[12] At one time, during a rebellion in China, the emperor’s troops lost courage, (which to us must appear a wonderful event among Chinese,) and would not proceed against the rebels: this called forth from the emperor the following public rebuke:—“The emperor rebukes very sharply all the governors of the Chih-sang provinces, from which authority emanates, on account of their negligence in attending to the state of the military under their jurisdiction. He makes particular mention of the prevalent use of opium among the Canton military, and of the misconduct of the Ho, nan troops on their road to Fuh, keen.”—_Canton Register_, No. 13, 14, 16th Sept 1833. [13] No individuals, except Portuguese, or naturalized Portuguese, are permitted to be owners of houses at Macao. [14] The name _Kaki_ is said to be Japanese; this fruit is not so named by the Chinese. [15] I had models of the two kinds just mentioned, executed with great accuracy by a Chinese. The imitations of the fruit were modelled from clay, and accurately coloured afterwards according to nature. [16] It is curious that Linnæus, by bestowing upon this bird the specific name of _Apoda_, or without feet, should have credited the assertion that it was so. [17] Made from the milky juice yielded by the trunk of the Sukun, or bread-fruit tree. [18] Forrest’s Voyage to New Guinea, &c., pp. 134-137. [19] It has been stated, that during flight they cry like starlings. [20] Pigafetta says, in his relation of Magellan’s voyage round the world, that in the island of Bachian, (one of the Molucca islands,) a species of bird, of exquisite beauty, was found, which the natives called “the bird of God,” saying it came from Paradise. [21] Kai usually expresses any birds of the gallinaceous tribe. [22] In the common Canton dialect, Kum signifies gold; but in the Mandarin dialect, Kin is the name for gold; so that this bird is named both Kum, kai, and Kin, kai. [23] The brilliancy of the Chinese colours for painting, &c. has often been very highly extolled as being superior to the European. What surprise must it create, then, when we are informed that the colours used are of English manufacture, and the Chinese artists are eager for, and anxiously inquire after, them. This reminds me of the gross ignorance frequently displayed by our countrymen in foreign countries,—purchasing English articles abroad at a high price as foreign manufacture, and as unattainable in their native land. It was mentioned as a fact, that a person purchased an elegant London clock in a shop at Canton, at a high price, to take to England as a specimen of China manufacture. Do not we see these follies committed by our countrymen almost every day at Paris?