MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



495 



torical, and others of pure fancy, 

 partly in recitativo, partly in sing- 

 ing, and partly in plain speaking, 

 without any accompaniment of 

 instrumental music, but abound- 

 ing in battles, murders, and most 

 of the usual incidents of the drama. 

 Last of all, was the giand panto- 

 mime, which, from the approba- 

 tion it met with, is, I presume, 

 considered a first-rate effort of 

 invention and ingenuity. It seem- 

 ed to me, as far as 1 could com- 

 ])rehend it, to represent the mar- 

 riage of the Ocean and the Earth. 

 The latter exhibited her various 

 riches and productions, dragons 

 and elephants and. tigers and 

 eagles and ostriches, oaks and 

 pines, and other trees of different 

 kinds. The ocean was not behind 

 hand, but poured forth on the 

 stage the wealth of his dominions, 

 under the figures of whales and 

 dolphins, porpoises and leviathans, 

 and other sea-monsters, besides 

 ships, rocks, shells, sponges, and 

 corals, all performed by concealed 

 actors, who were quite perfect in 

 their parts, and performed tlieir 

 characters to admiration. These 

 two marine and land regiments, 

 after sepaiately parading in a cir- 

 cular procession for a considerable 

 time, at last joined together, and 

 foiming one body, came to the 

 front of the stage, when, after a 

 few evolutions, they opened to the 

 right and left, to give room for the 

 whale, who seemed to be the com- 

 numding officer, to waddle for- 

 ward; and who, taking his station 

 exactly opposite to the emperor's 

 box, spouted out of his mouth into 

 the pit several tuns of water, which 

 quickly disapjjeared through the 

 j»orfnralions of the floor. This 

 ejioulation was received witli the 



highest applause, and two or three 

 of tiie great men at my elbow de- 

 sired me to take particular notice 

 of it ; repeating, at th« same time, 

 ' liao ! hung hau!' — charming, de- 

 lightful ! * 



Mr. Barrow, in describing the 

 amusements given to the Dutch 

 ambassadors in 1795, from the 

 journal of a gentleman in their 

 suite, speaks of posture-making, 

 rope- dancing, " and a sort of pan- 

 tomimic performance, the princi- 

 pal cliaracters of which were men 

 dressed in skins, and going on all 

 fours, intended to represent wild 

 beasts ; and a parcel of boys, ha- 

 bited in the dresses of mandaiins, 

 who were to hunt them." f And 

 again, after the whole court had 

 been terribly frightened by an 

 eclipse of the moon, an entertain- 

 ment was given to the ambassa- 

 dors, during which " a panto- 

 mime, intended to be an exhibition 

 of the battle of the dragon and the 

 moon, was represented befoie the 

 full court. In this engagement, 

 two or three bundled priests., bear- 

 ing lanterns susjiended at the ends 

 of long sticks, performed a variety 

 of evolutions, dancing and caper- 

 ing about, sometimes over the 

 jilain, and then over chairs and 

 tables, affording to his imperial 

 majesty, and to his courtiers, the 

 greatest pleasure and satisfaction." 

 De Guignes also, who accompanied 

 these ambassadors, describes this 

 scene as a very jjuerile and huli- 

 crous representation. "A number 

 of Chinese," he says, " placed at 

 the distance of six feet from one 

 another, now entered, bearing two 



• Life of the Eail of Macartney, vol. ii. 

 t Barrow's Travels in China, p. 216. 



lonj 



