The Washington herald., 1912-10-20

served hot from Q teapot and tasted
not unlike very bad gin.
Things began to come in % fast at
this point that the interpreter was
swamped. Almonds. parched watermelon
seeds-esteemed as Q great delscacy-
lasses sugar. fried hsh. chicken liverA
and century eggs were put on the table
At once The restaurant proprietor
vowed that the eggs were at least 100
years old. but q conservative estimate
would have placed them at four or hve.
Century-cia Egss.
They had been prepared originally by
being slaked In lime. This covering was
left around them as q protection against
decay until they were served. Tho
slaked lime served to boil them hard.
green, the white being transparent.
| They did not taste very different from
ordinary boiled eggs, but even when I
closed my eyes could not help thinking
of chickens I had known In the. past
years. long gone and almost forgotten.
An unpleasant little after-taste served
| to give xest to the remembrance.
! Following the ancient eggs came bird
nest soup. It was almost good enough
to make me forget The nest Is a sub
, stance which tastes like gelatine.
Shrimps. peas. and bacon stewed to-
sether were next. and pigeons eggs in
soup followed.
Hot towels were next in order. with
| bamboo shoots on deck and shredded
. chicken stewed in oil in the hold. Sliced
| stewed clans and fritters Of fried fsh
then trooped in. The fritters gave me
a lot of trouble.
] looked at the Chinaman who was my
guest. and in front Of him I could see
no bones at all. I finally decided that
he had learned to chew and digest the
bones. I made no attempt to emulate
his feat, and had almost a pocket full
when I. looked down and found that he
had SIMPLY flicked the bones on the
floor. a proceeding which did not ap-
pear to disturb the waiter in the least
have since learned that everything
which the diner does not like il con-
signed to the floor.
Two sorts Of chopped meat In a paste
| Of -four and two kinds Of lotus seed
followed the fish. A last application OF
hot towels ushered in q dessert of a
cream soup. made Of ground almonds. a
cake with lotus seeds and dates and
two varieties Of rice cake.
In Nankin. which was the provisional
capital Of the Chinese republic. had an
opportunity OF attending Chinese feasts
Of a more pretentious nature. met
there a young Chinese who had been In
my class at college and had gone back
to assume government position after
the revolution.
From him received an invitation to
attend a dinner at the foreign once.
which was being given to the visiting
commissioner Of telegraphs.
1t was here that l saw for the first
time a Chinese drinking bout. Toasts
were drunk to innumerable heroes of
the revolutions to each Of the guests at
table many times.
Drink Rice Wine.
Failing in toasts, many guests
matched of In playing guess fingers and
other games. the loser Of which was
forced to drink a bumper of wine. The
winner usually Joins him TO keep him
company.
The wine was a hot rice wine. not un-
like sherry. The cups were small. and.
though most OF the guests kept at It
until very late, there were no Ill effects
The Chinese are a temperate people,
which Is the more surprising in view of
the fact that neither public opinion nor
the law recognizes intoxication as any
thing out of the way.
The Chinese are fond Of beer. and It
is pressing the native wines closely in
foryn Hw-&