Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 53 (Color Image)

0053	Among the Celestials : vol.1

CHAP. i.] A CHINESE ARSENAL. 29

The chief attraction was an arsenal recently

set up here entirely by Chinamen, and managed

by them alone, without any European guidance

or supervision whatever. Here we found

magazine rifles, gatling guns, and field-guns

being turned out in creditable fashion. We

called on the manager, who himself conducted

us round the workshops. It was he who had

started the place, and we were fairly astonished

to find such a really creditable establishment

in the heart of Manchuria, many hundreds

of miles from the coast, and in a country

where there were neither railways nor water-

ways, nor even good roads for the carriage of

the heavy and delicate machinery. Mr. Sung,

the manager, was very civil to us, and invited

us to dinner, where we met some other officials

of the place. Chinese dinners are generally

elaborate, and this one was no exception.

Course after course was served up, till we

must have had between thirty and forty, in-

cluding such delicacies as sea-slugs, sharks'

fins, and bird's-nest soup. The Chinese are

remarkably good cooks, and, though the dishes

are often served in a way which is not palatable

to Europeans, the actual cooking is excellent

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