they may be automata, to a certain extent, but then, they have the laudable characteristic of doing what they are told; they never talk one to death, as white servants do; nor do they carry stories out of the house (?), nor do they put impertinent questions; and last, but not least, you can dismiss them without ceremony at any time.

THE CANGUE AND THE CHAIN-GANG.

HE prisoners sentenced at the Mixed Court receive a wide variety of punishments. The Magistrate either imposes a fine, orders a flagellation with bamboo sticks, the cangue, imprisonment in the court goal, in the police cells, or hard labour in the chain-gang; and either of these punishments, or a good many of them combined, may be awarded to the prisoner. The punishment of the cangue is the wearing of a wooden collar by the prisoner for a certain number of days, generally only a few days, but in some cases extending over a month. That wooden board is the most awkward and uncomfortable thing—at least it looks like it-that a fellow could have round his neck. It measures about two feet square, and is divided in two parts which are separated when the collar is to be put on or taken off; but when on, the pieces are securely dove-tailed and the prisoner cannot remove it himself. The board is attached to a chain, which is also wound round the prisoner's waist, and perhaps half a dozen of the fellows may be linked together when sitting in the cages at the entrance to the Mixed Court, or when they are taking exercise in the yards of any of the police stations. It is a very common mode of punishing a thief to place him in the vicinity of the place where he committed the theft; he will have to stand there all day, for he is chained so that he cannot sit down without strangling himself, and a native emissary of the police force will keep an eye on him and bring a supply of "chow-chow" rice to him. Thieves are often chained up this way in the settlements or in the outskirts, and have to remain at their post as a terror to evil-doers for eight or ten hours a day, being taken home to the police stations at night. An incorrigible thief who was once chained up at a garden on the Bubbling Well Road got hold of something which enabled him to file through the link of his long chain, although, like all the thieves which are put out by themselves this way, he was handcuffed. He made his escape across country with the wooden collar still on and two or three yards of chain hanging about him, and being thus heavily handicapped he was easily caught by some natives, who thought they would make a good thing of it by capturing him. The wooden collar is covered with strips of paper, bearing in Chinese characters the name of the prisoner and the offence for which he is being punished, which is meant to be a part of the punishment, and a warning to others; but most of the professional thieves who wear the wooden collar look as if they were quite reconciled to it. The prisoners who are sentenced to long terms generally go through the mill by getting flogged, exposed in the cangue, and then drafted into the chain-gang. Some of the prisoners are sent to the chain-gang for two or three months and others for longer periods, some for two years. There are incorrigibles that are hardly ever out of the gang and are disposed to spend the whole of their lives in it. The majority of the gang are of the coolie class, and habitual and reputed thieves; but we have seen cases where native merchants, and natives who held comparatively good situations, were sent to the chain-gang for serious offences, such as embezzlement, fraud, and theft of large sums. The chain-gang

is so called from the fact that the Municipal Council utilize convict labour by making the prisoners do most of the road work in the settlement; the prisoners are yoked together in large teams, and attached to huge street rollers. The Council also employ a large number of coolies for road work, as the prisoners in the chain-gang are so closely chained to each other that they have not sufficient freedom to do all the necessary work. The chain-gang therefore is chiefly employed is dragging street rollers, and while so engaged they are under the charge of a foreign constable and two or three native constables. The filling up of the foreshore of the Bund was a big job for the Municipal Council's coolies and the chain-gang, and there the squads of prisoners had plenty of work for their huge iron rollers. The chain-gang fellows are all dressed uniformly in drab-coloured drill cloth, and the trousers and jackets are all marked with a Chinese character, which means that the wearer is a prisoner. In regard to boots and hats the widest varieties are allowed, and some of the convicts show their pride by wearing polished foreign boots, while others wear hempen sandals, others felt shoes, and others go barefooted. The hats are of all sorts and sizes, both native and foreign styles. On a wet day, nearly everyone in the chain-gang has an umbrella, and as the street roller is dragged slowly along by the team of celestial convicts covered with straw-thatch water-proof coats, and tattered and torn paper-umbrellas or demoralized cotton ones, the whole team presents a very strange sight. These fellows in the chain-gang are as happy as the day is long; their work is light, and infinitely better than coolie labour; they have plentiful supplies of "chow-chow" rice, are well housed, they need have no thought of the morrow, and as they jog along in their chains, watching all the sights on the Bund, they must feel that they are better off than jinricsha or wheelbarrow coolies; many of the latter may envy their countrymen in the chain-gang, and take steps to secure an appointment in it; while those already in the gang will resolve to return to it when their present term expires.

The chain-gang was abolished in 1890, upon the introduction of the steam-roller.

CHINESE NOISES.

E have enjoyed the hospitality of the Esquimaux and Patagonian, we have roamed over the vast savannas of the Red Indian and over trackless deserts on the "Dark Continent," we have mixed with the aborigines inhabiting the primeval forests along the banks of the Amazon and La Plata, and we have glared into the camp-fire around which were seated the nomadic tribes who roam the rugged valleys of the snow-capped Cordilleros de los Andes -in fact, the number of queer nooks and corners on this lump of mud which we have visited is almost legion, but, without exaggerating, during all our travels we have never met with a nation that showed such a preponderant propensity for being a "noisy lot" as the "heathen Chinee." Yes, gentle reader, the almond-eyed children of the "Heavenly Kingdom" earth are the jackdaws and magpies of the human race. From the moment a Celestial makes his entry into this world to the moment he closes his eyes in eternal rest, he is constantly surrounded by an indescribable combination of squeaks and screeches, bangs and clashes, and he never feels more comfortable than when he is able to gather around him a host of people who carry on a conversation to which the Babylonian confusion of languages would have appeared a mere baby's tattle; or else he gratifies his mighty longing for "noise" by hiring a band of musical "roosters," who, by their demoniacal rumbling and scratching on so-called musical instruments, kick up a row, wild and infuriated enough to cause a European to jump out of his skin and sit down alongside of it. Of course, each to his own particular fancy; the Chinese, as far as we are concerned, are quite welcome to their unique intellectual amusements, supposing they keep beyond "reach of shot;" but if they come within "range," then we think it high time to avenge ourselves, and we intend to do so by "slinging ink" by the fathom.

Perusing our daily papers, we met, in a report of a Municipal Council Meeting, with a letter from H.I. German Majesty's Consul-General to the Municipal Council, complaining of the "noise made by the loading and unloading of steamers, which goes on by night as well as by day, and frequently on Sundays, and of the shouting of coolies employed in carrying goods, and which are a constant annoyance and inconvenience." Now, this letter has given us food for meditation, as it reminded us of own suffering. Yes, not only do we suffer from similar "annoyances," but our list of complaints is considerably longer. We certainly trust that our graphic (note the word) description of the "metamorphoses" of those hideous "Chinese noises”—whether they appear in the shape of a Celestial Paganini or a Sims Reeves, or in the coolie carrying his load along the street, or in the peacock-feathered official who, with powder and smoke, gongs, and a host of raggamuffins unnecessarily invading our streets, or in any other shape or figure-will somewhat contribute to alleviate the nuisance. Having now exhausted the train of our introductory thoughts, we are ready to proceed with our epistle.

"When you are in Rome you must do as Rome does" is a western phrase, which, however, does not appear to be regarded by Orientals, the Celestial race especially sinning against this commandment. Chinese, nevertheless, would do well to bear in mind the above cited phrase, and there is certainly no reason why foreigners, living on soil which by treaty rights has become their temporary property, should allow those Chinese, whom we graciously allowed to settle amongst us, to infringe rules and regulations which are in direct opposition to western customs and to our byelaws. Chinese ought to know by this time that those hideous noises, which delight their hearts and strike their ears as pleasantly as the music of the spheres, are anything but agreeable to our taste and nervous systems. We can hardly understand whence the difference in conception between us and Celestials arises, though we cannot help thinking that the tympanum of a Chinaman must somewhat resemble, as to its thickness, the hide of a hippopotamus or an elephant. The anatomical dissection of a Celestial's ear ought to prove an interesting study, as its nature, presumably, forms the most characteristic difference between the Caucasian and Mongolian races.

No better proof that a Chinaman, notwithstanding his boasted hoary civilization, is still in his infancy, could be found than in the taste which he shows with regard to music-be it vocal or instrumental. Gentle reader, should you have a relation who, you fear, may come in for a share of the inheritance of a rich uncle of yours, just put this relative into a room, for about twenty-four hours, in which half a dozen of Celestial virtuosos keep on playing a sonata composed in B.C. 2252 by the great Emperor Fu Hsi (the father of Chinese music), and, we can assure you, you will have no trouble in procuring a legal and medical adviser who will give it to you, in black and white, that your relative, on account of sudden mental derangement, is unfit to share the fortune. Now, we don't blame these Celestial Paganinis for scratching their cat-gut like madmen and thinking the infernal music superior to ours – de gustibus non est disputandum; but we cannot see the reason why foreign residents should be compelled to go through the punishment of listening to it. Such, however, is the case, and at present, especially during the warm season, these almond-eyed "Romeos" are keeping up their serenading till dawn of day. Yes, not satisfied with the squeaking of their cat-guts, they accompany their musical soirées with what we suppose they call singing, but what we are inclined to term a mixtum compositum of a hyena's howling and the hooting of a horned owl. Some years ago we witnessed the burning of a large menagerie; the frantic howling of the poor beasts that became victims to the flames still rings in our ears, and we always get vividly reminded of the scene whenever we are condemned to listen to Chinese vocal and instrumental music. Now, in the name of commonsense, we ask-Is there any reason why we should allow Celestials to kick up such a diabolical hullaballoo? None, that we are aware of. It is a public nuisance of the gravest character, and as such the local authorities should put a stop to it; for the peace and comfort of foreign residents ought, we submit, to be considered of greater importance than the fanciful intellectual gratification which a Celestial derives from his howling and bawling and screaming, and which, alas! Chinese civilization calls music!

There is another "hideous noise" which, perhaps, deserves the attention of our authorities to a still greater extent than the nuisance just described; we refer to the annoyance which native artisans, living in the most frequented parts of our Settlements, cause by working at all hours of the day and night. We know, for instance, one who is so fortunate as to have for neigh