.
VII. Boiled fish (of any kind) with soy.
VIII. Lumps of parboiled mutton fried in pork-fat.

These last four large courses are put on the table one by one and are
not taken away. Subsequently a fifth, a bowl of soup, is added, and
small basins of rice are served round, over which some of the soup is
poured. The meal is then at an end. A _rince-bouche_ is handed to each
guest and a towel dipped in boiling water but well wrung out. With the
last he mops his face all over, and the effect is much the same as
half a noggin of Exshare diluted with a bottle of Schweppe. Pipes and
tea are now handed round, though this is not the first appearance of
tobacco on the scene. Many Chinamen take a whiff or two at their
hubble-bubbles between almost every course, as they watch the
performance of some broad farce which on grand occasions is always
provided for their entertainment. Opium is served when dinner is over
for such as are addicted to this luxury; and after a few minutes,
spent perhaps in arranging the preliminaries of some future banquet,
the party, which has probably lasted from three to four hours, is no
longer of the present but in the past.

FEMALE CHILDREN

A great deal of trash has been committed to writing by various
foreigners on the subject of female children in China. The prevailing
belief in Europe seems to be that the birth of a daughter is looked
upon as a mournful event in the annals of a Chinese family, and that a
large percentage of the girls born are victims of a wide-spread system
of infanticide, a sufficient number, however, being spared to prevent
the speedy depopulation of the Empire. It became our duty only the
other day to correct a mistake, on the part of a reverend gentleman
who has been some twelve years a missionary in China, bearing on this
very subject. He observed that "the Chinese are always profuse in
their congratulations on the birth of a _son_; but if a girl is born,
the most hearty word they can afford to utter is, 'girls too are
necessary.'" Such a statement is very misleading, and cannot, in these
days of enlightenment on Chinese topics, be allowed to pass
unchallenged. "I hear you have obtained one thousand ounces of gold,"
is perhaps the commonest of those flowery metaphors which the Chinese
delight to bandy on such an auspicious occasion; another being, "You
have a bright pearl in your hand," &c., &c. The truth is that parents
in China are just as fond of all their chil