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The boy travellers in the Far East : adventures of two youths ... - Library

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IVOEY CAliVINGS, FANS, AND SHELL-WOUK. 419<br />

dollars ; and if it had been dune<br />

<strong>in</strong> America, it M'onld have cost<br />

nearer six tlioiisand. Skilled la-<br />

bor is cheap <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a, just as m\-<br />

skilled labor is, and it is astonish-<br />

<strong>in</strong>g for how little a njan can be<br />

employed on <strong>the</strong> k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong> work<br />

that would br<strong>in</strong>g a higli price <strong>in</strong><br />

Europe or America.<br />

" <strong>The</strong>n <strong>the</strong>re were carv<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong><br />

tortoise-shell <strong>of</strong> a great many<br />

k<strong>in</strong>ds, and all <strong>the</strong> forms you<br />

could th<strong>in</strong>k <strong>of</strong>, toge<strong>the</strong>r with<br />

many you could not. <strong>The</strong> Chi-<br />

nese tortoise-shell work used to<br />

be <strong>the</strong> best <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> world ; but<br />

those who know about it say that<br />

it is now equalled by <strong>the</strong> produc-<br />

tions <strong>of</strong> jSTaples and Florence,<br />

both <strong>in</strong> f<strong>in</strong>eness and cheapness.<br />

<strong>The</strong>n <strong>the</strong>y had some beautiful<br />

th<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> silver filigree and <strong>in</strong><br />

bronzes, and we bought a few <strong>of</strong><br />

each, so as to show what Canton<br />

can do <strong>in</strong> this l<strong>in</strong>e.<br />

" But such fans ! such fans !<br />

<strong>The</strong>y were so ])Tettj that we<br />

couldn't keep our eyes <strong>of</strong>f. <strong>the</strong>m,<br />

and we bought more <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m,<br />

perhaps, than we needed. In one<br />

shop we would f<strong>in</strong>d someth<strong>in</strong>g so<br />

nice that we couldn't see how it<br />

A JABLLT CAr,\CD I^ HJKl.<br />

could be surpassed, and so we<br />

would buy it; and <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> next we found someth<strong>in</strong>g nicer yet, and so we<br />

had to buy that. Anybody who has a lik<strong>in</strong>g for fans, and hasn't a m<strong>in</strong>t<br />

<strong>of</strong> money, had better keep out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> stores <strong>of</strong> Canton, or he will run a<br />

risk <strong>of</strong> be<strong>in</strong>g ru<strong>in</strong>ed. <strong>The</strong> varieties are so great that we cannot beg<strong>in</strong><br />

to name <strong>the</strong>m. Tliere were fans on silk, and fans on paper ; fans carved<br />

<strong>in</strong> ivory, tortoise-shell, sandal-wood ; fans <strong>of</strong> fea<strong>the</strong>rs from various birds,<br />

with rich pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>gs right on <strong>the</strong> surface <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fea<strong>the</strong>rs ; and<br />

a great many

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