ry picture of
absolute wretchedness. Amongst these, a few old women may be seen
sitting by the side of the streets, earning a scanty subsistence by
mending and patching the clothes of people as poor as themselves. These
poor women, having all undergone the barbarous operation of cramping the
feet during infancy, are consequently unable to undertake any thing but
sedentary employment to gain their bread. The very small size to which
the feet of some of the Chinese females have been distorted by cramping
them with bandages during the first six years of their lives, is almost
beyond belief. I have seen a full-grown woman wearing shoes, and walking
in them too, not more than 3-1/2 inches long. Their walk resembles that
of a timid boy upon ice; it is necessarily slow; and, indeed, some of
them require the aid of a staff in one hand, while they lean with the
other on the shoulder of a female attendant. The smaller the eyes and
feet of a Chinese beauty, the more she is admired. I once asked a
respectable China-man, what he thought of this custom of cramping their
daughters' feet: his reply was, "Very bad custom." On my inquiring
further, whether he had any daughters, and whether their feet were
treated in the same way, he answered in the affirmative, but asserted,
that they had been subjected to the cruel ordeal by their mother,
against his will. He added, that, in a China-man's house, where there
were young girls, no peace could be had, night or day, for their cries,
which lasted till they were six years old. He gave us a reason for the
mother's insisting on her daughter's submitting to this long course of
pain and suffering:--"Suppose _he_ no small foot, no man wantjee make
_he_ number one wife." A respectable China-man, it appears, always
chooses a small-footed woman for his principal wife, while, for Number
two, three, and four, he contents himself with ladies whose feet are as
nature made them, and who are consequently more able to make themselves
useful in household matters.

The inhabitants of Canton and its vicinity have displayed, since the
war, more hostile feelings towards Englishmen, than those entertained by
the natives of any of the northern ports. They still affect to believe,
that Sir Hugh Gough durst not attack their city; and it is, perhaps, to
be regretted, that he was hindered from shewing his strength on that
occasion. Several riots and two extensive fires among the foreign
factories, have taken place sinc