long that they trail on the ground. The garments are fastened at the waist with a sash, which the married tie in front, and the unmarried behind. Ladies of rank often have them made of variegated silk, interwoven with flowers of silver or gold. They sometimes wear thirty or forty at once; but they are of such delicate texture, that the whole do not weigh more than three or four pounds. Their shoes are made of rice straw. The Japanese complexion is yellow; but women of distinction, being sheltered from the sun, are nearly as white as Europeans. They appear in public when they please, either attended by a servant with an umbrella, or rolled along in a sort of ornamented wheelbarrow, with an awning over it. Whether in doors or out, they always have fans in their hands. They have very black hair, broad snubby noses, and small oblong eyes, which appear to be constantly winking. All ranks and ages are remarkable for industry, and it is said the women are generally characterized by an exemplary observance of the domestic virtues. The emperor has but one wife, who is styled empress, but he has several mistresses, who form a part of the royal household, though subordinate to her in rank.

When a husband accuses his wife of infidelity, and she asserts that she is guiltless, her oath is taken in writing, and laid on water; if it swims she is esteemed innocent. This crime, like most others in Japan, is punished with death.

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. both sexes, are remarkable for the strict honesty of their characters.

The Ainos, of gentleness and

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

art, and gather from the far-famed stores of her intellectual wealth.

Such was Egypt, long before Greece and Rome had existence! This early civilization might be in part owing to the annual overflowing of the Nile, which made it impossible for the inhabitants to subsist by hunting and fishing, and thus compelled them to turn their attention to agriculture. During the inundation of the river, they were obliged to take shelter in houses raised on piles above the reach of the waters. Men and women, being thus placed in each other's society, naturally endeavored to please each other, and female influence produced its usual effect of softening the character, and rendering the manners more polished and agreeable. From this union, music, poetry, and the fine arts would naturally flow, as the stream from its parent fountain.

It is generally supposed that the Egyptians were a colony from Ethiopia, and that their complexion was black. Herodotus, who travelled in Egypt, distinctly states that they had "black skins and curly hair." Speaking of the tradition that two black pigeons had flown from Thebes in Egypt, and established oracles, one at Dodona, and the other in Libya, the same writer says, the story doubtless refers to two priestesses stolen by the Phoenicians, and carried one into Libya and the other into Greece: he adds, "their being black explains to us their Egyptian origin." Pausanias likewise informs us that the image of the Nile was always black, while the other river gods were uniformly represented as white.