PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. jyj 



our guests, who would otherwise have fared badly, as 

 they did not appear to relish our joints of meat; nor 

 did some bottled porter accord better with their taste, 

 for after occasioning many wry faces, it was put aside 

 as being bitter; a flavour which I have observed is 

 seldom relished for the first time. Not so some 

 noyeau, which was well adapted to the sweet palate of 

 the Loo Chooans ; nor some effervescing draughts, 

 which were quite new to them, and created consider- 

 able surprise. They, however, seemed to enjoy them- 

 selves a great deal ; were jovial without being noisy, 

 and with the exception of a disagreeable practice of 

 eructation, and even worse, they were polite people ; 

 though I cannot say I approved of their refinement 

 upon our pocket handkerchief. An-yah often inti- 

 mated to me that he thought it was a disagreeable 

 practice to use a handkerchief and carry it about all 

 day, and thought it would be better for us to adopt 

 their custom of having a number of square pieces of 

 paper in our pockets for this purpose, any one of 

 which could be thrown away when it had been used. 

 I did not at first think he was in earnest, and when I 

 observed my guests pocket these pieces of paper, I 

 sent for some handkerchiefs, but they declined using 

 them, saying paper was much better. 



While we were at dinner a large junk which we had 

 observed taking in a cargo the day before, was towed 

 out of the harbour by an immense number of boats, 

 making the shores echo with her deep-toned gong. 

 She grounded off the entrance of the harbour, but 

 was soon got off, and placed outside the reefs. A 

 more unwieldy ark scarcely ever put to sea, and when 

 she rolled, her masts bent to that degree that the people 

 on her deck seemed to be in imminent danger of their 



