PORTUGUESE LADIES. 121 



tensive vaults are sometimes re-opened for the 

 interment of a second corpse : the graves of the 

 poorer class have merely a headstone, upon 

 which Chinese characters are engraved, giving 

 the name, family, &c. of the individual, whose 

 mortal clay reposes beneath. 



One of the promenades in the vicinity of 

 Macao, is to a sandy bay, called Cassilha's Bay,* 

 in which there was nothing to excite interest, 

 having merely barren hills about it, and a dis- 

 tant view of islands. The only benefit derived 

 from a visit to it, is the exercise of walking. 



I remarked some Chinese one morning near 

 Macao engaged in making some very durable 

 ropes from rattan : the process of manufacture 

 was but little different from that of hemp. The 

 rattans were split longitudinally, soaked, and 

 attached to a wheel, which one person was keep- 

 ing in motion, whilst another was binding the 

 split rattans together, adding others to the length 

 from a quantity he carried around his waist, 

 until the required length of the rope was com- 

 pleted. 



The Portuguese ladies at Macao are, for the 

 most part, possessed of but few attractions. The 

 dark-eyed, beautiful damsels, the destroyers of 



* So named by the Portuguese, after a picturesque spot 

 of the same name, near the city of Lisbon. 



