with comparative ease, enter into communion
with the people.

I was, however, induced to change my plan.
By good fortune, I formed acquaintance with
Herr von Carlowitz, a German, who had
resided for many years in Canton. He kindly
offered to act the part of my Mentor; and to
his courtesy I am indebted for having seen
more of China than any other European
woman ever saw.

Our first excursion was to the famous
Temple of Honan, accounted the most beautiful
in China. The temple and its surrounding
gardens are enclosed by a lofty wall. We first
entered a spacious outer court, at the further
end of which a colossal portal led into an
inner court. Beneath the arch of this portal
there were two figures of War-Gods, each
eighteen feet in height, and exceedingly fierce
in attitude and aspect. Their presence is
supposed to guard the entrance against evil
spirits. A second portal of the same kind,
beneath which were figures of the four
Celestial Kings, leads to the third, or inner-
most, court, in which the Grand Temple is
situated. The interior of this temple is about
a hundred feet square. The flat roof, whence
are suspended a multitude of glass lustres,
lamps, artificial flowers, and coloured silk
flags, is supported by a range of wooden
pillars. Numerous images, altars, vessels
filled with flowers and incense, candelabra,
wax-tapers, &c., give to the decorations of
this temple some resemblance to those of a
Catholic church. Near the entrance there
are three altars, and behind them three
statues, representing the god Buddha in three
different ways; allegorically personifying the
Past, the Present, and the Future. The
figures are of colossal proportions, and in
sitting attitudes.

It happened that service was being
performed in the Temple, at the moment when
we entered. It was a sort of mass for the
dead, which a mandarin had commanded for
his deceased wives. At the two side altars
there were officiating priests, whose garments,
as well as the ceremonies they were performing,
resembled those of the Catholic Church.
At the centre altar was the mandarin devoutly
engaged in prayer, whilst two attendants were
fanning him. He frequently kissed the
ground, and every time he performed this
ceremony, three perfumed tapers were
presented to him. Holding these in his hands,
he raised them up as high as he could reach,
and then gave them to a priest, who placed
them before one of the statues of Buddha,
but without lighting them. The musical
part of the service was performed by three
men; one strummed on a stringed instrument,
another struck a metal ball, and the third
played a sort of flute.

Besides this principal temple, there are
several minor temples and halls, all decorated
with images of gods. One of the smaller
temples is held in especial veneration. It
contains twenty-four images of the deity who
is supposed to preside over mercy. Some of
these images have six and others eight arms.
All the gods, Buddha included, are carved in
wood, gilt, and painted in a variety of tawdry
colours.

Our guide next conducted us to the
sanctuary of the Holy Swine—for the animal
which the Mohammadan holds in utter
detestation, the Chinese deifies. The interior
chiefly consists of a handsome stone hall;
and though some care is taken to keep
it clean, it does not smell much more
agreeably than pigstyes in general. The
holy swine are so watchfully tended and
abundantly fed, that they are usually killed
with kindness and die a premature death,
At the time of my visit, the sanctuary
contained only one happy pair; and I was
informed that there are seldom more than six
of the animals living at a time.

Adjoining the Temple of the Sacred Swine
was the dwelling-place of one of the Bonzes or
priests. It consisted of a sitting-room and sleeping apartment, very neatly fitted up. The walls
of the sitting-room were ornamented with
wood carving, and the furniture was very
elegant and curious. In the dwelling of the
Bonze we saw an opium-smoker. He was
lying on the ground stretched on a mat, and
beside him he had a cup of tea, some fruit, a
lamp, and several very small pipes, through
one of which he was inhaling the inebriating
vapour. Not being in a state of total
unconsciousness when we entered, he arose slowly,
laid aside his pipe, and crawled to a seat.
His eyes were fixed, and a death-like pallor
pervaded his countenance. He was
altogether a most miserable-looking creature.

We were next conducted to the garden in
which the remains of the Bonzes are burned
after death—an honour accorded exclusively
to them, the remains of other persons being
merely buried. Our attention was directed to
a simple mausoleum, about thirty feet square,
in which the bones of the Bonzes are
preserved after the rest of their bodies have been
consumed by fire. At a little distance from
the mausoleum stands a tower built of stone,
about eight feet in diameter, and eighteen in
height. On the floor within the tower there
is a small hollow, in which a fire is kindled,
and the body of the dead Bonze, dressed in
full costume, and seated in an arm-chair, is
placed over this fire to be burned. Round
about it are laid wood and dry rice, and when
the whole begins to blaze up, the door of the
Tower is closed. After the lapse of an hour,
it is again opened, when the ashes are scattered
round the Tower. The bones of the Bonze are
left undisturbed for a year, after which time
they are collected and deposited in the
mausoleum. Another remarkable object in this
garden is the beautiful water-rose, or Lotus
ower (Nymphæa Nelumbo), which properly
claims China as its native land. The Chinese
are so fond of this flower, that for the sake of