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CH. XX.] regained the carriage, was conveyed home, hoping to enjoy the comforts of a good supper and all the indescribable et cæteras of an English fireside: but, in this, I was partly disappointed: a good supper, much better than play-goers generally have in England, was ready for us, but the et cæteras were sadly deficient. The comedor, or eating room, had two doors, one leading into a long passage communicating with the kitchen, and the other with the court-yard; I should have said door-ways, for there were doors to neither:—the inhabitants suffer so much, in general, from heat, that they never guard against the probability of cold or inclement weather, but rather court its influence as an agreeable exchange, and seem to "shiver with delight" whenever they feel it. Not being of this temperament, I had ordered the Chinese to suspend a curtain against the door-way which opened upon the court yard, and with many shrugs and misgivings, which were not equally participated by the rest of the