this
peculiar kind of child murder on account of its being confined entirely
to the female sex--"Puellacide" is said to prevail to a greater extent
in this region than even in Canton itself. Whilst sons are considered an
honor, and their growth looked upon as a matter of profit, the giving
birth to a daughter is proportionably a disgrace, and the rearing of it
a disadvantage, consequently the female infant is generally allowed but
a few moments existence in "this breathing world," and is usually
strangled by the hands of its unnatural mother immediately upon its
birth. The manner in which this act is said to be performed, is by
filling up the mouth of the babe with rice, and holding its nostrils
closed with the hand until suffocation is produced.

It is hard to suppose that a mother can thus act towards her offspring,
but it is known to be too true, and it may be a better fate than is
reserved for many of the sex whose lives have been spared, for so
useless an incumbrance are females considered in the families of the
lower orders, and so little regard have their parents for them, that
even before they grow up, they are often sold for the worst purposes.

A Chinese woman, who had been converted to Christianity, confessed, that
in her ignorance, she had destroyed _seven_ of her own infants, females
of course, not considering the custom of her country, at that time, a
crime.

Although there is but little to interest one in the town of Amoy, there
are several pleasant places in its vicinity. Yet every where appeared
the evidence of "decay's effacing fingers." On the opposite side of the
bay was once a flourishing site, which previous to the attack of the
English had been the residence of the wealthier citizens, mandarins,
etc. When the British troops invested this place, they occupied these
buildings as barracks; and being withdrawn after the treaty, left them
in a ruinous condition. They have not been used since, and the large
gardens, evidently at one time cultivated with much taste, have now run
to waste. In these were romantic grottoes, in which are curiously carved
resting-places, cut out of the rock.

The English burial ground is in this neighborhood; it is a small place,
and walled in. The mortality amongst the troops was very great during
the occupancy of this place, and this area is said to contain over a
regiment of soldiers.

The American cemetery is more prepossessing in appearance. It is
situated in a pic