aw; their upper galleries decked
with flowers, garlands, and arabesques, as if these were barks fitted out
for the service of Titania and her fairy company. The interior is
divided into one large apartment and a few cabinets, which are lighted by
windows of fantastic design. Mirrors and silk hangings embellish the
walls, while the enchanting scene is completed with an ample garniture of
glass chandeliers and coloured paper lanterns, interspersed with lovely
little baskets of fresh flowers.

It is not necessary to attempt a description of Canton, with its pagodas,
houses, shops, and European factories. Let us direct our attention to
the manners, customs, and peculiarities of its inhabitants. As to dress
and appearance, the costume of both sexes, among the lower orders,
consists of full trousers and long upper garments, and is chiefly
remarkable for its "excessive filth." Baths and ablutions have no charm
for the Chinaman; he scorns to wear a shirt, and he holds by his trousers
until they drop from his body. The men's upper garments reach a little
below the knee, the women's about half way down the calf. 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, keeping the
whole together with a girdle; in the extreme heat, however, they suffer
them to float as free as "Nora Creina's robes" in Moore's pretty ballad.

The men keep their heads shaved, with the exception of a small patch at
the back, where the hair 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, therefore, are all deftly worked into it, with the
result of forming an appendage which often reaches down to the ankles!
While at work the owner twists it round his neck, but on entering a room
he lets it down again, as it would be contrary to all the laws of
etiquette and courtesy for a person to make his appearance with his cue
twisted up. The women comb their hair entirely back from their forehead,
and fasten it to the head in the most artistic plaits. The process
occupies a considerable time, but when the hair is once dressed it is not
retouched for a whole week. Both men and women frequently go about with
heads uncovered; but sometimes they wear hats of thin bamboo, three feet
in diameter. These are not only an adequate protection against sun and
rain, but are exceedingly dura