informed readers should suppose that Ah-wow belonged to the
monkey-tribe, we may mention that the Chinaman's head was shaved quite
bald all round, with the exception of a _tail_ of hair, about two feet
long, and upwards of an inch thick, which jutted from the top of his
_caput_, and hung down his back. This tail he was in the act of getting
dressed when our party of miners broke in upon the privacy of his
dressing-room.

Ah-wow had a nose which was very flat and remarkably broad, with the
nostrils pointing straight to the front. He also had a mouth which was
extremely large, frightfully thick-lipped, and quite the reverse of
pretty. He had two eyes, also, not placed, like the eyes of ordinary
men, _across_ his face, on either side of his nose, but set in an
angular manner on his visage, so that the outer corners pointed a good
deal upwards, and the inner corners pointed a good deal downwards--
towards the point of his nose, or, rather, towards that vacant space in
front of his nostrils which would have been the point of his nose if
that member had had a point at all. Ah-wow also had cheek bones which
were uncommonly high, and a forehead which was preposterously low, and a
body which was rather squat, and a _tout ensemble_ which was desperately
ugly. Like his hairdresser, he wore a coat somewhat resembling a
night-shirt, with a belt round it, and his feet were thrust into yellow
slippers. These last, when he went to dig for gold, he exchanged for
heavy boots.

When Ned and his friends walked up and stood in a grinning row before
him, Ah-wow opened his little eyes to the uttermost, (which wasn't
much), and said, "How!"

If he had affixed "d'ye do" to it, the sentence would have been complete
and intelligible. His companion attempted to vary the style of address
by exclaiming, "Ho!"

"Can you speak English?" inquired Ned, advancing.

A shake of the head, and a consequent waggle of the tail was the reply.

"Or French?"

(Shake and waggle.)

"Maybe ye can do Irish?" suggested Larry.

The shake and waggle were more vigorous than before but Ah-wow rose,
and, drawing on his boots, made signs to his visitors to follow him,
which they did, through the bushes, round the base of a steep precipice.
A short walk brought them to an open space quite close to the banks of
the stream, which at that place was broken by sundry miniature
waterfalls and cascades, whose puny turmoil fell like woodland music on
the ear. Her