The cangue, if its wearers were properly fed and screened from the sun,
is rather a disgrace than a cruel mode of punishment. Death is said to
be inflicted for aggravated robbery, robbery with murder, highway
robbery, arson, and piracy, even without the form of a trial when the
culprits are caught in flagrante delicto; but though it is a frequent
punishment, it is by no means absolutely certain for what crimes it is
the legal penalty.

We left the judgment-seat as a fresh relay of criminals entered, two of
them with faces atrocious enough for any crime, and passed out of the
courtyard of the Yamun through the "Gate of Righteousness," where the
prisoners, attached to heavy stones, were dragging and clanking their
chains, or lying in the shade full of sores, and though the red sunset
light was transfiguring all things, the glory had faded from Canton and
the air seemed heavy with a curse.



LETTER IV (Continued)

The "Covent Garden" of Canton--Preliminaries of Execution--A Death
Procession--The "Field of Blood"--"The Death of the Cross"--A Fair
Comparison


Although I went to the execution ground two days before my visit to the
prison, the account of it belongs to this place. Passing through the
fruit-market, the "Covent Garden" of Canton, where now and in their
stated seasons are exposed for sale, singly and in fragrant heaps,