Manchurian Books

{95} At such times the merchants are so busy and
excited, that they have no leisure to think of anything but their
correspondence. I was, therefore, obliged to wait, not only until
the steamer had arrived, but until it had left again, which it did
not do until a week had elapsed. I have to thank Mr. Agassiz that
the time did not hang heavily upon my hands; I was most kindly and
hospitably entertained, and enjoyed the opportunity of noting the
mode of life of those Europeans who have settled in the country.
Very few take their families with them to China, and least of all to
Canton, where both women and children are closely imprisoned in
their houses, which they can only leave in a well-closed litter.
Besides this, everything is so dear, that living in London is cheap
in comparison. Lodgings of six rooms, with a kitchen, cost about
700 or 800 dollars a-year (140 or 160 pounds). A man-servant
receives from four to eight dollars a-month, and female servants
nine or ten dollars, as Chinese women will not wait upon a European
unless greatly overpaid.


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