replied to communications addressed to them on the
subject, that inasmuch as the workhouse resembles
the general habitations of the labouring classes, they
believe it to be more agreeable and satisfactory to
the inmates than a building of a more regular and
systematised character. I submit that the Poor Law
Board should write to the guardians, and say that
I have forwarded to them a copy of the report I
made of my inspection in the visitors' book, and
request to be favoured with the remarks of the
guardians upon it.

It would be curious to know what action was
taken on the above, and whether Mr. Fleming
and the Marquis of Salisbury had any angry
correspondence respecting what is "agreeable
and satisfactory." At Nottingham, which, if
we mistake not, is in the district formerly
inspected by Dr. Smith himself, we find from his
report that hale children were "lying in a ward in
which were others suffering from scarlet fever."
Of Sheffield workhouse, Mr. Farnall complains
of the internal arrangements, and says certain
sick wards in it "are dark and cheerless, too
dark, in fact, to enable the medical officer to
examine the cases with accuracy;" and Dr.
Smith explains that

It is situate in the centre of the town of Sheffield,
on the low land on the banks of the river, where it
has been found difficult to obtain very good drainage
and ventilation. The main building is a disused
mill, and was not constructed as a workhouse, and
hence the rooms are large in all their dimensions,
and not so convenient for the purpose in hand as is
desirable.

Dr. Smith concludes his general report by
saying, plausibly enough, "it is proper that any
defects which exist should be removed, and
that the state of the sick wards in workhouses
and the treatment of the sick should contrast
not unfavourably with the arrangements of a
fairly conducted general hospital." It is much
to be regretted that his information is not so
conveyed as to lead up to this result. Valour
would, in this instance, have been the better
part of discretion. If he had had the courage
to speak out boldly, he would have presented
the authorities with a report which they might
condemn as "sensational," but which his own
conscience would tell him was true.

TOLD BY A SKIPPER.

We were bound up the noble river Yang-tsi-
Kiang, the Chinese Son of the Sea, my old friend
Mellen and myself, in our respective lorchas,
making for Nankin. Side by side, our lorchas
had kept each other company nearly all the
day. We made but little progress, for the
wind came in light and fitful gusts, so that
for every three feet we sailed against the
strong current we were drifted back about two.
As the splendid autumn day wore on, and the
long dark shadows falling across the face of the
earth began to herald the approach of the
delightful tropical evening, the inconstant breeze
fell away altogether, and we were compelled
to anchor for the night. Mellen frequently
hailed me to join him at dinner, to which I
gave a willing assent, for not only was I
alone on board my own vessel, that is to say
without any European companion; but I well
knew the many comforts possessed by my friend,
he being accompanied by his wife, and a woman
does somehow bring the amenities of civilised
life to any community.

Mellen was a native of Savannah; his better
half came from Macao, and was a full-blooded
Chinese. Though a daughter of the Celestial
Empire, Mrs. Mellen neither had those frightfully
artificial deformities called "small feet,"
nor did the outer corners of her purely Chinese
eyes point upward. Hers were unusually
straight, full of expression, of the most brilliant
liquid black, now melting into tenderness, now
flashing with the fiery passions of the East; her
complexion was a rich tawny olive, with that
smooth, close-grained skin so peculiarly a pleasing
attraction of the Chinese. Her teeth were
perfect and dazzlingly white; though the mouth,
small and pretty as those of her countrywomen
generally are, seldom parted sufficiently to show
them; this rather unusual immobility tending
to produce an expression of firmness. Her hair
was raven black, hanging in the luxuriance
common to Celestial beauties, and her semi-
European dress admirably became her lithe,
graceful, and petite figure.

One day, having made all snug on board my
own vessel, I joined my friends. When dinner
was over, and the unexceptionable manilla and
fragrant coffee produced, and my friend's wife
had seated herself lovingly at his feet, I
reminded him of a promise to tell me how he
managed to escape from the Imperialists when
they took him prisoner during the last war.

"It was all owing to my brave little wife,"
he said.

Mrs. Mellen would not let her husband
commence until the cradle containing their only
child had been brought from an inner cabin and
placed by her side.

"You must know," began my friend, without
further preamble, "that when you Britishers had
determined to make a war upon the Chinese for
endeavouring to enforce their own revenue
laws in the case of the Arrow—I was busily
engaged with a vessel of my own, running cargoes
of tea from Canton to Hong-Kong, and taking
back opium for native merchants anxious to
realise coin before the commencement of
hostilities. If that trade had lasted, I should
have made a pretty considerable fortune.
But, somehow, your officials seemed to have
made ready for a war long before any event
occurred to justify their preparations. A large
fleet of gun-boats had gradually been collected
at Hong-Kong, and formidable operations were
initiated at Canton.

"Upon the part of the Chinese, the notorious
commissioner Yeh had arrived, and during a
desultory and unproclaimed warfare, I made
several very successful trips. My lorcha was
well armed; I had a crew devoted to my
interests, and although every day brought