The kind at sixty
dollars does not find a very ready market; the greater part of it is
exported to England. The "bloom" is not met with in trade.
I must mention a sight which I accidentally saw, one evening, upon
the Pearl stream. It was, as I afterwards heard, a thanksgiving
festival in honour of the gods, by the owners of two junks that had
made a somewhat long sea voyage without being pillaged by pirates,
or overtaken by the dangerous typhoon.
Two of the largest flower boats, splendidly illuminated, were
floating gently down the stream. Three rows of lamps were hung
round the upper part of the vessels, forming perfect galleries of
fire; all the cabins were full of chandeliers and lamps, and on the
forecastle large fires were burning out of which rockets darted at
intervals with a loud report, although they only attained the
elevation of a few feet. On the foremost vessel there was a large
mast erected, and hung with myriads of coloured paper lamps up to
its very top, forming a beautiful pyramid. Two boats, abundantly
furnished with torches and provided with boisterous music, preceded
these two fiery masses.
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