What Chinamen Eat

About twenty centimes ago ïntuet;lestial Empire there was established ox worship, as a revvard for the great agsistanee in agrieulture rendered by that horned animal. ïlien it was forbidden lo kill eitlier ox or cuw. It became algo a sacred habit to leave tho cow s milk exclusivcly for the calvea,to whom it riu-htfully belone;ed. Chinamen do not use the milk: of sheep or Wie goa, thouu-h they are very fond oL the meat of these aniitnals. But, then, thcy are exceedingly fond of -vomon's naük. The well to-do parents oïten keep wet nurses for their ohildren up to the seventh and even ninth year. Sometimes even men of as;e, and particularly okl men resort to women's milk either as an articlo of luxury or as a dietetio means, Among rioh Chinameu it is a point of pride to keep a number of wet nurses. Of the rioh Celestial it may bc truly said that "heis worth so mo.ny wet nurses," as of the rioh Mohaniniedan that "he is worth so mauy wives, or of the American that "he is worth so manv dollars." No Chinese wonian would ñiilk a cow, for sueh practice.m her opinión, would forever stain her chastity. Excluding beef ad dairy produ s, Chinamen eat every thing tuut is eaible, horso and ass flesh, snakes, rats, mice, dogs, grasshoppers, spiders, worms, cocoons, sea-cumbers, swallow s nests, and so on. Once, while living id a villa near Pekin, I sawa very strange scène. Thero appeared a cloud of grasshoppers. Suddenly the field was oovercd with Chinaman who rau franticallyhitherand thither, gathering them in. They filled large sacks and bags with the insects. They carried porto. - k;_i, i u ., Wnnoton tnoir ule stoves on wmuu uiu iu'- i- curious gamo. Other Ohinamen gre.ídily evvoured the grasshoppers, paying a pecny for ten. At the head of all meats Chinameu put, of coursfi, pork. In their opimou to the hog belongs the first place in the list of doraestic animáis. If yod ask a Chinaman why, he will answer you proudly, "Because it was the hog fronj vvhom the Chinaman descended!" Don't you see the Celestials have beaten Darwin on the theory of the descent of man. It is only natural, then, that among Chinamen hogs should enioy i'ull right of citizenship. Like dogs, they wander wherever they please. A Chinese streel vvitnour a auuiuei ui uua io m lity. Are there many hogs in China1' I should think so. On a single holida in mcmory of their ancestors - the Celostials „eat f ully 650,000 hogs. I must admit t nat Chinese purk is superior to any foud tlsewhere on the globe. Poor Chinamen who can not afford to bu pork eat meat of dogs, asses, horses, írats, mico, rabbits, nares, goats and sheep. But I never saw them eating cats. Of birds the Chinese eat silver pheasants, ducks, geese, ehiekens, jaukdaws, crows and many others. Curiously enough the so-ca,lled Cochin-China fovvls are very rarely seen here. Salted eggs are in gretit vise here. Among the choico delicacies of the Chinese must be mentioned the fins oi sharks and the nosts of sea swallows. Under the latter is understood not the wbole nest, diu omy uuc muuu.iious inner coatings of the nests. lt u believed that the swallows who build their nests on the sea rocks cover their nests and glue them to the rocks witli the juioe oí sea cañe, which on being dried. looks liko mucilaginous ïnewbrane. On tbe market these nests are found in tbe shapo of a hemisphere of the size of a half orange peel. The nests are sold here at from fifteen to twenty-flye dollars per pound. Thej are used principally for making broth, to whieh theygive a peculiar aroma and taste much valued by gastronomers. Rice stands, of course, at the head of vegetable foods. Witüout rice grutsi uu rneat is served here. "Fan" means both "to have a meal" and '-to eat rice oruel." The brownrice, which is common rice, but heated and musty, is much liked. There is also a red variety of rice, Honey is much used here, but chieLy as a eosmetic. After being mixed with fiour it is used by the women in theú hairdre3sing. With their hair satur ated, sticky and shiny with honey, thej must be indeed f weet. As everybody knows.the Chiaeso are passionatelyfoad of tea which they cultívate for the rest oí the wurld. They drink it at every meal, at home and out, when idle and at work, in shops and in offices- in short evervwhere, at any timo of day or night. The red, black, orwi rfronn smts f tea thev only for export, vhie they thfcniselves use exclusively yellow tea. They take tea in small cups.and without sugar. ïhough in China there are excellent sorts of grapes, yet no wino is prepared there. The Chinese maketwo kinds of whiskey, of sargo and of rice, and drink a good deal of it. Women also drink and smoke here. A tin gilí of the shapo of an hour glass is used for whiskey drinking. They had no glass work3 heve until recently, when an American gentleman taughtsome Celestials to make glass. During nry thirty years' residen ee here I havo never seen a single drunken Chinaman onj tho streets. No coffee or chocolate is used here