The business is almost exclusively in the hands of the Chinese, who are
also the artisans and labourers of the place. The streets are thronged
with foot-passengers and vehicles, among which are prominent the ox, or
rather the buffalo cart, and the hacks for hire, of which latter there
are nine hundred licensed. The canal is filled with country boats of
excellent model, and the warehouses are crammed with goods. Money seems
to be abundant and things dear. They are just finishing a tasteful
Gothic church, with a tall spire, which is a notable landmark as you
approach; they are also completing officers' quarters on a hill which
commands the town. Barracks for three or four regiments lie unoccupied a
couple of miles outside the city, and a large court-house.
The moving multitude in the streets comprises every variety of the human
race, every shade of colour, and every variety of dress, among which are
prominent the gay turbans and fancy jackets of the Mahomedan, Hindu, &c.
Almost all the artisans and labourers were naked, except a cloth or a
pair of short trousers tucked about the waist. The finest dressed part
of the population was decidedly the _jet-black_, with his white flowing
mantle and spotted turban. The upper class of Chinese merchants are
exceeding polite, and seem intelligent. I visited the establishment of
Whampoa and Co. Whampoa was above the middle height, stout, and with a
large, well-developed head.
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