. New China and old : personal recollections and observations of thirty years. of troops to defend the outer gate. Thenwhen hard pressed the garrison can retreat behind theinner gate, and renew the defence there. This inner gate is also crowned with a we pass in, some of the garrison are practising at amark with bows and arrows along the inner face of thewall. To-day, in consequence of the state of the tides,we have landed near to one of the gates. Sometimesthe crossing must be made far higher up; and ourwalk would have been not through streets of mud huts,but through a busy sub
. New China and old : personal recollections and observations of thirty years. of troops to defend the outer gate. Thenwhen hard pressed the garrison can retreat behind theinner gate, and renew the defence there. This inner gate is also crowned with a we pass in, some of the garrison are practising at amark with bows and arrows along the inner face of thewall. To-day, in consequence of the state of the tides,we have landed near to one of the gates. Sometimesthe crossing must be made far higher up; and ourwalk would have been not through streets of mud huts,but through a busy suburb, with shops on either side,and paved streets. Once through this city gate we reacha noisy and crowded thoroughfare. The traffic is great 54 An Inland City. and continuous ; and above the hum and the murmursof the peoples voices you hear incessantly the loudershout of the sedan-chair-bearers, as they call to thedense masses meeting them, Chair coming !— Mindyourselves 1— Beware of a knock ! —and with reason,for the wooden poles of the chair, carried on the bearers. Sedan Chair. shoulders, stretch some way in front, and might stun orkill a short-statured individual by a blow in the eye or onthe side of the head. Above the hubbub ring out alsothe shouts of the scavengers, carrying the sewage of thecity in open buckets to their. country boats moored bythe moat. We wonder how the inhabitants of this Drainage. 55 great city survive the multiform and most evil odourswhich assail them from these carriers at all times ofthe day, and in all parts of the town. Yet it is the onlypretence to scavenging ; and the city would be infinitelyworse off without it. On one occasion a bucket carriedby one of these scavengers struck by accident the chairof a Mandarin. The man was arrested, and threatenedwith punishment. The whole of the scavengers com-munity struck work ; and the groaning city was obligedto intercede for the culprit and procure his release beforethe unsavoury work was resume
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