fir—is floated down the river, and brought to
the city in large rafts, similar to those you
see on the Rhine. Bricks, made in the
neighbourhood of Canton, are conveyed
thither in boats, and sold at from three to
eight dollars a thousand. A few only are
red. In more frequent use are half-burnt
bricks, the colour of which is a leaden blue,
and the pale brown ones, which are only
sun-dried. Excellent stones, chiefly granite
and sandstone in several varieties, are to be
found in the hills on the north of the
province, and also in several of the islands
along the coast southward.

The dwellings of the poor in Canton are
mere mud-hovels; low, narrow, dark,
uncleanly, and without any division of apartments.
A whole family of six or ten, and
sometimes twice that number of persons,
crowd into one of these dreary abodes. It is
surprising that people can live and enjoy
health, and even long life, in such
circumstances. The poorest people are to be found
in the extreme parts of the suburbs, along
the banks of the canals, and in the northern
part of the old city.

Perhaps one-third part of the population
of Canton lives in habitations somewhat
spacious and, to a moderate degree, clean.
These stand close on the street, and have
usually but a single entrance, which is closed
by a bamboo screen suspended from the top
of the door. Two rooms in these houses
serve for dormitories; while a third, which
completes the number into which the whole
enclosure is divided, is used by the whole
household as a common eating-room. Chinese
houses usually open to the south; but in
these, as also in the poorer kind, this favourite
position is disregarded. Houses of this sort
are rented at four or five dollars a month.

Another class of dwellings, inhabited by a
more wealthy but less numerous part of the
community, comprises the abodes of those in
easy circumstances, who enjoy plenty, without
any of the accompaniments of luxury. A
house of this class, together with the plot of
ground on which it stands, is surrounded by
a wall twelve or fourteen feet high, that rises
and fronts close on the street, so as completely
to conceal all the buildings from sight of the
passers-by. Indeed, the prospect, as you go
along the narrow streets which are lined
with houses of this kind, is very cheerless.
But if allowed to enter some of those
dwellings more pleasing scenes open before you;
different enough, however, from our own
house-pictures. You enter the outer enclosure
through a large folding-door into an
open court, thence you are conducted by a
servant to the visitors'-hall, which is usually
a small apartment, furnished with chairs,
sofas, teapoys, &c. Here your host meets
you, and perhaps introduces you to the
younger members of his family. The hall is
open on one side; the other sides are
ornamented with carved work, or hung with
various scrolls, presenting in large and
elegant characters the moral maxims of the
sages; or perhaps exhibiting rude landscapes,
or paintings of birds and flowers. The
remaining part of the enclosure is occupied
with the domestic apartment, a garden, and
perhaps also a small school-room,

The houses of a few of the most opulent in
Canton are in no respect inferior, except it
may be in the space they occupy, to the
Imperial palaces. The residences of some of
the Hong merchants, who formerly had a
monopoly of trade with foreigners, furnished
good specimens of this kind of building. The
houses of the officers of government, and
numerous temples of the city, are more spacious
than private dwelling-houses, but most of
them are now in very poor condition.

Very few of the houses or temples of Canton
are of more than one story, their halls
are usually of the whole height of the fabric,
without any concealment of the beams or
rafters of the roof. The beams are on this
account often carved and, as well as the
rafters and tiles, painted. Terraces
frequently are built above the roofs; and when
surrounded by a breastwork they afford, in
the cool hours, a pleasant and secure retreat.
There has been remarked a great coincidence
between the Chinese houses and those
mentioned in sacred literature.

A very considerable part of the population
of Canton lives in boats. Officers of the
government are appointed to regulate and
control this class of the inhabitants of the
city. Every boat, of all the various sizes and
descriptions which are seen here, is registered;
and it appears that the whole number, on the
river adjacent the city, was eighty-four thousand
a few years ago. They seem not to
have diminished since this time, according to
a letter of Sir John Bowring, who says, that
they cover some miles, in rows of twenty or
thirty boats behind each other. These boats
are by no means only temporary abodes, but
the houses of a very great number of persons.
The floating city has its floating theatres,
concert-halls, gambling, and other pleasure-
hells. A very large number of the boats are
tan-kea (egg-house) boats. These are generally
not more than twelve or fifteen feet
long, about six broad, and so low that a person
can scarcely stand up in them; their
covering, which is made of bamboo, is very
light, and can be easily adjusted to the state
of the weather. Whole families live in them,
and in coops lashed on the outside of them,
they often rear large broods of ducks and
chickens, designed to supply the city markets.
The plot of ground on which, before the
last troubles, the factories were standing is
very limited, extending about sixty rods from
east to west, and forty from north to south.
It is owned, as most of the factories are, by
the Hong merchants. The factories were
called Shihsanhang (the thirteen factories);
and, with the exception of a few narrow