sixth book of _The Iliad_ as obtaining in the home of Priam, King of Troy, B. C. 2500. At New-year time, in Fukien province, all the family join hands around a brazier which is smoking on a table, to signify the unity of the family around a common hearth. The Chinese make a stew of chicken, ginger, lettuce and cucumbers, or vegetable marrow, and it is very good. Beans are soaked in water and allowed to sprout before being pickled, or boiled in sugar. Salutes at feasts are sometimes made in the German fashion by raising the wine (samshu) cup to the eyes before drinking. The Chinese mix rice, nuts, flour, fruit and seed in their candies, and their cakes are highly colored and made very sweet. Where the Germans use vinegar and salt as a preservative, the Chinese use sugar, and the results, while surprising, are often delightful. Partly as revealing the sumptuous table which it is now possible to set at Hongkong or Shanghai, or Tientsin, and partly to show to what gastronomic heights the treaty port Chinese rise, I quote the menu of the Wah On Kwong Association, or Guild, served at one of the Hongkong hotels by Chinese stewards: Queen olives Caviare on toast Bird’s Nest soup Chicken soup Fungus soup Garoupa, shrimp sauce Boiled shark steak Fillet of beef (Champignon sauce) Chicken compote Stewed sharks’ fins Pigeon gelatine Pâté de foie gras en Aspic Beche de Mer Fried frogs’ legs Roast saddle of Queensland mutton with jelly Roast ribs of sirloin of Queensland beef Roast Kwangtung turkey Boiled fowl Singapore pine apple Hankau ham Potatoes Peas Vegetable marrow Salad Asparagus, olive oil sauce Victoria pudding Chartreuse jelly Cakes Mango ice cream Preserved ginger Small oranges Chinese nuts Coffee European wines Lucien Rozet Cliquot Heidsieck Chateau Larose Medoc Manzanilla Marsala The iron pans that come from Shansi province are made as thin as possible so as to economize fuel; indeed, as light fuel as grass and stalks is used. The kitchen god is Chang Kung, and he was given this office because “nine generations peacefully inhabited the same compound when he lived on earth.” As pigs, ducks and geese are driven long distances to market, little straw sandals are woven for their feet. This one sometimes sees in Southern France when the frugal peasant is competing with local railway rates!