The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-01-12
A NIGHT IN PEKIN.
Curious sights in n Chinese CITY.

exist; doors are closed, shops shut, and
the inhabitants retire within their
houses. Not even the most important
thoroughfares are illuminated; at GER
tain corners, where the police have
their stations, miserable dirty paper
lanterns are lit up, which shed no light
whatever. Every one who GOES abroad,
whether on foot, in Sedan-chair, or by
cart, must carry a lantern. The streets
of the Imperial and Tartar cities may
be said to be entirely deserted; it is in
the Chinese city only that there is
anything going on at night. Each city
is shut off from the others at shutdown,
and the gates are not again opened I'M
der any circumstances until daybreak.
[ resided in the Tartar city, and it was
IN the Chinese city that 1 wished to
make my nocturnal ramble, so that
there was no remedy but to make Il
night of it. My companions declined
to accompany me, so l had reluctantly
so undertake the excursion alone.
My gui Re hired cart for the whole
night, and we started from our hotel at
about half-past six in the afternoon.
1t was necessary to set out thus early in
order to pass through the gate before
it was locked. l had not yet dined, so
| directed my interpreter to conduct
me to the best hotel in the place, and
gave him carte blanche to order for me
and himself the best dinner procura-
ble. l need scarcely add that an inn
of European character was entirely
out of the question; the only European
hotel in the whole of Pelling is that
kept by NJ. Ward, in the Tartar city,
where | was staying / knew this per-
fectly well, and had made up my mind
for Chinese rcpaSt, served in Chinese
fashion. 1t was in the narrow court
yard, then, of thoroughly native rest
house that the cart stopped. My con-
ductOr, a most excellent and thought
full fellow, had taken the precaution of
bringing my travelling-rugs. which, if
useful to alleviate the bruises caused
by the jolting of the cart, were now
equally SO to obviate the hardness of
the brick couch in the rest-house. lie
spread them then on the kang, and l
was not sorry TO lay me down and take
Il Snort repose after a long ride. With
book and cigar | whiled away the time
until my dinner should be ready. In
about half an hour it was served, and
copious enough it. was in its way; fish,
chicken, mushrooms, beche de mer Ca
species of edible sea weed, brought, l
believe, from Japan, of which the
Chinese are exceedingly fond), all in
separate dishes, or rather small basins,
with two sorts of gravy in little bowls,
two kinds of pickles, and soft, I'M
teavened rolls of white flour, quite hot.
The drinkables were sdmShu of two
different strengths, the one to imbibe
while eating, the other at dessert-the
former was fat, mild, and rather fla
vorless, the latter rough and potent
both, to my palate, disagreeable. Sam
shu is spirit distilled usually from
rice, although it may be made from po-
tatoes, beans. or sugar-cane; it is of a
whitish color, and not altogether unlike
bad whiskey much under proof, 1t
serves the Chinese in lieu of wine,
which they never make from the grape.
Some fruit was brought, and the repast
concluded with the inevitable tea.
Chopsticks were the only implements
supplied, but as had already become
tolerably adroit in their manipulation,
was quite able to get my victuals into
my mouth without the use or any other
instrument. l can not say that / en-
joyed my meal. 1t was not the first
time that l had tasted pure Chinese
cuisine, so that the food was not alto
gether foreign to me, nor were the
viands in their way badly cooked, but
the taste of almost everything one eats
is more or less acquired, and matter of
education; as my tongue was unschooled
in the language, 50 my palate had not
yet been fought to appreciate the
cooking.
Anything more primitive, strange,
and weird than the Chinese quarter of
Picking by night can hardly be mag
ined. "Dim darkness" in the tortuous
streets, unbroken by single ray from
the sombre houses, and unrelieved by
the paper police-lanterns, posted at rare
intervals, looking in the distance like
spectres, or by those of the few pedes-
trians, which, bobbing up and down in
tho olcc1ritV bava Tho nn,,o,rn,oo II