he feels that he is a developed creature, and
is proud of his appearance. His tail, of
course disappears in one of the earlier stages
of his transformation: the razor also has
been laid aside; and, by the time that he
bursts into his full splendour of tailoring, a
crop of carefully-oiled, but somewhat stubbly
black hair has grown over his once
well-shaven face.

In the article of diet also, John undergoes
a wondrous change. On his first arrival, he
is, perforce, content with a handful of rice,
and a little curry: he esteems himself singularly
fortunate if he be occasionally able
to procure a few scraps and bones of meat.
As the gold finds its way out of mother earth
into his pockets, he expands the borders of
his bill of fare. Choice joints of meat, and a
plentiful supply of vegetables, are freely
purchased; for he is not parsimonious. No
price is too high to keep him from a meal
on birds—especially male birds—of any
kinds; and he is not less fond of pork. Be it
observed, too, that a Chinaman can coax a pig
as no other being can. A pig is, in the hands of
every Chinaman what the horse is in the
hands of Mr. Rarey.

The Chinese communicate together throughout
the country. As the stage-wagon rolls
along, one of them may often be observed
stationed by the road-side. When the coach
passes, he springs upon the step, and exchanges
a few words with fellow-countrymen inside.
Presently another man repeats the operation;
and, in this way, information of the rise or fall
of articles of commerce, or the variations in
the price of gold at Melbourne, travels
throughout their community in time to be of
use, before the European storekeepers on the
gold fields can take advantage of it.

The Chinese are not slow to adapt themselves
to English institutions, when it suits
their purpose. Last August, there was held
at Ballarat a Chinese public meeting, to
protest against the restrictive policy of the
Government. Speeches were made, resolutions
were passed, and a petition was adopted which
received the signatures of two thousand eight
hundred and six Chinamen, and was subsequently
presented to the Legislative Assembly.
By the laws of Victoria, any naturalised
foreigner is admitted to the full rights and
privileges of British subjects; so that—the
form of the Parliamentary oath offering no
impediment—we may, possibly, at no distant
date, hear of Chu A-Luk or John O-Hey (two
well-known Chinese characters) figuring in
the colonial legislature. The honourable
member may even aspire to the commissionership
of Trade and Customs, or to the
Chief Secretaryship itself.

The Chinese make free use of the English
press, in which their advertisements often
appear. Moreover, a weekly newspaper,
printed in their own language, now circulates
largely among them.

The presence, in such large numbers, of
these strange people, has rendered necessary,
even to European traders, the use of signs
and placards, in the Chinese character. Of
course, these can only be written or understood
by themselves, and they sometimes take advantage
of this fact to the trader's cost. A
gold-buyer employed one of them to write
for him a sign, stating, "The highest price
given for Gold." The sign was written, and
set up, in front of the gold-buyer's office.
Scores of Celestials stopped to gaze and grin;
but not one entered the establishment. At
length the trader bribed one of the long-tailed
race to translate the inscription. It was
this: " Do not sell gold here: this person is a
cheat!"

The mortality amongst the Chinese is great.
A writer in the "Mount Alexander Mail,"
speaking of the Castlemaine Cemetery, says:
"A surprising number of Chinese have
been buried here; nearly one-fifth of the
graves being tenanted by deceased Celestials,
the European and Mongolian at length
meeting on terms of perfect equality, and
sleeping peacefully, side by side. A rough
slab of wood, or stone, inscribed with Chinese
hieroglyphics, indicates to the initiated reader
the name and country of poor John, whose
wife, sister, mother, perchance, laments his
untimely exit in a barbarous land, as sincerely
as our relatives in England would mourn over
our own dissolution. At the head and feet of
most of these graves are strips of tea paper,
disposed in the form of stars, and held down
by small lumps of quartz. When the wind
catches these votive offerings, or immortelles,
or whatsoever they may be intended for, they
seem like enormous butterflies hovering over
the tomb. The ground here, too, is strewed
with the blackened remnants of exploded
crackers: the discharge of fireworks forming
a prominent feature in the funeral rites of the
Chinese."

Another feature of the Chinese character
is their adherence, in Australia, to their
peculiar theology. One of their many joss-houses
is in Melbourne, and is used as a
place of rendezvous by the new-comers.
Over the altar is the picture of a majestic
old man; Confucius, as some assert; others
say, the emperor.

The joss-house is a conspicuous object on
all the principal gold-fields. On the Buckland,
a Chinese temple was the first place of
worship built. A full account of the ceremonies
attendant on its opening, lately appeared
in the Ovens and Murray Advertiser.
Thence we glean the following particulars:

The Buckland joss-house is a framed
canvas building, twenty feet long, and fourteen
wide. Inside there is a neat wooden
floor, of which a space about eight feet
square, in front of the altar, is matted and
carpeted. Each side-wall is decorated with a
scroll of Chinese hieroglyphics, about ten
feet long, and twelve inches broad. Above