atiable a country as China,
which should have a currency of its own. No doubt much larger quantities
of silver will continue to reach China directly from California, within
the next few years, in the shape of bars. The great impetus which the
late wild speculations in silver shares is likely to give to the
development of the Washoe mines, is almost certain within a very few
years to so largely increase the yield of California silver as to rival
in amount the immense produce of her gold mines. Careful surveys and the
actual yield of mines, such as the Gould & Curry, and Hale & Norcross on
the Comstock lead, prove that the ore is there in large quantities, and
the stimulus has now been applied which will rapidly bring it to light.
With the increasing facilities between San Francisco and Hong-Kong the
bulk of this must go to China direct, instead of the roundabout course
by which it has reached the East through London. But these are questions
that hardly attract attention at present in Shanghai, or among the
Shanghai bankers, whose shops we were talking of as met with here and
there in the open street.

Next to one of these respectable, long-tailed gentlemen we found a
first-class apothecary, whose shop and mode of business were widely
different from those of one of the guild at home. The ceilings were
swarming with swallows, whose chattering rivalled that of the folks
below, conspicuous among whom was a fat, greasy old chap, in the dignity
of a gray mustache and a monstrous pair of colored spectacles, the
glasses of which were an inch and a half in diameter, rimmed with horn,
and tied by a string to his ears. He was gravely busy in compounding a
prescription on a piece of paper large enough to cover the side of a
chest of tea, and closely written over with Chinese characters. We
lounged by his side as he put up packet after packet of dried roots and
simples, tasting many of them with his consent. Calamus and liquorice
were among them, and camphor, too. Each packet was of the size of a
pound paper of Stuart's candy (any child can tell you what size that
has), and when the entire prescription was filled, the unfortunate sick
man became possessed of no less than twenty-three of these packages,
enough to keep famine from his door for a week at least, to judge from
their bulk. They filled a goodly basket. It was not one man alone who
carried away such a heap of medicines; but before each applicant, as the
prescriptions spread