316 BLUSHING. Chap. XIII. 



laughed at by his companions, " he blushed quite to the 

 back of his neck." Lady Duff Gordon remarks that a 

 young Arab blushed on coming into her presence. 10 



Mr. Swinhoe has seen the Chinese blushing, but he 

 thinks it is rare; yet they have the expression " to red- 

 den with shame." Mr. Geach informs me that the Chi- 

 nese settled in Malacca and the native Malays of the in- 

 terior both blush. Some of these people go nearly naked, 

 and he particularly attended to the downward extension 

 of the blush. Omitting the cases in which the face alone 

 was seen to blush, Mr. Geach observed that the face, 

 arms, and breast of a Chinaman, aged 24 years, reddened 

 from shame; and with another Chinese, when asked why 

 he had not done his work in better style, the whole body 

 was similarly affected. In two Malays X1 he saw the face, 

 neck, breast, and arms blushing; and in a third Malay 

 (a Bugis) the blush extended down to the waist. 



The Polynesians blush freely. The Rev. Mr. Stack 

 has seen hundreds of instances with the New Zealanders. 

 The following case is worth giving, as it relates to an 

 old man who was unusually dark-coloured and partly 

 tattooed. After having let his land to an Englishman 

 for a small yearly rental, a strong passion seized him to 

 buy a gig, which had lately become the fashion with the 

 Maoris. He consequently wished to draw all the rent 

 for four years from his tenant, and consulted Mr. Stack 

 whether he could do so. The man was old, clumsy, poor, 

 and ragged, and the idea of his driving himself about in 

 his carriage for display amused Mr. Stack so much that 

 he could not help bursting out into a laugh; and then 

 "the old man blushed up to the roots of his hair." 



10 ' Letters from Egypt,' 1865, p. 66. Lady Gordon is mis- 

 taken when she says Malays and Mulattoes never blush. 



11 Capt. Osborn (' Que'dah,' p. 199), in speaking- of a 

 Malay, whom he reproached for cruelty, says he was glad 

 to see that the man blushed. 



