STROLLING ACROBATS. 
273 
and a man with a bare smooth shaven head, I was 
informed, was a bonze of the Buddhist order. I was 
much amused by the appearance of a little boy, 
who came carelessly along, having positively nothing 
on him but a very large saucer-shaped yellow hat ; 
and a coolie, who was groaning and perspiring 
under the weight of two enormous boxes, was 
scarcely more amply clad. A few friends, who had 
met in the middle of the road, were gently bending, 
rubbinsc their knees and sucking in their breath to 
express their mutual high regard. But who are 
these that come careering down the road, with a 
noisy din of gongs, and fifes, and drums ? It is a 
troupe of strolling acrobats, who will shortly be 
seen lying on their backs, and balancing ladders on 
the soles of their feet : causing their paper butter- 
liies to flirt and flutter in the air ; or spinning tops 
which, with wonderful dexterity, ai’e made to run 
along the edge of a sword. 
There then passed us, in rapid succession, a sedate 
but needy-looking man with a huge bundle of 
sticks slung across his back ; a barber with Ins 
