But what
a fascination the opium drug has for the Chinaman, and not for him
alone, but for children of other races--for men and women who, when
under its spell, will sell honour and sacrifice all that is dear in
life, and even forego the prospect and the blessed hope of entering at
last into the bliss of the heavenly world! But what is opium, what its
parentage and history? The Greeks will tell you it is their opion or
opos, the juice of the poppy, and the botanist will point out the
magic flower for you as the Papaver Somniferum, whose home was
originally in the north of Europe and in Western Asia; but now, just
as the tribes of the earth have spread out into many lands, so has the
poppy which has brought much misery as well as blessing to men,
found its way into various quarters of the globe, particularly those
countries which are favoured with sunny skies. It is cultivated in
Turkey, India, Persia, Egypt, Algeria and Australia, as well as in
China. I now recall vividly the beautiful poppy fields at Assiut,
Esneh and Kenneh, by the banks of the Nile, in which such subtle
powers were sleeping potent for ill or good as employed by man for
deadening his faculties or soothing pain in reasonable measure.
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