172 FIRST TRIAL WITH CHOPSTICKS. [Cuar. X. 
rendered very palatable. In fact, so nearly do they 
resemble animal food in taste and in appearance, 
that at first we were deceived, imagining that the 
little bits we were able to get hold of with our 
chopsticks were really pieces of fowl or beef. Such, 
however, was not the case, as our good host was 
consistent on this day at least, and had nothing 
but vegetable productions at his table. Several 
other priests sat with us at table, and a large number 
of others of inferior rank with servants, crowded 
around the doors and windows outside. The whole 
assemblage must have been much surprised at the 
awkward way in which some of us handled our 
chopsticks, and, with all their politeness, I observed 
they could not refrain from laughing when, after 
repeated attempts, some little dainty morsel would 
still slip back again into the dish. I know few 
things more annoying, and yet laughable too, than 
attempting to eat with the Chinese chopsticks for 
the first time, more particularly if the operator has 
been wandering on the hills all the morning, and is 
ravenously hungry. The instruments should first 
of all be balanced between the thumb and fore- 
finger of the right hand ; the points are next to be 
brought carefully together, just leaving as much 
room as will allow the coveted morsel to go in be- 
tween them; the little bit is then to be neatly 
seized; but alas! in the act of lifting the hand, 
one point of the chopstick too often slips past the 
other, and the object of all our hopes drops back 
again into the dish, or perhaps even into another 
