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boats, apparently connected with the farmstead, lay in the creek, pro- tected by a stout fence of wattles from marauders going up and down the river. The whole boat population came into the floor, and after a few friendly words, we left them to proceed on our way. In passing through an avenue of fine plantain trees, which lay between the floor and the hill, I was led to observe the sagacity of the Chinese in planting this succulent vegetable in a spot where it would have plenty of nourishinent in the driest weather, at the same time that its roots served to strengthen the bank, and its fallen leaves manure the adja- cent fields.
"The pagoda stands on a bluff hill of old red sandstone; the side towards the river is quite precipitous, a narrow path leading up to the top. About half the way up this path, we reached a ledge a rod or more broad, and came to more quarries similar to those at the base, but much more extensive. These excavations showed that the Chi. nese were well acquainted with cutting out freestone. Myriads of tons had been removed, and the walls had been in most cases left perpen- dicular; in their general aspect, they strongly reminded me of those at Silsilis on the Nile, though here the effects of moisture and vegetation had concealed most of the rubbish.
"As we mounted the brow of the hill, the landscape began to open upon us, and to increase in beauty as well as extent, so that by the time we had reached the foot of the pagoda, we were fully repaid for the toilsome ascent, aud the discomfort of getting wet and missing our path. The pagoda stood alone; not a building, nor anything was near to show that habitations had ever clustered around it; while the old citadel wall a few rods off indicated that this hill had not always been thus lonely. The larger portion of the hill was covered with plats of vegetables and a few fields of rice, raised for the most part on numerous terraces, which gave the impression of former agricultural labors far greater than the present.
"We mounted by the stairs in the walls to the eighth story, meeting here a disjointed human skeleton, the remains of some poor wretch who had probably gone up in this lonely tower to die. The prospect around us was magnificent and picturesque in a high degree. From our lofty point of view, Lintin I. and the city of Canton were both visi. ble, and the pagodas at Whampoa and Canton stood like guardians of the Inner Land. On the east, lay the wide expanse of the Pearl river, here called the Sea of Lions, and more than a mile wide; its further shore was once the scene of mortal strife during the late with England; and its now peaceful waters were once illuminated by the lurid flames
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