290 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



lucky day. Mr. Tu makes obeisance. May the 

 future be prosperous ! 



** The modesty of the old gentleman is so 

 painful, that we are almost afraid to guess 

 what may have been the feelings of Master Tan 

 and Miss ; but whatever they were, they 

 must have overcome them by this time ; for 

 the friend to whom we are indebted for these 

 epistolary gems, danced at their wedding a 

 couple of months back, and was nearly suffo- 

 cated with drinking scalding black-tea out of 

 cocoanut-shell cups. 



" But the letters themselves — for we have 

 received the originals, together with the 

 translations — are at least as remarkable 

 foi external glitter as for internal value. 

 Each of them is about the size of one of the 

 Citizen's pages, and consists of a rich frame 

 composed of something like our papier mache. \ 

 Inside this, is artistically folded a scroll of ! 

 richly-tinted crimson paper, studded with 

 the golden letters that convey the words 

 of love and modesty. The outer surface is 

 likewise emblazoned with a quantity of raised 

 work, representing robes of honor, tails of 

 distinction, the smallest of all small shoes, 

 peacocks' feathers, and a variety of other 

 equally tasteful designs, which are supposed 

 to be emblematic of the vast accession to the 

 wealth and honor of both contracting houses 

 that may be expected to flow from the union 

 of the gallant Su Tan, junior, and the ac- 

 complished Miss Tu 0." 



We can readily imagine the "courtship" of 

 such a pair as this, — consequent upon the 

 betrothal. A Chinese countenance, ani- 

 mated by love, must be a curiosity indeed ! 

 The eyes may perchance be eloquent ; " but 

 the nose, the nose, my good masters !" How- 

 ever, the natives are " used" to it ; and Use is 

 second Nature. Their ideas, too, of " expres- 

 sion," may vary from ours ; so let us not be 

 hypercritical. 



Success to the gallant Su Tan, junior, and 

 the accomplished Miss Tu 0, of the two 

 countries Chin and Chin ! 



A SUDDEN SHOWER. 



Black grows the southern sky, betokening rain, 



And humming hive-bees homeward hurry by : 

 They feel the change ; so let ns shun the grain, 



And take the broad road while our feet are dry. 

 Aye, — there some drops fell moistening on my 

 face, 



And pattering on my hat — 'tis coming nigh! — 

 Let's look alout, and find a sheltering place; 



The little things around us fear the sky, 

 And hasten through the grass to shun the shower. 



Here stoops an ash-tree — hark ! the wind gets 

 high, _ 

 But never mind ; this ivy for an hour, 



Rain as it may, will keep us drily here : 

 That little wren knows well his sheltering bower, 



Nor leaves his covert though we come so near. 



Clare. 



MOTHER AND CHILD.— 



A SINGULAR SCENE IN CHILI. 



It appears that, in Chili, a general 

 belief prevails that all children dying very 

 young, go to Heaven direct. Hence, the 

 mothers rejoice instead of grieve ; and show 

 their joy by dancing ! The following 

 curious narration is from the pen of Ger- 

 ataecker, whose " Journey round the 

 World " has been recently published : — 



I witnessed, one night, a most singular custom 

 among the native South Americans, which made 

 a deep impression upon me. On returning home 

 rather late, after accompanying some captains of 

 my acquaintance to the landing where their boat 

 was waiting for them, I passed a low-roofed 

 house, in whose well-lighted room music and 

 dancing were going on. I tried to get a look 

 through the curtained window, hut did not suc- 

 ceed, and was just going on when the door 

 opened, and two men came out. A third one 

 was just going to shut the door again, when he 

 saw me, and addressing me, asked me in the 

 most friendly way to come in and be welcome. 

 Always ready to see what I could wherever I got 

 a chance, I followed on this kind invitation, and 

 found myself the next minute in a perfect flood of 

 light, but in a very small room, crowded with 

 people. 



Taking in the whole at the first glance, the 

 room seemed rather poorly furnished, with white- 

 washed walls ; only here and there ornamented 

 with small and colored pictures of saints and 

 martyrs. The tables and chairs were made of 

 pine-wood — the la tter with cane bottoms ; one 

 corner of the room, and a great part of the whole 

 space, in fact, was taken up by a large bed 

 covered with flowered curtains, instead of a mos- 

 quito net ; but the curtains thrown hack at pre- 

 sent to afford room for those guests who would 

 not dance themselves. Aqua-ardiente and dulces 

 were handed round ; while all, men and women, 

 the dancers excepted, smoked their cigarillos. 



But the most remarkable thing in the room 

 seemed to me a large kind of scaffold, which occu- 

 pied the other corner opposite the bed, consisting 

 of a light frame-work, ornamented all over with 

 artificial flowers, little pictures of saints, and a 

 quantity of small lighted wax-candles. On the 

 top of it was a most extraordinarily well-made 

 wax-figure of a little child, seated on a low 

 wooden chair, dressed in a snow-white little 

 frock. The eyes were closed, and its pale cheeks 

 were tinged by a soft, rosy hue ; the whole figure 

 being perfectly strewn with flowers. It was so 

 deceptive, that, when I drew near at first, I 

 thought it a real child ; while a young woman he- 

 low it, pale, and with tears in her eyes, might 

 very well have been the mother. But that was 

 most certainly a mistake ; for, at this moment, one 

 of the men stepped up to her, and invited her to 

 the dance, and a few minutes afterwards she was 

 one of the merriest in the crowd. 



But it must really be a child ! No sculptor 

 could have formed that little face so exquisitely. 

 And now one light went out, close to the little 

 head, and the cheek lost its rosy hue. My 



