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"Previous to the removal of the corpse, bonzes, to the number of 200, assembled to assist in discharging the last rites. Around a temporary altar, which was erected in the hall where the dead man lay in state, many of the monks arranged themselves in order, and engaged in a mass for the repose of the soul of their departed brother. At the close of this ceremony, an aged priest, clad in purple vestments, came forward, and presented to the portrait of the deceased, which was suspended above the temporary altar to which I have referred, the insignia of the high office which, it appears, the departed friar had at one time held. A conductor of ceremonies then gave commands for the removal of the corpse -a command which was quickly obeyed. The priests now arranged themselves in long rows on each side of the avenue by which the monastery is approached, and, as the coffin was borne past, they followed it, two abreast, to its last resting-place. At the outer gate of the monastery two monks were stationed, whose duty consisted in giving to each respectable person present a small piece of silver money. Each gift of this nature was inclosed in a white paper envelope, upon which Chinese characters, implying 'lucky money,' were written. A great many gentlemen from the city and its environs, who were friends of the deceased, joined this sombre cavalcade. Each of them, as well as each of the monks, wore on the occasion a broad white sash round his waist."

As regards architecture and internal arrangement, all the large monasteries are precisely alike. As the visitor enters the gates his attention is arrested by two large figures. These are called Chun-Kee and Ma-Sic, and the gates are supposed to be in their charge. Under a second gateway there are four figures called Mo-li-Hang, Mo-li-Shon, Mo-li-Hoi, and Mo-li-Ching, of equal size with the former, and placed two on each side. They are described as the representatives of the North, South, East, and West of China, and are supposed to give effect with alacrity to the will of Buddha. Beyond the second gateway is the principal hall of the temple, in which are placed the three idols known as Buddha Past, Present, and Future. In the rear of this principal hall are two others, the one of which contains a dagoba,' under

1 Many of these dagobas are made of white marble, and are very grand and imposing. The dagoba in the Hoi-Tong-sze, or Ocean Banner Monastery, is magnificent, but it is surpassed by one in a large Lama temple at the north side of the city of Pekin. On the sides of this dagoba there are representations of

which there is a relic of Buddha, and the other an idol of the goddess of Mercy. There are also several other smaller shrines of Kwan-te, Vishnu, and other deities of less note. One of these contains an idol of the first abbot of the monastery. Before it is placed a board on which are recorded the names of all the departed abbots of the cloister. On each side of the large courtyards in which the principal halls of the temple are erected, are rows of cells for the monks, a visitors' hall, a refectory, and, sometimes, a printing-office, where the liturgical services used by the priests, new works on the tenets of Buddha, and tracts for general distribution are printed. The visitors' hall consists of two chambers, between which there is a courtyard. On entering this hall the visitor goes to what is termed the lowest chamber where he remains until he is bidden by the priest whose duty it is to receive the guests, to a more honourable apartment. The refectories are very large, and the priests, who are regarded as guests, are so disposed at table as to enable the abbot, who is ex officio their host, to see their countenances. Tables are arranged on each side of the hall, and only a single row of monks is seated at each table, their faces, of course, being turned inwards, while the abbot presides on a daïs placed at the upper end between the rows. In a country where people are so much addicted to form and ceremony, the observance of this custom is looked upon as the essence of politeness. The priests are summoned to breakfast and dinner by a gong, and are obliged to appear on such occasions attired in their cowls. When they are all assembled and seated, a master of ceremonies makes his appearance, and, at a sign from him, they all rise from their seats, and, placing their hands in the attitude of prayer, repeat a grace. A portion of the food thus blessed is then placed on a stand at the door of the refectory, as an offering to the fowls of the air an observance which is much appreciated by a large Buddha's birth; his early training for the priesthood; his narrow escape from the hands of wild barbarians, who plotted his destruction; his merciful preservation by the interposition of a sacred flower, which is ever attending upon him; his death and deification. Under the dagoba, a dress of Buddha is said to have been deposited. Dagobas, in some instances, are of a pagoda-shape, as in the Flowery Forest Monastery in the city of Canton, and in the Ma-cha Monastery in th vicinity of the same city.

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company of sparrows, who present themselves with polite. regularity at the hours of breakfast and dinner. The food served in the refectory is of a vegetable nature only. As such a diet, however, although prescribed by the rules of the order, is distasteful to the priests, all who have incomes sufficiently large have private messes, consisting of six or eight members, at which roast pork, boiled fowl, and salt fish are eaten with great relish, and occasionally washed down by potations of strong spirituous liquor. While at dinner in the refectory, the priests are supposed to maintain strict silence, although there is no Reader, as in many Christian monasteries, to occupy their attention. The walls of the dining-room, however, are covered with boards, upon some of which are painted in very legible characters quotations from various moral writers, warning the priests of the impropriety of eating too hastily or impatiently, and urging the importance of the rules of the dining-room. Upon others are recorded the rules of the monastery, and the vows of the monks.

In some of the temples the idols are very numerous, and in Yang-chow Foo I visited one in which there are said to be no fewer than ten thousand. The idols, which are very diminutive, are contained in one large hall, and in their fanciful but orderly arrangement present a very singular appearance. In the centre of the hall stands a pavilion of wood, most elaborately carved, under which is placed a large idol of Buddha. The pavilion within and without is literally studded with small idols which are, I believe, different representations of the same deity. On each of the four sides of the hall are small brackets supporting idols of Buddha; and a still larger number of these are placed on the beams and pillars of the vaulted roof. Two are full-sized figures of the sleeping Buddha. At Pekin and Canton there. are halls precisely similar. The hall of ten thousand idols at Canton is, like the monastery of which it forms a part, in a most ruinous state, and the majority of the idols with which its walls were at one time adorned have disappeared.

Idols1 are usually made of wood, but clay is also frequently

In a monastery at Hae-loong-tang, in the province of Chi-li, I saw, on an altar, figures in copper of human beings, males and females, which somewhat