e boys who live on the boats have a log of wood fastened to
their waists. This keeps them afloat if they fall overboard. The little
girls have no such lifebelts. In China nobody troubles about the girls.

14. Nearly all the boats have an eye painted on their bows. Perhaps this
seems strange to you. The Chinese, however, say,--

"S'pose no got eye, no can see;
S'pose no can see, no can walkee."

* * * * *

20. CHINESE BOYS AND GIRLS.

1. Chinese fathers and mothers are very glad when their children are
boys. In China the boys are much petted. Their mothers give way to them,
and let them do as they please.

2. Girls, however, are not welcome. Sometimes they are called
"Not-wanted" or "Ought-to-have-been-a-boy."

3. A Chinese boy has always two names, sometimes four. He has one name
when he is a child, and another when he goes to school. He has a third
name when he begins to earn money. When he dies he has a fourth name.

4. Chinese boys are very fond of flying kites, which are shaped like
fish or butterflies or dragons. Old gentlemen are just as fond of
kite-flying as boys.

5. In China you will often see boys playing hopscotch or spinning
peg-tops. They also play shuttlecock, but they have no battledore. They
kick the shuttlecock with the sides of their feet.

6. Chinese boys love to set off fireworks, such as crackers, wheels, and
rockets. If the fireworks make a loud noise, so much the better.

7. Chinese children are taught to show very great respect to their
parents. They all bow and kneel to their fathers and mothers. A boy who
is not kind and good to his parents is thought to be a wicked wretch.

8. A few days ago I went to see a Chinese school. The boys sit on stools
at tiny tables. In front of them they have a stone slab, a stick of
Chinese ink, and some brushes with which they write.

[Illustration: {A boy at a table at school}]

9. There is always a great din in a Chinese schoolroom. The boys shout
at the top of their voices. If they do not make a noise, the teacher
thinks that they are not learning.

10. When a boy knows his lesson he goes up to his master to say it. He
turns his back to his master, and does not face him as you do.

11. A Chinese boy becomes a man at sixteen years of age. He chooses his
work in life when he is quite a baby. Let me tell you how he does it.

12. When he is one year old he is seated in the middle of such thin