Page:Inside Canton.djvu/85

84 and nothing diverts it from its duty. You will, therefore, put on our apparel; you will conceal your eyes beneath barnacles of tea-stone; you will shade your face behind a fan; and, thus packed up, you will be carried in by my coolies in a chair. But, in spite of these precautions, your spectacles may come off, and you may utter a cry; if you should then be recognised by the populace, you and I run the greatest danger; they will rush on you as on an enemy, and set fire to my house as that of a traitor."

"Nonsense!" I exclaimed; "nothing of the sort will happen. At any rate, let us try."

At these words, Pan raised his hands towards heaven, as if he despaired of making me hear reason, and continued:

"Listen to me; and if you carry out your mad notions, you will see I have not deceived you. The new town, or Chinese town, is not finer than T'sin-chan, or the bazaar at Macao; and I would not change Thè-ki-Han for the palace of Ki-In or that of the Hoppo, both of which are in the south-western part of the city. The old or Tartar city, with the exception of three or four streets, similar to the Hoèi-gai-kiaï (the Street of Benevolent Affection), which extends from the Chin-tun-Moun Gate to the Chin-se-Moun Gate, contains only narrow, tortuous lanes. The houses of these fetid passages are built of earth and bamboo. The five-storeyed tower is the most