Butte record., 1853-12-31
A Chinese Wedding Procession.

was fortunate enough to witness,
some time after, Chinese marriaee-at
least the ceremony of leading the bride
from her fathers house to the carriage,
and from the vehicle to the temple
while | was standing nearly an hour up
to my ankles in mud, in the midst of a
swarm of long and short tailed Chinese
men, women, and children | could
never have had so much patience to
wait the coming of the lady under such
dlsagreeable circumstances as soft mud is
to thin calf-skin boots, if band of mu-
sicians had not kept up during the time
SO dreadful noise, with such dreadful
instruments, and in such fearful wav.
l was SO astonished, and, in fact, so
taken by surprise, that | did not recover
my senses till the bride appeared The
violin with two strings, aud squeak in
stead of sound, seemed to be the chief
instrument, while large drum and Gym
balls, gongs, and certain kind of rattle
boxes, always joined at time you least
expected them. Each of the musicians
was playing, as it seemed, his own favor
ite melody, in his own measure, caring
not straw for the rest and | would
have given any thing to have been able
to stenograph those sounds, only to let
the reader have the benefit Of them.
A large carriage, ornamented with all
kinds of red silks and plumes, drove up
before the door, and then the bride ap-
peared, throwing every thing around her
OF course entirely in the shade | am
poor describer Of ladies' dresses, still l
will try to give my fair readers at least
some idea of how she looked. She wore
parti-colored silk dress, sprinkled over
with innumerable small flowers and bios
SONS, which fell to the ground, where
some bricks had been laid to form a
pathway for the lady and her followers.
Small feet she most certainly had, for
she belonged to the higher class, as it
seemed, and was only able to move inch
by inch, while a couple of bridesmaids,
walking at her side, were supporting and
guarding her on each flank. Only now
and then could 1 see the broad tips of
her tiny feet Clumsy, l had better say,
come forward, but slide back di' ectly, as
if afraid of the light. Her hair was
made up, of course, a la ChinOise, but
upon it she wore kind of diadem,
which ran out crown like, while from its
farthest points thin silken cords were
hanging all around aud on the lowest
end little trinkets, pearls, corals, and
beads, may be precious stones and jewels,
were dangling, reaching down in front
over her eyes, and striking together,
while she passed me, with a low, ringing
sound. She had painted herself white,
or rather gray, and never raised her eyes
during her passage to the carriage, in
conformance with the customary rites,
which do not allow her to lift her head
nor look upon the bridegroom till actu-
ally welded to him What allied the two
girls, who had feet large enough to keep
any lady steady, | know not, but they
were shaking their heads all the time,
apparently not at all satisfied with the
proceeding. Close to the door of the
carriage, at the moment the bride was
entering, two men, most likely some Of
her relatives, stepped, holding upside
down an old rice sieve high over her
head, under which she passed. The
bridegroom, a thin, awkward, but not
bad-looking Chinese, followed and l
liked his feet the lest of his person, for
he stepped with one of them upon my
toes, while passing me. The train now
moved off, while some of the violins
seemed to have turned crazy, and were
scratching away as though to scare the
drums and gongs into a softer noise.
About ten or twelve wagons followed,
with the parents, the nearest relations,
and several acquaintances; then some
girls, most likely dancers, or such like,
in their shortest dress, waded through
the mud after the wagons. Before the
door, and about ten yards distant on the
other side of the road, three Dutch sol
diers, in their uniforms, and carrying
their muskets, marched up and down as
long as the ceremony lasted +; for what
reason, heaven and those heroes only
knew, for so soon as the carriage drove
off they grounded their arms, and in diff
ferent directions sauntered down the
n