Page:Illustrations of China and Its People vol. II.pdf/58



PLATE 51 shows us that the Chinese coolies carry their burdens suspended from the two ends of a bamboo pole supported by the shoulders of the bearer. Socially the coolie is a very humble character. Poor as he is, nevertheless he is cheerful and contented, industrious and easily managed; he has a smattering of education, too; although he has not dipped into the classical lore of his country, he has a knowledge of the elementary characters of the language, which enables him to feast his mind on street literature, and revel in the simple books of folklore that are to be found in Chinese cities. His dress consists of a jacket and trousers of coarse cotton cloth, but if in prosperous circumstances he has one suit for summer, and a second for winter wear; the latter is the costume which is represented here. It is padded with layers of cotton, and has usually an eventful history attached to it, as the necessities of the poor wearer compel him often to place it in pawn during the summer, in order to release his lighter suit, but it frequently happens when money is scarce that he finds himself unable to redeem his clothes, and then they pass into other hands.

THE gentleman represented in No. 52 is known in the city of Foochow as a "Ma-qui" — "swift as a horse," and holds the subordinate position of detective officer attached to the magisterial establishment. I paid him a visit at his residence, and took his portrait in the central court. This man is reported to know the haunts of all the thieves in his district. He has been called "the king of the thieves," and he exercises an undoubted sway over the gangs that infest the city.

The liberal views regarding the ownership of property held by these unruly subjects of the Ma-qui meet with a degree of sympathy and consideration from detectives, which is at times apt to thwart the ends of justice.

Thus I myself once applied to one of these native detectives to aid me in tracing some property which had been lost; he coolly informed me that he thought he knew the thief, and that if I really wanted the goods, he was quite confident he could recover them on my paying about three-fourths of their value.

There are many expert professional thieves in China, men who would be profitable hands to any chief who would wink at their peculiarities and take them into his protection.

Housebreaking is practised with great address, particularly in foreign settlements. A gentleman with whom I was acquainted had the following experience with a Chinese burglar: — About midnight, as he lay awake in his bed, the lamp having gone out and the windows being open on account of the heat, he noticed a dark figure climbing up over one of the windows into the room where he lay. My friend remained quite still, and when the thief, believing all to be safe, had stolen into the centre of the apartment, he sprang out of his bed and seized the intruder. Both were powerful men, and a fierce struggle ensued; but the robber had the advantage, as his only covering was a thick coat of oil, so that slipping like an eel from the grasp of his antagonist, he made a plunge at the window, and was about to drop into the garden, when his pursuer made a final effort to catch him by the tail. This tail was coiled up round his head and stuck full of needles, but the thief got away after all, for even the queue was a false one, and as he dropped into the garden it came away by the weight of the fall, and was left an unprofitable trophy in the hands of the European whom he had vainly tried to rob.