gner, and they are filled with a remarkable collection of
silks, linens, ivories, carvings and other articles that appeal to the
American because of the skilled labor that has been expended upon them.
Carvings and embroidery that represent the work of months are sold at
such low prices as to make one marvel how anyone can afford to produce
them even in this land of cheap living.

The crowd that streams past these shops is even more curious than the
goods offered for sale. Here East and West meet in daily association.
The Englishman is easily recognized by his air of proprietorship,
although his usual high color is somewhat reduced by the climate. He has
stamped his personality on Hongkong and he has builded here for
generations to come. The German is liberally represented, and old
Hongkong residents bewail the fact that every year sees a larger number
of Emperor William's subjects intent on wresting trade from the British.
Frenchmen and other Europeans pass along this Queen's road, and the
American tourist is in evidence, intent on seeing all the sights as well
as securing the best bargains from the shopkeepers. All these foreigners
have modified their garb to suit the climate. They wear suits of white
linen or pongee with soft shirts, and the solar topi, or pith helmet,
which is a necessity in summer and a great comfort at other seasons. The
helmet keeps the head cool and shelters the nape of the neck, which
cannot be exposed safely to the sun's rays. Instead of giving health as
the California sun does, this Hongkong sunshine brings heat apoplexy and
fever. All the Orient is represented by interesting types. Here are rich
Chinese merchants going by in private chairs, with bearers in handsome
silk livery; Parsees from Bombay, with skins almost as black as those of
the American negro; natives of other parts of India in their
characteristic dress and their varying turbans; Sikh policemen, tall,
powerful men, who have a lordly walk and who beat and kick the Chinese
chair coolies and rickshaw men when they prove too insistent or
rapacious; Chinese of all classes, from the prosperous merchant to the
wretched coolie whose prominent ribs show how near he lives to actual
starvation in this overcrowded land; workmen of all kinds, many bearing
their tools, and swarms of peddlers and vendors of food, crying their
wares, with scores of children, many of whom lead blind beggars.
Everywhere is the noise of many people shouting lustily