CHIN A. 1751. 237 



for this reafon we find no places where they 

 are made. They do not cut their tobacco, 

 but fmoak the leaves fuch. as they naturally 

 are. Taking fnuff and chewing of tobacco 

 are not yet in fafhion among them. 



The filk manufactures are as far off as the 

 apartments of the ladies, whofe bufmefs it is 

 to fpin and to weave. Their looms are level 

 with the floor, and fo fituated that they may 

 fit on them and put their feet into that part 

 on which the loom {lands. I once came into 

 fuch a place towards the llreet, where a mat 

 of bamboo was hung up inflead of a door. 

 This occafioned an outcry from the perfonwho 

 flood at the door ; the dog received me as an 

 enemy, and the female weavers left their work 

 in a great hurry. The Europeans order their 

 filks as foon as they arrive, and they get them 

 ready a little before they fet off again. Old 

 fluffs are feldom bought, becaufe they are 

 good for nothing when they return from fuch 

 a long fea voyage. The filks are rolled or 

 calendered between two fmooth flones, whofe 

 thicknefs is the breadth of the filks : the lower 

 of thefe flones is fad in the floor, and is like 

 the concave fide of half a cylinder ; the up- 

 per one fits into the lower, in the form of a 



half- 



