e, that I would
be so interested that I would take a prominent part; that executions
were common festivals in the United States.

The criminal himself had no idea that his sentence would be enforced,
even up to the last moment he took it as a huge joke, and when he was
taken to the general said he would like to be excused, and offered
to implicate others who were more guilty than himself.

Many questions were asked me concerning our methods of execution,
and great was the surprise when I confessed that I had never seen one
myself, nor did I ever expect to see one; that my countrywomen would
be horrified to witness such a sight; and that on the present occasion
I had gone to the adjoining town six miles away to escape it all. I
was shown several pictures of the victim taken by a Chinese artist.

A man buys at a booth one penny's worth of what is known as "sow-sow"
for himself and family. I have often looked into the sow-sow pots,
but was never able to make out what was contained therein. The
children buy little rice cakes, thin, hard, and indigestible as bits
of slate. The children's stomachs are abnormally large; due, perhaps,
to the half-cooked rice and other poorly prepared food. When it comes
to the choice of caring for the child or the fighting cock, the cock
has the preference. The bird is carried as fondly and as carefully as
if it were a superior creature. It was strange to see how they would
carry these birds on their palms; nor did they attempt to fly away,
but would sit there and crow contentedly.

We had at one time five or six carpenters to do some bamboo work. They
brought their fighting cocks along with them for amusement when they
were not at work, which was every moment our backs were turned. They
are so used to being driven that it never occurs to them to go on
with their work unless someone is overseeing them. They began by
putting the bamboo at the top of the room and working down, braiding,
plaiting and splitting, putting in a bit here and there in a very
deft way without a nail. They did all the cutting sitting down on
the floor and holding the smooth bamboo pieces with their feet,
while they sawed the various lengths with a bolo.

When they had completed the partition, I said to the foreman,
"How much for the day's work for all." The head man very politely
informed me that he did not propose to pay these other men anything;
if I wanted to pay them all right, but he would not. The defrauded one