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presence of foreigners in this region on shooting excursions after the wild fowl which abounds in these low grounds, has rendered the in- habitants well acquainted with them, so that no one who is disposed need hesitate to refresh himself with a visit to the Second Bar Pagoda.
"As we approached Whampoa, its pagoda formed a prominent object of view, and as it is equally known by name with the other, I make a short extract from the same topography in explanation of its erection. Like that it is built of brick in an octagonal form, but the walls are thicker, and the stairs do not ascend regularly, but are cut in alternate flights on opposite sides. The floors or timbers which mark- ed the several stories inside, and connected these stairways, have long since disappeared, so that now it is necessary to bring a stout plank to lay across from window to window as one goes up, pulling it up after as the ascent is made. The pagoda rests upon a substantial stone plinth, each of its eight sides being marked with one of the mystical diagrams of Fuhhí-in the eyes of the builders, doubtless considered to be essential to the prosperity of the building. It is finish- ed off circularly inside instead of angularly to correspond to the outside; the height is not far from 180 feet. The native account of the Hái Ngáu táhy or the Whampoa Pagoda is as follows:— "In the southeastern part of the district of Pwányü thirty li from Canton an island rises out of the river, about a hundred cubits high, having ether hillocks on it, like guitars in shape. In the reign of Wanlih of the Ming dynasty, A. D. 1598, Kwoh Fi, Wang Hioh-tsang, and Yang Sui-yun, officers of the Imperial Banqueting House, requested permission of the lieutenant- governor and treasurer to build a nine storied pagoda, which standing prominently in the midst of the waters, would greatly add to the view. They named it Hai-ngáu táh, or the Sea Whale pagoda; on the north a hall was built for Shángti, and on its side a monastery called the Hái-ngáu sz'. The governors Tai Yáu and Chin Tá-ko, with the two fuyuen Kú and Liú, also subscribed for its erection.' .
P
"The buildings here mentioned are now deserted by the priests, and so dilapidated, that they are hardly inhabitable; while the grounds about them, the walls, gateways and everything else, shows neglect and poverty-weeds having taken the place of flowers, and disorder of neatness and regularity. Ruin and solitude seem to be more in harmony, however, with these relics of olden time, and notwithstanding the zeal of some devout people, it is likely that the pagoda and its precincts will gradually become more neglected and ruinous, though it does not show symptoms of immediate falling.
"From the Whampoa pagoda the Halfway pagoda stands in a wes- terly direction, by the side of a small creek, called Lob creek by the