of the church of Christ. (Groans and marks of disapprobation.)"

Dr. Noble acted with great calmness and firmness in catechising the pervert Priest; the crowded audience were evidently quite dissatisfied with his explanations, and the meeting broke up with the most cordial expressions of sympathy for the suffering family.-Bulwark.

A JOURNEY IN CHINA.

[A CORRESPONDENT of the "Athenæum" relates some incidents of a journey to the Snowy Valley in the province of Chekiang. It will be seen from his adventure that a Chinese temple is not accounted a very sacred place.]

LEAVING Ningpo about midday, with the first of the flood-tide, a party of English gentlemen and myself sailed rapidly up the river in some small country-boats which we had hired for the journey. The country through which we passed, and which may be called the plain of Ningpo, is perfectly level, and is not remarkable for any striking feature; but it is exceedingly fertile, and produces large crops of rice, which is the staple food of the inhabitants. It is thickly covered with small towns, villages, and farmhouses; and, like all the fertile plains in China which have come under my observation, it teems with population. As our boatmen went on during the night, we found ourselves next morning at the base of the hills which bound the plain on the south-west, and in the district of Fung-hwa. On one of these hills stands a pagoda, which is visible for many miles, and from which an excellent view of the low country is obtained. Making our boats fast to the river-bank, we stepped on shore, and took the first turning which led to the hill on which the pagoda stands. When we reached the summit of this hill, which appeared to be about one thousand feet above the level of the sea, we were rewarded with one of those splendid views which are, perhaps, more striking in the fertile districts of China than in any other country. Beneath us, and stretching to the north and eastward, was

the level plain through which we had passed during the night. The city of Ningpo occupied its centre, and it seemed bounded on all sides, except the north and east, by hills and mountains varying in height from one thousand to three thousand feet,-while far away to the eastward lay the islands of the Chusan Archipelago, studded about in the China Sea.

After inspecting the pagoda, we proceeded onwards in our boats to a place called Ta-foo-tou, which is a few miles further up the river, and as far as it is navigable for boats. We remained here for the night, and made preparations for a land-journey to the Snowy Valley, which we determined to take on the following day. Early next morning, while breakfast was getting ready, we went to see a pretty small temple called the Seou-Wang-Meou, which the people told us was well worth visiting. This temple is finely situated on a small hill, having rich woods behind and the river winding past in front; but as a building it is chiefly remarkable for a most elaborately-carved stone altar, the finest specimen of the kind which I have met with in China. While engaged in examining this curious work of Chinese art, a respectable-looking old man came running breathless into the temple, and introduced himself as Mr. A-chang, and told us he was a Mandarin, or small Government officer connected with the temple. A slight glance at his features told us he was no common man. He was most loquacious, and particularly civil and obliging: he went all over the edifice with us, explaining, or endeavouring to explain, the elaborate carving of the altar and the various rude pictures which covered the walls. Having a long journey before us, we had little time to spare, and were, therefore, obliged to take a hurried leave of our obliging friend, who told us he would pay us a visit at our boats before we started for the Falls. We had just finished breakfast, when, to our surprise, the old gentleman presented himself, dressed, and evidently prepared for a journey. "Ah!" said he, "I told you I would see you before you started; and I have made up my mind to go with you, and show you the road." As he seemed a most amusing character, and, moreover, was VOL. XVIII. Second Series.

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most useful in enabling us to make arrangements with coolies and chair-bearers, we made no objection to his joining our party. And we had no reason to regret the circumstance; for he was invaluable as a guide, and afforded a rich fund of amusement. Our coolies being at last engaged, and loaded with some few necessaries, and our mountain-chairs all ready, we despatched our boats to another part of the country, a place called Ning-Kang-jou, some miles further west, and on another branch of the river.

From Ta-foo-tou to the Snowy Valley the distance is about nine or ten miles. Headed by our Mandarin friend, and surrounded by hundreds of the natives of both sexes, old and young, we started on our journey. The road, which was a narrow footpath, led us up the valley; and every now and then we approached the banks of the stream, which was now quite narrow, shallow, and in some places very rapid. Although no longer navigated by boats, it was still made to serve the purpose of the industrious inhabitants in a number of other ways. Small rafts, made by lashing a few bamboo-poles together, were plying about in all directions, bringing the productions of the hills down to Ta-foo-tou, where they could be put into boats, and so conveyed onwards to the lowland towns for sale. Large quantities of basket-tea, liquid indigo, paper, mats, wood, and such-like hill-productions were observed coming down the river in this way. Fish seemed most abundant in the little stream; and as it was now far beyond the influence of tides, and clear as crystal, my old friends, the fishing cormorants, were employed in catching large fish for their masters, and small ones for themselves.

The valley through which we passed, although in many places very sandy, from the effects of the swelling of mountain-streams, was yet generally rich and fertile. On the road, at stated distances apart, were covered resting-places for travellers; where shelter from a storm, or shade from the noonday sun, might be had by rich or by poor, "without money and without price." Little villages and farm-houses were observed, clustered about in various directions;

and

the labourers who were at work in the fields seemed happy and unoppressed. Looking upon a quiet scene like this, one can scarcely believe that a civil war is raging in the country, not a greater distance off than one hundred miles, where acts of savage cruelty are daily perpetrated which make one's blood run cold. Yet such is the fact.

After winding up the valley for about six miles, we came to the foot of a mountain-pass, and began gradually to ascend. As we reached a higher elevation, the scenery became more varied in appearance than it had been in the plain, and very beautiful. We were surrounded by hills and mountains of every conceivable form: some were peaked, precipitous, and barren, while others sloped gently upwards, and were covered densely with pines and brushWood. Far away down in the valley below us the little stream, at whose source we had now arrived, was seen winding its way amongst the hills, and hastening onwards to swell the noble river which flows past the city of Ningpo.

When we arrived at the top of the pass, we found ourselves at the entrance of the Snowy Valley, which lay a little beyond, and nearly at the same elevation, estimated at about two thousand feet above the level of the sea. This valley is surrounded on all sides by mountains. At one point is the pass which I have just noticed; and at another is an opening for a small mountain-stream, which, as it leaves the Valley, falls over a precipice of rocks into a glen some three or four hundred feet below. The temple of the Snowy Valley, an old and dilapidated Buddhist building, occupies the centre or upper end of the valley; and to that we proceeded, in order to procure quarters for the night for ourselves and our coolies. Here we found our old Chinese friend ready to receive us, and, with the Priests of the monastery, gave us a cordial and hearty welcome. It was now late in the afternoon, within an hour of sunset; but as our baggage had not arrived, we determined to go out and visit the upper part of the Falls, reserving the lower, or glen view, until the following morning. To our surprise, Mr. A-chang, who had walked all the way, and who we supposed must be very tired, intimated his intention of

accompanying us. We therefore set out with him as our guide; and in a few minutes we reached the edge of the valley, and heard the noise of the falls. As we followed our guide along a small path, through trees and brushwood, we were scarcely prepared for the view which was about to be presented to our eyes. All at once we arrived at the edge of a precipice, which made us quite giddy as we looked over it. The water rolled out of the valley over the precipice; and long before it reached the bottom it was converted into showers of spray. Far below us was a deep and narrow glen, through which the little stream was quietly meandering after leaving the falls. As we skirted the mountains on the west side of the Snowy Valley, we found our progress every now and then arrested by perpendicular rocks, such as I have just noticed; and during the rainy season there are several other falls, which, our guide informed us, were not much inferior in beauty to that which we had just visited.

As it was now nearly dark, and rather dangerous work travelling among such scenery, we retraced our steps to the old monastery. Here we found our coolies had arrived with our beds and other necessaries, and the cook was busy preparing dinner. When our meal was ready, we requested Mr. A-chang to honour us with his company, and all sat down with a full determination to do justice to the viands before us, and for which the long journey and fresh air of the mountains had made us fully prepared. A-chang seemed to relish the dinner, English though it was, as much as any of us. He ate with knife and fork, tossed off his glass of beer, and took wine with us all round, in the most approved manner. When dinner was over, he asked for a cigar and a glass of brandy-and-water, and evidently intended to enjoy himself for this evening at least. In order to amuse and humour him, we proposed his health with "three times three," and made the old temple ring again as we gave him a specimen of our national airs, "Rule Britannia” and "God save the Queen." But the old man was not to be outdone he returned thanks to us for drinking his health; he recited poetry of his own; sung Chinese songs, and every