SftA FESTIVAL*. 



up in the picture cliesf : where are also deposited th,*> 

 atlcestml portraits. On new year's daw (tie v hole 

 of "tlif-fe pictures *oe liikai out of lite chesr, and hling 

 along the walls for (he space of fifteen days, and 

 daily offerings aie presented to them, eon.si.shng of 

 incense and odoriferous woods, ami eatables* The 

 pictures ate Ihon kid by until the ensuing' uar. The 

 Chinese can take likenesses ; but these are formal, 

 and generally border on caricature j arid their eolours 

 are i.vvr blended into the indefinable softness and 

 keeping so esseftturi to the mi of portrait. pantinar. but 

 $& m as if they had been laboriously laid on, one after 

 die other* with s Iron el. They ropy English por- 

 trait ;eid la;i«'>f;»j)f> with niueh fidelity, but mi taste. 

 Xhe forte of* the Chinese painters lies in drawing and 

 piiutiiiLT costumes, birds, beasts, insects, and flowers. 

 The brilliancy anil durability of their colours are well 

 adapted for these purposes. 



Now and then a Chinese may heme! with, \\\to 

 would only reipiire a few lessons from a European 

 painter, to pot him in the path to a respectable de- 

 gree of excellence; and the same may be said of die 

 Siamese. 



THE Y EE- WO A, OR SECOND MONTH. 



On the [iinleenth d«u of (his month there is a pro> 

 C4 sion witti U*einm<;e of Kwan-yin-neo, who was a 

 celebrated ^ir#»n of old j and in honor of this, her 

 n \t,i\ flay, offerings are made to her on this occasion 

 * of vegetables and swcalmeals, boi not ot meat*. It is 

 chiefly those who are labouring under sickness who 

 make these offering. 



hi this month al>o, the Chinese visit the tombs of 

 their ancestors; a duty which is by all classes felt to 

 be so imperative, that to fulfil it, opulent Chinese 

 have been known to return to China from (he Straits 

 and Eastern Archipelago, at die risk of life & properly, 



