[19. A LETTER FROM CHINA.]
A Chinese Street.
(From the picture by T. Hodgson Liddell, R.B.A.)
1. MY DEAR CHILDREN,—Three weeks have gone by since I last wrote to you. I have made my voyage safely, and I am now in a great city of China called Canton.
2. Ask mother to show you China on the globe. You see at once that it is a vast country. It is larger than the whole of Europe. One-fourth of all the people in the world live in China.
3. All round this city of Canton there is a high wall. From the wall the city seems to be a beautiful place. When, however, you enter it, you soon find that it is dirty and full of foul smells.
4. The streets are very narrow, and are always crowded with people. Many of them are roofed in to keep them cool. Most of them are so narrow that no carriage can pass along them. People who wish to ride must be carried in a kind of box on the shoulders of two or more men.
5. I am sure you would like to see the signboards that hang down in front of the shops. The strange letters on them are painted in gold and in bright colours. They look very gay indeed.