which are enclosed with strong steel bars. Before the ship starts the
iron gates of communication are shut and padlocked, so that all
Chinese passengers are literally enclosed in a steel cage, shut off
alike from the upper deck and the engine-room. These precautions were
absolutely necessary, for time and time again gangs of river-pirates
have come on board these steamers in the guise of harmless passengers;
at a pre-arranged signal they have overpowered and murdered the white
officers, thrown the Chinese passengers overboard and then made off
with the ship and her cargo. An arms-rack of rifles on the European
deck told its own story.

Macao has belonged to Portugal since 1555. Its harbour has silted up,
and its once flourishing trade has dwindled to nothing. Gambling
houses are the only industry of the place. There are row and rows of
these opposite the steamer landing, all kept by Chinamen, garish with
coloured electric lights, each one clamorously proclaiming that it is
the "only first-class gambling house in Macao." A crowded special
steamer leaves Hong-Kong every Sunday morning for Macao, for the
special purpose of affording the European community an opportunity to
leave most of their excess profits in the pockets of the Chinese
proprietors of these places. The Captain and Chief Engineer of the
boat, who, it is almost superfluous to add, were of course both Clyde
men, like good Scots deplored this Sabbath-breaking; but like equally
good Scots they admitted how very lucrative the Sunday traffic was to
the steamboat company, and I gathered that they both got a commission
on this.

The old town of Macao is a piece of sixteenth and seventeenth century
Portugal transplanted into China. It is wonderful to find a southern
European town complete with cathedral, "pracas," fountains, and