festooned its carved and gilded ceiling. There were two more stories to the edifice, both of them partitioned off in the same way as the ground floor. At another house we visited we found a goodly company in the music-saloon; the interior had been freshly decked with flowers, festooned from the ceiling, or suspended in baskets made of wattled twigs, while mirrors, paint, gilding and all the skill of Kwang-tung art had been lavishly bestowed on the more permanent wall decorations. At a table spread with fruits and delicacies, sat a merry throng of Chinamen, young, middle-aged and old; hot wine in bright pewter pots was passing freely round the board, and the re- vellers were pledging each other in small cups of the steaming draught. We had dropped in upon a dinner-party, where, under the influence of native wine, melon seeds and pretty women, the guests were engaged in a noisy, but at the same time friendly, contest in the art of versification. Behind each guest, as is customary at such gatherings, a young girl sat; many of them might fairly claim to be called handsome, while all were prettily dressed in the fashionable silks of Canton; their hair was wreathed with flowers, and their faces painted until they resembled their native porcelain ware. An old Chinese merchant present, whom I knew, informed me that these women were all highly respectable. That might be the case; at any rate, he assured me that they were not infrequently carried off by the visitors and raised to the rank of second wives or concubines. Music was being performed in the four corners of the room by four independent female bands, each accom- panying the shrill piping voice of an old woman, who sang the adventures of a hero of romance, a personage famous alike for his prowess and his ardent and amorous heart.
