ng to his master's firm; hundreds of thousands of
dollars pass through his hands, and he is responsible for the
genuineness of every one. He has persons in his own employment who
pay and receive all monies, and who examine and test every separate
coin with the most marvellous rapidity. They take a whole handful
of dollars at a time, and toss them up separately with the finger
and thumb: this enables them to determine whether each "rings"
properly, and on the coin falling into their hand again, reversed,
they examine the second side with a glance. A few hours are
sufficient to pass several thousand dollars in review; and this
minute inspection is very necessary, on account of the number of
false dollars made by the Chinese. Each piece of money is then
stamped with the peculiar mark of the firm, as a guarantee of its
genuineness, so that it at last becomes exceedingly thin and broad,
and frequently falls to bits; no loss is, however, occasioned by
this, as the amount is always reckoned by weight. Besides dollars,
little bars of pure unstamped silver are used as a circulating
medium; small portions, varying in size, being cut off them,
according to the sum required. The counting-house is situated on
the ground floor, in the comprador's room. The Europeans have
nothing to do with the money, and, in fact, never even carry any for
their private use.

The comprador has no fixed salary, but receives a stated per-centage
upon all business transactions: his per-centage upon the household
expenses is not fixed, but is not on that account less certain. On
the whole, these compradors are very trustworthy. They pay down a
certain sum, as caution-money, to some mandarin, and the latter
answers for them.

The following is a tolerably correct account of the mode of life
pursued by the Europeans settled here. As soon as they are up, and
have drunk a cup of tea in their bed-room, they take a cold bath. A
little after 9 o'clock, they breakfast upon fried fish or cutlets,
cold roast meat, boiled eggs, tea, and bread and butter. Every one
then proceeds to his business until dinner-time, which is generally
4 o'clock. The dinner is composed of turtle-soup, curry, roast
meat, hashes, and pastry. All the dishes, with the exception of the
curry, are prepared after the English fashion, although the cooks
are Chinese. For dessert there is cheese, with fruit; such as pine-
apples, long-yen, mangoes, and lytchi. The Chinese affir