the royal household, though subordinate to her in rank. When a husband accuses his wife of infidelity, and she asserts that she is guiltless, her oath is taken in writing, and laid on water; if it swims she is esteemed innocent. This crime, like most others in Japan, is punished with death. The men of the Aleutian or Fox islands are glad in times of scarcity to barter away a wife for a fish or a leather bottle full of train-oil. Sometimes one woman lives with two husbands; and often leaves a second or third to return to the first with all her children. These islanders frequently exchange wives with each other, and have not the slightest idea of any dishonor connected with the infamy of their women. Under these circumstances, it is not wonderful that the females are destitute of modesty. The men of the Fox islands wear frocks neatly made of the skins of birds, which look beautifully when the variegated feathers glisten in the sunshine. The women wear the more homely covering of the ice-bear, with the hairy side outward. They decorate these unwieldy robes with strips of leather, covered with beads, shells, or sea-parrots’ bills. The wing-bones of the sea-mew furnish them with needles, and seals’ nerves are used for thread. Rude as these implements are, their workmanship is exceedingly curious and delicate. The women tattoo themselves in such a manner, that they look as if they had mustaches. * * * * * The Ainos, or native inhabitants of the Kurile islands, are modest even to bashfulness. The men are very shy about allowing strangers to hold any communication with their wives and daughters. Their tattooed hands, swarthy faces, jet black hair hanging over their foreheads, and lips stained blue, are not much calculated to excite the admiration of those accustomed to civilized life. The Ainos, of both sexes, are remarkable for the gentleness and strict honesty of their characters. [Illustration: Asiatic women baking bread.] [Illustration: Egyptian women bringing water for their conquerors.] AFRICA. It has been said Egypt was the first nation that became civilized, and framed wise laws, by which they agreed to be governed. It had reached the height of its grandeur, and was beginning to decay, while nations which we call ancient were yet in their infancy. Moses, the great lawgiver of the Jews, is said to have been learned in “all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” Thebes, with its hundred gates and immense population, was a subject of wonder and praise even in the days of Homer. Solon and Herodotus, Pythagoras and Plato, travelled in Egypt to witness her magnificent works of art, and gather from the far-famed stores of her intellectual wealth.