small bamboo pegs of about an inch in lengthi
and the size of a slate pencil; these are
intended as joints on which to fix the legs—
portions of the kite that need the most care and
attention. To form the legs he procures a
quantity of dry hollow reeds, light as a stalk of
wheat or barley, and very similar to it in
appearance, save that the reeds are smooth and
jointless from end to end. Of these he selects
the largest, longest, and best, for those of his
hoops which are of equal size; and, having cut
them to an equal length of from two and a half to
three feet, he carefully balances them all, points
one end delicately with paper, by way of socket
and to prevent cracking, and fixes them on the
pegs, one on either side of every hoop. For the
remainder of the hoops, he selects reeds
proportionately shorter and lighter, according to their
several sizes. He then connects the hoops to
each other at a distance of about a foot or more
apart, with four pieces of twine: fastening one
over, and one under, each peg, and at points
equi-distant from one another on the
circumference of the hoops. Having completed the
series, he finishes it, off with a head, representing
as near as he can the ugly head and mandibles
of the centipede, and thence depends the
string with which the kite is flown. Thus put
together, the kite extends over a good length;
in order to get it up, it is necessary to take
hold of it somewhere about the centre hoop,
and fly the tail end first; when that rises, the
body easily follows, and, once in the air with
any breeze to speak of, the whole sails up as
easily as any single piece of paper would do.
When the time comes for the kite to be
brought down, the person flying it lets it drop
at full length when he gets it near the ground,
so as not to tangle it; slips off the legs,
which he ties up into a bundle; gathers all the
hoops in their order, one upon the other; ties
them round with a bit of string; slings the two
packets on his shoulder, and trudges off with
them through the crowded streets with as much
ease and as little risk of hurting the kite as if it
were a small one a foot long.

To describe all the other kites to be seen
on the Foo-chow-foo hill would be to undertake
too much, so we will only venture to speak of
one other sort very common among the Chinese,
and particularly effective as regards appearance
—namely, the bird kite. The hawk or common
kite is the bird usually represented, and,
to make this they cut a piece of paper the exact
shape and size of the natural bird, when on
the wing; this, they paint the natural colour,
and stretch on ribs of bamboo arranged very
much in the shape of the old English crossbow
when strung, leaving the parts which
represent the ends of the wing and tail feathers,
unbound by twine, so as to shiver in the wind.
This constructed, the kite rises with great ease,
and flies with wonderful grace of motion,
imitating the real bird to a nicety by now and then
taking a long swoop, then soaring again, and
then poising itself with a flutter before repeating
the process. At times, a number of these
kites are flown at once by attaching them at
different intervals to the string of a centipede
or some larger kite, and the effect is thereby
much increased; for the real kites are in the
habit of sailing in a flock together, as they circle
over their prey.

In a previous part of this paper mention is
made of the roaring of one sort ot Chinese kite.
It might more correctly, perhaps, be termed
humming or buzzing, for the noise partakes
of both those descriptions of sound. This is
very simply effected by fixing across the head
or shoulders of the kite, a light bow, tightly
strung with a ribbon of fine hemp from one
to three-eighths of an inch in breadth; the
bow being so poised as to bring the flat
surface of the ribbon at a right angle to the line
of the string by which the kite is held, and
of course at an acute angle to the direction of
the wind as it blows past it. The ribbon,
caught by the wind in this position, vibrates
and gives forth a hum, more or less loud,
according to the size of the instrument. The
hum so produced may be heard at a considerable
distance, when the kite is well up in the air,
under a steady breeze; and it is a favourite
pastime with the kite-flyers to get up this hum
at all the notes and pitches their simple means
can accomplish. They have another expedient
to which they are very partial, that of sending
up messengers after their kites, and very pretty
and clever ones they succeed in making. The
butterfly messenger is about the best, and it
is so made that it flutters open-winged right
up to the kite, whence it instantly and quickly
descends: having been collapsed and closed, on
coming into contact with the kite, by means
of a little spring which forms part of its
mechanism.

THE STORY OF THE GUNS.

THOUGH embracing the minutest and most
technical particulars, without which no account
of scientific discovery can be held to fulfil its
purpose, The Story of the Guns, as told by SIR
JAMES EMERSON TENNENT, is as full of interest
as if the subject described rested, for its merits,
on the author's imaginative faculties. We have
met with Sir Emerson in various literary capacities,
and our pages have frequently borne witness
to his powers of observation and picturesque
description, and here we find him adapting his
scientific knowledge to the development of the
most prominent and popular topic of the day.
Among Sir Emerson Tennent's great qualifications
for his task is the fact that, at an early age,
he held a commission as an artillery officer in a
foreign service during a time of war. He
modestly speaks of this experience as having been
acquired in the "pre-scientific period," and under
circumstances which, however advantageous for
observing the destructive powers of ordnance,
both by land and sea, were little favourable to
the study of its construction. But the work
which is now, or shortly will be, in everybody's