in the negro; and the nostrils, instead of being
parallel, diverge greatly. The mouth is wide,
but not projecting; the lips are rather th ic k ;
the eyes are small, having the iris black, and
the white of a yellow tinge, following as usual
the complexion of the skin. The outer angles
are more turned up than in the Western races;
the eyebrows are neither prominent nor well
marked. But, perhaps, the most characteristic
feature of the whole countenance is the breadth
and height of the cheek bones, which gives the
face the whole form of a lozenge, instead of the
oval figure which constitutes the line of beauty
among the nations of Western Asia and Europe.
Upon the. whole, although we often meet among
the Siamese with countenances that are not disagreeable,
and admit that they are certainly a
handsomer people than either the Chinese or
Indian islanders, beauty, according to our notions
of it, is a stranger to them. The physiognomy
of. the Siamese, it may be added,
conveys rather a gloomy, cheerless, and sullen
air, and their gait is slow, sluggish, and ungraceful.
This is the judgment of*an European,
and probably would be so of a native of Western
Asia; but it is necessary to add that the
Siamese, vain in every thing, have a standard
of beauty of their own, and are by no means
disposed to bow to our opinions on this subject.
I one day pointed out to some Siamese at
Calcutta a young and beautiful Englishwoman,
and wished to know their opinion of her. They
answered, that I should see many handsomer
when I visited Siam ! Ea Loubere, by his own
account, exhibited to the Siamese the portraits
of some celebrated beauties of the Court of
Louis XIV., and was compelled to acknowledge
that they excited no admiration whatever. A
large doll which he exhibited was more to their
taste; and a young nobleman, according to the
Siamese method of estimating the fair sex, said
with admiration, that a woman of such an appearance
would be worth, at Yuthia, five thousand
crowns!
I f this description of the physical form of the
Siamese be applied to all the inhabitants of the
wide region to which I have alluded, it must
be taken, with some allowances, a t. the extreme
points, where, no doubt, some intermixture has
taken place with the neighbouring races. Thus
the Cochin Chinese, the neighbours of the
Chinese, have a little more beard, and are fairer
than their neighbours immediately, to the west
and south of them. On the other hand, the
Burmans, and still more the people of Aracan»
Cassay, and Assam, who, no doubt, have intermixed
more or less with the Hindoos, have
more beard, more prominent features, and a
darker complexion than their neighbours to the
south, and this in proportion as they are respec