48 EAMBLES OP A NATURALIST. [Oh. IH. 



of the town, where every one, from the schoolmaster to the 

 smallest boys, seemed to enjoy the novelty of the visit, and 

 to wish to show us attention. They exhibited their books, 

 and, for a few cents, even willingly sold some of them, in 

 which the youngsters had been drawiag heroes and idols, in 

 all the grotesque attitudes ia which the Chinese appear to 

 delight. Followed by an attendant crowd, we walked through 

 the streets of the town, which were usually narrow, and 

 covered over with a screen of rattans or bamboos, which 

 formed an effectual shelter from the sun's direct rays, and 

 kept the street cool, as is the fashion at Suez. The shops 

 were spacious and cleanly, and the articles exposed for sale 

 very various, but all of Chinese manufacture, and chiefly 

 from Amoy. No European goods were visible ; indeed 

 the only article of foreign make which we encountered was 

 some red serge. The houses are nearly all built of blocks 

 of coral cemented together, and the tiled roofs are peculiarly 

 curved ia the characteristic Chinese manner. In the out- 

 skirts we occasionally saw women and children sitting at the 

 doors ; but as soon as they caught sight of us at the end of 

 the street, they would hastily jump up and rush alarmedly 

 in doors, and bar themselves in — though sometimes cm-iosity 

 seemed to get the better of their timidity, and they might be 

 seen peepiag at us from behind their grass screens. If a 

 girl ventured into the skirts of the crowd which surrounded 

 us, a look was sufficient to drive her away ; the moment our 

 eyes met, she would sidle off confusedly, and get out of 

 sight; children scampered away screaming whenever we 

 appeared ; and the dogs invariably singled us out, barked 

 sullenly, and ran off to a safe distance — their exit being 

 much hastened by the sight of a stick, for they are the most 

 cowardly of brutes, and in this particular town often fright- 



