CHAPTER XV. SHANGHAI. A stroll through the old Chinese quarter.--Book-stalls.--Public Baths.--Chinese Pawnbrokers.--Foundling hospital.--The Hall of Universal Benevolence.--Sacrificial Hall of Medical Faculty.-- City prison.--Temple of the Goddess of the Sea.--Chinese taverns.--Tea-garden.--Temple of Buddha.--Temple of Confucius.-- Taouist convent.--Chinese nuns.--An apothecary's store, and what is sold therein.--Public schools.--Christian places of worship.-- Native industry.--Cenotaphs to the memory of beneficent females.--A Chinese patrician family.--The villas of the foreign merchants.--Activity of the London Missionary Society.--Dr. Hobson.--Chinese medical works.--Leprosy.--The American Missionary Society.--Dr. Bridgman.--Main-tze tribe.--Mission schools for Chinese boys and girls.--The North China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.--Meeting in honour of the Members of the _Novara_ Expedition.--Mons. de Montigny.--Baron Gros.-- Interview with the Táu-Tái, or chief Chinese official of the city.--The Jesuit mission at Sikkawéi.--The Pagoda of Long-Sáh.-- A Chinese dinner.--Serenade by the German singing-club.--The Germans in China.--Influence of the Treaties of Tien-Tsin and Pekin upon commerce.--Silk.--Tea.--The Chinese sugar-cane.-- Various species of Bamboos employed in the manufacture of paper.--The varnish tree.--The tallow tree.--The wax-tree.-- Mosquito tobacco.--Articles of import.--Opium.--The Tai-ping rebels.--Departure from Shanghai.--A typhoon in the China sea.-- Sight the island of Puynipet in the Caroline Archipelago. 416 CHAPTER XVI. THE ISLAND OF PUYNIPET. Native boats in sight.--A pilot comes on board--Communications of a white settler.--Another pilot.--Fruitless attempts to tack for the island.--Roankiddi Harbour.--Extreme difficulty in effecting a landing with the boats.--Settlement of Réi.--Dr. Cook.--Stroll through the forest.--Excursions up the Roankiddi River.--American missionaries.--Visit from the king of the Roankiddi tribe.--Kawa as a beverage.--Interior of the royal abode.--The Queen.--Mode of living, habits and customs of the natives.--Their religion and mode of worship.--Their festivals and dances.--Ancient monumental records and their probable origin.--Importance of these in both a historical and geological point of view.--Return on board.--Suspicious conduct of the white settler.--An asylum for contented delinquents.--Under weigh for Australia.--Belt of calms.--Simpson Island.--"It must be a ghost!"--Bradley Reef.--A Comet.--The Solomon Islands.-- Rencontre with the natives of Malaýta.--In sight of Sikayana. 551 CHAPTER XVII. THE CORAL ISLAND OF SIKAYANA.