The Straits of Malacca, Indo-China, and China: Or, Ten Years' Travels, Adventures, and Residence Abroad

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Harper & brothers, 1875 - China - 546 pages
 

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Page 282 - On every corse there stood. This seraph-band, each waved his hand: It was a heavenly sight! They stood as signals to the land, Each one a lovely light; This seraph-band, each waved his hand, No voice did they impart No voice; but oh!
Page 64 - One of these temples — a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michael Angelo — might take an honourable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged.
Page 139 - ... farmer being frequently estimated by the number of clumps which he has on his estate. It requires neither care nor tillage, and is a source of wealth in this part of the country. When looking on this scene my old Chinaman, Akum, came up. I do not think he has yet been introduced to my readers. He was a faithful servant, or boy, as they are here called, about forty years of age, who had been in my employment in Singapore, and afterwards turning trader, had lost his small capital. "Well," he said,...
Page 5 - You shall not cheat or steal from a brother, or seduce his wife, his daughter, or his sister. " If you do wrong or break these laws, you shall come to the society to be punished, and not go to the authorities of the country. "If you commit murder or robbery against a member, you shall be dismissed for ever from the society, and no brother will receive you.
Page 302 - The reason for extracting the eyes is this. From one hundred pounds of Chinese lead can be extracted eight pounds of silver, and the remaining ninety-two pounds of lead can be sold at the original cost. But the only way to obtain this silver is by compounding the lead with the eyes of Chinamen. The eyes of foreigners are of no use for this purpose.
Page 79 - ... vigorous and high civilsation, the lapse or obliteration of which is one of the strangest events in the history of the world. We have much to learn yet about the history of these ruins and of the people of which they are almost the only remains. " A richer field for research," Mr. Thomson rightly says, " has never been laid open to those who take an interest in the great building races of the East, than that revealed by the discovery of the magnificent remains which the ancient Cambodians have...
Page 248 - ... concerned, perhaps the principal commercial city in the empire. It is laid out with great taste ; the temples are very numerous ; the houses neat and comfortable ; and the inhabitants polite, though rather servile in their manners. Here, as at Ning-po, the trade is chiefly carried on by Fuhkeen men. More than a thousand small vessels go up to the north, several times annually, exporting silk and other Keangnan manufactures, and importing peas and medical drugs. Some few junks, owned by Fuhkeen...
Page 5 - They live by looting, and are on the watch for any excuse for exercising their talents. Each hoey, or society, must have so many of them, but I don't know any means of ascertaining their number. I suppose they are paid by the hoeys and brothels.

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