o'clock at
night. The night is the best time in which to study the life, for then
you can see the Chinese in their houses and at their amusements, as
well as many others who still are at work; for some of the Chinese
artisans toil for sixteen hours a day, and long into the hours of the
night. Here among them are no strikes for fewer hours, but patient
toil, as it were in a treadmill, without a murmur. My licensed
guide was Henry Gehrt, a man about fifty-five years old, of German
parentage. He had been in the business for twenty-seven years, and he
maintained an office on Sacramento Street. His badge was No. 60.
All guides must wear badges according to law. As we went hither and
thither we met occasionally groups of sight-seers, among them some of
our friends, members of the Convention, Bishops, and clerical and lay
deputies, who felt this was a rare opportunity to study heathendom;
and I am sure all went away from this strange spot thanking God for
our noble Anglo-Saxon civilisation, as well as for the knowledge of
His Revelation.

The houses, I observed, are three, and sometimes four stories high,
with balconies and windows, which give them a decidedly Oriental
appearance. On most of them were signs displayed in the Chinese
language. You also see scrolls by the doors of the private houses and
on the shops. The signs are a study in their bright colours and their
mythological and fantastic adornments. Yellow is the predominant
colour, and the dragon is in evidence everywhere. This emblem of the
Celestial Empire is represented in gorgeous array and with a profusion
of ornament. A splendid dragon is the sign and trade mark of "Sing Fat
and Co.," who keep a Chinese and Japanese Bazaar on Dupont Street. On
their card they give this warning, "Beware of firms infringing on our
name;" and it seems as if the dragon on the sign would avenge any
invasion of their rights. The signs are a study, and if you are
ignorant of the language, you ask your learned guide to interpret them
for you. He will tell you that Hop Wo does business here as a grocer,
that Shun Wo is the butcher, that Shan Tong is the tea-merchant, that
Tin Yuk is the apothecary, and that Wo-Ki sells bric-a-brac. Some of
the signs, your guide will tell you, are not the real names of the men
who do business, that they are only mottoes. Wung Wo Shang indicates
to you that perpetual concord begets wealth, Hip Wo speaks to you of
brotherly love and harmony, Tin Yuk means