120 TANKA BOATS. 



sound like that of a church bell was produced. 

 The battered appearance of the stone above, bore 

 several proofs of how many visitors had made this 

 lion roar. Many of the other rocks were also 

 sonorous, but not so loud as the first ; and from 

 their situations, (although moveable when trod- 

 den upon,) it could not be seen jvhether they 

 were naturally excavated similar to the prece- 

 ding. The Lappa is a place to which the resi- 

 dents of Macao resort, forming pic-nic parties 

 for the purposes of enjoying a change of scene 

 in their limited place of residence, and deriving 

 a gratification from the natural and cultivated 

 beauties of this pretty valley. 



We returned late in a Tanka boat. These 

 boats, from their bearing some resemblance to a 

 section of an egg, are called egg-boats, or e^^ 

 people boats ; tan signifying an eg^, and ka, 

 people : they are principally navigated by wo- 

 men. The egg-boat people, both males and 

 females, are only permitted to intermarry among 

 themselves. Some of the females have often a 

 little claim to personal beauty. 



The Chinese burial-grounds are never inclosed, 

 and are usually seen situated on the slopes of the 

 hills. The graves never being opened a second 

 time, the burial-grounds take up a large quan- 

 tity of land. I believe the handsome and ex- 



