ch into the one who refused to
show any goods till they were practically sold; but Louis begged him to
desist. They next went into a tea saloon in the middle of a dirty pond
of water, which would have just suited the taste of a Dutchman at home.

The tea was given to them in the cups, and they poured in hot water. The
keeper swindled them in asking about five times the price, and the guide
remonstrated; but the fellow was saucy, and the charge was paid to avoid
trouble. The guide said the other fellow would have cheated them in the
same ratio, if Louis had agreed, as he required, to buy. Then they
looked into an opium joint, where the smokers were reclining on broad
benches. The pipe was a tube with the bowl on the top. The drug is
boiled till it is of the consistency of honey. Something like a
knitting-needle is then taken by the smoker, the end of which is dipped
in the jar; the needle is then turned till the opium becomes a ball as
big as a pea. It is then held in a flame till it is partially lighted,
when it is dropped into the bowl of a pipe. The amount used is counted
in pipes, some being satiated with two or three of them, while the hard
cases require twenty. In either case he goes to sleep, and has pleasant
dreams. The habit is very deleterious to those who practise it, and
death results from excessive use of the drug.

"There is a sedan with a Chinese magnate in it, with four bearers," said
the guide; "but it is not so common here as in Hong-Kong and Canton."

The barrow excited the attention of the boys more than the other
vehicles. At the door of the shop they saw a native reading a paper,
wearing a pair of spectacles whose eyes were almost as big as saucers.
After walking through the streets of Hong-Kong and Canton, the boys saw
very little that was new to them.

"Is there a cemetery in the town?" asked Louis, after they had become
somewhat tired, not to say disgusted, with the dirty streets, and the
crowd in them.

"Nothing that you Americans would call by that name," replied the guide.
"There are some small burial-grounds; but the Chinese generally bury
their dead in private grounds, outside of the cities. They have a
reverence for their dead which is not equalled by any people on the face
of the earth. The graves of the rich and noted are very carefully
selected, and are decorated with great care and taste. Some of the
finest gardens in the country are those enclosed in a private
burial-place.

"A