re very wretched: the whole
furniture consists of a worthless table, a few chairs, and two or
three bamboo-mats, stools for the head, and old counterpanes; yet,
with this poverty, there are always sure to be some pots of flowers.

The cheapest mode of living is on board a boat. The husband goes on
shore to his work, and leaves his wife to make a trifle by ferrying
persons over, or letting out the boat to pleasure parties. One half
the boat belongs to the family themselves, and the other half to the
persons to whom they let it; and although there is not much room,
the whole boat measuring scarcely twenty-five feet in length, the
greatest order and cleanliness is everywhere apparent, as each
single plank on board is thoroughly scrubbed and washed every
morning. Great ingenuity is displayed in turning every inch of
space on board these small craft to advantage, and the dexterity is
actually pushed so far as to find room for a tiny domestic altar.
During the day all the cookery and washing is done, and though at
the latter process there is no want of little children, the
temporary tenant of the boat does not suffer the least annoyance;
nothing offensive meets his eye; and, at the most, he merely hears
at rare intervals the whining voice of some poor little wretch. The
youngest child is generally tied on its mother's back while she
steers; the elder children, too, have sometimes similar burdens, but
jump and climb about without the least consideration for them. It
has often grieved me to the heart to see the head of an infant
scarcely born, thrown from one side to the other with each movement
of the child that was carrying it, or the sun darting so fiercely on
the poor little creature, who was completely exposed to its rays,
that it could hardly open its eyes. For those who have not been
themselves witnesses of the fact, it is almost impossible to form an
idea of the indigence and poverty of a Chinese boat-family.

The Chinese are accused of killing numbers of their new-born or
weakly children. They are said to suffocate them immediately after
their birth, and then throw them into the river, or expose them in
the streets--by far the most horrible proceeding of the two, on
account of the number of swine and houseless dogs, who fall upon,
and voraciously devour, their prey. The most frequent victims are
the female infants, as parents esteem themselves fortunate in
possessing a large number of male children, the latt