sea, with all its islands, on the other." Dr. Milne asserts that Ningpo is 10,000 years old, and that the pagoda was raised antecedent to the city being built. He concludes by explaining the object of the Chinese in raising these monuments.
PAGODA—NINGPO.
The view from the summit is remarkably fine, and the ruinous condition of the pagoda almost warrants the supposition of its being nearly as ancient as Dr. Milne asserts. I made a drawing of it, and we then proceeded to the joss-house, which is considered as the handsomest in the Celestial empire. No part of the building was visible from the street, and we stopped at an unpretending door where we dismounted from our vehicles. A Bhuddist priest, clothed in grey and his head shaved, ushered us through a long gallery into the court-yard of the temple. To describe this building accurately would be impossible. It was gilt and carved from floor to ceiling. The porch was supported by pillars of stone beautifully carved with figures of griffins and snakes. In the court-yard were two lions carved out of a purple marble, and in the middle of the yard was an immense brazen ram highly ornamented with hieroglyphics and allegorical designs. As for the temple itself, it was so vast, so intricate, and so various in its designs and gildings, that I can only say picture to yourself a building composed entirely of carving, coloured porcelain, and gilding, and then you may have a faint idea of it. I attempted to make a drawing of it, but before I had obtained much more than the outline, it was time to recross the river. We dined and passed the evening with Mr. Mackenzie as before. The next morning I walked to the Chinese cemetery with my gun in my hand, and shot a few snipe and wood pigeons, and after breakfast we crossed the river to pay a visit to the shops of Ningpo. The streets of the city are narrow, but superior to any that we had yet seen. The principal streets are ornamented with stone arches, and the huge painted boards used by the Chinese for advertisements give them a very gay appearance. We first entered into a furniture warehouse, some 300 yards in length, and filled with Chinese bedsteads carved and gilt in a very splendid manner. These bedsteads consist of moveable frames about twelve feet square, and within them are disposed couches, chairs, tables, and the requisites for the toilet, besides a writing desk, so that a bedstead in China contains all the furniture of the room. Some of these were valued at five and six hundred dollars, but were very highly ornamented and of exquisite workmanship.
A hat shop was the next visited. Its interior would have been considered splendid even in Regent Street. A long highly polished counter with a top of cane-work, was loaded with the hats and caps of Mandarins of every class, and the display was very tempting to those who wanted them. We then passed five minutes in a porcelain warehouse; from the warehouse we went to a toy-shop, and being by this time pretty well encumbered with mandarins' hats and caps, gongs, and a variety of other articles which we did not want, at the same time making the discovery that our purses were not encumbered with dollars as they were when we set forth, we thought it advisable to leave off shopping for the day.
The next day we visited the Hall of Confucius, which was not worth seeing, nor could we discover to what use it was dedicated, so we turned from it and went off to see a Chinese play. As we proceeded to the theatre we were surprised to hear a lad singing "Jim along Josey," we turned round and found it was a real pig tail who was singing, and we inquired where he learnt the air. We found that he had served on board one of our vessels during the Chinese war, so we hired the young traitor as a cicerone during our stay at Ningpo, and ordered him to follow us to the theatre, which as usual was a temple or joss-house.