people are free from this taint. They have a saying, that "gambling is allied to robbery." Dominoes, cards, dice, and chess, are favourite games. The vendors of fruit often gamble with purchasers in the following manner :-A boy wishes a half dozen oranges. The fruit and half the price demanded for it are laid down together. Recourse is then had to the dice-box. If the urchin throws the highest number, he pockets his money again, and gets the fruit for nothing; if the seller, he in like manner sweeps the stakes, and the disappointed gamester may whistle for oranges, or try his fortune elsewhere. Quails are trained for fighting, and also a species of cricket. Two of these insects are placed in a bowl together, and irritated by a straw, when they attack each with great violence, though the combat does not usually end in the death of either, but in the retreat of one. Hundreds of dollars are staked on the result of these miniature conflicts, and large sums are often paid for victorious warriors. The gamesters fight them for cakes, but in their slang dialect, each cake is understood to mean a certain sum of money. Fire-works, and the tricks of jugglers, tumblers, rope-dancers, &c., are greatly relished.

Of out-door games, the most popular is kite-flying. In this the Chinese excel. They show their superiority as well in the curious construction of their kites, as in the height to which they make them mount. By means of round holes, supplied with vibrating cords, their kites are made to produce a loud humming noise, like that of a top. The ninth day of the ninth moon is a holiday especially devoted to this national pastime, on which day numbers may be seen repairing to the hills for the purpose of kite-flying, which after amusing themselves with, they let fly wherever the wind may carry them, and give their kites and cares at once to the wind.

It is said, that in ancient times, a kind of foot-ball was introduced into "the army of Heaven," as an exercise for the soldiers. A game at shuttlecock, in which the feet serve as battledores, is also a favourite "field sport." In Pekin, during the winter, skating, and other amusements on the ice, in which the emperor takes a part, are among the national exercises.

CASE VI.

No. 27. ITINERANT BARBER AT HIS AVOCATION, WITH HIS WHOLE APparatus.

28.

29.

30.

31.

ITINERANT SHOEMAKER, AT HIS WORK, WITH WORK-BENCH, BASKET,

TOOLS, LAMP, &c.

TRAVELLING BLACKSMITH, WITH ANVIL, FURNACE, BELLOWS, &c.

CHINESE BOATWOMAN, CARRYING A CHILD ON HER BACK IN THE USUAL

MODE.

ANOTHER BOATWOMAN, WITH PIPE, MOTHer of the above.

On the wall several specimens of bamboo hats and rush coats, worn by the lower classes in rainy weather.

Specimens of ploughs, harrows, axes, hoes, rakes, forks, shovels, spades, flails, mattocks, &c. &c. These implements are, for the most part, simple and rude. They are made chiefly of wood, and merely shod with iron. On the wall are also displayed two fishing nets, made of a peculiar kind of hemp, also fishing scoops.

THIS case presents to the visitor's observation some singular specimens of Chinese life. We have in it an itinerant barber, shoemaker, and blacksmith, and two boatwomen, one of whom is carrying an infant on her back. The barbers in China are a numerous class. Every town is thronged with them. According to their records, the number of the fraternity in Canton in 1834, was no less than 7,300. The reason of this large number is, that, as the head, as well as the face, is shaven, no Chinaman ever shaves himself. The barbers are all ambulatory; and no one is allowed to discharge the duties of tonsor until he has obtained a license; each carries his shop on his back, and performs his operations tonsorial in the open street. The usual implements are a stool, provided with a case of drawers, and a kind of tub, with a small charcoal furnace and a basin. We have the apparatus here complete. The operation is generally performed in perfect silence, a fact meriting the attention of our own practitioners in this line. The razor is a clumsylooking affair, but is said to shave sufficiently well. It is sharpened on iron. No soap is used, the beard being softened by the application of hot water alone. The compensation is left entirely to the employer's generosity; it is commonly from five to ten cash. In passing through the streets of Canton the barbers employ a peculiar call to gain the attention of the passing throng. The instrument used resembles a pair of long iron tweezers, having the connecting part made thin and broad, so that when twanged the tines will prolong the vibration. All trades in China are licensed, and none but a licensed and acknowledged workman can be employed.

ASTOR LEAND

TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

The ambulatory shoemaker, with his rude tools, and his enormous spectacles, is a study for a painter. He carries with him, in a basket, wherever he goes, all his implements, together with his whole stock in trade. A fan and a pipe, without which, it would almost seem, a Chinaman could not exist--complete his equipment.

The visitor will notice the novel manner in which our shoemakers' spectacles are kept in their place. This is effected by no greater expenditure of ingenuity than is involved in passing a loop fastened to the ends of the spectacles round each ear. They are sometimes retained in their position by silver cords slung over the ears, to which small weights are attached, to preserve the equilibrium. The glasses, or rather crystals, (for rock crystal, ground with the powder of corundum, supplies the place of glass,) are perfectly circular in shape, and of enormous dimensions, which gives the wearer a very sapient appearance.

By the side of the honest cobbler, we have an itinerant blacksmith,— par nobile fratrum. He also, when inclined to try his fortune in a new place, stows forge, bellows, anvil, tools, &c., into a basket, which he slings over his shoulder, and thus takes up his line of march. This figure, with the implements and appliances that surround it, will attract special notice. The anvil, instead of having a flat surface, is slightly rounded on the top, which causes the iron to extend more readily under the hammer. The bellows is a hollow cylinder, with a piston so contrived, that the blast produced by it is continuous; with these simple means he will repair cast iron vessels when cracked,- -an art, so far as we know, not possessed by any other nation.

The female figures in this case represent a large class in China, viz., the boatwomen. One of them has an infant on her back, who finds a convenient handle to hold by in her long plaited cue. She carries also a painted block of wood, resembling a gourd, which it is usual to attach to the backs of young children who live in the boats, to prevent them from sinking in case of falling overboard, till help can be afforded.

The huge bamboo hats suspended on the wall of this case, deserve to be noticed. The bamboo is as useful to the Chinese as the reindeer is to the Laplander. Of this gigantic grass, or reed, there are numerous varieties, and the uses to which it is applied are quite as various. Hats, baskets, shields, umbrellas, ornamental furniture, measures, ropes, paper, poles for scaffolding, temporary theatres, &c., are constructed of bamboo. The young shoots are used for food, being boiled, and sweatmeats are sometimes made of them. The small branches serve as pipe-stems; and for every purpose wherein strength, combined with lightness is required, they are admirably suited, being