ETHNOLOGY OF THE PRESENT DAY. 223 



The dress consists of embroidered and colored robes and short sleeved 

 jackets, high square fur caps, or round broad-brimmed hats, and boots 

 made of leather, cotton, or silk. Men of distinction prefer purple silk, and 

 like to have gold and silver embroidery on their clothes. The dress of the 

 women is ornamented with borders and laces. 



The King of Corea pays tribute to the Chinese as w^ell as the Japanese 

 government, but is nevertheless absolute lord in his own country. Farm- 

 ing, the raising of hemp, cotton and tobacco, silkworms and cattle, are the 

 employments of the people. Rice is the principal food, and tobacco 

 smokinoj is general amono; both sexes from childhood. The houses of men 

 of rank are very showy, those of the lower classes small ; in the cities they 

 are constructed of bricks, in the country of framework, the manner of 

 building being very similar to that in use by the Chinese. (Fig. 7, a 

 Core an.) 



The Siamese. 



The Siams, or Siamese, have large faces, with broad foreheads, covered 

 at the sides by the hair ; great, broad, prominent cheekbones, and occiputs 

 so flat that from the crown to the nape they form almost a straight 

 line. Their limbs are large, the muscles lax. The complexion is blackish- 

 brown ; the teeth are stained black ; the nails, especially the one on the 

 forefinger, are worn very long ; and the lips are very red in consequence 

 of frequent chewing of betel. Their dress is of a plain character. The 

 upper part of the body is entirely bare, or covered with a cloth merely. A 

 similar one is wrapped around the hips and thighs. Only persons of conse- 

 quence wear clothes, usually of a red color. Men dye their feet and legs 

 as far up as the calves of a blue color. The head is usually uncovered ; 

 when travelling, a hat braided of rushes and palm leaves is worn for 

 protection against the sun. The king, and officers of distinction, only, 

 habitually wear pyramidal caps ornamented with gold and jewels. Priests 

 cover their bodies carefully. The Siamese are neat in their habits, bathe 

 frequently, and anoint themselves with perfumed waters and oils. They 

 are distinguished also for temperance in eating and drinking. The prin- 

 cipal food is rice, but fruits, eggs, poultry, and fish are also frequently 

 taken ; more rarely the flesh of manmiiferous animals. Believing in the 

 doctrine of a migration of souls, i. e. that the souls of the dead enter into 

 the innoxious animals, the Siamese kill only wild and dangerous beasts. 

 They drink water and buflfalo's milk ; men of rank indulge in arrack and 

 wine. Their respect for the dead, as well as their love for their children, 

 is great. The corpses of men of consequence are burnt ; those of the poor 

 are committed to the water. The Siamese not unfrequently knead the 

 ashes of the dead into paste, from which they mould, with many cere- 

 monies, an image of Buddha, which is sometimes gilded and taken into a 

 temple, or preserved by the survivors as a domestic idol. 



The Siamese are expert in dissimulation and lying, and they are as 



395 



