enevolence, Righteousness, etc. When you go into
the house of a tolerably well-to-do family, you will find the quantity
of furniture rather scanty, and not luxurious. The floor may be covered
with matting, but you will find no carpets or rugs. A table and some
straight-backed chairs are the principal pieces. On the walls you may
find Chinese pictures, which will not challenge your admiration, though
they may be artistic in China. Some jars and specimens of fine porcelain
may adorn the room, with writings on the walls expressing moral
sentiments. There may be a couch, or more of them, of bamboo and rattan.

"The bamboo is quite as important a production in China as we have found
it in India and the islands; and it is used for all the purposes here,
and more in addition than have been mentioned to you before. The
bastinado of the magistrate and the schoolmaster's instrument of torture
are both bamboos.

"Our Nimrods would not find much sport here; for the country is too
densely populated to afford hiding-places for wild animals, though a
bear or a tiger may sometimes appear, and is quickly killed. There are
elephants, rhinoceroses, and tapirs in the forests of Yun-nan; and the
emperor has tame elephants at Peking for state purposes. The brown and
the black bear are found in certain localities, as well as varieties of
deer.

"The domestic four-footed animals are small horses and small cattle,
which have not been improved. The donkey is a livelier beast than in
England or America. About the capital there are very fine mules, which
are fashionable there as they are in some parts of Spain. Birds of prey
are common, and magpies are sacred birds which the Nimrods must not
shoot. The people are very fond of song-birds and flowers, which proves
their good taste.

"There are vast quantities of minerals beneath the soil of the country,
yet little had been done in mining; though, since the government has
steamers of its own, they are doing more to develop the mines. The
currency of the country is nowhere; for the only coin that is legally
current is the copper _cash_, of which it takes ten to make our cent.
Large payments are made in silver by weight, and the housekeeper has to
keep a pair of scales handy to ascertain the value of the silver she
receives or expends.

"But I know, my friends, that I have wearied you; and though I have
something more to say about this very interesting country, I shall defer
it till such time as