king's palace is called the "Ark," and is a very strong as well as
grand place.[5]

[5] Extracted chiefly from Southgate's Travels.

CHINA.

There is no country in the world like China.

How different it is from Persia, where there are so few people; whereas
China is crowded with inhabitants!

How different it is from England, where the people are instructed in the
Bible, whereas China is full of idols.

China is a heathen country; yet it is not a savage country, for the
people are quiet, and orderly, and industrious.

It would be hard for a child to imagine what a great multitude of people
there are in China.

If you were to sit by a clock, and if all the Chinese were to pass before
you one at a time, and if you were to count one at each tick of the
clock, and if you were never to leave off counting day or night--how long
do you think it would be before you had counted all the Chinese?

Twelve years. O what a vast number of people there must be in China! In
all, there are about three hundred and sixty millions! If all the people
in the world were collected together, out of every three one would be a
Chinese. How sad it is to think that this immense nation knows not God,
nor his glorious Son!

There are too many people in China, for there is not food enough for them
all; and many are half-starved.

FOOD.--The poor can get nothing but rice to eat and water to drink;
except now and then they mix a little pork or salt fish with their rice.
Any sort of meat is thought good; even a hash of rats and snakes, or a
mince of earth-worms. Cats and dogs' flesh are considered as nice as
pork, and cost as much.

An Englishman was once dining with a Chinaman, and he wished to know what
sort of meat was on his plate. But he was not able to speak Chinese. How
then could he ask? He thought of a way. Looking first at his plate, and
then at the Chinaman, he said, "Ba-a-a," meaning to ask, "Is this
mutton?" The Chinaman understood the question, and immediately replied,
"Bow-wow," meaning to say, "It is puppy-dog." You will wish to know
whether the Englishman went on eating; but I cannot tell you this.

While the poor are in want of food, the rich eat a great deal too much. A
Chinese feast in a rich man's house lasts for hours. The servants bring
in one course after another, till a stranger wonders when the last course
will come. The food is served up in a curious way; not on dishes, but in
small basins--for all t