ch we are going, and
from this the English had made Canton," said Mr. Larch, as the boat left
the shore; and he proceeded to name the islands in sight, and point out
all objects of interest, as he did all the way up the river.

The city is on the north side of the Choo-Chiang, or Pearl River, ninety
miles from Hong-Kong. They saw nothing of especial interest except a
temple on the shore, and a fort with a three-story pagoda rising from
the centre of it. On the arrival of the steamer off the city, she was
surrounded by boats as at Hong-Kong. The captain of the boat recommended
one he called Tommy, though it was a woman; and her craft was engaged,
with as many more as were needed, indicated by her.

At the landing-place Mr. Seymour, the American consul, to whom the
colonel had telegraphed, was waiting for them. He introduced himself,
and was soon on the best of terms with all the tourists. He advised
them to go to the International Hotel, and they went there. A score of
sedans and rickshaws were at once engaged; and Tommy and the other women
carried the valises and bags for them, each attended by the owner. They
were to remain three days in Canton. Dinner was the first ceremony they
performed after they went to the hotel, and the consul joined the party
by invitation.

"Canton is a city with a population estimated at a million and a half,
including the people that live in boats from one year's end to the
other, and doubtless you noticed their aquatic dwellings as you came up
the river," said the consul, who had been invited to tell the company
something about the place. "It is surrounded by a wall nine miles in
length, built of brick and sandstone, twenty-five to forty feet high,
and twenty feet thick, and divided by a partition wall into two unequal
parts. There are twelve outer gates, and also gates in the partition
wall. The names of these are curious, as Great Peace Gate, Eternal Rest
Gate, and others like them. There are more than six hundred streets,
lanes you will call them; for they are not often more than eight feet
wide, very crooked, and very dirty. This is the general idea of the
city, and the details you will see for yourselves."

[Illustration: TEMPLE AND GARDEN IN CHINA.

_Page 329._]

After breakfast the next morning the party was organized for
sight-seeing, and the sedans they had used the day before were ready for
them. The two guides insisted upon going on foot, the better to
discharge their duti