ng tails, and small, ugly,
narrow eyes, the exact counterparts of the representations of them
which we have in Europe.

We had hardly anchored, before a number of Chinese clambered up on
deck, while others remained in their boats, offering for sale a
variety of beautifully made articles, with fruit and cakes, laid out
in great order, so as to form in a few seconds a regular market
round the vessel. Some of them began praising their wares in broken
English; but on the whole, they did not drive a very flourishing
business, as the crew merely bought a few cigars, and a little
fruit.

Captain Jurianse hired a boat, and we immediately went on shore,
where each person on landing had to pay half a Spanish dollar (2s.)
to the mandarin: I subsequently heard that this imposition was
shortly afterwards abolished. We proceeded to the house of one of
the Portuguese merchants established there, passing through a large
portion of the town on our way thither. Europeans, both men and
women, can circulate freely, without being exposed to a shower of
stones, as is frequently the case in other Chinese towns. The
streets, which are exclusively inhabited by Chinese, presented a
very bustling aspect. The men were in many cases seated out of
doors in groups, playing at dominoes, while locksmiths, carpenters,
shoemakers, and many others were either working, talking, playing,
or dining in the numerous booths. I observed but few women, and
these were of the lower classes. Nothing surprised and amused me
more than the manner in which the Chinese eat; they have two little
sticks, with which they very skilfully convey their victuals into
their mouths. This process, however, cannot be so successfully
practised with rice, because it does not hold together; they
therefore hold the plate containing it close to their mouths, and
push it in by the aid of the sticks, generally letting a portion of
it fall back again, in no very cleanly fashion, into the plate. For
liquids they use round spoons of porcelain.

The style in which the houses are built, did not strike me as very
remarkable; the front generally looks out upon the courtyard or
garden.

Among other objects which I visited was the grotto, in which the
celebrated Portuguese poet, Camoens, is said to have composed the
Lusiade. He had been banished, A.D. 1556, to Macao, on account of a
satirical poem he had written, Disperates no India, and remained in
banishment several years before