861. Ornamental stand, with variegated marble top, on which is placed a stone in a frame formed from the root of a tree. This is covered with sculptured hieroglyphics, and is held by the Chinese in religious veneration. CASES XLIX & L. These cases, with the opposite, (23 and 24), are filled with numerous specimens of conchology, which are labelled. 883. Thrush. Chinese Grossbeak. Redbacked Sparrow. Ditto female. Blue Crowned Parrot. Bunting. Chinese Grossbeak, female. White bellied Gallinule. Pintail Duck. Red-breasted Pigeon. ...... Masked Paradoxure. Viverra Indica Pallida ...... Indian Civette or Rasse. This animal yields the Dedes, a scent much esteemed by the Malays. This animal yields the scent called Zibeth. 900. Helictes Mos Chata......... Musk Martin. 901. Paradoxuras Larvatus Masked Paradoxure. CASE LIII. 902 & 903. Artificial candles, decorated with flowers made from the pith of a plant, known in this country, by the term “ricepaper." These candles are used in temples in front of their idols, in the houses of the wealthy, and in the celebration of the new year, a moveable feast, which occurs on the second new moon after the winter solstice. The body or stem of the candle is of wood, and at the top, instead of wick, is inserted a small brass receptacle for oil, as being more economical. 904. A military officer's saddle, bridle, &c. It is one of the most expensive kind, and such as are but seldom seen. Those used by inferior officers are generally of leather and nankeen. 905. A large porcelain dish on a stand, containing two specimens of enamel, in imitation of the Pekin peaches. 906. Lamp carried on the shoulders of a bearer in marriage proces sions. 907. Lamp pole for the above. 908 & 909. Splendid specimens of embroidery, worked by men, as is often the case in China. The Chinese excel all other nations in the art of embroidery. 910 & 911. Two ornamental stands, and plates of fruit, modelled in clay. 912 & 913. Candles, as described in Nos. 902 & 903. 914 & 915. Ingeniously worked silk tassels, attached to bed hangings. 916. On the bottom of this case is spread a Chinese carpet, being a specimen of their few woollen manufactures. The pattern is printed similar to our druggets. From the ceiling of this case is suspended a state lantern, richly embroidered and decorated. Contains a model of a pagoda, seven stories high, beautifully carved On the floor of each story is placed a gilt Buddha idol. from gypsum. CASE LVII. Contains numerous specimens of insects. Butterflies. CASES LVIII & LIX. CASE LX. Various specimens of fish from the waters of China, so prepared and preserved as to need only their natural element to give them the appearance of life. CHINESE LANTERNS. THESE depend from the ceiling in all parts of the saloon, and are of almost every imaginable form and size. In scarcely any thing do the taste and ingenuity of the Chinese appear to better advantage than in the manufacture of these curious and characteristic articles. They are made of horn, silk, glass, paper, and sometimes of a netting of fine thread overspread with a thick coating of varnish. The frame work is often carved in the richest manner; the silk which covers it is elegantly embroidered or painted with landscapes representing nature in her gayest moods, and the various decorations lavished upon them are in a corresponding style. As a national ornament peculiar to the Chinese, the lantern does not give place to any similar display, found in any other country. The fondness of the Chinese for lamps and lanterns, and the universal use of them, constitutes one of the marked peculiarities in the customs of the race. A late writer remarks, that a Chinaman and his lantern seem wedded together, and the former is rarely found without the latter. They are placed in the streets, temples, boats, &c., and are always to be seen in the hands of pedestrians after dark. The same writer relates the following amusing anecdote, as affording a striking and original exemplification of both the power and habit of the national peculiarity above referred to:-When Captain Maxwell passed the Bogue in the Alceste frigate, as he came up with the battery of the A-nung-hoy, the fort appeared well lighted, and a brisk cannonade was commenced upon the ship. However, after the first broadside had been fired upon the fortress, and when the vessel was scarcely a half musket-shot from it, the whole place was deserted, and the embrasures were quickly darkened. The Chinese were thoroughly frightened, and ran off with a most edifying precipitation. At the same time, instead of concealing their flight in the darkness of the night, each man seized his lantern, as |