Polygamy is not allowed in Loo-choo as in China, and the king, it appears, is the only person permitted by law to have concubines; they invariably spoke with horror of the Chinese practice, which allows a plurality of wives, and were much gratified on learning that the English customs in this respect were similar to those of Loo-choo. The women are not treated so well as we were led to expect from the mildness of character in the men, and their liberality of thinking in general. The upper classes of women are confined a good deal to their houses, and the lower orders perform much of the hard work of husbandry. We saw them at a distance, in great numbers, carrying loads on their heads. Madera says that the women are not treated with much indulgence, being even restricted from using fans; and that when they are met out of doors by the men, they take no notice of one another, whatever may be the degree of relationship or intimacy subsisting between them. The perseverance with which they kept the women from our sight is curious, and leads us to conjecture that the general practice of the island is to seclude the women at all times. In this respect they differ from the Japanese, who are said to allow wives to every stranger. This degree of seclusion does not prevail in China, as we had opportunities of observing at several places never before visited by Europeans. The Chinese account quoted in the Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, vol. 23, states that the young men and women marry on this island by choice, and not, as in China, by a contract made without any personal knowledge of each other. We took every opportunity of interrogating them on this subject, but as the question was always evaded, we fear that their practice in this respect is not so praiseworthy as that account would make it appear. Of their literature we could get but few satisfactory accounts; they say that they have few books in their own language, the greater number on the island being Chinese. The young men of rank are sometimes sent to China to be educated. Jeeroo had been there when a boy. None but the upper classes understand the spoken Chinese, and the peasantry are in general ignorant both of the spoken and written Chinese language.