Page:Ling-Nam; or, Interior views of southern China, including explorations in the hitherto untraversed island of Hainan (IA cu31924023225307).pdf/47

 “The City of Rams.” 43

and animation, is holding their attention while he ex- pounds the doctrines of Christianity.

Under the double gate we pass one of the oldest structures in the city, dating back to the fourth or fifth century, stopping for a few moments to examine the water clock in the tower over the gate, which has been measuring time by drops for several centuries.

Entering the crowded thoroughfare that bisects the city in a line from the east to the west gate, we soon come to the city Palladium, often called the “Temple of Horrors,” where idolatry in its most rampant form is always to be seen. About the doors are throngs of beggars, most persistent in their claims for the wealth- giving cash, while inside are itinerant traders, tinkers, dentists, herb-doctors, jugglers, fortune-tellers, sweet- meat-traders, gamblers, and a perfect babel of noise and disorder. Qn either side, in separate stalls, are fine representations of the Buddhist hell, where the most hideous physical tortures are depicted, and at the main shrine is a throng of worshippers, men, women, and children, prostrating themselves. Delicate ladies, who ordinarily would scarcely venture to a neighbour's house, are here pushed and jostled in the crowd as they seek some boon from the patron deity. Clouds of incense and smoke from burning paper and candles, combiued with the heat, suffocate us, while the din of the incessant ex- plosion of fire crackers is most deafening. This temple is leased by the Prefect to a company at a rent varying from $4,000 to $7,000 a year, this rent, and the fortune expected in addition, being made from the proceeds of worship.