chase their wives. The simple bridal ceremony is performed by a priestess, who sacrifices an animal on the occasion. Manilla, the largest town of these islands, is principally occupied by the descendants of Spanish and Chinese settlers. They are extremely indolent; sleeping and smoking the whole day. Little children learn to smoke before they can run alone; and women are so fond of cigars, that they have them a foot long and thick in proportion. When they walk out to take the evening air, whole parties of them may be seen, elegantly dressed, with these great bales of tobacco burning in their mouths. They likewise injure their teeth by chewing betel.

The island of Loo Choo has been seldom visited by Europeans. Captain Hall gives a most delightful picture of the honesty, kindness, simplicity, and politeness of the inhabitants. All his efforts to obtain a sight of the women of this island were fruitless. The natives guarded them at every step, and always sent runners before them, to give indication of their approach. Once, at a sudden turning of the road, the English officers met two women; but they instantly threw the baskets from their heads, and ran into the woods, in the utmost terror. It appears, however, that they are not thus scrupulous about being seen by their own countrymen; for by the help of a telescope, captain Hall saw them coming from the country with baskets on their heads, beating rice in wooden mortars, playing with dogs in the midst

of a crowd of people, and washing clothes in the river, after the East India fashion, by dipping them in the stream, and then beating them on stones. Infants are carried across the hip, as in India. The natives were unwilling to speak of their women, and seemed distressed when questions were asked. One of them said they were regarded as inferior beings, and not allowed the use of fans, which are considered a great luxury in Loo Choo. But their treatment of the English boatswain's wife seemed to contradict this statement; for it was not only kind and indulgent in the extreme, but was tinged with something of respectful gallantry. On one occasion, a Loo Choo lady visited the boatswain's wife, when all the men were out of the way. She wore loose floating robes, with a girdle tied at the side, and had sandals on her feet. She was rather fair, with small dark eyes, and shining black hair, fastened in a knot on one side of the head. She seemed to be exceedingly timid. When captain Hall insisted upon knowing why the natives were afraid to let them walk into the village, one of the chiefs answered, in broken language: "Loo Choo woman see Ingeree man, Loo Choo woman cry !"-meaning, "If a Loo Choo woman should see an Englishman, she would cry."

The manners and customs in Japan, and the occupations of different classes, are similar to those of China. In economy of time and labor they rival even the Chinese; and unlike them they are scrupulously neat in their habits. There is no end to

The men of the Aleutian or Fox islands are glad in times of scarcity to barter away a wife for a fish, or a leather bottle full of train-oil. Sometimes one woman lives with two husbands; and often leaves a second or third to return to the first with all her children. These islanders frequently exchange wives with each other, and have not the slightest idea of any dishonor connected with the infamy of their women. Under these circumstances, it is not wonderful that the females are destitute of modesty.

The men of the Fox islands wear frocks neatly made of the skins of birds, which look beautifully when the variegated feathers glisten in the sunshine. The women wear the more homely covering of the ice-bear, with the hairy side outward. They decorate these unwieldy robes with strips of leather, covered with beads, shells, or sea-parrots' bills. The wing-bones of the sea-mew furnish them with needles, and seals' nerves are used for thread. Rude as these implements are, their workmanship is exceedingly curious and delicate. The women tattoo themselves in such a manner, that they look as if they had mustaches.

The Ainos, or native inhabitants of the Kurile islands, are modest even to bashfulness. The men are very shy about allowing strangers to hold any communication with their wives and daughters. Their tattooed hands, swarthy faces, jet black hair hanging over their foreheads, and lips stained blue,

are not much calculated to excite the admiration of those accustomed to civilized life. The Ainos, of both sexes, are remarkable for the gentleness and strict honesty of their characters.

It has been said Egypt was the first nation that became civilized, and framed wise laws, by which they agreed to be governed. It had reached the height of its grandeur, and was beginning to decay, while nations which we call ancient were yet in their infancy. Moses, the great lawgiver of the Jews, is said to have been learned in "all the wisdom of the Egyptians." Thebes, with its hundred gates and immense population, was a subject of wonder and praise even in the days of Homer. Solon and Herodotus, Pythagoras and Plato, travelled in Egypt to witness her magnificent works of