AMY and Robert, with their papa and mamma, live in China, in a place
called Foochow. They came here last January, when Amy was just three
years old, and Robert a little over one year. They came all the way from
Boston by water.
They have a good grandma at home, who sends Amy "The Nursery" every
month, and she is never tired of hearing the nice stories.
Out here, the children see many things that you little folks in America
know nothing about. When they go to ride, they do not go in a carriage
drawn by horses, but in a chair resting on two long poles, carried by
some Chinamen called _coolies_. When it is pleasant, and the sun is not
too hot, the chair is open; but, if it rains, there is a close cover to
fit over it.
It is so warm here, that flowers blossom in the garden all winter; and
Amy is very fond of picking them, and putting them into vases. When it
is too warm to go into the garden, she has a pot of earth on the shady
piazza, and the cooly picks her flowers, to plant in it.
Foochow is on a large river; and the children like much to go out in the
sail-boats, called "house-boats." These boats are fitted up just like a
house, with a dining-room, sleeping-room, bath-room, and pantry.
The night before Fourth of July, Amy and Robert started with their papa,
mamma, and Amah (their colored nurse), and went to Sharp Peak, on the
seashore, twenty-five miles from here. They found the boat very nice to
sleep in, but were glad enough to get into their own beds the next
night.
I am afraid you would not know what these little children say, if you
should hear them talk; for they pick up words from their Amah, and do
not speak like little American girls and boys.
By and by I shall have more to tell you about them.