he names and advertisements of
their proprietors painted all across them. The theatre is in the
middle of the city, and was densely crowded. A box had been reserved
for us, for the ordinary seats are like a carpenter's bench. On the
floor of the house men and women sat together, but in the galleries
the men sat apart, and there were separate boxes for the women. The
acting was rough, and accompanied by the most discordant music. The
scenery seemed of an excessively rudimentary description, as you may
imagine when I tell you that a steep hill up which the hero and
heroine climbed with great difficulty was composed of five kitchen
chairs arranged in a pyramid on the top of three kitchen tables, held
in position by men in their ordinary dress. The fugitives were
supposed to be a Tartar general and his wife, escaping from their
enemies after a great battle. The fighting was renewed at intervals
with great noise and spirit. Some of the costumes were very fine, and
cost from 30_l_. to 40_l_. apiece.

[Illustration: On the Pearl River.]

From the theatre we drove to the Chinese hospital, and thence to the
Chinese recreation ground, where we saw sundry itinerant quacks and
vendors of all sorts of rubbish. As we were walking along, having left
our chairs for a few minutes to look at the Chinese shops, a man
picked my pocket of a one-dollar note. Mr. Freer and the Doctor saw,
pursued, and caught him. He vehemently protested his innocence, but to
no avail. They proceeded to strip him, found the note, gave him a good
shaking, and told him to go.

_Thursday, March 1st_.--A most lovely morning ushered in the new
month, which having come in like the most peaceable of lambs, will, we
hope, not end like a roaring lion just as we expect to be in the
middle of the Bay of Bengal. We left the yacht at 7.30, and went on
board the 'Kin-Shan,' which is a regular American river steamer with
beam engines and many deck-houses, which are painted white. The lower
deck is crowded with the most inferior class of Chinese, some eight
hundred of them being on board. It gave us rather a turn to see them
all padlocked in under the hatchways and iron gratings. At each
opening is posted an armed sentinel, ready to fire among the crowd in
case of any disturbance. In the saloon, also, is a stand of pistols,
and rifles with fixed bayonets, ready for the European passengers to
defend themselves with, in case of emergency. These are very necessary
precaution