was even assured that caterpillars and worms
formed part of their diet. Their principal dish, however, is rice,
which is not only employed by them in the composition of their
various dishes, but supplies the place of bread. It is exceedingly
cheap; the pekul, which is equal to 124 lbs. English avoirdupois,
costing from one dollar and three-quarters to two dollars and a
half.

The costume of both sexes, among the lower orders, consists of broad
trousers and long upper garments, and is remarkable for its
excessive filth. The Chinaman is an enemy of baths and washing; he
wears no shirt, and does not discard his trousers until they
actually fall off his body. The men's upper garments reach a little
below the knee, and the women's somewhat lower. They are made of
nankeen, or dark blue, brown, or black silk. During the cold
season, both men and women wear one summer-garment over the other,
and keep the whole together with a girdle; during the great heat,
however, they allow their garments to flutter unconstrained about
their body.

All the men have their heads shaved, with the exception of a small
patch at the back, the hair on which is carefully cultivated and
plaited into a cue. The thicker and longer this cue is, the prouder
is its owner; false hair and black ribbon are consequently worked up
in it, so that it often reaches down to the ankles. During work, it
is twisted round the neck, but, on the owner's entering a room, it
is let down again, as it would be against all the laws of etiquette
and politeness for a person to make his appearance with his cue
twisted up. The women wear all their hair, which they comb entirely
back off their forehead, and fasten it in most artistic plaits to
the head; they spend a great deal of time in the process, but when
their hair is once dressed, it does not require to be touched for a
whole week. Both men and women sometimes go about with no covering
at all on their head; sometimes they wear hats made of thin bamboo,
and very frequently three feet in diameter; these keep off both sun
and rain, and are exceedingly durable.

On their feet they wear sewed stockings and shoes, formed of black
silk, or some material like worsted; the soles, which are more than
an inch thick, are made up of layers of strong pasteboard or felt
pasted together. The poor people go barefooted.

The houses of the lower classes are miserable hovels, built of wood
or brick. The internal arrangements a