The foreign settlement is separated from Foochow city by the great bridge, and by a small island which here rises in the middle of the stream. The site was formerly that of an old Chinese burial-ground, and abundant disputes arose in conse- quence when plots had to be purchased for the erection of houses, the natives being loath to see the dwellings of living
- ' foreign devils" erected over the resting-places of their own
hallowed dead. But money, which exercises as potent an influence here as elsewhere, procured a solution of the difficul- ties; even"^ the spirits of the departed were to be consoled by timely offerings at their shrines; and so now, on these hills, the dust of the long-forgotten dead is trodden under foot by the hated foreign intruder, and mingles with the roses with which his garden is adorned. Even the tombs have, some of them, been turned to account. Living occupants have entered into joint tenancy with the silent inhabitants who repose beneath, and pigs or poultry may be seen enjoying the cool shade and shelter which the ample granite gravestone supplies. But I need not give any detailed description of the foreign residences at Foochow.
This notice of the graves in the foreigners' quarter may be supplemented by some account of the living tenants to be met with in a city of the dead close by; but before proceeding to describe the condition of these wretched beings, it may be as well to give the reader a notion of the condition of the poor in Foochow. In China the beggar pursues his calling unmo- lested, and has even won for himself a protection and quasi- recognition at the hands of the civic authorities. The fact is that the charitable institutions of the country cannot cope with a tenth part of the misery and destitution that prevails in populous localities. No poor law is known, and the only plan
