“ ticular notice o f i t ; repeating, at the fame time, ‘ Hao, hung
“ hao /’— ‘ charming, delightful I'
“ A little before one o’clock in the afternoon we retired, and
ic at four we returned to court to fee the evening’s entertain-
“ ments, which were exhibited on the lawn, in front o f the
“ great tent or pavilion, where we had been firft pre'fented to
“ the Emperor. He arrived very foon after us, mounted his
ft throne, and gave the fignal to begin. We had now wreft-
“ ling and dancing, and tumbling and pofture making, which
“ appeared to us particularly awkward and clumfy, from the
“ performers being moftly dreffed according to the Chinefe
“ cojlume, one infeparable part o f which is a pair o f heavy
“ quilted boots with the foies o f an inch thick. The wreftlers,
“ however, feemed to be pretty expert and afforded much dt-
“ verfion to fuch as were admirers o f the P alajlra.
“ A boy climbed up a pole or bamboo thirty or forty feet
“ high, played feveral gambols, and balanced himfelf on the
“ top o f it in various attitudes, but his performance fell far
“ fhort o f what I have often met with in India o f the fame
“ kind.
“ A fellow lay down on his back, and then raifed his feet,
“ legs, and thighs from his middle, perpendicularly, fo as
* to form a right angle with his body. On the foies o f his
“ feet was placed a large round empty jar, about four feet long
“ and from two and a h a lf to three feet diameter. This be ba-
“ lanced for fome time, turning it round and round horizon-
3 1 tally>
‘‘ tally, till one o f ,the fpedtators put a little boy into it, who,
tc after throwing himfelf into various pollutes at the mouth o f
“ it, came out and fat on the top. He then ftood up, then
“ fell flat upon his back, then ihifted to his belly, and after
“ fhewing a hundred tricks o f that fort, jumped down upon
“ the ground and relieved his coadjutor.
“ A man then came forward and after fattening three flen-
“ der fticks to each o f his boots took fix porcelain dilhes o f
“ about eighteen inches diameter, and balancing them feparate-
“ ly at the end o f a little ivory rod, which he held in his
“ hand, and twirling them about for fome time, put them one
H after the other upon the points o f the fix bootfticks above-
“ mentioned, they continuing to turn round all the while. H e
“ then took two fmall fticks in his left hand, and put dilhes
“ upon them in the fame manner as upon the other, and alfo
“ one more upon the little finger o f his right hand, fo that he
Í had nine dilhes annexed to him at once, all twirling together,
“ which in a few minutes he took o ff one by one and placed
“ them regularly on the ground, without the flighted: inter-
“ ruption or mifcarriage.'
“ There were many other things o f the fame kind, but I
“ faw none at all comparable to the tumbling, rope-danc-
“ ing, wire-walking, and liraw-balancing o f Sadler’s-Wells ;
“ neither did I obferve any feats o f equitation in the ftyle of
“ Hughes’s and Alhley’s amphitheatres, although I had been
“ always told that, the Tartars were remarkably ikilful in the
“ inftru&ion and difcipline o f their horfes. Laft o f all were
“ the