es. They rode through some of the principal streets,
looked into the shops, and observed the pedlers; but all was about the
same as in Hong-Kong, except that the streets were wider in the latter.
The same goods were for sale. They looked into a tea saloon; and the
gentlemen entered an opium den, which nearly made some of them sick.

"This is called the Plain pagoda," said Mr. Inch, when they came to it.
"It was built a thousand years ago, and is one hundred and sixty feet
high."

They were taken to a couple of Joss-houses, or temples. A sort of tower
attracted their attention; and they were told that the one before them,
and hundreds of others, were occupied each by a watchman at night to
call out the hours of the night, and give the alarm in case of fire.
They halted before the nine-story pagoda, the most interesting structure
they had seen, and the most peculiarly Chinese.

"It is one hundred and seventy feet high, and was built thirteen hundred
years ago," Mr. Larch explained. "Brick, covered with marble or glazed
tile, is the material used. Each story is smaller than the one below it,
and each has a balcony around it."

"Now we come to the Temple of Honam, which is one of the largest in
China," said Mr. Inch, as they halted before its gates, after the party
got out of the sedans. "With its grounds it covers seven acres, and one
hundred and seventy-five priests are employed in it."

"What is the religion of these people?" asked Mrs. Woolridge.

"The priests and nuns of Canton number more than two thousand, and
nine-tenths of them are Buddhists. The Temple of Five Hundred Genii
contains that number of statues, various in size, and was erected in
honor of Buddha and his disciples."

At the usual hour the party went to lunch, and were tired, though they
had done but little walking. The sedans were dismissed till the next
morning; the afternoon was devoted to an excursion on the river, and
Tommy had been directed to provide the boats. They moved through the
wilderness of floating dwelling-places, and looked them over with wonder
and surprise. Many of the sampans were made of three planks; and the
people on board of them, mostly women, were exceedingly amusing.

Large junks, some of them from five hundred to sixteen hundred tons
burden, were to be seen, and long, broad, flat Chinese men-of-war, with
twenty to forty guns; but the latter are out of fashion now, and
modern-built vessels take their places. They have t