The New England Weekly Review

A Chinese Bride.-The greatest rarity
however, after this feast, was the sight of
a Chinese bride. The son of our host hav-
ing been married a few days before we
were honored (according to the usage of
the country, during the honey-moon) with
permission to look at his wife, as she stood
at the door of her apartment, while we
were passing out- The lady was surround-
ed by several old women, who held tapers
and lamps above and about her that we
might have a more complete view of her
figure and attire. She was a young person
(perhaps 17 years of age,) of middling stat-
ure, with a very agreeable feature and a
light complexion, though she seemed to us
to have used paint. She wore a scarlet
robe, superbly trimmed with gold, which
covered her from the shoulders to the
ground. The sleeves were very full, and
along the bottom ran a beautiful fringe of
small bells. Her head dress sparkled with
jewels, and most elegantly beaded with
rows of pearls, encircling it like a coronet :
from the front of which a brilliant angular
ornament hung over her forehead. She
stood in a modest and graceful attitude,
having her eyes fixed on the floor, though
she occasionally raised them with a glance
of timid curiosity, towards the spectators.
Her hands, joined together, but folded in
her robe, she lifted several times towards
her face, and lowered them slowly. Her
attendants, presuming that the guests would
be gratified with a peep at the consuma-
tion of Chinese beauty, the lady's feet,
raised the hem of the mantle from hers.
for a moment or two. They were of the
diminutive kind, and reduced to a mere
point at the toe. Her shoes, like the rest
of her bridal apparel, were scarlet, em-
broidered with gold. In justice to the poor
creature, during this torturing exhibition,
as we imagine it must have been to her.
her demeanor was natural and becoming.
and once or twice something was natural
and instant, showed that she was not en
tirely unconscious of the admiration which
her appearance excited, not much dis-
pleased by it.-Tyerman & Bennett's Travels