Identifier: mysticflowerylan00halcuoft (find matches)
Title: The mystic flowery land; a personal narrative
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Halcombe, Charles J. H
Subjects: China -- Description and travel
Publisher: London Luzac
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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down on thepleasant and not unrustic scene. It was indeed a pretty sight: the calm, shadowy waters, andthe j)icturesque gardens, bathed in the soft light, and adorned,not only by exquisite tropical plants and flowers, but also bynumbers of fair and faultlessly-dressed ladies, sauntering to andfro in their varied costumes between the shady groves, where thefragrant air and the whisper of subdued voices were highlysuggestive of a Midsummer niglits dream, and the meeting ofthe fairies, when Cupids shaft is silently quenched in the chastebeams of the watery moon, or launched at the heart of somefair Helena with delightful precision which imbues her with loveimmortal, aud adorns those lily-blossom cheeks with the firstblush of maiden joy—so liighly significant of an invitation toask Papa or some other near and dear guardian who lives inthis matter-of-fact age, and wears the orthodox frills so hurtfuland injurious to loves young summer dream. ^-D a; © 2 ^^ (t ^(/^ C/Jr. 3E a fi s- l^ e^
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II.-PECULIAR CHARACTERISTICS. llTEXT morning I was awakened by the attentive l)oy wlio;i had attached himself to me on my arrival. Opening the duttr,he called to me in a loud voice, Massa, you wautchee chow-cliow ?Jest now blong bar parze ten, nearly leben! By which he meantto convey, in the most correct pidgin English, that breakfastwas ready and that it was getting late. It was a beautiful day, and the fresh morning breeze fannedthe scent of exotic flowers about my bed, which had been haunted,through the silent hours of night, by legions of hungry anddaring mosquitoes, whose tuneful but monotonous hum makes youfeel drowsy and tired. But they always do hum when prospectingabout your person for a soft spot, and they generally perch onyour nose and begin preliminary operations there, with di.sastrousresults to their victim and eventually to themselves when he becomesbetter acquainted with their habits and more accurate in his aim Never strike a mosquito until his proboscis is firmly im

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