LITERARY EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, Volume II, Issue 98, 15 December 1841, Page 3

LITERARY EXTRACTS.

Private and Public Buldinqs in Chusan, —The interiors of some of the houses were found beautifully furnished anal carved : one that is now occupied by the Governor, and believed to ha?e been the property of a literary character, was, when first opened, the wonder and admiration of all. Tho different apartments opened round the centre court, which is neatly tiled ; the doors, window-frames, and pillars that support the pent-roof, are carvein the most chaste and delicate style, and the interior of the ceiling and wainscot are lined with fret-work, which it must have required the greatest nicety and care to have executed. The furniture was in the same keeping, denoting a degree of taste the Chinese have not in general credit for with us. The bed-places in the sleeping-apart-ments of the ladies were large dormitories, for they can hardly be called beds : at one corner of the room is a separate chamber, abouteightfeet square and the same in height ; the exterior of this in usually painted red, carved and gilt ; the entrance is through a circular aperture, three feet in diameter, with sliding pannels ; in the interior is a couch of large proportions, covered with a soft mat and thick curtains of mandarin silk ; the inside of the is polished and painted, and a little chair and table are the remaining furniture of this extraordinary dormitory. lilany of the public buildings excited great astonishment among those who fancied they were in a half -barbarous country. Their public arsenals were found stocked with weapons of. every description, placed with the greatest neatness .and regularity in their different compartments ; the clothes for the soldiers were likewise ticketed, labelled, and packed in large presses'; and the arrows, which from their size and strength drew particular attention, were carefully and separately arranged. To each arsenal is attached a fire-engine similar to those used in'our own country. The Government pawnbrokers shop was also a' source of interest : in it were found dresses and articles of every kind, evidently thingg belonging to the upper as well as to the lower classes, for many of the furs here taken were of valuable descriptions: each article had the owner's name attached, and the date of its being pawned. Thii is another of the plans of the local government for raising their supplies. — Lord Jocelyn's Six Months with the Chinese Expedition. A Chinese Opium Smoking Shop. — One: Of the objects of this place, that I had the curiosity to visit, was the opium -smoker in his heaven : and certainly it is a moit tearful sight, although perhaps not so degrading to the eye as the drunkard from spirits, lowered to the level of the brute and wallowing in his filth. The idiot smile and" death-like stupor, however, of the opium' debauchee, 'has something far more awful to the gaze than the bestiality of the latter. Pity, if possible, takes the place of other feelings, as we watch the faded cheek and haggard look of the being abandoned to the power of the drug • whilst disgust is uppermost at the sight of the human creature levelled to the beast by intoxication. One of the streets in the centre of the town is wholly devoted to the shop 3 for the sale of this poison ; and here in the evening may be seen, after the labours of the day are over, crowds of Chinese, who seek these places to satisfy their depraved appetites. The rooms where ,they sit and smoke are surrounded by wooden couches, with places for the head to rest upon, and generally a side-room is devoted to gambling. The pipe is a reed of about an inch in diameter, and the aperture in the bowl for the admission of the opium is not larger than a pin's head. The drug is prepared with some kind of conserve, and a very small portion is sufficient to charge it; one' or two whiffs being the utmost that can he inhaled from a single pipe j and the smoke is taken into the lungs as from the hookah in India. On a beginner, one or two pipes will have an effect ; but an old stager will continue smoaking for hours. At the head of each couch is placed a small lamp, as fire must be held to" the drug during the process of inhaling ; and from the difficulty of filling and properly lightening the pipe, there is generally a person who waits upon the smockers to perform the oflice. A few days of this fearful luxury, when taken to excess, will give a pale and haggard look to the face ; and a few months, or even weeks, will change the strong and healthy man into little better than an idiot skeleton. The pain they suffer when deprived of the drug, after long habit, no language can explain; and it is only when to a certain degree under its influence that their faculties are alive. In the houses devoted to their ruin, these infatuated people may be seen at nine o'clock in the evening in all the different stages ; some entering half distracted to feed the craving appetite they had been obliged to subdue during the day ; others laughing and talking wildly under the ettects of a first pipe ; whilst the couches around are filled with their different occupants, who lie languid with an idiot smile upon their countenance, too much under the influence of the ' drug to care for passing events, & fast merging to the wished for consummation. The last scenein this tragic play is generally a room in the rear ,of • the building; a species of dead-house, where lie stretched those who have passed, into that state of bliss the opium-smoker madly seeks— an emblem of the long sleep to which they are blindly hurrying. — Ibid\ Napier. — Napier was never very particular either in his dress or table, when on board ship.' It so happened that one day he came on deck, and, displeased with one of the Midshipmen, ordered him as a punishment, up to the masthead. Shortly afterwards, another Captain came on board, and Napier asked him to stay to dinner, which the Captain consented to do. " Steward," said Napier, " what can you getfor dinner ?" " Why, sir," replied the steward, " I can manage a dinner very well, but I have no clean table cloth." '• Why, then you must borrow one from some of of the officers." * "They all say they have not got one clean, except Mr. , whom you have sent to the mast-head." " Then," said Napier, considering a little, " young scamp ! however, never mind, go up to the mast-head, and give my compliments to Mr. '—, tell him' that/I request the pleasure of his company to dinner, and tsk him to lend me his table cloth." " Yes, sir," replied the steward, wbo. forthwith skimmed iip the rigging to the topmast cross trees. • " If you please, sir, the Captain' requests the ple(3fure of your company to dinner, and will thank you to lend him a table cloth ." ° No table cloths are in the articles of war, thought the indignant Midshipman, so " Steward, give my compliments to the Captain, and tell him I'll ace him d— d first.' «