into contempt and derision the name and power of Great Britain; by allowing these various acts of piracy to go unpunished, a premium is tacitly offered to lawless deeds, and pirates, in consequence, have been more numerous, and their acts more daring and atrocious.

For what purpose the several admirals have allowed our cruisers to remain too frequently inactive in the harbour of Victoria, instead of sweeping the seas, and exterminating these human demons, remains an enigma only to be solved by themselves,

With armed steamers at their command, manned by our resolute, daring tars, it would not be more difficult to eradicate these pirates, and it would, assuredly, reflect more honour on the British flag, than to undertake an expedition to Borneo, the result of which was burning a few bamboo huts which the natives had abandoned.

We cannot conclude this chapter without expressing surprise that the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company have not sent a steamer to this station, to ply permanently between Victoria, Macao, and Canton the freight of treasure and merchandise is exceedingly high, and the traffic considerable for the purposes of trade, consequently, the passagemoney demanded by the fast boats is very high.

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We are convinced, from concomitant circumstances, that such a speculation would necessarily prove very remunerative, and be highly beneficial to all classes resident at these ports, as they would then be tolerably secure from molestation from pirates, more especially if the steamers were well armed.

A SUGGESTION TO THE P. & 0, STEAM COMPANY. 47

We trust sincerely that this suggestion may be heeded by some enterprising individuals; should it be, we believe conscientiously that the proprietors would realize good interest for the capital laid out, and be the means of preventing much valuable property from falling into the hands of the marauding pirates which infest the China seas.

CHAPTER III.

Visit on board a war-junk-A Mandarin proposes to purchase an English lady-Description of war-junk guns and weapons-Mode of invoking the Deity for fair wind and successful undertakings.

FEW people have had the good fortune to visit a Chinese war-junk, more especially the feminine portion of her Britannic Majesty's subjects; and we will proceed to give a full, true, and particular account of our introduction to one of the fire-avenging dragons, or war-junks, appertaining to the Emperor of the Celestial Empire. Whilst at Whampoa, we became acquainted with the second mandarin, who was about twenty-five years of age, and a goodlooking fellow enough, who invited us to go on board his ship, and inspect the wonders thereof; we thought our lucky star in the ascendant, and eagerly accepted the invitation. If it were not beneath our manly dignity to be pleased at the prospect of going on board a bona fide war-junk, never before visited by an Englishman, guess the delight at the idea; and the impatience for the time to arrive, manifested by our womankind-the watch was looked at constantly, doubts expressed as to watches being always right, &c. in short, if you are a male reader, you

OFFER TO PURCHASE A LADY.

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will know what your wife did, when she wished to persuade you the time had arrived, positively arrived, that you had fixed upon to take her to the particular place she wished to go to-always supposing you are married-if you are not, you ought to be, that is all we have to say on this subject. The day arrived, and with it the mandarin, who came on board our ship, ostensibly to see if we were coming, but in reality, to offer to purchase our -never mind what relation, suffice it to say, the lady was an Englishwoman. This proposition nearly determined us to abandon the inspection of the war-junk, as our indignation was excited, and we were very wroth indeed with the mandarin. The mode of proceeding adopted by this pigtailed gentleman was not a little remarkable, and showed that he was well versed in the art of making a good bargain; as he evinced the true spirit of barter, proposing to take the lady at a low price, saying that he did not think she was worth more, or that we should be able to get a higher price for her from any one else. Finding this proposition indignantly rejected, the mandarin bid for her at a gradually increasing rate, until he offered the highest price ever given for a wife, viz., six thousand taels, studiously informing us, at the same time, that he would neither require her wardrobe nor jewels. Upon learning that it was not the custom of British gentlemen to traffic in ladies, the mandarin expressed his deep regret, and offered numberless apologies, entreating, as we would not sell the lady, that we would allow him to purchase her watch and chain. We were fully convinced that the mandarin did not intend any insult by these proposals,

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as he was totally unacquainted with Europeans' habits and customs; observing that her feet were uncrippled, he concluded that she was a handmaid, and could not reconcile this fact to his mind, that women are not sold by us. The wife is never sold in China, and rarely divorced, but handmaids are sold or exchanged as caprice dictates; but no disgrace attaches to their social position, and the purchase of a handmaid is merely a mercantile transaction between two parties.

Having fully satisfied our mind as to the real character of these proposals, we acceded to the mandarin's courteous and pressing invitation to return his visit, and our new friend rowed off from our vessel to his junk in a twelve-oared boat. One of our friends who accompanied us on this occasion, declared that if the mandarin had offered to purchase any part of his family, that he would have taken the money, but not delivered the goods; and the idea is rich. When our boat came alongside the war-junk, our friend, who was on deck, made signs for us to wait; this delay, it afterwards appeared, arose from the fact that the first mandarin had in the interim arrived on board, whom it became necessary to consult as to our reception according with his ideas of propriety; after a short time had elapsed, we were ushered on deck, to which we ascended by a very rudely constructed ladder. We found an immense number of Chinese sailors on board, leading us to conclude that this junk was more numerously manned, in proportion to her size, than the ships of our navy; we were conducted by my friend into the cabin, which we entered by descending two or three steps