idolatrous. The Bonze, in high indignation, closed the door, and
summoned his brethren, who hurried in from all sides, and jostled and
pushed and pressed, while using the most violent language. It was not
without difficulty they forced their way through the crowd, and escaped
from the temple.

The guide next led the curiosity-hunters to the so-called House of the
Sacred Swine. The greatest attention is paid to these porcine treasures,
and they reside in a spacious stone hall; but not the less is the
atmosphere heavy with odours that are not exactly those of Araby the
Blest. Throughout their sluggish existence the swine are carefully fed
and cherished, and no cruel knife cuts short the thread of their destiny.
At the time of Madame Pfeiffer's visit only one pair were enjoying their
_otium cum dignitate_, and the number rarely exceeds three pairs.

Peeping into the interior of a Bonze's house, the company came upon an
opium-smoker. He lay stretched upon a mat, with small tea-cups beside
him, some fruit, a tiny lamp, and several miniature-headed pipes, from
one of which he was inhaling the intoxicating smoke. It is said that
some of the Chinese opium-smokers consume as much as twenty or thirty
grains daily. This poor wretch was not wholly unconscious of the
presence of visitors; and, laying by his pipe, he raised himself from the
ground, and dragged his body to a chair. With deadly pale face and
fixed, staring eyes, he presented a miserable appearance.

* * * * *

Our traveller also visited a pagoda,--the Half-Way Pagoda; so called by
the English because it is situated half-way between Canton and Whampoa.
On a small hillock, in the midst of vast tracts of rice, it raises its
nine stories to a height of one hundred and seventy feet. Though
formerly of great repute, it is now deserted. The interior has been
stripped of statues and ornaments, and the floors having been removed,
the visitor sees to the very summit. Externally, each stage is indicated
by a small balcony without railing, access being obtained by steep and
narrow flights of stairs. A picturesque effect is produced by these
projections, as everybody knows who has examined a "willow-pattern"
plate. They are built of coloured bricks, which are laid in rows, with
their points jutting obliquely outwards, and faced with variegated tiles.

Even more interesting was Madame Pfeiffer's peep into the "domestic
interior" of Mandarin Howqua.

The house was