much shocked at so barefaced and indecent a transaction, or
whether he had not a sufficient sum of money to. make up the'
price of the bullocks, is immaterial to the purpose; it is-
enough to observe that he preferred his duty to the purchase
of the lady, to the affected astonishment of the Mandarin, of
whom he understood her to be either the wife or the daughter.
Another gentleman, in returning one day from the town to
the river side, was accosted by an elderly womati, who made
signs to him to follow her into her cottage, where she presented
him with her daughter, very nearly in that state in
which she came out of nature’s hands; and the eyes of
the old lady sparkled with joy a t the sight of a Spanish,
dollar.
There was little prepossessing in the- general appearance*
and character of the Cochinchinese. The women had but-
slender pretensions to beauty ; yet the want of personal
charms was in some degree- compensated by a lively and
cheerful temper, totally unlike the dull, the morose, and secluded
Chinese. An expressive countenance, being as much
the result of education and- sentiment as a delicate set of.
features and a fine complexion are of health,, ease, exemption
from drudgery and exposure- to tire vicissitudes,
of the weather, could hardly be expected in Cochinchina.
In point of fact, both sexes are- coarse featured, and their
colour nearly as deep as that of the Malay; and, like
these people, the universal custom of chewing areea and:
betel, by reddening the lips and ¡blackening the teeth, gives
them an. appearance still more unseemly, than nature intended..
The dress of the women was by no means fascinat-
7