Every thing living or dead, organic or inorganic, is sold by weight in this celestial country, whether it be fruit or ballast stones, oil or vegetables, living dogs or pigs, cats or poultry, they are all purchased by the catty. The dogs and pussies are highly esteemed by the Chinese, who convert them into delicious (according to their organs of taste) bow-wow soup, and rich pussy broth. A Chinese does not appear to have any idea of measurement, for one was asked whether we should have much wind—“Yes, plenty catties of wind, by, by, come;” and when some gentlemen were taking observations of the sun, the Chinese observed upon them, that “they were weighing the sun.” Eating shops are very numerous in the suburbs of Canton, containing an immense number of made dishes, and decorated also with enormous fat pigs, varnished over, and pendent from different parts of the shops, together with varnished ducks and geese; the latter birds are also dried and pressed, and then have a curious appearance. One evening I visited the celebrated Fa, tee gardens, which are situated a short distance up the river, and on the opposite side to that upon which Canton is situated. On visiting these nursery gardens I certainly expected to have seen a splendid collection of Chinese plants and flowers, but I was sadly disappointed; the worst nursery garden in any of the provincial towns in Great Britain, was far, very far beyond any of these, both in size, extent, display of flowering plants and shrubs, even of the boasted flowers of China themselves. In how many of the greenhouses at home are not the _Azaleas_, _Cammelias_, _Chrysanthemum_, _Hibiscus_, &c. seen in large and beautiful varieties, flourishing in the highest state of perfection? Yes, and equal to (except in a few novel varieties, which have not yet survived the voyage home) the boasted display in these wretched places, called “flower gardens.” A board at the entrance of one of them has the following attractive notice painted upon it in English:—“Aching has for sale, fruit trees, flowering plants, and seeds of all kinds: Fa, tee gardens, No. 2.” The gardens merely contained some varieties of the Chrysanthemum, small trees of the Finger Citron, with that curious fruit tied upon them to look as if they were growing from the tree; and a number of dwarf orange trees of different varieties, laden with green and ripe fruit.