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China are built with three, five, seven or nine stories—always an odd number. These towers or monuments, though sometimes connected with temples, are not considered especially sacred. Some of them are very old and nearly all dilapidated. Frequently large shrubs and bushes are growing from crannies in the walls, where seeds have been lodged by the winds. They are substantially built of bricks or stone, with outside galleries round every story, and form a very characteristic and beautiful feature in Chinese landscapes. It is supposed that they were originally designed as depositories of revered relics or to commemorate some noted person. That they are now neglected and in ruins is quoted by Chinese Old Fogies as an illustration of the degeneracy of modern times.
As the river narrows we see on both sides people at work in the rice fields, and the country seems highly cultivated and very populous. We now approach Whampoa, quite a large city, where all the foreign ships are anchored, as there is not sufficient depth of water above for them to ascend the ten miles between here and Canton. Nearby are the famous Barrier forts, dismantled and in ruins. These had an especial interest to me as the scene when the gallant Commodore Foote laid his ship alongside the Chinese forts and quickly battered them down, the soldiers skedaddling through the gates in the rear and never returning. The boats from our squadron, carrying the American flag, had been frequently fired on from these forts, and to remonstrances and demands for explanation and apology, nothing but Chinese verbiage could be obtained; until at last the Commodore's patience being exhausted, he taught them to respect the "stars and stripes" by battering down their forts. This is, I believe, the only time the American eagle has set his claws in the Chinese dragon, and the lesson had a very salutary ffect. As an illustration of Chinese inconsistency and insolence, the Mandarin Governor of Canton, after an humble apology for the "mistake" of firing on the boats of a friendly nation carrying the national flag, proposes that an American flag be sent to him, so that in future his officers might know and be able to recognize it. This, after half a century of international intercourse!
As we approach the great city the "Fire King" slackens speed, for the boats and native craft seem to almost completely cover
