sinks of iniquity, where orgies of the worst kind were openly carried on.

epub or mobi

I was getting fed up with life in England. There was too much sameness about it; a place where there is little real freedom, and where one had to do just as the next fellow did. To wear the same kind of clothes with a collar and tie, and talk about football and horse-racing, making conversation for the sake of talking … I had always had a desire to see things that were new and strange; to look below the surface, and find out how the world lived; to have new thoughts, and see new places … Whatever country I have resided in, I have always made it a practice to become friendly with the natives, and by this means I have seen more of the hidden side than I would have done otherwise … There were places where a European would not be alive five minutes unless he was accompanied by a Chinaman who was known. The fumes of opium smoking met one at every turn. They issued from the open doors of houses and shops, and the very air seemed to be flavoured with a smell of burning opium … Gradually the music changed; it became quicker and louder in tone, and the movement of the dancers followed suit; they danced with more abandon, while at every change of the music they cast off some garment. The music became quicker still, and the girls were quite naked now. The shape of their bodies was a wonder of perfect anatomy, and their motions, swift and lithe; reminding one of the movements of some animal of the cat tribe. The rhythmic motion of their bodies became almost a frenzy.