sly, by a Chinese and a Christian burial ground.

Having visited the various points of interest about Hongkong, which is
really a part of the British Empire (ceded by the Chinese in 1841)
though a vast majority of its residents are Chinese, I decided to have a
look at a real Chinese city, Canton, located about ninety miles up the
Canton River. As Canton happened to be in the throes of a revolution at
that time, people were flocking by the thousands from there to Hongkong.
Cook's Agency was warning people to keep away, and Hongkong papers had
as headlines "Serious Outlook in Canton"; but I did not expect ever to
have another chance to visit this typical Chinese city, so I boarded one
of the boats of the French line that left Hongkong late in the evening
for the run up the river. I learned later that one of these boats had
been "shot up" a few days before by the revolutionists, and that a
number of the passengers had been killed. However we were not molested,
and reached Canton about eight the next morning.

After daylight we were able to get an idea of the country on either bank
of the muddy river; it was low and marshy, every acre being planted in
rice. Occasionally, on a slight elevation, would be seen a pagoda-shaped
temple, standing lonely among the rice fields, where doubtless it had
stood for many centuries.

At frequent intervals we passed small native boats, some of them with
sails and loaded with goods, most of them rowed by one or more oars. It
was to be noticed that when there was only one oar it was being worked
vigorously by a woman, while a man sat comfortably in the stern and
steered. These people were evidently going from the crowded villages in
which they lived to work in the rice fields.

At Canton the river, which is there only a few hundred yards wide, was
jammed with craft of all kinds, including one or two small war vessels
and hundreds, probably thousands, of _sampans_. The latter carry
passengers and small quantities of freight; they are roofed over more or
less completely and serve as the homes of the owners' families, all the
members of which take a hand in the rowing.

[Illustration: SAMPANS IN THE HARBOUR OF CANTON.]

The foreign (mostly English and French) quarter of Canton is known as
"the Shameen" (meaning sand-bank), a small island in the river
connected with the city proper by a couple of bridges. It has
beautifully shaded streets and fine houses, and is utterly different
from the C