468 
VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP, some of which were new to us, exhaled a delicious fragrance from the 
gardens which bordered these delightful avenues. A more comfortable 
residence in a hot climate could not well be imagined, but I am sorry 
to say that the fascination was greatly lessened by the very filthy state 
of the dwellings and of the people who occupied them. In one of these 
huts there was a spinning-wheel and a hand- loom, with some grass cloth 
of the country in a forward state of preparation for use. 
Several little children accompanied us through these delightfully 
cool lanes, running before us catching butterflies, or picking flowers, 
which they presented with a low Chinese salam, and then ran away 
laughing at the idea of our valuing such things. We afterwards 
crossed two high roads, on which there were several horses and jack- 
asses bearing panniers ; but we saw no carriages, nor the marks of 
any wheels, nor do I believe there are any in Loo Choo. The horses, 
like the natives, were very diminutive, and showed very little blood. 
Several peasants, both male and female, were working in the planta- 
tions as we passed through them, neither of whom endeavoured to 
avoid us, and we had an opportunity of beholding, for the first time, 
several Loo Choo women. They were of the labouring class, and of 
course not the most attractive specimens of their sex ; but they were 
equally good-looking with the men, and a few of them were pretty, not- 
withstanding the assertion of An-yah, that “ Loo Choo womans ugly 
womans.” There was nothing remarkable about them to need parti- 
cular description ; they were clothed much in the same manner as the 
men, and generally in the same colours ; their hair, however, was dif- 
ferently dressed, being loosely fastened at the side of the head by a 
pin resembling a salt-spoon with a very long handle. Their feet were 
of the natural size, and without shoes or sandals. We noticed some 
who were tattooed on the back of the hand, which w^e were told was 
done to distinguish all those who were married; An-yah said the 
custom prevailed equally in high life. 
I subjoin a sketch of a male and female of Loo Choo, drawn by 
Mr. Smyth, from which the reader may form a tolerably correct judg- 
ment of the general appearance of these people, though Komee was 
by no means the handsomest of his countrymen. 
