leave them there until the beginning of the next winter. The
pawnbrokers in their own interest take the greatest care of all
pledges, which, if not redeemed, will become their own property,
though they repudiate all claims for damage done while in their
possession; and the owner of the goods by payment of the interest
charged is released from all trouble and annoyance.

Pawnshops in China are divided into three classes, one of which has
since the days of the T'ai-p'ings totally disappeared from all parts
over which the tide of rebellion passed. This is the _tien tang_,
where property could be left for three years without forfeit, and to
establish which it was necessary to obtain special authority from the
Board of Revenue in Peking. At present there are the _chih tang_ and
the _ssu ya_, both common to all parts of China, and to these we shall
confine our remarks. The former, which may be considered as the
pawnshop proper, is a private institution as far as its business is
concerned, but licensed on payment of a small fee by the local
officials, and regulated in its workings by certain laws which emanate
from the Emperor himself. A limit of sixteen months is assigned,
within which pledges must be redeemed or they become the property of
the pawnbroker; and the interest charged, formerly four per cent., is
now fixed at three per cent. _per month_. Before the license
above-mentioned can be obtained, security must be provided for the
existence of sufficient capital to guard against a sudden or a
fraudulent collapse. For any article not forthcoming when the owner
desires to redeem it, double the amount of the original loan is
recoverable from the pawnbroker. Should any owner of a pledge chance
to lose his ticket by theft or otherwise, he may proceed to the
pawnshop with two substantial securities, and if he can recollect the
number, date, and amount of the transaction, another ticket is issued