The importation of opium commenced in the seventeenth century, and since that time it has increased to an enormous extent. The chief officers of the province of Canton suffered the drug (though continually prohibited) to come into the country in large quantities, by paying a bribe for each chest, and in 1825 the importation rose to 10,000 chests every year, which increased till nearly 30,000 chests were disposed of annually. I do not, however, wish to go into the opium question. I would rather afford my young friends some more pictures of China. The countrymen generally wear cloaks made of rice-straw. Their appearance is very nearly the same as that of the Chinese husbandman, two thousand years ago; for the fashions of China never change. The dress of the ladies is always unalterable. The sempstresses or dressmakers trudge about the streets, looking out for employment, until some one engages them. They carry in their baskets various articles belonging to their profession, and do not work as our poor creatures do, twenty out of the twenty-four hours in the season, to elaborate the dress of some duchess or countess, or that of Mrs. Beecher Stowe, the well-known advocate of freedom among the blacks. The dress of the Chinese lady is very rich, and not ungraceful. She usually carries a pipe in one hand and a fan in the other, if the latter be not carried by a servant. The ladies have often their fans made so as not to close, whilst those of the gentlemen always close in the same manner as those of our ladies; but the most distinguishing mark of beauty among the Chinese ladies is their feet, which, to be handsome, must be especially small, and resemble in some degree that of the pettitoes of a little porker. The smallness of the foot is produced by placing, during infancy, the foot in tight shoes or bandages, so that it has no room to grow, what can have been the origin of this strange custom it is not easy to conceive, but it has been supposed to be one originating in a wish of the men, to keep the women from gadding abroad. [Illustration: CHINESE LADY. CHINESE NUN.] Among many “female varieties” there are a number of female Benzes in China, one of which is represented in the cut. They are a kind of Nun, who take vows for a certain period. There are two classes of them, one of which subjects themselves to stricter rules than the others. About the year 1787, one of these Nuns, like Miss Sqirrel in the wilds of Suffolk, set herself up for a goddess, and pretended to enlighten all the nations by supernatural doings. Thousands flocked to her, and becoming extremely rich, she erected a magnificent temple. The Emperor, however, a sly old fox, having suffered her to acquire as much wealth as he thought proper, at last ordered her to be executed, and confiscated her wealth to his own coffers. In a future chapter I shall afford my young friends some further particulars concerning the Chinese. [Illustration] A Mysterious Adventure.