of those in China are quite open in front; where we are going I suppose we shall see very few, if any, shop-windows at all, but in Peking many of the shops have glass windows. In China there are certain streets for certain shops, where the different branches of trade have generally their own sides of the road. A shop is called a hong. Sometimes the master sits outside, waiting for his customers to arrive.
"At the door of each hong are sign-boards, upon which are painted in gold, or coloured letters, a motto instead of a name, and what the shop offers for sale.
"I do not think," Mr. Graham then said, drawing, as he spoke, a little representation of a sign-board out of his pocket-book, "that I ever showed you this."
"Oh no!" both the children answered. "And what do those characters mean?"
On another piece of paper Mr. Graham pointed out to them the following interpretation:
| Teën | |
| Yee | |
| Shun | |
| Fung | Poo |
| Seih | Tian |
| Tëen | |
"The three first large characters, which form the motto, may be taken to signify that 'Heaven favours the prudent.' The other smaller characters designate the nature of the business, a cushion and matting manufactory; the last character, without which no sign-board is complete, meaning shop or factory."
"I shall like to see these sign-boards very much when we get to China," Sybil said. "I should think they must make the streets look very pretty."
Mr. Graham had illustrated several things which he had told the children by some pictures which he had brought on board with him.
Leonard was now looking again at that of Chean Mun, or Chean Gate, for Mun means gate.
"I have been noticing, father," he then said, "that all the carts in this picture have only two wheels."
"I never saw any in China with more," was the answer. "Both shut and open carts (the latter being used as carriages) have all two wheels. Those in common use are made of wood, the body of the cart resting on an axle-tree, supported by the wheels. Horses and mules are very little used in China, except for travelling and for conveying luggage long distances. I remember also noticing that horses and ponies require very little guiding in China. Sometimes they go without reins, when their masters will perhaps walk beside them, carrying a whip. I have also seen very polite drivers, who, whenever they met a friend, jumped off their carts and walked on foot to pass one another.
"Government servants generally use ponies, but as China is so densely populated—having, it has been estimated, about four hundred million inhabitants, and people find it so hard to obtain enough to support themselves and families—they keep as few beasts of burden as possible. The farmer employs the bullock a great deal, and in the north of China the camel is also much used.
"Much trade is carried on by boats, and where there is no water, and farmers are without other conveyances, they will sometimes push their wives along the roads in wheel-barrows, sons giving their parents similar drives. There are but few carriage-roads in many parts of China."
"I wonder the Chinese do not make more, then," said Leonard.
"They cannot afford to do so, because to make them bread-producing land would have to be done away with."
"What a number of rivers and bays there are in China!" said Sybil, who was again examining her map. "And I see the Great Wall crosses the Hwang-ho."
"And that's the fifth largest river in the world," Leonard answered. "Only the Amazon, Mississippi, Nile, and Yantze-kiang are larger; and the Grand Canal in China is the very largest canal in the world."
"I learnt once, too, that Hwang-ho meant 'Chinese sorrow.' Why is it called that?"
"Because it has altered its course, which has caused great loss and inconvenience to the Chinese."
"And what does 'Yantze-kiang' mean?"
"The son that spreads; this is their favourite river."
Geography was one of Leonard's favourite studies.
"Why do so many Chinese rivers end in ho and kiang?" he then asked, looking over Sybil's map.
"Both words mean river—the Yantze and the Hwang rivers. And the Chinese have all kinds of boats for use on their rivers. Here, my boy, is a picture of a Chinese junk. Look at it well, and see if you can discover anything peculiar about it."
Leonard looked for some time. "It has sails," he answered, "like butterflies' wings."
"Yes; that is how the Chinese make many of their sails."
"But the kites are what I want to see so much," said Leonard, as though the sails had reminded him of them again. "What are the most peculiar of them like?"
"Like birds, insects, animals, clusters of birds, gods on clouds: all kinds of things, in fact, are represented by these kites, which the Chinese are most clever in making, and also in flying. I have seen old men, of about seventy years of age, thoroughly enjoying flying their kites. The Chinese do not care much for your, and my, favourite games, Leonard: cricket and football."
"What games do they like?"
"They are very fond of battledore and shuttlecock, but instead of using a battledore they hit the shuttlecock with their heads, elbows, or feet. Seven or eight children play together, and nearly always aim the shuttlecock rightly. Girls play at this game too, in spite of their small feet. Tops, balls, see-saws, and quoits are also favourite toys and games amongst the Chinese."
"I remember," Sybil said, "a girl at school having a Chinese shuttlecock, and that was like a bird."
"Well, father, go on, please. What other amusements have they?" asked Leonard.
"Puppet-shows for one thing I remember, which they exhibit in the streets, as we do 'Punch and Judy.' The pictures in these shows are exhibited by means of strings, which are either worked from behind or from above the stand, and as the people look through a glass, the views are displayed to them. A man standing at the side calls out loudly, and beats a little gong to summon people to attend the show. And now I think, as I am rather tired for to-day, I shall beat a little gong to dismiss you from the show," Mr. Graham said,
