broad piece of water, the débouchement of the Grand Canal. There was a great crowd of boats in all directions, but the passage was clear to the Grand Canal, which opened directly in front, and was spanned by one of the largest single-arched bridges I have ever seen. We turned to the right, and passing through the crowded junks soon came to another canal, up which we went. The sides of this canal and the country

in every direction around Soo-chow, are completely covered by the suburbs of the great city, which extend for more than two miles in this direction alone. In these suburbs I first saw monumental arches. They consist of four stone columns of from 15 to 25 feet high, surmounted by an entablature decorated with bronze ornaments. They are erected by private individuals in commemoration of some person or event.

After clearing the outskirts of this city, we again anchored for the night. The thermometer had been up to 95° in our cabin during the day, and fell only about ten degrees at night, so that we suffered considerably from the heat. The mosquitoes, too, which abound on this and other canals, troubled us not a little, as our quarters were too contracted to allow of rigging the mosquito nets properly.

The next day found us among a range of hills, perhaps 900 feet high. As soon as we turned out, we determined to ascend them. There was a walk of a mile to the foot of the hills, across rice-fields which had been watered till they were soft mud for six or eight inches deep, and we could only obtain a footing by walking on the narrow banks of the little sluices which conducted the water in different directions. We had a hard climb of an hour to the summit, but when there, the view quite repaid us. On one side, about ten miles off, lay the city of Soo-chow, in a valley, still enveloped by mist, from which emerged its lofty pagodas. On the other, the great lake of China, the Ty-hao, lay spread out before us. The chain on which we stood, stretched thirty or forty miles on each side of us, separating the valley of the lake from that of the city. The rest of the country was a dead level, with the silver network of the canals shining clearly out through the fog, which still lingered on the low ground. We went into a

small joss-house, which we found on top of the mountain, and ate a light breakfast: after which we began our descent in a slightly different direction. The side of the hill by which we had ascended was almost bare, with only a few low scrubbushes here and there. Our path in descending, however, led through a grove of pine-trees, surrounding a mandarin's tomb. The trees afforded us a pleasant protection against the rays of the sun, which had now risen so high as to be uncomfortably warm. The tomb was in an enclosed space of about an acre and a half, surrounded by a stone wall, and planted with cypress and fir-trees. The enclosure was, in shape, a narrow parallellogram, and, as it was situated on the slope of the hill, had been divided into three smaller courts, separated by flights of stone steps to equalize the ascent. In each division was a pond, planted with lotuses, and surrounded by a stone coping; and scattered about each, were uncouth and colossal statues of horses and dogs. At the highest extremity of the upper division was a stone temple, about twenty feet square, which, I suppose, held the body. The entrance was at the lowest extremity of the whole enclosure, the wall on each side being drawn out in a semicircle, broken by an iron gate about fifteen feet wide. Two gigantic stone effigies of watch-dogs acted as janitors. This was the largest private tomb which I saw, but there were several others, on this same hill-side, on a similar plan, but smaller and less elaborately arranged. Subsequently we frequently saw these homes of the dead-the trees which they enclosed lending cheerfulness, and an appearance of nature, to the otherwise monotonous and artificial landscape.

We joined our boat some distance further up the canal, about ten o'clock, and went steadily on all day toward the Ty-hao, keeping under the foot of the hills, round the extremity of which it was necessary to pass to enter the lake. About nightfall, the canal widened into an open bight of water, and we were in an arm of the Ty-hao. We kept on till the inlet was a quarter of a mile broad, from one low bank to the other, and then anchored for the night in three feet of water. The canal through which we had come during the day, was nar

rower than either of those in which we had been the day before, and after returning from the ascent of the hill, we saw nothing of special interest. The heat was intense all day long, the thermometer standing, for six hours, at 98° in the shade. As nightfall did not bring much alleviation, we sought coolness, and a deliverance from the swarms of mosquitoes, by plunging into the muddy lake, in which we continued for a couple of hours, lying under the water, supported by a short rope from the boat, and occasionally eluding the pursuit of a pertinacious mosquito by plunging wholly under the surface. Before retiring for the night we loaded our revolvers, and fired them off twice, to frighten off any pirates who might be in the vicinity. These canals and lakes are infested by pirates and water thieves, who levy black mail on all the weaker craft. They act, however, with no little moderation-seldom taking more than one third of a boat's cargo. This course commonly prevents a prosecution. Mr. Fortune, who was sent up country by the East India Company to buy tea-plants, was one night robbed, on one of these canals, of a tin box containing all his papers and some silver dollars. The money was to him a matter of importance, but the loss of the papers was irreparable. A hole had been sawn in the side of the boat, and the box taken from under his pillow as he slept. He remained all day at the same place, trying, ineffectually, to discover some trace of the offenders, and had given up all hopes, when, the next night, his boat was hailed from the bank, and a voice informed them that if a man were sent ashore, he would find the box on the tow-path. He accordingly sent ashore and recovered his box, in which not an article had been damaged or removed, except the dollars, which were, of course, all gone. The thieves had, no doubt, surmised, what was actually the case, that the papers were of more importance to Mr. Fortune than the money, and hoped, by returning them, to avoid any further enquiry into the occurrence.

CHAPTER VI.

A TRIP INLAND.-CONTINUED.

Ascend Toong-toong-ting-shan-The View-The Great Lake of China-A Beautiful Canal--Villages-Return to Soo-chow-Grand Canal-A Customs' Barrier-A Chinese Fort-Ping-bong-Chinzà-Nan-zing-Effect of Drought on Rice Fields-Our Examination by Mandarins-Preparations for the Rebels-Hoo-chow-Pretty Girls -Are compelled to return to Shanghae-Bridge at Yang-kow-shin-Kahing-Troops -Mandarin's House in Lake-Arrive again at Shanghae-Charity in China.

Ar daybreak on the morning of the 13th, we ascended the Toong-toong-ting-shan, a hill about five hundred feet high, which separated the inlet, in which we had passed the night, from the body of the lake. The shape of the hill was irregular, being cut up by deep gullies, around the sides of which wound the long flight of stone steps conducting to the summit. On the top is a Boodhist monastery, of thirty or forty monks, and we passed several minor establishments on the way up. These religious houses, as well as the pathway, were well sheltered by trees. At the highest point, above the large monastery, is a small joss-house, under the shade of which we partook of breakfast. An old woman officiated as genius loci, and was terribly frightened by our offering her an empty claret bottle, fearing that it might be in some way connected with a spell, or the Evil Eye. After breakfast, we remained on the summit for a quarter of an hour, enjoying the view. Behind us was the inlet from which we had come, and the low country stretching toward Shanghae; in front another inlet, separated from the first by the hill on which we were; and beyond it another hill, precisely the counterpart of the first, the Si-toong-ting-shan, the summit of which was also occupied by a monastic establishment. On our right stretched the great lake for a hundred miles, bounded by the range of

hills behind us, round which we had come on the previous day.

The sun soon became too hot to make a longer exposure to its rays desirable, and we descended to our boat, stopping only to visit the large monastery. This establishment was composed of several quadrangles, surrounded by the cells of monks. At the extremity of the furthest was the temple, in no way remarkable. All the buildings were of stone, and the whole was surrounded by a high stone wall, and shaded by magnificent trees. We saw only a few monks. They were dressed in loose lilac gowns, and had the hair of the head entirely shaven. Many of these Boodhist foundations in China are very rich, and as the monastic vows can be cancelled at will, they afford a sort of asylum to indigent persons who seek a retirement from the troubles of the world in the quiet of the cloister, from which they can emerge at will should better times smile upon them.

On returning to the boat, and consulting with the mate, we found that the lowness of the water in the Ty-hao would prevent our crossing it, which was the nearest route to Hoochow, a city which we desired to visit. We, therefore, reluctantly determined to strike into another canal, and proceed to Hoo-chow by a much more round-about route.

The Ty-hao, though the largest lake in China, is never more than six or eight feet deep, and when we visited it was in most places not more than two or three feet deep, while some parts were quite dry. This was owing to the two or three months' drought, which it was feared would cause a famine in all the northern part of China, by lowering the great canals, and drying up their smaller and shallower branches, on which the country depended for irrigation. In the south of China, on the other hand, they had had that year just the opposite trouble, the country being flooded, villages entirely covered by water, and the crops destroyed in consequence of violent and long-continued rains.

The canal which we now entered was a fine one, and apparently well kept up. It was frequently spanned by tall stone bridges, which were in good condition, and some of them