Page:Kidnapped in London.djvu/38

 spoken languages are many. A Swatow merchant, therefore, doing business in Hong Kong with a Cantonese man, speaks English, but writes in the common language of China. While upon this subject it may be well to state that the Japanese written language is the same in its characters as that used by the Chinese; so that a Chinaman and a Japanese when they meet, although having no spoken words in common, can figure to each other on the ground or on paper, and frequently make imaginary figures on one hand with the forefinger of the other to their mutual understanding.

My would-be Chinese friend, therefore, addressed me in English until he found my dialect. We then conversed in the Cantonese dialect. Whilst he was talking we were slowly advancing along the street, and presently a second Chinaman joined us, so that I had now one on each side. They pressed me to go in to their