Being suspected by the Mandarins, I was thrown into prison, managed eventually to escape, and so made my way on here.

The mandarins wanting money to carry on the war with us, called upon him to pay 12,000 taels about 4,000l.

They got the money, but the mandarins at once squeezed it out of these same Shroffs, saying, that as they brought the barbarians to the spot, they must pay for the damages they inflicted.

This sentiment was not considered complimentary by the mandarins, who immediately ordered him to be beaten, upon which he got ten blows on each side of his face with an instrument like the sole of a shoe.

I had hardly reached it when I received two cards from my poor mandarins, thanking me for having gone so far to meet them, &c. June 12th.

The only care of the mandarins was to amass as much wealth as possible before they quitted their posts; and they then began the same game in a fresh locality, until finally they returned home in possession of a handsome fortune gradually collected in their different appointments.

In this manner the governmental policy rendered the mandarins selfish and indifferent.

The mandarins say to themselves: 'Why should we undertake what we can never accomplish?

[Limahong and the Mandarins' visit.]

In 1603 a few mandarins came to Manila, under the pretence of ascertaining whether the ground about Cavite was really of gold.

"Years ago, after we learnt that so many Chinese perished in Luzon on account of Tioneg's lies, many of us mandarins met together, and resolved to leave it to the consideration of the Emperor to take vengeance for so great a massacre; and we said as follows:The country of Luzon is a wretched one, and of very little importance.

Of course we all joined in, as only Englishmen can, and this became so infectious that even the staid mandarins unbent and added their quota to the noise.

{93} Another object of interest was the mandarins' boats, with their painted sides, doors, and windows, their carved galleries, and pretty little silk flags, giving them the appearance of the most charming houses; but what delighted me most was the flower-boats, with their upper galleries ornamented with flowers, garlands, and arabesques.

It is a well-known fact, for instance, that there are nowhere so many pirates as in the Chinese sea, especially in the vicinity of Canton; yet no measures are taken to punish or extirpate them, simply because the mandarins do not think it beneath their dignity to secretly share in the profits.

{102a} The merchants enter into a private understanding with the officers and mandarins, agreeing to give them a certain sum for every pikul, and it is no rare occurrence for a mandarin to land whole cargoes under the protection of his own flag.

In like manner there is said to be on one of the islands near Hong- Kong a very extensive manufactory of false money, which is allowed to be carried on without any interruption, as it pays a tribute to the public functionaries and mandarins.

He is accompanied by a certain number of globular mandarins, and the Celestials salute him by holding out their two fists, which they move up and down as they nod their heads.

That there is much bustle in the streets, I can see by the obstacles my vehicle encounters at every step, itinerating peddlers, carts heavily laden, mandarins and their noisy following.

Even the Chinese girls ape their Western sisters and appear in brocaded mandarins with fur neck pieces.

Let me illustrate the extent of the warm hold late Mr Sahaye had over our enlightened mandarins.

Reaction became popular: there was talk of the bankruptcy of science, of the dying of Progress, of the advent of the Mandarins,talk of such things amidst the echoing footsteps of the Children of the Food.

Surely one who wore the uniform of a soldier and an officer could not thus publicly solicit coolies without the sanction of the mandarins, or escape their notice.

Besides these, and among them as shining fractions of the community, the numerous representatives of the not only noble, but noticeable and ubiquitous, family of Grandissime: Grandissimes simple and Grandissimes compound; Brahmins, Mandarins and Fusiliers.

And it was anything but conventional to hear one friend shout to another, "Don't pay a lira for those mandarins; I got twice that many from this pirate!"

Some one supposed a case in which a live German might be exhibited for money in China, and to this end a placard was fabricated, in which the mandarins Tsching-Tschang-Tschung and Hi-Ha-Ho certified that the man was a genuine Teuton, including a list of his accomplishments, which consisted principally of philosophizing, smoking, and endless patience.