Page:Through China with a camera.pdf/253

 rods of glass, set so closely together as almost to imitate basketwork. The light shines through these rods with a very effective lustre; and though no lamps of the sort, so far as I know, have yet been introduced into this country, they would form very attractive novelties at a garden fete.

There are many charming resorts in the vicinity of Foochow ; but to my mind *'Fang-Kuang-Yen-tien-chuan," better known as the "Yuan-fu" monastery, is the most fascinating of them all. It was my good fortune to visit that retreat as the guest of a foreign merchant, who made up a party for a cruise on the Yuan-fu branch of the river Min. Intense cold with drifting sleet made the prospect ahead unpromising. The bold moun- tains known to the natives as the " Wu-hu " or " five tiger " range, were wrapped in a thin veil of mist ; but it was nearly mid-day before the last shred of vapour had withdrawn from the rugged overhanging crag, which has been called the ** Lover's Leap." The mountains rise to a considerable altitude about this part of the river, and terminate in bold rocky cliffs ; but beneath, wherever an available patch of soil is to be found, it has been terraced and cultivated up to the very face of the rocks. Two days were spent amid a ceaseless diversity of grand river and mountain scenery ; and on the third morning, at a short distance above the first rapid, we landed to make the journey to Yuan- fu monastery. My friends had brought their sedans and bearers with them; as for me, I hired one at the nearest village, my dog, as was his custom, at once scrambling inside, and stowing himself comfortably beneath the seat. The chair being intended for mountain use, was so small that I had to sit in a cramped and awkward position. At one spot there is a flight of 400 steps (I had the curiosity to count them as our progress was slow), and this brought us to the entrance of the ravine overlooked