A cycle of Cathay, or, China, south and north . laments of rams horn or the legs ofan octopus; each had a separate sheath of bamboo. Fineladies in China have nails as long; but they are sheathedin silver. Fuchau, which contains about 700,000 inhabitants, is thecapital of the province of Fu-kien, and the chief center for theexport of black teas. Standing on an undulating plain twenty-two miles from the sea, it is one of the cleanest and best-builtcities to be seen on the coast of China. In order to give us acomprehensive view of it, some of our friends formed a party to make the circuit ofthe w
A cycle of Cathay, or, China, south and north . laments of rams horn or the legs ofan octopus; each had a separate sheath of bamboo. Fineladies in China have nails as long; but they are sheathedin silver. Fuchau, which contains about 700,000 inhabitants, is thecapital of the province of Fu-kien, and the chief center for theexport of black teas. Standing on an undulating plain twenty-two miles from the sea, it is one of the cleanest and best-builtcities to be seen on the coast of China. In order to give us acomprehensive view of it, some of our friends formed a party to make the circuit ofthe wall, not, as Bow-ring made it at Canton,on the outside, but onthe top of the environ-ing structure. We wereprovided with palan-quins, each borne bytwo stout coolies ; thosewho affect dignity haveusually four. To for-eigners the palanquinsare indispensable as ashelter from heat and a relief from fatigue where horse and car-riage are not available. This sage opinion, the result of experi-ence, was at that time so far from taking shape in my mind. A COMMON SEDAN. VOYAGE UP THE COAST 41 that I allowed my coolies to carry the empty chair, or se-dan, as it is called, at my heels all day long, through repug-nance to riding on the necks of my fellow-men. A tramp often miles—the walls measure nine—helped me, however, toget over that scruple. Within the inclosure rises a hill, covered with trees and rocks,with here and there a small house hidden in the foliage. Thisis the palladium of the city, an elevation which draws propi-tious influences from the four winds and pours them down onthe people below. The Chinese believe in this sort of geoman-tic influence as firmly as we do in the lightning-rod. They call\\. fungshui (wind and water), from the elements that mostfrequently form the vehicle for good or evil luck. The notionprobably originated in the observation that wind and waterhave much to do with commercial prosperity. But it has growninto a whole system of superstitious notions,
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