the richer people do not go out much while it is wet, the poorer
classes wear a dress that protects them from the weather. In the
rainy season, for instance, a Chinese boatman wears a coat of straw,
and a hat of straw and bamboo. Such a dress, of course, renders an
Umbrella superfluous, and it matters little to the wearer how hard
the rain may pelt. Nevertheless great numbers of Umbrellas are
exported from China to India, the Indian Archipelago, and even South
America. In the 1851 Exhibition two only were shown. Of them the
report says, "They present nothing remarkable beyond the great number
of ribs, which amount to forty-two. The ribs are formed of wood; and
instead of being embraced by the fork of the stretcher, as in the
case of European Umbrellas, they have a groove cut out in the middle
of their lengths, into which the stretcher is secured by a stud of
wood. The head of each rib fits into a notch formed in the ring of
wood, which is fastened on to the top of the stick, there being a
separate, notch for each rib. The slide is of wood, and has forty-two
notches, namely, one for each stretcher, which like the ribs, is
formed of wood. The covering of the Umbrellas exhibited is of oiled
paper coarsely painted."

But the use of the Umbrella travelled westward, and with it the
custom of regarding it as a mark of dignity.

Amongst the Arabs the Umbrella was a mark of distinction. Niebuhr,
who travelled in Southern Arabia, describes a procession of the Iman
of Sanah. In it the Iman and each of the princes of his numerous
family, caused a _madalla,_ or large Umbrella, to be carried by
his side; and it is a privilege which, in this country, is
appropriated to princes of the blood, just as the Sultan of
Constantinople permits none but his vizier to have his caique, or