Several days' delay is experienced in obtaining a passport
from the Viceroy of the two Quangs, and during the delay most of the
sights of the city are visited. The five-storied pagoda, the temple of
the five hundred genii, the water-clock, the criminal court--where several
poor wretches are seen almost flayed alive with bamboos-flower-boats,
silk, jade-stone, ivory-carving shops, temple of tortures, and a dozen
other interesting places are visited under the pilotage of the genial
guide and interpreter Ah Kum.
The strange boat population, numbering, according to some accounts, two
hundred thousand people, is one of the most interesting features of
Canton life. Wonderfully animated is the river scene as viewed from the
balcony of the Canton Hotel, a hostelry kept by a Portuguese on the
opposite bank of the river from Canton proper.
The consuls and others express grave doubts about the wisdom of my
undertaking in journeying alone through China, and endeavor to dissuade
me from making the attempt. Opinion, too, is freely expressed that the
Viceroy will refuse his permission, or, at all events, place obstacles in
my way. The passport is forthcoming on October 12th, however, and I lose
no time in making a start.
Thirteen miles from Canton I reach the city of Fat-shan.
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