It is
clear that an intelligent devil would select this very moment, when
every one was absorbed in the pleasures of the table, to penetrate
into the shop, where he could play havoc with the stock before being
discovered and ejected. Accordingly, little Ping Pong, the youngest
son, had to wait for his supper, and was sent into the street with a
large packet of fire-crackers to scare devils from the vicinity, and
if little Ping Pong was like other small boys, he must have hugely
enjoyed making such an appalling din. Every single shop had a stone
pedestal before it, on which a lamp was burning, for experience has
shown how useful a deterrent this is to any but the most abandoned
devils; they will at once pass on to a shop unprotected by a guardian
light.
We had been on the outskirts of the city that day, and I was much
struck with an example of Chinese ingenuity. The suburban inhabitants
all seem to keep poultry, and all these fowls were of the same
breed--small white bantams. So, to identify his own property, Ching
Wan dyed all his chickens' tails orange, whilst Hung To's fowls
scratched about with mauve tails, and Kyang Foo's hens gave themselves
great airs on the strength of their crimson tail feathers.
It is curious that, in spite of its wealth and huge population, Canton
should contain no fine temples.
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