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A Chinese “Jack Cade,” before starting out oils his body, wearing only such garments as will readily slip off, and fills his queue with bits of glass. As they rarely carry (illegible text) they are not very dangerous, but decidedly slippery customers and hard to hold.
The hats worn by the natives are very odd looking, and quite different from those usually seen in Northern China. It is of bamboo, very light, and often three feet in diameter, curving up from the edge of the brim to the centre like the lid of a tea-pot. In Chinese towns, where the streets are narrow, two such hats cannot pass each other without colliding, and they have to be carried under the arm.
The best institution I have seen in Hong Kong is the Sedan chairs. The doors of the hotel are besieged with them, and they are everywhere to be hired for a very small sum, which is regulated by the city government like the fare of hackney coaches. It is cheaper to ride than go on foot, and they are used by everybody, as the streets are mostly too steep for carriages drawn by horses. They are made of bamboo and cane, very light, and comfortable, with a green canopy to keep off the sun, and supported by bamboo pales about ten feet long, resting 6n the shoulders of two coolies, who slide rapidly over the ground at a pace between a walk and a trot. As I look from my window I see a sailor coming up the street in chair, with his feet elevated over the “dashboard” and lying back with great dignity, smoking a cigar. Late very night I hear the “won’t go home till morning,” sung in full chorus by bands of sailors, out on a bender, who sweep through the center of the street arm in arm. The police never seem to interfere with such demonstrations on the part of white men.
A few days ago, with some friends, I ascended to the summit of Victoria Peak, from which there is a magnificent view of the whole island of Hong Kong and many miles out to sea. Four coolies to each chair carried us up the winding path, and in some places the ascent was so steep that I pitied my perspiring “bearers” and got out and walked—a piece of humanity quite unexpected. On the summit is 5 tall flag-staff, powerful telescope, and a cannon in charge of a guard, who signals to the town below the approach of every ship long before she can reach the anchorage. He explained to us his system
