Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/310

 worms, and coagulated blood, were more numerous  than our peanut and apple venders.

If the devil should throw his net into Canton he would surely draw in his own. I verily believe every shopkeeper we met, man or woman, was an expert thief, cheat, and liar. They could change a black dog into a white monkey, to say nothing of a Spanish dollar into a  counterfeit. We saw many strange sights. Barbers in the streets, shaving with razors that looked like little  hatchets, old Chinese women reading large books, and  old Chinamen driving hoops and flying kites. These kites were in the form of birds, and had wings. After purchasing several tea caddies, boxes, fans, and other  things for the dear ones at home, we steered for Hog  Lane, where we spent the night, having what Jack before  the mast calls a jolly good time. In the morning, after taking an eye-opener, we breakfasted on cat or dog stew,  — we were unable to determine which, though the meat  tasted much like rabbit’s meat. Of course the stew was plentifully thickened with rice. We returned on board at noon, when the larboard watch took their liberty.

While we were lying here, the residents back in the country were visited by an earthquake, which demolished  over ten thousand houses and killed nearly five thousand  people.

In the city of Canton there was a large opera house where an opera troupe had a three months’ engagement. The Sunday night before we left, a fire broke out while some five or six thousand persons were assembled to  witness the performance. Nearly all perished in the flames.