Directory_and_Chronicle_1842 — Page 445

1842

Account of the Manfchions at Chapu

angles of the same are seen bamboo rods extended from wall 10 wall as rests for clothes when washed for cleanliness, or what is quite com· mon in China, dyed for freshened beauty. The walls of the house are constructed of brick plastered over and whitewashed. The doors preserve the same folding character, and the windows are wrought in a kind of trellis work of segments in conformity with the Chinese fashion. But apart from this there is a light framework of lath, with a pane of translucent shell in each of the interstices. This contri- vance for illuminating the rooms gives an advantage to the bamboo dwellings, which the Chinese edifices do not always possess, namely. that of enjoying light without encountering the distemperatures of the sky.

The master's dwelling consists of two or more apartments, with a small cook-house or kitchen either on one side or behind. One of the front apartments is used for meals, the entertainment of guests, and the more public duties of domestic economy. The other is for repose, and the retired seclusion of the fairer part of the household The furniture of the principal room is composed of square tables, stools of a similar form, and not unusually of a long narrow side-board. All these items are of neat workmanship, a well selected grain, and are covered with a beautiful varnish In the more retired apartment, we meet with presses for clothes, wardrobes provided with shelves and drawers, and a variety of articles both for ornament and use. These presses and so forth are always neat and tasteful, and sometimes ele- gantly gilded. The stores of embroidered shoes, the assortment of silk- en and other kinds of dress, and the many nameless things intended for personal embellishment, though scattered in rude confusion when I saw them, could scarcely fail to persuade us, that the genius of cultivation, with many of its kindly influences, was not a stranger among the Mantchou inhabitants of Chápú

Amidst the objects, which had been overwhelmed in the eager spirit of plunder was the cradle, suspended from the roof by bands set out by battens to keep them in their proper places. The body of cradle was of an oval form, higher at each end than in the middle, and formed of thin wood. The Chinese a long while ago seem to have been expert in the construction of swings for exercise and amuse. ment. But in the design of this cradle, their skill has been rivalled by their conquerors, and the baby, the dear object of maternal solicitude, may have motion, varying in quantity from the soothing accompani- ment of the song that lulls to sleep to the wider sweep of efforts, which stir up the activities of health and recreate the passing hours of