No Wheeled
Vehicle Larger Than A Perambulator Ever Disturbs The Quiet.
People who
go into the city are carried in chairs, or drop down the river in their
luxurious covered boats, but for exercise they mostly walk on the bund,
and play croquet or lawn tennis.
In this glorious weather the island
is very charming. It is possible to spend the whole year here, as the
tidal breezes modify the moist heat of summer; but the English children
look pale and languid even now.
Canton, January 4. - If I were to describe Canton, and had time for it,
my letters would soon swell to the size of Archdeacon Gray's quaint and
fascinating book, "Walks in Canton;" but I have no time, and must
content myself with brief sketches of two or three things which have
greatly interested me, and of the arrangement and management of the
city; putting the last first, if I am able "to make head or tail of
it," and to cram its leading features into a letter.
Viewing Canton from the "five-storied pagoda," or from the dignified
elevation of a pawn tower, it is apparent that it is surrounded by a
high wall, beyond which here and there are suburban villages, some
wealthy and wood-embosomed, others mean and mangy. The river divides it
from a very populous and important suburb. Within the city lies the
kernel of the whole, the Tartar city, occupied by the garrison and a
military colony numbering about twenty thousand persons. This
interesting area is walled round, and contains the residence of the
Tartar General, and the consulates of the great European Powers. It is
well wooded and less closely built than the rest of Canton. Descending
from any elevation one finds oneself at once involved at any and every
point in a maze of narrow, crowded streets of high brick and stone
houses, mostly from five to eight feet wide. These streets are covered
in at the height of the house roofs by screens of canvas matting, or
thin boards, which afford a pleasant shade, and at the same time let
the sunbeams glance and trickle among the long, pendent signboards and
banners which swing aloft, and upon the busy, many-colored, jostling
throng below.
Every street is paved with large slabs of granite, and under each of
the massive foot-ways (for carriage-ways there are none) there is a
drain for carrying off the rain-water, which is then conveyed into six
large culverts, from them into four creeks which intersect the city,
and thence into the river. These large drains are supervised by the
"prefect," who is bound by an ancient law to have them thoroughly
cleansed every autumn, while each of the small drains is cleansed by
the orders and at the expense of the "vestry" of the street under which
it passes. This ancient sanitary law, like many other of the admirable
laws of this empire, is said to be by no means punctiliously carried
out; and that Canton is a very healthy city, and that pestilences of
any kind rarely gain a footing in it, may be attributed rather to the
excellent plan of sending out the garbage of the city daily to
fertilize the gardens and fields of the neighborhood, than to the
vigilance of the municipal authorities.
There are heavy and ancient gates or barricades which enclose each
street, and which are locked at night, only to be opened by favor of
the watchmen who guard them. Their closing brings to an end the busy
street life, and at 10 P.M. Canton, cut up into small sections, barred
out from each other, is like a city of the dead. Each gate watchman is
appointed and paid by the "vestry" of the street in which he keeps
guard. They wear uniform, but are miserable dilapidated-looking
creatures, and I have twice seen one fast asleep. In the principal
streets night watchmen are stationed in watch-towers, which consist of
small mat huts, placed on scaffolds raised far above the house-tops, on
bamboo poles bound together with strong cords. These men are on the
look-out for armed bands of robbers, but specially for fire. They are
provided with tom-toms and small gongs on which to proclaim the hours
of the night, but, should fire arise, a loud, rapid, and incessant
beating of the gong gives the alarm to all the elevated brotherhood in
turn, who at the same time, by concerted signals, inform the citizens
below of the ward and street in which the fire has originated. In each
principal street there is a very large well, covered with granite
slabs, with its exact position denoted on a granite slab on the
adjoining wall. These wells, which are abundant reservoirs, are never
opened except in case of fire.
Besides these watchmen, eleven hundred military constabulary are
answerable for the good order of the "new city" and its suburbs, and a
thousand more, called the Governor's brigade, garrison the outer gates
in the city wall and several interior guard-houses, all the inner gates
being garrisoned by Tartar troops. Canton is divided into thirty-six
wards, under twelve officers in summer, but in winter, as now, when
burglars are supposed to be more on the alert, this number is
increased. Each officer having soldiers under him traverses at
intervals during the night every street under his jurisdiction, and
these armed followers, whether to intimidate criminals or to show their
vigilance, are in the habit of discharging their old-fashioned
matchlocks and gingalls as they patrol. In consequence of so many
precautions, which are carried out very thoroughly, fires and
burglaries are much minimized, and the proverb "as safe as Canton"
appears to have a substantial foundation. The barricaded streets at
night have an eerie solemnity about them. One night, my present
hostess, Mrs. H., and I prowled through some of them quite unattended,
on our way back from a friend's dwelling, roused up the watchmen to
unlock and unbar the gates, saw no other people astir, went down one of
the water streets, hailed a boat, and were deposited close to the door
of our own abode about midnight; such an event being quite of common
occurrence in this quarter.
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