The negroes are lovers of ludicrous actions, and hence all their
ceremonies seem farcical. The greater part pull the fingers till they
crack. Snelgrave gives an odd representation of the embassy which the
king of Dahomy sent to him. The ceremonies of salutation consisted in
the most ridiculous contortions. When two negro monarchs visit, they
embrace in snapping three times the middle finger.

Barbarous nations frequently imprint on their salutations the
dispositions of their character. When the inhabitants of Carmena (says
Athenæus) would show a peculiar mark of esteem, they breathed a vein,
and presented for the beverage of their friend the flowing blood. The
Franks tore the hair from their head, and presented it to the person
they saluted. The slave cut his hair, and offered it to his master.

The Chinese are singularly affected in their personal civilities. They
even calculate the number of their reverences. These are the most
remarkable postures. The men move their hands in an affectionate manner,
while they are joined together on the breast, and bow their head a
little. If they respect a person, they raise their hands joined, and
then lower them to the earth in bending the body. If two persons meet
after a long separation, they both fall on their knees and bend the face
to the earth, and this ceremony they repeat two or three times. Surely
we may differ here with the sentiment of Montaigne, and confess this
ceremony to be ridiculous. It arises from their national affectation.
They substitute artificial ceremonies for natural actions.

Their expressions mean as little as their ceremonies. If a Chinese is
asked how he finds himself in health, he answers, _Very well; thanks to
your abundant felicity_. If they would tell a man that he looks well,