_Purchaser_.--25. _Purchaser examining a piece of black silk.
The proprietor behind the counter making calculations on his
counting board_.--_Clerk entering goods_.--_Circular table, with
breakfast furniture_.

"This has been arranged so as to afford an exact idea of a
Chinese retail establishment. Two purchasers have been placed by
the counter: one of whom is scrutinizing a piece of black silk
that lies before him. The owner, behind the counter, is
carelessly bending forward, and intent on casting an account on
the 'calculating dish,' while his clerk is busy making entries
in the book, in doing which he shows us the Chinese mode of
holding a pen, or rather brush, which is perpendicularly between
the thumb and all the fingers. A servant is preparing breakfast.
A circular eight-legged table, very similar to those used by our
great grandfathers, is spread in the centre of the shop. Among
its furniture, the ivory chopsticks are the most novel. On the
visitor's right hand sits a gentleman, with a pipe, apparently a
chance comer, 'just dropped in' about meal time; on the left, a
blind beggar stands, beating two bamboo sticks against each
other, an operation with which he continues to annoy all whom he
visits, till he is relieved by some trifling gratuity, usually a
single _cash_. A gilt image of Fo is inserted in the front part
of the counter, and a small covered tub, filled with tea, with a
few cups near by, standing on the counter, from which customers
are always invited to help themselves.

"The merchants and shop-keepers of Canton are prompt, active,
obliging, and able. They can do an immense business in a short
time, and without noise, bustle, or disorder. Their goods are