36 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. [chap. 



foreigners to visit the capital ; but, on our representing the fact 

 that Englishmen had already done so, and delicately hinting that 

 we had every intention of following their example, permission was 

 at length rather reluctantly accorded, and we took our departure 

 with the happy consciousness of having gained a victory which at 

 one time had seemed more than doubtful. 



The same enormous crowd attended us on our way to the jetty 

 as had greeted us on our arrival ; good-humoured and quiet as 

 before, but bent on seeing the most of us. It was with no little 

 relief that we rejoined our boat and found ourselves free at last, 

 and with the prospect of unimpeded movement for the next twelve 

 hours at least. We had had abundant opportunities of observing 

 the physical characteristics of the Liu-kiuans. They are a short 

 race, probably even shorter than the Japanese, but much better 

 proportioned, being without the long bodies and short legs of 

 the latter people, and having as a rule extremely well-developed 

 chests. The colour of the skin varies of course with the social 

 position of the individual. Those who work in the fields, clad only 

 in a waist-cloth, are nearly as dark as a Malay, but the upper classes 

 are much fairer, and are at the same time devoid of any of the 

 yellow tint of the Chinaman. To the latter race indeed they 

 cannot be said to bear any resemblance, and though the type is 

 much closer to the Japanese, it is nevertheless very distinct. On 

 first arrival in any country it is extremely difficvilt to distinguish 

 tribal peculiarities. Thus, in South Africa, the " new chum " will 

 be unable to tell a Basuto from a Zulu, or the latter from a Gaeka, 

 though in the course of a few months he can do so at a glance. 

 But here, in Liu-kiu, the Japanese and natives were easily recognised 

 by us from the first, and must therefore be possessed of very con- 

 siderable differences. The Liu-kiuan has the face less flattened, 

 the eyes are more deeply set, and the nose more prominent at its 

 origin. The forehead is high, and the cheek-bones somewhat less 

 marked than in the Japanese ; the eyebrows are arched and thick, 

 and the eyelashes long. The expression is gentle and pleasing, 



