Page:Inside Canton.djvu/34

Rh Our inspection was not in vain. The rooms intended for the women, which according to Chinese ideas constitute the sanctuary of the house or the inner apartment, were ornamented with an infinite number of drawings. They were long strips of paper, on which pastoral scenes were represented. These paintings gave us a singular impression of the way the Eclogue is understood in the Celestial Empire. Watteau's little cupids and adorable shepherdesses would have blushed up to the whites of their eyes on seeing them. In our ideas, Pan's pictures would only have done to illustrate Theocritus, Apulius, or Tongus. Callery could not make the mandarin's servants understand that they ought to remove these landscapes; he was obliged to have recourse to the master himself. Pan, on hearing his explanations, did not conceal his astonishment. Those good Chinese are great heathens! However, all the Bouchers and Watteaus disappeared.

This charming palace, as transparent as a glass house, situated on the Tchou-kiang, that enchanted river, is certainly the most delightful dwelling M. de Lagrené can have occupied during his travels. The furniture of all the rooms presented a mixture of European luxury and Chinese elegance: there were magnificent looking-glasses, English and French clocks, with native toys and ornaments in ivory. Of the nations of the East, the Chinese alone have