and redeemed at a moment's notice. Such towers are places for the safe custody of the costly gems and robes of the wealthy classes of the community, and are really indispensable insti- tutions in a country where bridgandage and misgovernment expose property to constant risks. Besides this, a licensed pawnbroking establishment makes temporary advances to needy persons who may have security to lodge ; the charge being three per cent per month on sums under ten taels, save in the last month of the year, when the interest is reduced to two per cent. If the amount of the loan exceeds ten taels, the rate is uniformly two per cent per month. The pledges are kept for three years in the better class of pawnshops ; it is customary for the poor to pawn their winter and summer clothing alternately, redeeming each suit as it may be required.
Not far below the Heights in the Tartar quarter of the city, is the British Consulate, or Yamen. This edifice stands in the grounds of what was once a palace, and is made up of diverse picturesque Chinese buildings, environed by a tastefully laid out garden and deer park. Hard by is the ancient nine-storied pagoda ascribed to the reign of Emperor Wu-Ti, in the middle of the sixth century of our era; it is octagonal in shape and 1 70 feet high. In 1859 some British sailors, weary of shore Ufe and longing to go aloft, managed, at the risk of their necks, to scale this crazy-looking monument — an event which greatly disgusted the Chinese, for they hate to have their dwellings overlooked from a height, more especially by a pack of foreign fire-eating sailors. Descending from the height, and passing southwards down to the main street of the town, we are struck by the appearance of the closely-packed shops, which differ from anything we have ever seen before. We observe that the folks who lounge about, even in the meanest-looking
