. The land of the pigtail : its people and customs : from a boy's point of view . the botanist, tells a story of CantonEnglish which I may repeat. He was asking a gardenerwhat he put in with his seeds when packing, and wastold burnt lice. He meant rice, for the Chineseturn the r into 1. And on being asked why heused the rice, he replied, Spose me no mixee this seed,worms makee c-how-chow-he. You will gather that the Chinese delight in bargain-ing ; but our chaffering with them was as nothing com-pared with theirs with one another. They are all dis-posed to cheat whenevei; they can, and as both
. The land of the pigtail : its people and customs : from a boy's point of view . the botanist, tells a story of CantonEnglish which I may repeat. He was asking a gardenerwhat he put in with his seeds when packing, and wastold burnt lice. He meant rice, for the Chineseturn the r into 1. And on being asked why heused the rice, he replied, Spose me no mixee this seed,worms makee c-how-chow-he. You will gather that the Chinese delight in bargain-ing ; but our chaffering with them was as nothing com-pared with theirs with one another. They are all dis-posed to cheat whenevei; they can, and as both buyerand seller pursue the same game, you may imagine thatit is a case of diamond cut diamond. The men with poultry make up balls of moistened CONCERNING EATING. 71 pollard, and- thrust tbem down the throat of the birdsto increase their weight; and they will blowout stalefish with a reed untU they appear plump and fresh. Nothing protects the purchaser but his own sharp- -ness. Deceit, and trickery, and adulteration are notrecognised; nor are there any standards of weights and. THB POULTRY-SELLER. measures. The seller has a , of course favour-ing himself; and sometimes the buyer brings with himg, steelyard inclining to his side; and the squabblesand disputes, and clamouring and abuse that go oumust be seen and heard to be believed. I heard once of a manwho went into a dames shop 72 THE LAND OF THE PIGTAIL. for half an ounce of tobacco, but tbe weight could notbe found. A happy thought seized the man, and heput his great thumb into the scale, declaring that it justweighed the half-ounce. I need not say the womanwas English, and not Chinese. The man in the picture is not so easily to be takenin : he objects to the weight of theTowl as given bythe market-man, who has to give the beam a gentle tiltto make the other end go down. A long wrangle will ensue as to the weight, and thenanother as to the price; and eventually the purchasewill be made, each congratulating himself
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