448 Voyage of the Novara. 



of his beautiful abode. We wandered through numerous 

 apartments simply yet elegantly furnished, with various ante- 

 chambers and corridors, among which were interspersed little 

 plots laid out with dwarf plantations, artistically- designed 

 grottoes, and ^'rookeries." In one of the rooms was a 

 " punkah," an article of furniture rarely met with in a Chi- 

 nese household. On reaching the library or study, our host 

 bade us be seated, while he again ordered tea to be served. 

 This small but pretty apartment was covered all round with 

 inscriptions in Chinese (chiefly maxims from Confucius), 

 which, written on rolls of white paper, were suspended on 

 the walls. While sipping our tea, and engrossed in convers- 

 ation, an attendant appeared with somewhat thick cloths, 

 steeped in hot water, with which to wipe our faces and hands. 

 The evaporation of the moisture lowers the temperature of 

 the skin, and has so refreshing an effect, that one cannot but 

 feel surprised that this custom is not more extensively patron- 

 ized in hot countries, or put in practice by ourselves during 

 our hot sultry summers. 



With respect to ourselves, what appeared most to interest 

 our Chinese host in his silken attire was our apparel. He 

 felt over and over again the black alpaca coat, which was 

 worn by one of the members of our Expedition, and re- 

 marked, " these Western races are truly marvellous people; 

 they wear far more clothes than we do, yet they perspire 

 less." And thereupon Wuong mopped his face twice witli 

 the towel, which in the mean time the attendant had again 



