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 danger in the larger and more populous cities. We offered one or two small silver coins to the children of the house, but the old gentleman would not permit them to be accepted, until it had been carefully explained to him that they were simple gifts to be worn as charms, and not intended as a recompense for his hospitality.

On the bank of the river in the Tsing-yune district, 1 nar- rowly escaped sinking into a quicksand. We spent a night before Tsing-yune city, but were kept awake by the noise of gongs and crackers, by the odour of joss-sticks, and by the smoke of cooking from the adjoining boats. At length we reached the Buddhist monastery of Fi-lai-sz, perhaps the most picturesque, and one of the most famous of its kind to be seen in the south of China. The building is approached from the brink of the river by a flight of broad granite steps; this con- ducts us to an outer gate, whereon is inscribed in characters of gold, "Hioh Shan Miau." The monastery has been built on a richly wooded hill-side, and half way up to it, on the verge of a mossy dell, we reach the Fi-lai-sz shrine. Three idols stand within this shrine, one of them representing, or supposed to represent, the pious founder. A favourite resting-place this for travellers, one where they are hospitably entertained, and where the monks, with impious sympathy for human weakness, supply their guests with opium, and sell carved sticks, cut from the sacred temple groves, as parting relics of their visit.

The Tsing-yune pass, in which the monastery lies, is in great repute as a burial-ground. There, thousands of graves front the river and stud the hill-slopes to a height of about 800 feet. To every grave there is a neat facing of stone, something in the form of a horse-shoe, or like an easy chair with a rounded back. The interior of the temple cloister is paved with granite