The Cochin Chinese carry purses, in which they put their betel and tobacco; these are very neat, and usually thrown over the shoulders of the men; they are made either of plain blue silk, or embroidered in gold, and may be had at all prices, from half a dollar to fifteen. Men of rank have them carried by their servants. In this bazar the shops are held almost entirely by natives of the country. There are scarcely any Chinese amongst them.
CHAPTER X.
Physiological Exterior of the Cochin Chinese.—Costume.—Moral Character.—Religion.—Brutalizing Effects of a Despotic Government.—Military Servitude.—Population.—Rains and Inundations.—Costume of the Rainy Season.—Visit to the Tacoon.—Tablets and Boxes ornamented with the Mya Shell.—Letter and Presents for the Governor General.—The Agent declines accepting the Presents for the Governor General.—Regulations respecting Trade.—Extent of Permission retracted.—A Repast.—Rotten Eggs and Chickens in the Shell a Chinese Delicacy, and Token of Royal Favour.—The Mandarin of Han.—Letter to the Governor General refused.—Pitiful Spirit of the Cochin Chinese Government.—Chinese Player.—The King of the Drama Bambooed.—Final Interview with the Mandarin of Strangers.—Return to Turon.—Beautiful Country.—Canal.—Salt-water Lake.—Grand Scenery.—Route.—Botanical Observations.—Palanquins and Bearers.—Granitic Country.—Excellent Roads.—Re-embark.
We had by this time seen a large proportion of the people, and our intercourse with them had brought to light traits of moral character, which, under a less intimate acquaintance, had lain concealed; while at the same time we gained a more intimate knowledge of their physical form. It is extraordinary how little diversity there exists in the latter, in regard either of stature or of features.
In their physical exterior, they present a compound which accords not very correctly with any of the tribes whose peculiarities we have before attempted to describe. In some respects, indeed, the resemblance is sufficiently obvious; yet in others it is much less so, if not rather of an opposite character. It appears to me, however, that a strict analysis of the aggregate in their physical form, will lead to the conclusion that this nation also has sprung from the Tartar race, and that it constitutes a variety of that great and widely-disseminated branch of mankind.
In point of stature, the Cochin Chinese are, perhaps, of all the various tribes that belong to this race, the most diminutive. We remark that they want the transverse breadth of face of the Malays; the cylindrical form of the cranium, as well as the protuberant and expanded coronoid process of the lower jaw of the Siamese, and the oblique eyes of the Chinese. In common with all of these, they have a scanty, grisly, straggling beard; coarse, lank, black hair; small dark eyes; a yellowish complexion; a squat, square form; and stout extremities.
I shall here, however, enter more at large into the description of this variety. It is no very difficult task, at least for an attentive observer, to seize upon those points in the form of the Cochin Chinese, which serve to distinguish them both from the neighbouring and other nations. It is more difficult to convey, in accurate and precise terms, correct notions of these distinctions to others. The subject of the filiation of nations, though one of the deepest interest, is still involved in much obscurity. We see impressed upon the whole of the human race, through every variety, every modification of climate, under every condition of barbarous or of civilized life, one general, one universal form, from which there is, in fact, no deviation. It is true, that there are tribes so different from others in appearance, that we almost conclude that they constitute different species of animal beings. Yet the difference is, perhaps, in all cases, more apparent than real, more imaginative than natural. When we would inquire into the origin, the history, the connexions, of a particular tribe, or the prevalence of a particular form or feature, we are often compelled to confess that we are at a loss to discover characters in all respects satisfactory. The interest of the subject will always claim for it the patient investigation of reflecting men, and will in time, doubtless, remove many of the difficulties in which it is at present involved.
To return to the subject of the Cochin Chinese. In the consideration of their external form, the circumstance which chiefly strikes an European observer is their diminished form. Their squat and broad shape augments the effect of this characteristic, so that they appear more diminutive than they actually are. Of twenty-one persons, taken chiefly from the class of soldiers, the others being citizens, the average height was five feet, two inches, and three-fourths: of eleven of the same persons, the average length of the arm amounted to 12.4 inches: of the fore-arm, 10.15 inches, and the girth of the chest at the broadest part, to two feet, nine inches. It has been remarked, that the Cochin Chinese are of a yellowish colour. It is very rare to find amongst them any that are very black. Many of the females in particular are as fair as the generality of the inhabitants of the south of Europe.