[Illustration: A SHOT AT AN EAGLE.]
CHINESE SCENES.
I have two little girls here in China, who are constant readers of "The
Nursery." They think I can tell you little readers at home of some
pretty sights they see here. They have asked me so often to do so, that,
now they are tucked away for the night, I will try to please them.
In landing at Hong Kong, after a long voyage, it looks very odd to see
the water covered with small boats, or _sampans_, as the Chinese call
them. In each boat lives a family. It is their house and home; and they
seldom go off of it.
They get their living by carrying people to the ships, and by fishing.
They have a place in the bottom of the boat, where they sleep at night;
and, in cold weather, they shut themselves up in it to keep from
freezing. I went out in one of these boats a few days ago. The water was
very rough; and I was quite astonished, after being out some time, to
see a pair of bright eyes shining from below, through a small crack,
nearly under my feet.
Coming back, it was not quite so rough; and the owner of the bright
eyes--a little girl four years old, with a baby strapped on her
back--came "up topside," as they call up above. When the baby was fussy,
the girl would dance a little; and so the baby was put to sleep in this
peculiar fashion.
It is a very common sight to see a boatwoman rowing the boat, with her
baby strapped on her back.
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