I
should not have made any remark upon this awful hovel had not the man
laid a scheme to charge me three times as much as he should--a scheme,
be it said, in which my boy took no part. It was truly a fearful den,
where man and beast lived in promiscuous and insupportable filth. The
dung-heap charms the sight of this agricultural people, without in the
slightest wounding their olfactory nerves, and these utilitarians think
there is no use seeking privacy to do what they regard as beneficial and
productive work. The bed here was the worst I had had offered me. The
mattress, upon which every previous traveler for many years had left his
tribute of vermin, was not fit for use, there were myriads of filthy
insects, and I found myself obliged to stop and have some clothes
boiled, and for comfort's sake rubbed my body with Chinese wine. Filth
there was everywhere. It seemed inseparable from the people, and a total
apathy as regards matter in the wrong place pervaded all classes, from
the highest to the lowest. The spring is opening, and my hard-worked
coolies doff their heavy padded winter clothing, parade their naked
skin, and are quite unconscious of any disgrace attending the exhibition
of the itch sores which disfigure them.
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