Ii!lii!'
C H A P . some of which were new to us, exhaled a delicious fragrance from the
May.
1S27.
gardens which bordered these delightful avenues. A more comfortable
residence in a hot climate could not well be imagined, but 1 am sorry
to say that the fascination was greatly lessened by the very filthy state
of the dwellings and of the people who occupied them. In one of these
huts there was a spiuning-wheel and a hand-loom, with some grass cloth
of the country in a forward state of preparation for use.
Several little children accompanied us through these delightfully
cool lanes, running before us catching butterflies, or picking flowers,
which they presented with a low Chinese salam, and then ran away
laughing at the idea of our valuing such things. AA"e afterwards
crossed two high roads, on which there were several horses and jackasses
bearing panniers; but we saw no carriages, nor the marks of
any wheels, nor do I believe there are any in Loo Choo. The horses,
like the natives, were very diminutive, and showed very little blood.
Several peasants, both male and female, were working in the plantations
as we passed through them, neither of whom endeavoured to
avoid us, and we had an opportunity of beholding, for the first time,
several Loo Choo women. They were of the labouring class, and of
course not the most attractive specimens of their sex ; but they were
equally good-looking with the men, and a few of them were pretty, notwithstanding
the assertion of An-yah, that “ Loo Choo womans ugly
womans.” There was nothing remarkable about them to need particular
description ; they were clothed much in the same manner as the
men, and generally in the same colours ; their hair, however, was differently
dressed, being loosely fastened at the side of the head by a
pin resembling a salt-spoon with a very long handle. Their feet were
of the natural size, and without shoes or sandals. We noticed some
who W'ere tattooed on the back of the hand, which we were told was
done to distinguish all those who were married; An-yah said the
custom prevailed equally in high life.
1 subjoin a sketch of a male and female of I.oo Choo, drawn by
Mr. Smyth, from which the reader may form a tolerably correct judgment
of the general appearance of these people, though Ifomee was
by no means the handsomest ofhis countrymen.
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