I have frequently seen from three to six assembled, some sitting in the doorway, some lying down, and others standing at the counter, each of them beating most violently on two stout pieces of bamboo, and making a most insufferable noise.
Occasionally, a whole family of “singing beggars” are met with, making the most horrible discord, and singing at the very top of their voices; the rough music from marrow-bones, cleavers, and frying-pans, is vastly preferable to it. Again, others are seen, who are either more rich, or possess greater privileges of annoyance, being allowed to carry all sorts of musical instruments, viz.: a drum, secured to the waist; a small gong, suspended from the neck; and a trumpet, in the mouth. Now and then, a sturdy, self-willed shopman, would pay no attention to the vile pest: forthwith a loud thump was given on the drum, then a thundering noise from the gong, followed by a horrible blast from the trumpet. It would provoke the risibles of a saint, to see the gravity of countenance exhibited by both parties. The shopman, attending to his goods, apparently unconscious of the presence of the other, while the beggar is pursuing his vocation as though his very existence depended upon his making such a noise, as would awake the seven sleepers of Christendom. As no customer is willing to enter a shop where he cannot be heard, the master is at length, most unwillingly, compelled to give him one cash, (about the eight-hundredth part of a dollar;) if this should not be perfect in every respect, it is returned, and a good one absolutely demanded, or a repetition of all that is horrible in discord, and all that is unbearable in vile sounds is repeated. So it proceeds from early dawn to setting-sun: as fast as one beggar-customer is gone, another and another make their appearance; but the donor can expel them if they call oftener than once a day.
CAT AND DOG MARKET.
Near the entrance of Old China-street, between Minqua’s hong, and the American hong of Messrs. Oliphant & Co., called, “Kwan yueng hang,” or, “The factory of wide fountains,” (where I had the pleasure of spending a couple of months,) there is the mart for the sale of cats and dogs. The venders regularly meet, daily, from one to three, (high-change hours being about two.) Here may be seen, arranged along the pavement in regular order, baskets and cages of these animals, the latter being used for poor puss only, who seemed always to be out of place.
Being within a half dozen steps of the venders, I overlooked them from the balcony, and saw their daily operations; and, as trifling as it may seem to others, I acknowledge that I was much amused with the examinations that the poor animals underwent. Poor puss, as a sailor would say, was “thoroughly overhauled, from clue to ear-ring,” to see if she was sound in health; if she had a handsome, smooth, glossy coat, suitable for ornamenting some garment; if she was free from “cow-licks,” or the hair growing the wrong way; if her limbs were sound, and suitable for making penny whistles, and other small articles; and if she was plump, well-fatted, fit for culinary purposes, and not blown out by injecting air into the body: a common Chinese trick, and which is not tolerated by fair, grave merchants. Young she-cats were preferred for breeders, and commanded double the price of tom-cats. The puppies (for there were but few full grown dogs offered for sale) were likewise thoroughly examined, to ascertain if their outward garment was in good condition—if they were fat, sleek, free from a musky or strong smell, and fit to make a rich press-soup, of which the Chinese are extravagantly fond; if their limbs were sound and not distorted, and if they were the true Chinese breed of prick-eared curs, having black palates and black tongues, with a well-curved feathery tail. The sluts brought generally, I found, more than double the price of the males. The pedigree (being an important matter always in monarchical governments) was also particularly inquired into.
It may perhaps, by some, be thought that I have been unnecessarily particular in making the above statements, in reference to an insignificant portion of the brute creation; but, as I was anxious to give every particular in reference to the internal, as well as external commerce of China, the reader will perhaps excuse the detail given above.
I cannot take my leave of the canine species, without relating a provoking loss which befel Dr. M. B—ghs, of Philadelphia, during my stay in China. The gentleman had purchased, at a high price, a fine pup, on Change, for the purpose of carrying it to the United States. The dog being rather troublesome in running about the house, he told a Chinese servant, who spoke English, to tie him up. The doctor went out, as usual, in search of curiosities, such as rare birds, &c., which he skinned and prepared. On his return, he inquired of the servant if he had tied up the dog and secured him. “Yez,” said he, “hab done, hab done.” Well, said the doctor, where is he “Up loom, up loom,” meaning up in the doctor’s room; for a China-man cannot pronounce the letter r. He immediately ushered the way up stairs, threw open the chamber-door suddenly, and exhibited the dog tied up, but strangled, having hung him! “Can do? can do?” said he, with an air perfectly unconscious of having done wrong. “Can do?” said the doctor, echoing back his words in a tone which indicated any thing rather than satisfaction, “I wish you were there tied up in his stead.”
In front of the foreign factories, there are assembled regularly, every morning, at an early hour, the “Barbers,” with their basins and snug seats, for the use of their customers. They wield a very short, clumsy razor, having a round wooden handle, without a particle of superfluous wood about it: the blade is two and a half inches long, one and a half inches broad at the end, and tapering to less than half an inch toward the handle; it is three eighths of an inch in thickness, for about an inch and a half of its length; the handle is of wood, round, and three eighths of an inch in diameter, and the length of the instrument is six inches.
Strict economy is observed in shaving; water only being used to soften the hair. The head is shaved, leaving only a long lock, which is plaited or braided, and if the tail fails to reach the heels, it is eked out with black riband. Generally speaking, all the hair is shaved from the face, nose, and the eye-lids; for a China-man will always have the full worth of his money, although he pays but three or four cash (equal to about a half cent) to the operator; the eyebrows are then adjusted, and the hair eradicated from the ears and nostrils with tweezers; the nail and corn cutter is then resorted to, who repairs and polishes the nails of the hands and feet: the China-man is in prime order—a small scull-cap, or palm-leaf pointed hat, is then put on, or he protects his head with an ordinary looking paper fan, having on it some moral sentences. At ten and at four he goes to his dark hole, where he exercises his “chop-sticks” with great dexterity, regaling himself with rice and vegetables, deluged with the fat of pork, if he can obtain it. A draught of water, and a dram of shewhing, (arrack,) a pipe of tobacco, and a piece of areca-nut, place him at once among the celestials; but if to these, a pipe or two of refined opium be added, not that exquisite of all pleasures, in the opinion of the country bumpkin, of swinging on a gate all day, and eating bountifully of mush and molasses, can bear any comparison with this care-killing and unparalleled pleasure.