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Tinghái mun is the fourth gate. Of these sixteen, the 1st, 2d, 3d 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 13th, as we have numbered them above, be- Jong to the district of Nánhái, and the other eight belong to that of Pwányii. A few soldiers are stationed at each of the gates, to watch them by day, and to close and guard them by night. They are shut at an early hour in the evening, and opened at dawn of day. Except on special occasions, no one is allowed to pass in or out during the nightwatches; but a small fee will usually open the way, yet always exposes the keepers to punishment.
We must now extend our description, so as to include the suburbs, the streets and buildings of which differ very little, if at all, from those within the walls. On the west they spread out nearly in the from of an isosceles triangle, opening to the northwest, having the river on the south, and the western wall of the city on the east, for its two equal sides. On the south they occupy the whole space
be- tween the wall and the river. On the east they are much less ex- tensive than on the west. There are no buildings on the north, ex- cept a few small huts near the principal gate. Taken collectively, the suburbs are scarcely less extensive or less populous than the part of the city within the walls. * * *
In the buildings of Canton, we have doubtless as great a variety of structure and style, and as fair speimens of Chinese taste and art, as can be found in the whole empire. A large part of the city and suburbs is built on low ground or flats. Special care, therefore, is requisite in order to secure for houses and temples a solid basis. Near the river, and in all the most loose or muddy situations, houses are raised on wooden piles, which make their foundations nearly as secure as brick or stone could make them. In some cases the piles rise above the surface of the ground, and then the buildings, con- structed of wood, rest directly on them: but in other instances the piles reach only within a few feet of the surface, and the remaining part of the foundation is made of mud, brick, or stone. When this is done, the walls of the houses are usually carried up and completed with the same materials. Not a few of the houses are entirely bas- eless, or have only a slender foundation of mud, of which also their walls are composed; and hence in severe rain-storms and overflow- ings of the river, such as frequently happen, many of the walls are prostrated.
Very few of the houses or temples of Canton have more than one