396 APPENDIX. 



the south they assumed the form of a winged lion, springing up to the zenith, while those in 

 the north were low and broken, like a slaughtered army. A few cloudlets seemed to have 

 floated away from them towards the south, till they were arrested by the lion's breath, whose 

 figure, moreover, continued to dilate, while the clouds in the north gradually disappeared alto- 

 gether. After looking at these appearances, I said to my friend, ' The heavens prognosticate 

 that our expedition will finally be successful, but difficulties will have to be overcome in the 

 first place.' ' Your words,' said he, ' are strange ; let us wait for the event.' 



" After three days our vessel steamed right towards the northeast ; we passed Formosa, and 

 for some days saw no land. At the same time the wind blew very strong from the north. The 

 steamer was tossed about as if it had been a fan, while all around it there were gulls darting 

 and flying about. In this way we went along for seven days, when we came in sight of land, 

 which was declared to be Lew-k'ew. 



"Lew-k'ew, or, as Europeans and Americans call it, Loo Choo, is a small island, about 100 

 leagues long, and 30 or 40 leagues broad. Its chief town lies in latitude 26° 14' N., longitude 

 127° 52' E. 



"From the time of the Ming dynasty, its chief has received investiture from our emperor, 

 having the title of a king. It is a poor territory, yielding only sweet potatoes, some vegetables, 

 a black kind of sugar, vegetable oil, and a few other things. The people bind up their hair in 

 a knot, and wear very large sleeves to their coats. Tbeir shoes are made of grass. The men 

 wear two long pins through their top-knots, and the women one. This is the only distinction 

 between them in their dress, so that when they are young it is not easy to know them from 

 one another, but as they grow up the beard, which is not shaven, sufficiently characterizes the 

 males. One is surprised to see the middle-aged men walking about the streets all with long 

 beards. 



" On the first clay of our new year, (January 29,) I went on shore for a ramble, and finding 

 a lot of boys on the street, gave them a few cash, which greatly delighted them. The people 

 were very humble. Outside the doors of some of the houses congratulatory sentences were 

 posted up, as in China at the new year, but there was no excitement and no other sign of 

 rejoicing. At Napa I found a temple, and in the garden attached to it the burying place of the 

 families of distinction. The surnames and names of the dead, and the time when they lived, 

 were engraven on tombstones. Every day the priests, I was told, swept them clean, and placed 

 before them flowers and leaves of trees. The tombs of the common people are like those which 

 obtained in China during the time of the Ming dynasty. 



" The heights all around were covered with trees. The people I found living in grass huts, 

 put up with enclosures formed of rough stones. Their dwellings had no furniture. For stools 

 and chairs, they use grass mats, on which they hunker on their knees and toes, having a pan of 

 fire before them, at which they light their pipes. A few of them can speak and read Chinese. 

 They have no shops, but a market ground, where the business of exchanging commodities is 

 conducted by the women. Thus they do not use money, and care little for the coins of other 

 countries. The common people stand in great awe of their rulers. They are very plain in their 

 diet, and seldom impose on one another. The doors of their houses are merely thin boards, and 

 for windows they use paper, but they pass the nights without fear of thieves ; and I have seen, 

 when a man dropped anything on the way, another pick it up and restore it to him. In their 

 public courts there is almost nothing to do— no quarrels to decide, no litigations to settle. 

 Their manners resemble those of the golden age in high antiquity. Whenever we strangers 



