tower, eight feet in diameter and eighteen in height, with a small pit, where a fire can be kindled, in the floor.  Over this pit is an armchair, to which the deceased bonze is fastened in full costume.  Logs and dry brushwood are disposed all round, and the whole is set fire to, and the doors closed.  In an hour they are again opened, the ashes strewed around the tower, and the bones preserved until the period for opening the mausoleum, which is only once every year.

A striking feature in the garden is this beautiful water-rose, or lotus-flower (nymphaea nelumbo), which was originally a native of China.  The Chinese admire this flower so much, that they have ponds dug in their gardens expressly for it.  It is about six inches in diameter, and generally white—­very rarely pale red.  The seeds resemble in size and taste those of the hazel; and the roots, when cooked, are said to taste like artichokes.

There are more than a hundred bonzes who reside in the temple of Honan.  In their ordinary dress, they differ nothing from the common Chinamen, the only means of recognising them being by their heads, which are entirely shaved.  Neither these nor any other priests can boast, as I was told, of being in the least respected by the people.

Our second excursion was to the Half-way Pagoda, so called by the English from its lying half way between Canton and Whampoa.  We went up the Pearl stream to it.  It stands upon a small eminence near a village, in the midst of immense fields of rice, and is composed of nine stories, 170 feet high.  Its circumference is not very considerable, but nearly the same all the way up, which gives it the look of a tower.  I was informed that this pagoda was formerly one of the most celebrated in China, but it has long ceased to be used.  The interior was completely empty; there were neither statues nor any other ornaments; nor were there any floors to prevent the eye from seeing to the very top.  On the outside, small balconies without railings surround each story, to which access is gained by steep and narrow flights of stairs.  These projecting balconies produce a very fine effect, being built of coloured bricks, very artistically laid, and faced with variegated tiles.  The bricks are placed in rows, with their points jutting obliquely outwards, so that the points project about four inches over one another.  At a distance, the work seems as if it were half pierced through, and from the beautiful colours and fineness of the tiles, a person might easily mistake the entire mass for porcelain.

While we were viewing the pagoda, the whole population of the village had assembled round about us, and as they behaved with tolerable quietness, we determined on paying a visit to the village itself.  The houses, or rather huts, were small and built of brick, and with the exception of their flat roofs, presented nothing peculiar.  The rooms did not possess a ceiling of their own, but were simply covered by the roof; the floor was formed of earth closely pressed together, and the internal walls consisted partly of bamboo-mats.  What little furniture there was, was exceedingly dirty.  About the middle of the village was a small temple, with a few lamps burning dimly before the principal divinity.