He made them in the night to ascend magnificent
thrones that were borne up by swans, which in a moment arrived at
Yamtcheou. The Emperor saw at his leisure all the solemnity, being carried
upon a cloud that hovered over the city and descended by degrees; and came
back again with the same speed and equipage, nobody at court perceiving
his absence."--_The Present State of China_," p. 156.
[54] "The vulgar ascribe it to an accident that happened in the family of
a famous mandarin, whose daughter, walking one evening upon the shore of a
lake, fell in and was drowned: this afflicted father, with his family, ran
thither, and the better to find her, he caused a great company of lanterns
to be lighted. All the inhabitants of the place thronged after him with
torches. The year ensuing they made fires upon the shores the same day;
they continued the ceremony every year, every one lighted his lantern, and
by degrees it commenced into a custom."--_The Present State of China_."
[55] "Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes."--_Sol. Song_.
[56] "They tinged the ends of her fingers scarlet with Henna, so that they
resembled branches of coral."--_Story of Prince Futtun in Bahardanush_.
[57] "The women blacken the inside of their eyelids with a powder named
the black Kohol.
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