she may only have seen once or twice in her life, more binding in their stringency than those to the father and mother she has left behind.  A son remains by his parents’ side in most cases till death separates them for ever, and on him they rely for that due performance of burial rites which alone can ensure to their spirits an eternal rest.  When old age or disease comes upon them, a son can go forth to earn their daily rice, and protect them from poverty, wrong, and insult, where a daughter would be only an additional encumbrance.  It is no wonder therefore that the birth of a son is hailed with greater manifestations of joy than is observable among western nations; at the same time, we must maintain that the natural love of Chinese parents for their female offspring is not thereby lessened to any appreciable degree.  No red eggs are sent by friends and relatives on the birth of a daughter as at the advent of the first boy, the hope and pride of the family; but in other respects the customs and ceremonies practised on these occasions are very much the same.  On the third day the milk-name is given to the child, and if a girl her ears are pierced for earrings.  A little boiled rice is rubbed upon the lobe of the ear, which is then subjected to friction between the finger and thumb until it gets quite numb:  it is next pierced with a needle and thread dipped in oil, the latter being left in the ear.  No blood flows.  Boys frequently have one ear pierced, as some people say, to make them look like little girls; and up to the age of thirteen or fourteen, girls often wear their hair braided in a tail to make them look like little boys.  But the end of the tail is always tied with red silk—­the differentiating colour between youths and maids in China.  And here we may mention that the colour of the silk which finishes off a Chinaman’s tail differs according to circumstances.  Black is the ordinary colour, often undistinguishable from the long dresses in which they take such pride; white answers to deep crape with us, and proclaims that either the father or mother of the wearer has bid adieu to this sublunary sphere;[*] green, yellow, and blue, are worn for more distant relatives, or for parents after the first year of mourning has expired.

    [*] The verb “to die” is rarely used by the Chinese of their
    relatives.  Some graceful periphrasis is adapted instead.

We will conclude with a curious custom which, as far as our inquiries have extended, seems to be universal.  The first visitor, stranger, messenger, coolie, or friend, who comes to the house where a new-born baby lies, ignorant that such an event has taken place, is on no account allowed to go away without having first eaten a full meal.  This is done to secure to the child a peaceful and refreshing night’s rest; and as Chinamen are always ready at a moment’s notice to dispose of a feed at somebody else’s expense, difficulties are not likely to arise on a score of a previous dinner.