indigenous art, and as regards Lace to fall into a line of "imitation" laces only; that is, of getting an inferior representation by inferior methods, with inferior materials, of what is in itself good and worthy of being reproduced. Now, if Colbert could succeed, and by painstaking and a ten years' effort get for France not imitations, but a transplanted and adapted excellence, this Indian project ought not to be allowed to drop or fail.

tory, measuring about 400 miles, and running through the southern centre of the Empire, is virtually independent of China. Its inhabitants acknowledge no allegiance to the Emperor, entirely ignore the authority of the mandarins, and hold only just as much communication with their more civilized neighbours of the plains as suits their purposes. By these they are known by the generic name of Miao-tsze, which is made to include the numerous To impart a new industry to the great- tribes who inhabit the whole range. Ethest of our dependencies, to revive an all nology is not a study consecrated by the but extinct art on a great and remunera- labours of Confucius, and is therefore tive scale, to obtain well-executed point lightly esteemed by his disciples, conselace at a moderate cost, while we employ quently little is to be learnt of the antemany hands in a novel way of breadwin- cedents of the Miao-tsze from Chinese ning, is not a trivial task or an unworthy sources, and the difficulty of penetrating hope. It has a bearing on the practical into the mountain recesses has left us education and welfare of some portion of mankind, and as such it would seem to elevate the love of Lace as a taste, and the reproduction of Lace as a Fine Art, a good deal above the mere study of things infinitely small.

From The Cornhill Magazine. QUAINT CUSTOMS IN KWEI-CHOW.

equally ignorant of their manners and customs. They are by no means well disposed towards travellers, and show a decided preference for their money to their company. No European has ever ventured into their retreats, and Chinese travellers never willingly trust themselves amongst them. Enough, however, may be gathered from the brief notices to be found in Chinese books to affirm that they are, for the most part, offshoots from the great Lao nation which had its original Ir has been said that China is the only seat in Yunnan, and which has spread its country in the world where fashion is not branches westward to South-Eastern Insynonymous with change; and there un- dia, southward to Siam, and eastward. doubtedly is an unparalleled degree of through the provinces of Kwei-chow, monotony in the customs, habits, and ideas Kwang-se, and Kwang-tung. Though of the whole pig-tailed race. With the ex- living in the immediate neighbourhood of ception of differences in the pronunciation the Chinese of the surrounding plainof the language and of varieties of climate, country, they have never shown any disCanton or any large city in the south of position to amalgamate with them. InterChina, is but a reflection of Peking or of marriage between the two races is unany large city in the north, and vice versa. known, and almost the ouly means the two The same style of architecture is observ- people have of obtaining intimate knowlable in the buildings, and exactly the same edge of each other are furnished by the customs prevail among the people, who perpetual foraging expeditions undertaken have been robbed of all originality and by the mountaineers upon the farms and power of thought by the constant contem- villages of the Chinese. Notwithstanding plation, as models of supreme excellence, of the contempt with which the latter affect the ancients and their works. It is a re- to regard the Miao-tsze, they now stulief, then, to find that amidst these prig- diously abstain from invading their terrigish monotonists there are to be found tory, and have contented themselves with people who know not Confucius, who de-establishing military posts along the foot spise pig-tails and their wearers, and to of the mountains to check their descents on whom the Book of Rites is a sealed letter. to the plains. These garrisons to a cerIn the north-eastern corner of the Prov-tain extent fulfil their object, but are ince of Yunnan rises a chain of mountains, often overpowered; and not many years which, winding its way through the south- ago an army of 30,000 Miao-tsze soldiers ern portion of the province of Kwei-chow, utterly routed an Imperial force sent to passes through a part of Kwang-se, and chastise them. gradually melts away into the plains on the east of the Kwang-tung frontier. The whole of this thin line of highland terri

Brief, dry, and not altogether trustworthy accounts of the Miao-tsze are to be found in some of the official topograph

ical and dynastic histories common to coffins, are neighbours of those who emChinese literature; and wild legendary ploy the whole paraphernalia of go-betales are told of them in badly-printed tweens and ritualistic ceremonies in securpamphlets, which are sold for a few cash ing their brides, and spend fortunes on the in the cities in the vicinity of their haunts. funeral cortèges which accompany their Neither of these sources of information deceased relatives to their graves. Nor are in any way satisfactory. The histories, can we point to these distinctions as being which are written with an evident pur- peculiar to the people of either of the pose of making things pleasant to the three races. Amongst the Miao-tsze, we find reigning house, when dealing with the both the most savage and the most cultimountain tribes, only disclose such infor- vated clans. We have, for instance, the mation possessed by the writers as is Pa-fan-miao, who dress like Chinamea, likely to find favour with their Imperial lead quiet industrious lives, and employ master; and pamphlets which describe agricultural machinery very little inferior the mountaineers as monsters in appear- to our own, and in the next district we ance and demons in cruelty can be of no find another Miao tribe of violent and possible value to any one. To students lawless savages, who wreak supreme venof ethnology, therefore, an illustrated geance on their enemies by killing and Chinese manuscript in the British Muse- eating them, possibly under the impresum possesses more than ordinary interest. sion common in New Zealand, that by so This work is anonymous, and relates doing they destroy both body and soul. only to the tribes which inhabit that part In direct opposition to the Chinese cusof the range of mountains above referred tom, the widows of this clan make a point to, situated within the limits of Kwei-chow. of remarrying, and invariably wait to bury The author is, or was, probably a native of that province, and, though his work lacks detail, he yet places before us a tolerably complete and evidently authentic picture of the various tribes and their customs, while the illustrations which accompany the text give us a very good idea of their physiognomy. Vaguely, they are all called Miao-tsze; but more accurately, they should be classified in three divisions, namely, the Lao, the Chung-tsze, and the Miao-tsze; these, again, are subdivided by the writer into thirty-eight clans. The Lao, as their name at once points out, are a branch of the race which now inhabits the country to the north of Siam and west of Burmah. From some similarity of language, the Chung-tsze would also appear to be of the same family, and to the Miaotsze belongs the honour of being the descendants of the original occupiers of that part of China. The point which appears most astonishing in the work to which we have referred is the extreme diversity of customs, dress, and civilization existing between tribes which occupy a district of scarce a hundred miles in extent. In this limited space, a Chinese Darwin might study the different phases in the rise of man, from something very like a brute beast to a highly-cultivated state in which arts and sciences flourish and excel. Cannibals, troglodytes, and nameless savages live within a few miles of tribes possessing the civilization of China, and more than her skill in mechanical arts. Men who marry their wives without form or ceremony, and bury each other without

their "dear departed" until their nuptials have been again celebrated. This they call “a funeral with a master," from which expression it would seem that their women are held to be incapable of presiding at any ceremony or feast. Fortunately for stray travellers, these cannibals celebrate their annual holiday in the eleventh month by bolting their doors and remaining at home, thus, for that time at least, rendering themselves harmless to their neighbours. The customs of some of the Miao clans are very similar to those of the hill tribes of Chittagong, more especially in the matter of courtship, which is conducted amongst them in a free-and-easy way which is not without its attractions. In the " leaping month," the young men and women of the Chay-chai tribe develop a decided taste for picnics by moonlight, when, under the shadow of trees in secluded glens, the girls sing to the music of their lovers' guitars. The singing of these women is spoken very highly of, and adopting the principle of selection followed, according to Darwin, by birds, the youths choose as their wives those who can best charm their ears. This tribe are said to be descendants of 600 soldiers who were left in the mountains by a general Ma on his return from a victorious campaign in the south, and hence bear also the name of the "six hundred men-begotten Miao." But as this self-same story is told with variations of other highlanders in China, as well as of some in Burmah, it must be accepted cum grano salis.

The spring-time, with most of these

children of nature, appears to be especially they make coloured balls with strings atdevoted to wooing and mating, It is then tached, and throw them at those whose that young men and maidens of the "Dog-affections they desire to gain. Tying the eared Dragon" clan erect a "Devils' balls together is considered a formal enstaff," anglicè a May-pole, in some pretty gagement of marriage. Only in one of nook, and dance round it to the tune of these mountain tribes does there appear the men's castanets, while the girls, pos- to be any trace of "marriage by capture." turing with bright-coloured ribbon-bands, The women of the Ta-ya-kuh-lao tribe go keep time with feet and voice. One can through the marriage ceremony with picture the contemptuous horror with dishevelled hair and naked feet - evidently which the Chinese chronicler, accustomed a relic of the time when brides were to the strict etiquette prescribed by the snatched from savage parents by savage Book of Rites, regarded this custom, to wooers. Amongst them also we find the which he applies these words, "In this ir- custom prevalent of disfiguring a woman regular manner they choose their wives on her marriage. The Chinese writer tells and marry." There are four subdivisions of us that brides are compelled to submit to this tribe, known respectively as the "Stir- the extraction of their two front teeth in rups." the "Big-heads," and the "Tsang order to prevent their biting their husbain boos." Though there may be said to bands. The actual reason for which this be little in common between the clan piece of cruelty is perpetrated is of course known as the Flowery Miao and our- the same as that which induces Japanese selves, there is one bond which connects girls to blacken their teeth on marriage, us. Their women wear false hair. Their namely to diminish their personal attracmanner, however, of obtaining it is some- tions in the eyes of strange men. The what different to that adopted amongst queerest, but not the least known, custom ourselves, for not having arrived at a suf- observable among the Miao-tsze is that of ficiently civilized state to have established the "couvade." When a woman of the a market in human hair, they take what Tse-tsze-miao tribe gives birth to a child, they want from the tails of horses. These her husband takes her place in the bed people, also, delight in open air amusements, and vary their al fresco musical performances on the "sang," a kind of rude hand-organ, and castanets, with dancing and frolicsome play, which not unfrequently ends in precipitate marriages. Their funeral rites are peculiar. They bury their dead without coffins of any kind and choose the ground for the grave by throwing down an egg. If the egg breaks in the fall the omen is unpropitious, and they try elsewhere; if it does not break they accept the sign as marking the spot as a fitting one for their purpose. The religious belief of the various clans One other clan of Miao, named the seems to be of the most primitive kind. "Black," manage their love affairs in the Few traces of Buddhism are found amongst same unrestricted fashion. They also them, while the Chinese ceremony of sacchoose the spring for their amours, and at rificing to ancestors is largely practised, that season the youth of both sexes as- accompanied with many quaint customs. semble on the lofty mountain peaks to A man of the White" Miao, when defeast and make merry. The act of drink- sirous of sacrificing, chooses a bullock from ing together out of the same horn is con- the herd, trims his horns, fattens him up, sidered as equivalent to the marriage and when the time arrives, sets him to bond. The young men of this tribe are fight with his neighbours' cattle. If he called Lohan and the young women La- comes off victorious, the omen is considoupei. These words are not Chinese, but ered lucky, and he pays for his triumph ars probably in the dialect of one of the with his life. The chief worshipper on many mountain tribes who inhabit the the occasion wears white clothes, and dicountry between Burmah and China. A vides the flesh of the bullock between his peculiar and fantastic device is adopted friends and acquaintances. With a tribe by the youths and maidens of the Kea- of Lao it is the custom, when the eldest yew-chung tribe to mark their preference son of a household has completed his for one another. In the "leaping-month "seventh year, for the father to perform

while she gets up and performs not only her usual household duties, but nurses with the utmost care the pseudo invalid. For a whole month the husband "lies in " and the completion of his period is made the occasion of feasting and rejoicing. Marco Polo mentions this custom as prevailing among the natives of Yunnan, and as it is entirely unknown amongst the Chinese, the probability is that the clan of which we speak are descendants of the Lao who inhabited that province in the days of the great Venetian traveller.

the ceremony known as "dismissing the Devil." To accomplish this laudable object the parent makes a straw dragon to represent his Satanic Majesty, and having stuck five variously coloured paper flags on his back, he takes him out into the desert and offers sacrifice to him. The ancient rite of sending away the scapegoat would appear to underlie this custom, and it is possible that the flags may typify the five Chinese cardinal sins. The gathering in of the harvest is attended amongst the Se-miao with great rejoicings. In each district an ox is sacrificed, and men and women in holiday attire dance and sing round it to the tune of the "sang." This rite is called sacrificing to the White Tiger, and is followed in the evening by a feast of fowls and wine, after which the revellers "call on the spirits" by jödelling to one another.

The influence enjoyed by the women is here, as everywhere, in inverse ratio to the savageness of the tribes. In some an equality of labour with the men gains for them respect and consideration, and their good services in restraining the anger of their husbands and settling disputes are in much request. Among one tribe of Lao the widow, on the death of her husband, takes the lead in the family affairs, even to the exclusion of the eldest son, and is attended on horseback, and has the same respect shown to her as was due to her deceased husband. In this clan polygamy is allowed, but the children of the Nai-teh, or wife, are alone looked upon as legitimate. Among other tribes we find the women as uncivilized as those just referred to are respected, and as immodest in their attire as those are particular. A short jacket, open in front, is all that some of them wear on their bodies, and still shorter petticoats without trousers complete their costume. They have also a nost unladylike passion for strong drink, and are constantly seen lying about on the mountains in a most unmistakable condition. Their one redeeming quality is their love for cold water, and the wonder of the Chiuese writer was not a little excited by finding them bathing in the mountain-streams in the height of winter. In common with some of the Maio, the Chung-tsze show a decided propensity for "the road." The wives of these footpads are left at home to mind the plough while their lords lie in wait in bands for solitary travellers. Having seized on a prize, they fasten a large wooden frame round his neck, and march him off to their encampment, where they

rob him of everything valuable he has about him. If they are disappointed in the amount obtained they often ill-treat their victim savagely. When meditating a predatory expedition, they seek to learn its issue by casting lots with bits of grass, and religiously regulate their movements in accordance with the answers obtained. The "Black" Chung-tsze, a tribe living in the neighbourhood of the provincial capital, are by far the most advanced in the arts of commerce. They deal largely with the Chinamen of the plain in mountain timber, and have a regular system of borrowing money for trading purposes, on security furnished by their well-to-do clansmen. Their honesty in paying money thus borrowed is proverbial, and the means they employ of compelling occasional defaulters to meet their engagements is worth recording. On becoming aware of the fraudulent intention of his debtor, the creditor reports the matter to the surety, and then digs up from the defaulter's ancestral tombs as many bones of his progenitors as he can carry away with him. This is called "seizing the white and releasing the black." As soon as the money is refunde 1 the bones are released from pawn. The people of only one tribe, and that of the Miao, are mentioned as living in caves. These, for the most part, excavate their houses in precipitous cliffs, and gain access to them by means of bamboo ladders

In appearance the various mountain clans differ very little from each other, but between their general physiognomy and that of the Chinese there is a wide gulf. They are shorter, darker, and are possessed of sharper features than their pigtailed neighbours. In their habits they are less constrained, and there is a bright joyousness about the youth of both sexes which is very taking. For the most part the men wear turbans of either blue or red cloth, and almost invariably carry the "dao,” or knife, sinicè "tao," which is common also to the hill tribes of Chittagong. A few of the women wear a kind of cap; but only those of the tribe which admits them to the supreme management of family affairs wear turbans. That the existence of these small independent tribes should be possible in the midst of such a large and homogeneous race as the Chinese is passing strange; and although no doubt the inaccessible nature of their mountain fastnesses is their main protection, yet a further reason must be sought for in their superior warlike spirit to account for their having been able to maintain their inde

Translated for the Living Age. From the Revue conservator of the Museum of Antique