els are not lost here than that so many are. Seamen call it
"the graveyard of commerce." As we enter the magnificent harbor of Hong
Kong it is found to be surrounded by a range of lofty hills, which
shelter it completely from the sweeping winds that so often prevail in
this region. It is the most easterly of the possessions of Great
Britain, and is kept in a well-fortified condition, the uniforms of the
garrison being a striking feature of the busy streets of the city at all
hours of the day. The houses in the European section are large and
handsome structures, mostly of stone, rising tier upon tier from the
main street to a height of some hundreds of feet on the face of the hill
immediately back of the town. On and about the lofty Victoria Peak are
many charming bungalows, or cottages, with attractive surroundings,
which enjoy a noble prospect of the harbor and country. The streets
appropriated to the use of the Europeans are spacious and clean, but the
Chinese portion of Hong Kong is quite characteristic of the native
race,--very crowded and very dirty, seeming to invite all sorts of
epidemic diseases, which in fact nearly always prevail more or less
severely among the lower classes.

These streets exhibit strange local pictures. The shoemaker plies his
trade in the open thoroughfare; cooking is going on at all hours in the
gutters beside the roads; itinerant pedlers dispense food made of
mysterious materials; the barber shaves his customer upon the sidewalk;
the universal fan is carried by the men, and not by the women. The
Chinese mariner's compass does not point to the North Pole, but to the
South; that is, the index is placed upon the opposite end of the needle.
When Chinamen meet each other upon the streets, instead of shaking each
other's hands they shake their own. The men wear skirts, and the women
wear pantaloons. The dressmakers are not women, but men. In reading a
book a Chinaman begins at the end and reads backwards. We uncover the
head as a mark of respect; they take off their shoes for the same
purpose, but keep their heads covered. We shave the face; they shave the
head and eyebrows. At dinner we begin the meal with soup and fish; they
reverse the order and begin with the dessert. The old men fly kites
while the boys look on; shuttlecock is their favorite game; it is
played, however, not with the hands, but with the feet. White
constitutes the mourning color, and black is the wedding hue. The women
perf