CHAPTER VII.
ODDS AND ENDS OF DECORATION.
T seems a pity that sofas and
chairs made of straw or bamboo
should not be more used than
they are. I mean, used as they
come from the maker's hands,
not painted or gilded, and becushioned and
bedizened into hopeless vulgarity. They are only
admissible au naturel, and should stand upon
their own merits. Those we have as yet attempted
to make in England are exceedingly weak and
ugly compared with the same sort of thing from
other countries. In Madeira, for instance, the
chairs, baskets, and even tables, are very superior
in strength and durability, as well as in correctness
of outline, to those made in England; and when
we go further off, to the East, we find a still
greater improvement in furniture made of bamboo.
Here is a chair (Fig. 23), of a pattern familiar to all
travellers on the P. and O. boats, and whose acquaint-
