The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-06-28


preparations that | saw going forward
[ am fully convinced that, at their
supper table, that woman's family held
a most enthusiastic ratification meet
ing. on. that same evening, on that
same Sampan! You are, perhaps,
eonstitutionally muscular enough to
drdlo the inference!
LUXURIOUS CLIMATE.
My health has been perfect ever
since / left Ohio. Even sea sickness
lasted me but few hours. / arrived
here at a favorable season. The ex-
IRENE heat of the summer had gone:
and since my arrival the climate has
been a continued luxury. The sing
ing birds, the blooming flowers; and
luscious fruits, have dispelled all
semblanee of winter. even in idea.
At dinner to-day we had radishes,
lettuce, string beans and green peas.
The morning glories and camelias are
in full bloom. Whether that good
old camp-meeting hymn that SO poet
ically described a certain cnLe&fiqqk cor
dIt1on where Decen1beTfs as pleasant
as May" had any reference to the
" celestial regions of Southern
China, or not, | cannot affirm; but if
the modern Psalmist intended it as
literally descriptive, then / can affirm
that he hit it to Tea" The sum-
mers are, however, said to be Cypress
lively warm But, must testify that,
whatever the summer may bring forth
to the contrary, the season since my
arrival has been perfectly delightful
AND BEAUTY OF THE
CITY.
And Hong Kong is a beautiful
in its beauty certainly
but not uninteresting by any means
1t is England engrafted upon China,
the natives pronounce it chee-ndh-
or literally Cheong- Wau-" Cheong"
" Wau" Kingdom The
streets are narrow; though really wide
as contrasted with those of any other
city in China; and they go meandeq.-
ing D1iscelJ0Re0usly through space"
as the Dandy said when IT went out
a-walking]l They seem to go no
where, yet they come out everywhere.
There being no wheeled vehicles on
them, people walk all over them.
They are, in fact, like promenades
through a lawn or park and are kept
perfectly clean. indeed, this is, by far,
the cteanest city eUer sac. Being
built almost directly against a noun
tain side, the streets, of course, rise
like terraces, winding about, but still
one above another; so that, standing
in one street we look uplodrh on one
side, into neighbor's cellar, and
on the other side into
neighbOr's chi21asaaati-AIs --------l --euse
IS Two stories on one front and ire
stories on the other But the streets
are everywhere shaded by the pine,
the palm, the bamboo and the baynan,
al in full foliage and forever green
while the morning glory vines, I'M
checked by frost, go trailing in full
bloom over the tallest of them all.
GAs-wONDER OF THE CELEsTIALs.
The city is lighted by gas; which is
/ never ceasing object Of wonderment
to the Chinese. [ have sometimes
watched their demonstrations and lis
-ened to their INEFFECTIVE M-ydlot"
1t evening when the street gas is
lighted; when some one of the Celes-
,ials, (winding his tail around his
teadO climbs up the lamp post, and
having made a reconnaissance in
orce comes down, and with much
;lamorous phraseology tells the others
III he knoacs about It! The thing is
III perfectly simple and comprehensi-
ole, to be sure, except the little ar
about the lcicki That re-
mains mystery unsolvable by Celes-
.ial acumen: C6wucius is silent on
he subject! He keeps dark;" on the
subject of : barbarian " light!
WATER, BANKS, BUSINESS.
The city is supplied with the finest
water imaginable; it is as pure and as
soft as dew. | mention these things
to show you that | am by no means
beyond the comforts of civilization;
and to show, also, that Hong Kong is
as Paul said of Tarsus-" no mean
city" And yet it is indescribable in
its details. Its Oriental type and
Chinese peeuliarities give it physi-
ognomy totally unlike American
cities. Its banks and great mercan-
tile houses are stupendous structures,
massive and-x riYaling the largest
IN n Ineriea- And @slIr@ magnitude of
the business done in them for the
and movement of the
trade of the East is enorm-
Gus. In America a bank stocker
with one million of dollars is consider
ed large; here is one with seven and
ho1f millionS of dollorc +1uo of 6vo
millions and several of two and two
and a half millions. And to see long
files of stalwart coolies come stagger-
ing under their burdens of bushel
baskets of dollars (Mexican) and the
long gowned, long mailed and long
tailed Chinese Compradors sitting In
the open verandahs counting and
them as fast as coolies can
bring them, and to hear their silvery
i'm ole at even q Snuarais diStanca all rn