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KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



baskets, filled with the same, were mixed with 

 plates which contained a vast variety of delicious 

 sweetmeats, as well as cakes, of which the forms 

 were as ingenious as they were varied. Napkins 

 steeped in warm water, and flavored with otto of 

 roses, are frequently handed to each guest by the 

 servants in attendance. This display of the pro- 

 ductions of nature and of art, was equally agree- 

 able to the eyes and the tastes of the guests. By 

 the side of the yellow plaintain was seen the litchi, 

 of which.the strong, rough, and bright crimson skin 

 defends a stone enveloped in a whitish pulp, which, 

 or its fine aromatic taste, is superior to most of 

 the tropical fruits ; when dried, it forms an excel- 

 lent provision for the winter. With these fruits 

 of the warm climates were mingled those of the 

 temperate zone, brought at some expense from the 

 northern provinces ; as walnuts, chesnuts, apples, 

 grapes, and Pekin pears, which last, though their 

 lively color and pleasant smell attracted the atten- 

 tion, proved to be tasteless, and even retained all 

 the harshness of wild-fruit3. 



At length we adjourned to the next room to 

 take tea, — the indispensable commencement and 

 close of all visits and ceremonies among the 

 Chinese. According to custom, the servants pre- 

 sented it in porcelain cups, each of which was 

 covered with a saucer-like top, which confines and 

 prevents the aroma from evaporating. The boiling 

 water had been poured over a few of the leaves, 

 collected at the bottom of the cup ; and the in- 

 fusion, to which no sugar or cream is ever added 

 in China, exhaled a delicious fragrant odor, of 

 which the best teas carried to Europe can scarcely 

 give an idea. 



Other visits of ceremony are conducted 

 with much pomp and formality. When a 

 gentleman proceeds in his sedan to pay a 

 visit, his attendants present his ticket at the 

 gate, consisting of his name and titles written 

 down the middle of a folded sheet of vermil- 

 lion-colored paper, ornamented with gold 

 leaf; and sometimes there is enough paper 

 in one of these to extend across a room. 

 According to the rank of the parties, the 

 visitor and his host begin bowing at stated 

 distances ; though among equals the ordinary 

 mode of salutation is to join closed hands. 

 Only mandarins or official persons can be 

 carried by four bearers, or be accompanied 

 by a train of attendants. Soon after visitors 

 are seated, an attendant brings in porcelain 

 cups with covers, with a small quantity of 

 fine tea-leaves in each, on which boiling water 

 has been poured, and the infusion is thus 

 drank without the addition of sugar or milk ; 

 fruits are also brought in on beautifully 

 japanned trays. In some Chinese apartments 

 there are broad couches, called " kangs" as 

 large as a bed. In the centre of these, small 

 tables are placed, about a foot in height, 

 intended to rest the arm upon, or place tea- 

 cups. On the conclusion of a visit the host 

 conducts his guest to his sedan. 



Corpulency, and small, delicate, taper fin- 

 gers, are much esteemed, as indications of 

 gentility. Also a goodly rotundity of person, 



and smallness and delicacy of hands. The 

 carefully-cultivated and well-braided cues — 

 so long in some instances as almost to trail 

 upon the ground, and affording admirable 

 "handles" to an antagonist in a passion — 

 form a curious subject of observation. The 

 history of this singular appendage affords a 

 remarkable illustration of those revolutions 

 which sometimes occur in national taste and 

 manners. Previously to the conquest of their 

 country by the Tartars, the Chinese per- 

 mitted the hair to grow over the whole head. 

 Shunche, the first of the Tartar emperors, 

 issued an imperial edict, requiring the con- 

 quered people to conform in this particular 

 to the custom of their victors. So stoutly 

 was this decree at first resisted, that many 

 of the nobles preferred death to obedience, 

 and actually perished by command of the 

 conqueror. At the present day, however, 

 the loss of this very badge of servitude is 

 considered one of the greatest calamities, 

 scarcely less dreaded than death itself. To 

 be deprived of it is one of the most oppro- 

 brious brands put upon convicts and crimi- 

 nals. Those to whom nature has been sparing 

 in respect to the natural covering of the head, 

 supply her deficiencies by the artificial intro- 

 duction and intermingling of other hair with 

 their own, thus seeking to " increase it to a 

 reputably fashioned size." 



The Chinese put faith in the external de- 

 velopments of the skull, and are therefore, 

 to a certain extent, phrenologists. They look 

 for the principal characteristics of a man in 

 his forehead, and of a woman on the back of 

 the cranium. 



*#* Two curious hillets-dovx connected with the 

 habits of the Chinese, will be found in another 

 page. They are assigned a separate place, being 

 from a different pen. — Ed. K. J. 



PROGRESS OF EMIGRATION. 



We have more than once offered a 

 few observations on this subject ; and pointed 

 out wdierein we thought emigration benefi- 

 cial, and wherein we thought it the reverse. 

 We have shown who were really wanted 

 abroad, and who amongst us had better remain 

 at home. We hardly need say that our re- 

 marks were good-naturedly penned ; although 

 we fear little heed has been paid to them. 



Since then, a Mr. C. Hursthouse has 

 launched a little tome on the subject ; and 

 from this we make one or two extracts well 

 worth perusal : — 



A quarter of a century ago, the annual emigra- 

 tion from this country was about 15,000 souls. 

 Increasing year by year as its benefits have become 

 more felt, it has now reached nearly 360,000. 

 Thus, at the rate of hundreds a day, the adven. 

 turous and the sanguine, the unfortunate and the 

 discontented, the desperate, the poor, and the 



