Page:Inside Canton.djvu/83

82 "Without doubt there are; but not one of these palaces is equal to my house in beauty; the very streets in which they are erected are more melancholy than the others; all these edifices are surrounded by walls which hide them from the view. The figures alone, painted on the outer doors, denote the dignity of the proprietors."

"Yes, I understand that. But what life! what a multitude of people must elbow each other in the streets, since the suburbs resemble ant-hills. In the city—the true city—the people must run against each other and be mingled together like a swarm of bees flying away from any spot."

"It is precisely the contrary which is the case!" exclaimed Pan. "Most of the streets are as deserted as those of a village, and the most frequented ones are far less noisy than the Chinese quarter in Macao!"

"I do not care for that," I added, obstinately; "I should like to get inside, were it only to behold a thousand strange scenes, to note a thousand eccentric customs, and, in a word, to observe a Chinese population left to itself."

"I sometimes think Europeans a little mad," said Pan, shaking his head. "Why should you suppose the men behind the walls of defence different from those outside? Both the former and the latter are at home, and they in no wise change their customs, whether you observe them or no."