Chinese Burying Places.

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larly when one is planted on each side of the tomb. These trees are planted in a half-circle round the grave, leaving the front open. Within this half-circle is the tomb itself, the most common kind being covered with a large mound of earth, faced with stone in front, on which the name and age of the deceased are cut and painted. In front of this again is a stone pavement, with smooth stone seats, whether destined for the visitor or for the spirit of the departed I cannot tell. Sometimes I met with tombs of the most elaborate workmanship, and constructed in many different ways. Each told its tale of wealth or poverty; some must have cost very large sums, while others consisted of the coffin laid upon the surface of the ground, and thatched with a little straw. It is a pretty sight, and yet a painful one too, to see the relations of the dead visiting the tombs of their ancestors, which they do at stated periods, for the purpose of burning sycee paper and incense, and chanting prayers to the gods or spirits of the departed. Sometimes a mother may be seen with her children, the youngest probably still an infant in her arms, assembled in front of the grave of the husband and father. The widow is wailing and lamenting her bereavement, and the poor little ones look on so seriously, while every now and then they prostrate themselves before the grave. Or, it may be, it is the aged who are paying the same respect to the last resting-place of those who had been taken away in early life, and to whom they had looked forward as the stay and prop of their declining years. Or, again, a solitary individual may be seen performing the same rites-young, middle-aged, or old, as the case might be which suggested the idea that he was poor and friendless, the last of his race. It has been asserted, that there is little genuine feeling in all this, that it is a custom which must be observed, and that it would just be as well if such a custom did not exist. I believe, however, there is as much genuine sorrow amongst the Chinese for the loss of relatives as there is amongst ourselves; and, if we consider the way they dote upon their children, and the reverence and love they have for aged parents, we can come to no other conclusion. That in many instances all is mere show and required by custom, I have no doubt. On one occasion, as I was wandering amongst these hills, a chair passed me containing a very beautiful lady, dressed in the gayest satin. I caught a slight glimpse of her countenance as she passed, and was so much struck with her beauty, that I instantly stood still and looked after the chair. It immediately turned off the little hill-road, in the direction of a tomb that had been lately made, where it was set down by the bearers. Following this chair were two female servants and a coolie with a box of clothes, a basket of provisions, and some sycee paper and incense. The lady, on stepping out of the chair, commenced robing herself in deep mourning, by putting on a gown of sackcloth over her gay dress; but on seeing I was looking on, she stopped immediately, and threw the gown to her attendants, with whom she was laughing and chatting away, as if grief and she were perfect strangers to each other. Anxious as I was to witness her proceedings, I felt it was VOL. XXVII. NO. LIII.

G

wrong and indelicate in me to remain in my present position, so I walked onwards, until a small hedge and clump of bamboos hid the party from my view. I then turned into the plantation, and selected a spot where, through an opening in the foliage, I could see all without being seen myself. The handsome widow, for such she apparently was, had again put on her sackcloth robe, her women were standing by her side, and the wailing commenced in the most business-like manner. This continued for nearly half-an-hour, while at the same time incense was burned, and various tawdry-looking strips of paper were hung about the grave. At last the ceremony was finished, the coarse sackcloth was consigned to the coolie, and the lady, all gay as before, and with but little traces of grief, stepped into her chair and was carried away."-FORTUNE, p. 53.

In the month of August, Mr Fortune had a sudden and severe attack of fever, and was treated after the following singular fashion by the Chinese "leech" :—

"He then despatched a messenger to his house for certain medicines, and, at the same time, ordered a basin of strong hot tea to be brought into the room. When this was set before him, he bent his two forefingers and dipped his knuckles into the hot tea. The said knuckles were now used like a pair of pincers on my skin, under the ribs, round the back, and on several parts of the body. Every now and then the operation of wetting them with the hot tea was repeated. He pinched and drew my skin so hard, that I could scarcely refrain from crying out with pain; and when the operation was completed to his satisfaction, he had left marks which I did not get rid of for several weeks after.

"When the messenger arrived with the medicine, the first thing I was asked to swallow was a large paper of small pills, containing, I suppose, about a hundred, or, perhaps, more. Am I to take the whole of these?' I asked, in amazement. 'Yes; and here is a cup of hot tea to wash them down.' I hesitated; then tasted one, which had a hot peppery kind of flavour, and, making up my mind, gulped the whole. In the meantime, a tea-pot had been procured, capable of holding about three large breakfast-cups of tea. Into this pot were put six different vegetable productions-about half an ounce of each. These consisted of dried orange or citron peel, pomegranate, charred fruit of Gardenia radicans, the bark and wood of Rosa Banksiana, and two other things unknown to me. The tea-pot was then filled to the brim with boiling water, and allowed to stand for a few minutes, when the decoction was ready for the patient. I was now desired to drink it cup after cup as fast as possible, and then cover myself over with all the blankets which could be laid hold of. The directions of my physician were obeyed to the letter, but, nevertheless, I lay for an hour longer ere perspiration broke, when, of course, I got instant relief. Before taking his leave, the doctor informed me he would repeat his visit on the third day following, about ten in the morning, this being about an hour before the fever was likely to return. He told me not to be

at all afraid, and gave me the welcome news that the next attack, if, indeed, I had any more, would be slight, and that then I would get rid of it altogether.

"True to his promise, the old man was with me on the third day, about ten o'clock in the morning. Has the fever come on?' 'No,' I replied; it is scarcely the time yet. I suppose I shall have it in another hour.' He now desired me to lie down in bed, and the pinching process was repeated in the same way as it had been done before, but if anything it was more painful. I had then to swallow another large dose of pills, and lastly, the hot decoction from the teapot. Ere I had drunk the last cupful my skin became moist, and I was soon covered with perspiration. The fever had left me, and I was cured. I was probably the first Hong-mou-jin the doctor had treated, and he was evidently much pleased with the result of his treatment."-P. 103.

During his residence in China, Mr Fortune met with another class of doctors, to whom he refers with great good sense-the Medical Missionaries. His remarks on the labours of Dr Lockhart, during the siege of Shanghae, will be read with great interest by all, but especially by that small band of Christian philanthropists who wish to set a medical mission along side of every purely religious one, which shall be planted by British Christians. The wonder to us is, that, with the example of the Apostolic Church before them, and the presence in it of Luke the beloved physician, the churches of Christendom have been so long in discovering the lever power in this, for lifting up such a population as that of China, out of the carelessness, as to the claims of the "foreign doctrine," which has been found characterizing them. It seems strange that at this time of day, there should be so many mission stations throughout the world which have no medical branch connected with them. Mr Fortune's testimony cannot fail to encourage those who, in the past, have been labouring in this direction, and quicken them to undertake greater things in the future.

"During the time of the siege, Dr Lockhart's Chinese hospital was crowded with patients. Some came to have limbs amputated, others to have balls extracted, and others again to have their wounds dressed. All were attended to in the kindest manner, without money and without price.' It did not signify to the Christian missionary whether the person carried to his door for medical aid, was an imperialist or a rebel; it was enough that he was a human being, suffering pain, and desiring to be relieved. And hence the wounded of both parties met in the same hospital, and each had his wounds attended to by the same friendly hand."

Again,

"But the Medical Missionary Society have objects which are even of

a higher nature than healing the sick, and curing all manner of diseases.' When the patients assemble for medical treatment in the hall of the hospital, they have the Gospel preached to them by one of the members of the London Mission. Private religious instruction is also given to patients in the different wards. And thus, while the heart of the cold and unfeeling Chinese is softened and opened up by kindness-which he feels to be disinterested, and which acts like spring showers upon plants-the seeds of the Gospel of Christ are sown upon it, and, it is hoped, in many, very many instances, they may vegetate and produce their fruits in after years, when the patients have returned to their homes.

"The Chinese, as a people, are cold and indifferent to religion of any kind humanly speaking, nothing less than a miracle will convert them to Christianity. Missionaries have been in China for many years; larger numbers have been sent out from England and America since the last war, when the country was partially opened up to foreigners. These men have been labouring there, I believe, in most instances, most conscientiously, and with an ardour and single-mindedness of purpose which is worthy of all praise, and yet what is the result? How few have believed their report!' The Chinese as a nation are jealous, selfish, and eminently conceited; it is therefore difficult to convince such minds that nations, many thousand miles distant, will subscribe large sums of money merely for their religious benefit, or that men are to be found who will leave friends and home with no other views than to convert them from heathenism to Christianity. And hence it would seem that the labours of the medical missionary societies would prove a powerful auxiliary in aiding the spread of the Gospel among such a people. All nations, even the most cold and selfish, have some kindly feelings in their nature capable of being aroused and acted upon. If anything will warm such feelings in the minds of the Chinese, the labour of the medical missionary is well calculated to do so. The blind receive their sight, the lame are enabled to walk, and the wounded are cured. And when the better feelings of the man are thus expanded into something like gratitude, his prejudices are more likely to give way, and thus his mind may become softened, and more apt to receive religious impressions."-FORTUNE, pp. 128, 130, 134.

The remark, quoted above, from Dr Medhurst, in reference to Chinese shoes, is equally applicable to the cruel practice of destroying the growth of Chinese females' feet-"The doing of everything the contrary way to other nations."

"It is certainly a most barbarous custom that of deforming the feet of Chinese ladies, and detracts greatly from their beauty. Many persons think that the custom prevails only amongst persons of rank or wealth, but this is a great mistake. In the central and eastern provinces of the empire, it is almost universal. The fine ladies who ride in sedan chairs, and the poorer classes who toil from morning till evening in the fields, are all deformed in the same manner. In the more

The Fashion of Little Feet.

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southern provinces, such as Fokun and Canton, the custom is not so universal. Boat women and field-labourers generally allow their feet to grow to their natural size.

"Dr Lockhart, whose name I have already mentioned in these pages, gives the following as the result of his extensive and varied experience on this subject. He says:

"Considering the vast number of females who have the feet bound up in early life, and whose feet are then distorted, the amount of actual disease of the bones is small. The ankle is generally tender, and much walking soon causes the foot to swell, and be very painful, and this chiefly when the feet have been carelessly bound in infancy. To produce the diminution of the foot, the tarsus or instep is bent on itself, the os calcis, or heel-bone, thrown out of the horizontal position, and what ought to be the posterior surface, brought to the ground, so that the ankle is, as it were, forced higher up than it ought to be, producing, in fact, artificial Talipes Calcaneus. Then the four smaller toes are pressed down under the instep, and checked in their growth, till at adult age all that has to go into the shoe is the end of the os calcis and the whole of the great toe. In a healthy constitution, this construction of the foot may be carried on without any very serious consequences; but in scrofulous constitutions, the navicular bone and the cuneiform bone supporting the great toe, are very liable, from the constant pressure and irritation to which they are exposed, to become diseased, and many cases have been seen where caries, softening, and even death of the bone have taken place, accompanied with much suppuration and great consequent suffering. Chinese women have naturally very small hands and feet, but this practice of binding the feet utterly destroys all symmetry, according to European ideas, and the limping, uncertain gait of the women is, to a foreigner, distressing to see. Few of the Chinese woman can walk far, and they always appear to feel pain when they try to walk quickly, or on uneven ground.""-FORTune, p. 248.

M. Huc's reference to this barbarous practice, reminds us, in its light sketchy character, of Charles Lamb's Essay on the "Origin of Roast Pig," which savoury food he finds first among the Chinese. "The fashion of little feet," says the missionary apostolic, "is general in China, and dates, it is said, from the highest antiquity.

"Europeans sometimes imagine that the Chinese, in the excess of their jealousy, have invented this custom in order to keep their women in doors, and prevent their gadding abroad; but though this jealousy may perhaps find its account in this strange and barbarous mutilation, there is no reason to attribute to it the invention. It has been introduced gradually without any deliberately formed purpose, like other fashions. It is said that, in some remote antiquity, a certain princess excited universal admiration for the delicate smallness of her feet, and as she was besides gifted with remarkable attractions, she naturally gave the tone to Chinese fashion, and the ladies of the capital adopted