would find no favour with him. Cerberus never stops snarling till you throw him a honey-cake in the shape of a few pieces of gold; and, as I had but a very limited provision of these sops, I resolved to shelter myself behind M. de Lagrené in accomplishing my tour through the shops of Canton.
I have already said that the populace of Canton is the most violent, the most stupid, and the most inconsistent in the whole universe; and I am going to give a proof of this. When the Chinese meet in the American garden, or in the narrow alleys of the factories, any beautiful child of the Saxon race with auburn hair and blue eyes, or any beautiful little boy as rosy as a cupid of Watteau, they crowd around these charming little creatures with benevolent curiosity; they press them in their arms, and, if permitted, they would cover them with kisses and carry them away. Well, these men, animated with such sentiments towards these beautiful cherubims, nourish the most violent hatred against their parents. They can hardly bear the presence of Europeans in their suburbs; and if a woman should pass the threshold of the factories, she would probably pay for this imprudence with her life. There is thus hardly an example of any lady from the West having visited the Chinese streets; the dangerous dispositions of the populace repress the curiosity even of the most fearless.
