ALL officers of state, whether civil or military, from the highest to
the lowest, have been named by the early Portuguese writers _mandarins_,
from a word in their own language, _mandar_, to command; and this name,
improper as it is, has preserved its ground ever since. The figure of a
bird on the embroidered breast-plate of the annexed figure points him
out as a civilian. A military officer wears the figure of an animal
resembling the tiger. The degree of rank, whether civil or military, is
marked by a small globe on the top of the cap, opake red coral
distinguishing the highest, and brass the lowest rank: the intermediate
colours are transparent red, opake and transparent blue, opake and
transparent white. As a mark of imperial favour, one, two, or three
feathers from the tail of the peacock are appended to the back part of
the bonnet. All officers, whether civil or military, invariably wear
thick-quilted boots, and, when in their court-dresses, embroidered
petticoats. Most of them wear chains of coral, or agate, or coloured
glass round the neck, as in the annexed figure.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
CHINA—PLATE 6
]
Plate VI.