as well as thieves. Watch-towers are built on bamboo poles, high above the roofs of the houses; thus constituting a double watch. When thieves are discovered, or when a fire breaks out in any part of the city, the alarm by means of the watchmen, spreads quickly from one extremity of the city to the other. When riotous assemblies collect in the streets, they are, in most cases, speedily dissolved by a vigorous application of the bamboo or whip; many, doubtless, “shove by justice,” and to the day of their death go unpunished; yet the number who are arrested and brought to trial, annually, is very great; justice is often administered in the most summary manner; not unfrequently, in minor cases, the man receives the punishment, and again goes free, the same hour in which he commits the crime. [Sidenote: JUSTICE--JAILS.] The forms of trial are simple: there is no jury, no pleading; the criminal kneels before the magistrate, who hears the witnesses and passes sentence; he is then remanded to prison, or sent to the place of execution. Seldom is he acquitted; when witnesses are wanting, he is sometimes tortured until he gives evidence against himself. There are four jails in Canton; which together contain several hundred prisoners; the jail is called te-yo, _hell_, or literally “earth’s prison.” All capital offenders suffer just without the southern gates, near the river; hundreds die there annually. When brought to the fatal spot, they kneel with their faces towards the emperor’s court, and bending forward in the attitude of submission and thanksgiving, suddenly expire beneath the bloody sword of the executioner. CHAPTER VIII. LITERARY INSTITUTIONS OF CHINA--EXAMINATIONS--SCHOOLS--TEACHERS--SCHOOL-ROOM CEREMONIES--COLLEGES--DOMESTIC COMMERCE--POPULATION OF THE PROVINCES--IMPORTS--EXPORTS.