Chap. V. 
CHINESE CLOTHING. 
65 
that the warmth of their bodies is not carried off faster 
than it is generated. As the raw damp cold of morning 
gives way to the genial rays of noon, the upper coats are 
one by one thrown off, until evening, when they are 
again put on. In the spring months the upper garments 
are cast off by degrees, and when the summer arrives 
the Chinese are found clad in thin dresses of cotton, or 
in the grass-cloth manufactured in the country. In the 
northern towns the ladies sometimes use a small brass 
stove, like a little oval basket, having the lid grated to 
allow the charcoal to bum and the heat to escape ; this 
they place upon their tables or on the floor, for the pur- 
pose of warming their hands and feet. Nurses also carry 
these little stoves in their hands under the feet of the 
children. Such, however, is the thickness and warmth 
of their dresses, that it is only in the coldest weather 
they require them. Little children in winter are so 
covered up, that they look like bundles of clothes, nearly 
as broad as they are long, and, when the padding is 
removed in warm weather, it is difficult to imagine that 
you see before you the same individuals. 
I never felt so cold in England as I did during this 
winter in the north of China, and yet the thermometer 
did not indicate a very low degree. The house in which 
I lived was so open, that the wind rushed in at every 
crevice ; the windows were large, not glazed, as with us, 
but papered, and in many places perfectly open. During 
the day I got on very well, as I was always out and 
moving about from morning until dark. But the long 
evenings, with the wind whistling through the windows, 
and blowing upon my candle, were dreary and cold enough. 
