The Grenada gazette., 1888-06-30
A CHiNAMAN'S Book.
What He Thought of Matters and Tn, nrs
In the Western World,

~ sno Wessoen World.
In the latter part Of the last century
n Chinaman. Oag.Tae -Hae b. name,
made an extended tour throu yh por.
lions OF Europe On returning to his
native country In tho year 1871, he
set forth the results OF his observa.
tions in book which he called THE
Chinaman Abroad" This curious
work. which was translated into En-
glish. is now scarce. 1t contains many
amusing descriptions Of European Gus.
toms From the preface tho follow.
ing is extracted:
Europe an countries are originally
on the outside verge of civilization.
and their being now assimila,ed to
the villages Of our inner land is en- !.
tirely owing to the virtuous influences
Of our august government, which
transforms those distant and unknow n
regions by the innate force of its ma.
jesty."
In his account Of the diff erent M.
tons visited by him the author saws:
1.-THE Dutch inhabit the northwest
corner OF the ocean. They have high
noses and red hair white faces and
gray eyes. They do not allow their
boards to grow. Their coats are clean
and neat with short bodies and mar.
row sleeves while their gait is light
and nimble."
OF the French he remarks: "Their
dispositions are violent and bolster.
Gus. Whenever the Dutch
are insultod by the English they de.
pend on the French for assis ance.
The kingdom Of France is large and
the population numerous. so that the
English are somewhat afraid of them.
THE English are denominated by
the Chinese. Any-mo (red.haircd peo-
p'e); they also dwell in the northwest
corner Of the ocean. very near 10 the
Dutch, whom they much resemble in
person and dress. but their language
and writing are different
Referring to customs and Europeans,
he writes: Every seven days there
is a cere mony dav or Sabbath, when
from nine to eleven in the mornin .
they 20 to the places of wor, ,hip to
recite prayers and humble charms.
the hearers hanging down their heads
and weeping as if there was some.
thing very affecting in 1t all, but after
half an hours jabber they are allowed
to dsperse. and away they 90 10 feast
in their garden houses, and spend the
whole day in delight, without attend.
ing TO business.
when Europeans make an enter.
tanmcnt they set out long table. at
which scores of people sit down, which
is called a feas. or fiesta, and. when
the stringed instruments play up,
men and women stand opposite each
other and dance. which is called
dancing, or tandak.
"When young woman is marriage.
able she Is allowed to select her own
partner. who is called her lover OF
sooka. If they are fond of each other
they dance together in order to settle
the match.
''Wives are called nial or mistress.
and the men are very much afraid OF
them; the affairs of the family are all
under their control"
Ong.Tae- was also an observing
naturalist as well as a philosopher
and politician. as the followin. de.
scrlpliUn. taken frum this interesting
book. will show:
''Ihc ink monkey Is common in the
northern regions. and is about four OF
five inches long. II is endowed with
an unusual instinct lis eyes are like
cornelian stones, and its hair is jel
black, sleek and flexible. rs soft as a
pillow 1t is very fond of eating
thick Chinese ink. and whenever peo.
pie write. it sits with folded hands
and crossed legs. waiting till the writ.
ing is finished. when it drinks up the
remainder Of the ink; which done. it
s4uats down as before, and does not
frisk about unnecessarily. Dag. Tae.
Haze used to keep one at the head OF
his ink stone or in the middle Of hb