wear a loose jacket down to the
middle, with loose short sleeves, generally lined with fur, and under
all they wear a kind of net to prevent it from chafing. The general
colour of these dresses is black or blue.

Their religion is idolatry, their principal idol is _Fong Chon_, and
they are very superstitious, believing in magic and invocation of
spirits, and the art of foretelling events by divination.

While receiving our cargo on board, a Chinaman belonging to one of the
craft, stole a box of tea, but, by the exertion of our officers, the
culprit was taken and immediately sent on shore to Dane's Island to
the mandarine. He was found guilty of the crime, and his punishment
three dozen blows with the bastinado. The instrument of correction,
called pan-tsee, is a bamboo a little flattened, broad at the bottom,
and polished at the upper extremity, in order to manage it more easily
with the hand.

The culprit, after the mandarin has given the signal for punishment,
is seized and stretched out with his belly flat on the ground, his
breeches are pulled down to his heels, and on the mandarine throwing
down a stick, of which he has a number by him, one of the officers in
attendance uses the pan-tsee, and gives him five severe blows, which
are succeeded by several others till the number is complete. When it
is over, the criminal must throw himself on his knees, incline his
body three times to the earth, and thank his judge for the trouble he
has taken in his correction.

The mandarins are of two classes, viz.; those of letters, and the
inferior sort are styled mandarins of arms. The latter class do not
enjoy the same consideration as the former.

The Chinese in general are much addicted to commit depredations on the
pockets, or, in fact, on any unguarded property. After all our cargo
was received on board, I went in company with two midshipmen, Mr.
C---- and Mr. R----, on Dane's Island. After we landed some Chinese
came and decoyed us to their village, which was at the back of a
number of hills and out of sight of the shipping, under a promise that
they would let us have some of their country fruit, such as they sent
us on board. The length of time that some of them were absent, and the
sun going down fast, made us rather doubt the sincerity of their
intentions; those that were with us begged that we would stop till the
sun was down, but we began to be afraid of our lives. When the men saw
that we were determined to wait