of this I may instance Canton, Shanghae, and Soo-chow, and I have no doubt, when Tien-tsin is better known, we may add it to the list. The existence of this demand for the luxuries of life augurs well, therefore, for the future of this port as a great emporium for foreign trade.

On the approach of winter a wonderful change comes over these little gardens. Plants, flowerpots, and every green thing disappear as if by the stroke of some magician's wand, and the places which all summer long had been gay with flowers, then look like a desert waste. All the plants have been huddled together in the houses erected for their protection, and there they must remain until the severity of the winter has passed by. The vineyards I have described also disappear from the scene. The stems of the vines are taken down from the trellis-work, and buried in the earth at a depth sufficient to protect them from the frost. Here they remain in safety during the winter, and are disinterred in spring. The Tientsin plain, too, at this season is probably one of the most dreary-looking places on which the sun shines. As far as the eye can reach not a green bush or tree is visible in the horizon; all is cold and cheerless; and one is apt to fancy that at last he has reached "the ends of the earth."

CHAPTER XX.

The people of Tien-tsin
Street beggars

Visit to a gentleman's house

- Reception

Begging musicians

by the English

Civil hospital established Dr. Lamprey's report- Chinese poorhouse Fat beggars-Climate and temperature - Dust-storms - Remarkable size of natural productions - Large men and horses - Shantung fowls Gigantic millet, oily grain, and egg-apples - JuteVegetables in cultivation —Imperial granaries— Use of millet and jute stems-Foreign trade - New settlement for foreign merchants The future of Tien-tsin as a centre of trade.

The people in Tien-tsin and in the country around it are quiet and inoffensive, and particularly civil and polite to foreigners. Our late intercourse with them has been very different from that of former days, when the dispute was about the performance of the ko-tou to the Emperor, and when we were only represented by an ambassador and his attendants. This time we had visited them with an army; we had driven the "Son of Heaven' himself into Tartary, and had sacked and burned his summer palace. Having received a good flogging, these children had now become very good boys; and if they did not love us, which we could scarcely expect, we were certainly feared and respected. But up to the present time they have not the same confidence in us as their countrymen

in the more southern towns, with whom we have been longer associated. The women run into their houses and shut their doors on the approach of a foreigner, and the people generally are averse to our entering their dwellings.

One day I observed, not far from the north gate of the city, some high trees enclosed by a wall, and, as the place looked somewhat like a garden, I felt anxious to enter and examine it. When the

inmates saw me approaching, an alarm was instantly given, and the door, which had been standing wide open, was unceremoniously shut in my face. Nothing daunted by this proceeding, I mildly remonstrated with those who stood behind it, telling them they had nothing to fear from me; that I was, like themselves, fond of flowers, and begged permission to examine the garden. After some consultation amongst them, the door was opened, and ten or twelve of the male portion of the establishment presented themselves. I suppose I did not look as if I would do anything wrong, so, after a little parleying, they consented to admit me. A message was sent in to warn the ladies to get out of the way and hide themselves, an order, by the bye, which was not obeyed very strictly, and I was then led into the courts of the mansion. Here I found some pretty rockwork and ponds, with a few flowering shrubs and trees arranged and grouped according to Chinese taste, and all very pretty and enjoyable. Having had much experience of Chinese manners and polite

ness, I soon got into the good graces of the gentlemen by whom I was accompanied; and, as we discussed the merits of the different plants, the fears which had taken possession of their minds at first entirely disappeared. My knowledge of the Chinese names of the different shrubs and trees, which a long residence in the country had enabled me to acquire, was most useful here, as it had often been in other places. And as we talked of the beauties of the "Mo-le-hwa," the "Cha-hwa," or the "Tu-hwa," I evidently rose many degrees in "I their estimation, and was looked upon as a being not so very barbarous after all. After drinking sundry cups of tea, and getting the names of other places where plants were cultivated, I expressed my thanks and took my leave.

The beggars of Tien-tsin are rather prominent objects. Here, as in the southern towns, they appear to have a kind of organization, having a chief, or "king of the beggars," who rules over them and directs their proceedings. They are most tyrannical in their conduct towards the more respectable inhabitants of the town, particularly the shopkeepers, whose business obliges them to have their doors always open. These beggars will assemble in companies, take possession of the door, beat the counter with stones, sticks, or whatever they may have in their hands, and howl for alms. It is an amusing sight to see the poor

* Jasmine, camellia, chrysanthemum.

shopkeepers, during an attack of this kind, sitting calm and quiet, and pretending not to see or hear what is going on.

In Tien-tsin, as in other parts of the Chinese empire, the beggars divide themselves into three or four very distinct classes. There is, first, the able-bodied, without any apparent physical deformity, who could work if they liked, but who prefer to gain a livelihood by begging. These have a proverb which says, "The finest rice has not charms equal to a roving liberty."

Many of these appear to be very low in the scale of humanity, very cunning, weak-minded, or almost