Foreigners, whose business oblige them to reside at Whampoa, live in floating dwellings, called “chops.”[16] These are built on ships, which, after having seen some service, and their spars and rigging having been taken down, are then used as foundations for houses. They are moored in a part of the reach where the river is very wide, being placed a little on one side of the channel used by the steamers and trading vessels in passing and repassing to and from Canton. The cabins and state-rooms at the stern are converted into store-rooms, pantries, and bath-rooms. The forecastle is used for servants, and over the entire vessel a story is built, that is divided into large and conveniently arranged apartments, and when fitted up with all the necessary comforts of life, are in many ways far more desirable homes than can safely be made on shore. The kitchen is at the bow of the vessel; and from there to the centre,--near which is the boundary of the family apartments,--are the business offices, and also rooms for foreign clerks. On one side, a narrow passage-way leads from the kitchen to the family apartments. There is another similar passage-way on the other side, which, however, has no connection with the house apartments; and for the convenience of men of business visiting the offices, as well as for the servants, steps lead to the water from both of these passages. The flat roof of the family apartments is so constructed as to serve for a promenade. The latter, however, is not enclosed, but has a covering, the frame of which rests on stanchions; and in order to exclude the sun, shades, made of a kind of grass, are arranged so as to drop from the roof. A table, bamboo settees, and easy-chairs occupy a portion of this space, yet there is ample room for the enjoyment of one’s afternoon “constitutional,” when the weather does not allow of boating, or a ramble upon the shore. Some chops have little verandas, or galleries enclosed with Venetian blinds, which are built on each side of the family rooms, and resting on braces, extend from the sides of the ship upward. These are ornamental, and make the house cooler in summer and warmer in winter, thus adding greatly to the comfort of the family. The low lands and rice-fields in the neighborhood of Whampoa render the climate malarious; but by being out in a stream with so swift a current as that of the Pearl,--called by us the Canton River,--the miasma does not readily reach the inmates of the floating houses, neither is the air loaded with the shocking odors that often greet one’s olfactories when in the vicinity of Chinese settlements. Although the hills and the pleasant vales, on the islands opposite, have many fine locations for dwellings, the time is not yet arrived when the advantages of shore-life can equal those of “chop”-life; and this manner of living, therefore, is preferred by the consuls, officers of the customs, traders, and foreigners generally.