has been applied by De Guignes and other writers on China, to temples, in conformity with the usage of the word in India, where it originated; by other authors, principally English, it has been appropriated to the polygonal towers occurring in all parts of the country; and this restricted application is the best use of the term, since the word temple is better understood as designating edifices containing idols. The pagodas are usually called tah, but some which are inhabited and contain idols are called sz', or monastery. The two in the city of Canton were erected, it is affirmed, to bring and secure good luck to the region in accordance with the rules of the fungshwui, or wind and water doctrine. There are six others between Canton and Macao, none of them inhabited, but the people believe all of them exert a great influence upon the fortunes and prosperity of the surrounding region. These edifices are strongly built; one near West lake in Chehkiang is stated to have been erected fifteen centuries. They are always an odd number of stories, seldom less than five, and none more than eleven. Small octagonal houses, three stories high, are sometimes built as temples or literary halls, dedicated to the god of Letters.

There is a temple and pagoda near Hangchau fu, described by De Guignes, as "well built and kept in good repair, with the single exception of one building used for a magazine. The court contains two pavilions, one has a bell, the other a gong. The pagoda is beautiful, each of its eight sides being 28 feet wide, and the wall at the base, including the covered stairway, 18 feet thick. This stairway is about three feet wide, and ascends spirally between two walls, the inner of which is about six feet thick; the diameter of the room within is 18 feet, and each one contains niches for idols, except the top one, which upholds a large post that projects many feet beyond the roof; including this, the height is about 170 feet. There is a covered gallery at each story on the outside, which had begun to show the effects of time. The prospect from the summit is superb; we could discover the course of the river, and a part of the city and suburbs; near by were many tombs, which with vegetable gardens attached to the establishment, and the trees in their environs, heightened the picturesque scene. Fifty priests reside here, who told us the pagoda had been built seven hundred years; if so, the woodwork must have been often repaired."

CONSTRUCTION AND OBJECT OF PAGODAS.

19

Sir John Davis visited one near Lintsing chau in Shantung, in very good repair, inhabited by Budhist priests, and containing two idols; each of its nine stories was inscribed with Ometo Fuh, in large characters. It was erected since the completion of the Grand canal. A winding stairway of near 200 steps conducted to the top, about 150 feet from the ground, from whence an extensive and beautiful view was obtained of the surrounding country. The basement was excellently built of granite, and all the rest of glazed brick, beautifully joined and cemented.*

The appearance of a Chinese city when seen from a distance is unlike the view of European cities, in which spires, domes, and towers of churches and cathedrals, halls, palaces, and other public buildings, and green spots from squares and gardens intervening between the streets, relieve the uniformity of rows of dwellings; and stacks of chimneys or glittering roofs further add to the liveliness of the scene. In China, temples, houses, and palaces are nearly of one height; their sameness being only partially relieved by trees here and there, and pairs of tall flag-staffs with frames near their tops, which at a distance not a little resemble dismantled gallows. Nature, however, charms and delights, and few countries present more beautiful landscapes; even the tameness of the works of man serves as a foil for the diversified beauties of the cultivated landscape.

A Chinese usually travels by water, and in the south-eastern provinces, it may be said that vehicles solely designed for carrying travellers or goods do not exist, for the carts and wheelbarrows which are met with are few and so miserably made, as hardly to serve any purpose, or prove an exception to the remark. In the plains of Chihlí and about the capital, and further northward, they are more common but wretchedly made, the wheels being often solid, and fixed to short axletrees. Hundreds of them are to be hired in the streets of Peking, which are no better than oblong boxes fastened to an axle and cushioned to alleviate the jolting, and drawn by one horse; the passengers get in and out at the sides or front, where the driver sits close to the horse. In Kiangsí, wheelbarrows are made of a peculiar shape, and employed for transporting passengers and their baggage, but not to any great distance, nor is the same description of vehicle common in the other provinces.

* Voyages à Peking, tom. II., p. 79. Davis' Sketches, Vol. I.,

p.

213.

Where travelling by water is impossible, sedan chairs are used to carry passengers, and coolies with poles and slings transport their luggage and goods. There are two kinds of sedan, in both of which the traveller sits; the light one is made of bamboo, and so narrow that the sitter is obliged to lean forward as he is carried; the large one, called kiau, is, whether viewed in regard to lightness, comfort, or any other quality associated with such a mode of carriage, one of the most convenient articles found in any country. It is prohibited to the common people, but those possessing any kind of privilege are allowed to use it; two men easily support it on their shoulders, and can carry it four miles an hour. Goods are safely carried upon poles, and however large or heavy the package may be, the porters contrive to subdivide its weight between them by means of their sticks and slings. The number of persons who thus gain a livelihood is great, and in cities they are employed by head men, who contract for work just as carmen do elsewhere; or when unengaged by overseers, parties station themselves at corners and other public places, ready to start at a beck. A person going through the streets of Canton will often meet groups of brawny fellows idling away their time in smoking, gambling, sleeping, or jeering at the

MODES OF TRAVELLING.

21

wayfarers; and, like the husbandmen mentioned in the parable, if he ask them why they stand there all the day idle? will be in like manner answered, "Because no man hath hired us.”

The chairbearers also form a somewhat distinct clan, and the establishments where sedans and their bearers are to be hired suggest a comparison with the livery stables of western cities; the men in fact are nicknamed at Canton mo mí ma, i. e. tailless horses. There is a vehicle used sometimes by the emperor and high officers, consisting of an open chair set upon poles, and so made that the incumbent can be seen as well as see around him. It undergoes many changes in different parts of the country, as it is both cheap and light, and well fitted for traversing mountainous regions.

In the construction and management of their river craft the Chinese excel. Most of the boats are intended to be the residences of those who navigate them, and regard is had to this in their arrangement. Only a part of the fleets of boats seen on the river at Canton are intended for transportation, a large number being designed for fixed residences, and perhaps half of them are moored stem and stern in rows. They are not obliged to remain where they station themselves, but both the boats and their inmates are under the supervision of a water police, who register them and point out the position they may occupy. Boats for families, those in which oil, salt, fuel, or other articles are sold, lighters, passage-boats, flower-boats, and other kinds, are by this means grouped together, and more easily found. It was once ascertained that there were 84,000 boats registered as belonging to the city of Canton, but whether they all remained near the city and did not go to other parts of the district, or whether the old ones were erased from the register when broken up, was not ascertained; though it is not likely that at one time this number of boats ever lay opposite the city. No one who has been at Canton, can forget the bustling, noisy, and animating sight the river offers, nor failed to have noticed the good humored carefulness with which boats of every size pass each other without collision.

It is difficult to describe the many kinds of craft found on the Chinese waters, without the assistance of drawings. They are furnished with stern sculls, which move upon a pivot, and easily propel the boat amid the crowd. Large boats are furnished

with two or three, which, when not in use, are conveniently hauled in upon the side. They are provided with oars, the loom and blade of which are fastened by withs, and run in a band attached to a stake. The mast in some of the large cargo boats consists of two sticks, resting on the gunwales and meeting above, and so arranged as to be hoisted at pleasure; in those designed for residences, no provision is made for a mast, the oars and scull being sufficient for the moving required. Fishing boats, lighters, and craft required for the outer waters, have one or two permanent masts. In all except the smallest, a wale or frame projects from the side, on which the boatmen walk when poling the vessel. The sails are made of common matting, and sewed into a single sheet, and provided with yards at the top and bottom and bamboo ribs on the face, which serve to retain the loops that run on the mast, and enable the boatmen to haul them close on the wind. A driver is sometimes placed on the taffrail, and a small foresail near the bow, but the mainsail is the chief dependence; no Chinese boat has a bowsprit. Few sailors are more expert at managing their craft than the Chinese on the coast, but the boatmen in the interior are greatly their inferiors for address and

courage.

The internal arrangement of the dwelling-boats is simple, nor are they as dirty as the houses. The better sort are from 60 to 80 feet long, and about 15 wide, divided into three rooms; the stem is sharp, and upholds a platform on which, when they are moored alongside, it is easy to pass from one boat to another. Each one is secured by ropes to large hawsers, which run along the whole line at the bow and stern. The room nearest the bow is a sort of porch to the principal apartment, which occupies about half the body of the boat; the two are separated by trellis panels or a bulkhead, but the sternmost room, or sleeping apartment, is carefully screened. The cooking and washing are performed on the high framework astern, which is admirably contrived by means of furnaces and other conveniences above, and hatches and partitions below deck, to serve all these purposes, contain all the fuel and water necessary, and answer for a sleeping place for servants. By means of awnings and frameworks, the top of the boat also subserves many objects of work or pleasure. The windows are closed with shutters and curtains, and the woodwork is fancifully carved and painted, and no incon