, 1880-01-04
WHAT THE CHINESE BUY.

| WHAT THE CHINESE BUY,
Curious Things They Buy to Cure Sick
ness and Gain Strength-Rreedtng In
'sects to Procure Wax.
| London Pau Mall Gazstt4.
II IOpfum and cottons, and tea and silk. con
| stitute in the estimation Of most people th
f:sum total Of the foreign trade with China
/ To such generalizers ships bill Of lading ar
unknown documents; they do not know
apparently, that cotton and opium do no
| supply all that Cinnamon seek from foreign
| ers, and that the laboring classes Of the En-
| pire are not all employed in cultivatlng te;
+ and manufacturing silk. These. articles are
after all, only the big fish which come to tn,
traders net; and, when e. they fail
there are plenty Of smaller fry which
help to, supply their place. The Chi
nese boast themselves Of being a civilized
people; but though their philosophy is cred
liable they are unable to provide their seam
stresses with any but the clums!est o1
needles, and though they can calculate
eclipses with commendable accuracy they
have failed to contrive anything better than
flint and steel wherewith to light the wicks
floating In oil which serve them for lamps
These imperfections in the domestic economy
Of the people, being universal and ever-pres
g. Mays matches or a packet of :Kirby's
needles to be received with expressions OF
pleasure which would make excellent models
for the conversational advertisements now
the fashion. One can imagine how enthllsi-
asts among the purchasers Of the Il, 129 gross
year would dilate on the superior ease with
which they are now able to light their even
ing lamps, and how the female owners Of the
az, 500,6 900 Of needles, which were fellow
voyagers with. the matches, would clatter
over the exeellences Of the foreign manu-
facture.
But many other things 60 to China besides
needles and matches. Rhfnoceros horns,
tigers bones, and deer and buffalo sinews
are imported for th9 benefit f Of timid and
stances to acquire some Of the strength and
courage Of their original owners. And there
is no lack Of enthusiasm among Chinese
gourmets for the succulent beche-de-mer,
which the shallow waters Of the islands Of
for the birds'-nests which lend such giuti11-
GUS charm to their favorit soup. No other
swallows in the world but those which build
their nests in caves on the sea-cliffs Of Java
and Borneo are able to produce the last most
precious delicacies. Newly-formed nests or
most priced; and these have to go through a
process OF cleansing before they are dried
and dispatched. for, the China market,
where, however, if. in prime condition,
thy thy Tswara tpf'r sbnes espto1s at months e
Among more materially minded purchasers
other spndries" ind feady sale; and
peacocks' and kingdshers' feathers are
eagerly. bought up to adorn the hats Of
honor and the head-dresses Of fashionable
ladies.
In return for these and other imports
China sends into the outer world medicines
Of far greater value than those she accepts
t6o@ 9 oug ar S 9 as o ra4e ca and
who look with strange faith to lily flowers,
ginseng, and lotus nuts for relief from some
Of the ills which flesh is heir to. Even from
the disease-begotten tuber known as China
healthy fr trees, fanciful invalids extract
cure for diseases as unreal as the remedy enl-
ployed to di5pel them. Another export due
to an unhealthy condition aggravated BY an
uncongenial climate is the white wax Of SEE
shHsR y the ksS93Bg E s6ane6 St}Gt o6 that S
pointed ovate leaves, on the twigs of which
myriads Of insects spread themselves like
q brownish film, in the spring Of each year.
Presently the surface Of the twigs becomes
incEusted with white waxY substance Sc
quantity until the latter part Of August
when the twigs are cut off and boiled iii wa
ter. During this process the wax, rising to
the surface, is skinned of, and is then melt
Of those curious accidents which have done
so much to increase the knowledge Of man
kind, it was discovered that by transporting
the insects bred in Keen-chang to the less
con genial climate Of Kea-ting Flu, in the
north OF the province. the amount OF wax
more readily discern a commercial advan-
tagc, OF more speedily take advantage Of one
when unincumbered with political considera-
lions, than the Chinese; and this singular
effect Of removing the insects from n con-
prevent their breeding vas cagerly taken adj
vantage of by the .Sze-chuen traders. Tray
eIers BY night on the high road between
Keen-chang and Kea-ting Flu may meet
in the spring Of the year hundreds
If female insects, big with young, on their
way to their wax farms In Kea-hng Flu. The
Journey Is rough and long, and a fortnight's |
sun would precipitate the Matching, which /!
should take place after the females have been |
attached to the trees. To the unscienttfic eyes
sears to be nothing more than an egg, and |
his belief is the more excusable since the !
,irh Of the young IS the signal for the death |
# the parent, Of whose previous existence
here remains only as evidence an outer shell
mothers are wrapped in a paln,-1eaf and
led to a branch Of the LtDustruna ltctdnm.
II a few days swar1ns of inflnlteSima1ly |
mall insects creep forth and cluster on the
wigs Of the tree, where they fulfill their mis-
he boiling-pot each August Baron RIGHT
ofen considers the value Of the annual crop