle in the streets was astonish-
ing especially in those set apart for the
sale of provisions. Women and girls oI
the lower classes went about with theil
purchases, just as i'll Europe. They were
all unveiled, an | some of them waddled
like geese, in consequence of their Grip
pied feet, which, as l before observed, eX,
tends to all ranks. The crowd was con
siderably increased by the number of por'
ters, with large baskets of provisions OF
their shoulders, running along, and prais
ing in loud voice their stock IN trade
or warning the people to make way fol
them. At other times the whole breadth
of the street will be taken up. and the busy
stream of human beings completely stop
ped by the litter of some rich or noble per
sonage proceeding to his place of business
; But worse than all were the numerous
porters we met at every stePwe took, car
, rying large baskets of unsavory butter.
After treading our way for at least TIVE
miles through a succession of nar oV
/ streets, we at length emerged into the opel
space, where we obtained full view o
the city walls, and from the summit of ;
small hill which was situated near them
i tolerably extensive one over the towl
itself The city walls are about 60 fee
high, and, for the most part, so overgrow
t with grass, creeping plants, and under
: wood, that they resemble a magnihcen
!. mass of living vegetation. The town re
: sembles chaos of small houses, with noN
and then solitary tree, but we saw neitll
er fine streets nor squares, nor any re
markaole DulldlnSs, templeS, OF P"Soua,
!, A single pagoda five stories high. remind
o ed us Of the peculiar character of the CHI
: nese architecture.
The Chinese do almost everything tn
q opposite way to what we are accustomed
They begin their writing at the right han
t, of the page, what we should call the en-
y of the book, and write down and acros
i The men wear petticoats and carry fal
" They get upon the right side of the hors
The old men walk on stills and anus
e themselves with flying paper kites whi
< the boys look graveIy on.
Our road now lay over fertile eminence
: varied with fields, and meadows in hig
in state of cultivation. Many of the hil
y. are used as cemeteries, and are dotted ov
IN with small mounds of earth, walled