of
their extreme carelessness and
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culpable neglect, but either a better class of men must be provided, or a more efficient surveillance adopted before any manifest improvement will be effected, be the system of drainage what it may. I need but refer to the difficulty that exists in our private premises
of compelling my servants to keep the premises clean, and prevent the accumulation of rubbish therein and in the drains, and if such difficulty exists under such circumstances, impossibilities should not be expected from the class of Coolies inhabiting the district of Taipingshan.
As regards the actual state of drainage, and specially referring to the open drains objected to, I must
admit that they are unsightly, that rubbish of every description is thrown into them, but at the same time it must be observed that the inclination is so steep that nothing remains, everything however large, is swept down by the stream (small as it is in Winter) and carried out to sea; no doubt an evaporation of deleterious gases takes place, but were our filth to accumulate and decompose, and must be discharged somewhere, I question whether it be not more advantageous to be satisfied that it is carried out to sea, than to have the drain covered and with untrapped connecting pipes permit more deleterious and offensive effluvia to enter every particular house; and as there are