In Java sitting down is a mark of respect; in the Mariana
Islands the inferior squats to speak to a superior who would
consider himself degraded by sitting in the presence of one who
should be objectively as well as figuratively “below” him. The
punctilios relating to the fundamental rule that rank is defined
by elevation are carried to absurdity in the Orient. When an
English carriage was procured for the Rajah of Lombok, it was
found impossible to use it because the driver’s seat was the
highest, and for the same reason successive kings of Ava refused
to ride in the carriages presented to them by ambassadors. In
Burmah, that a floor overhead should be occupied would be felt
as a degradation, contrary to civilized ideas that the lower
stories are the most honorable. In Siam, on the principle that
no man can raise his head to the level of his superiors, he must
not cross a bridge if one of higher rank chances to be passing
below, and no mean person may walk upon a floor above that
occupied by his betters.--GARRICK MALLERY, _Popular
Science Monthly_.
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