Directory_and_Chronicle_1845 — Page 222

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plains which are laid out in fields and dotted with villages. The hills themselves are generally too barren and rugged to admit of cultiva- tion-where water, however, can be procured at a sufficient elevation, the sides of these hills are terraced and made to yield some vegetables to the hand of industry. In one or two instances, there are small table-lands lying on the the summit of this range which also have their well ordered farms and contiguous villages. The principal use to which the sides of these rocky hills are appropriated, is to supply burial places for the numerous dead. The city of Amoy is situated on the western side of the island and its population, living and dead, comp- letely covers the hills and vallies in and around the place. So nume- rous are the graves that one can scarcely avoid them in his rambles beyond the suburbs of the city. They protrude their unseemly forms on every side of the path and impart a gloomy aspect to the sur- rounding scenery.

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Leaving the hills and passing to the north and east portions of the island, one finds himself in a beautiful region of country, thickly studded with compact built villages and teeming with human beings. This section of the island is comparatively level and is under com- plete cultivation. It is a great relief to the mind to ramble beyond the limits of the city and its adjacent burial grounds and enter this region where the prospect is scarcely marred by a single monument of mortality. The roads or paths are generally narrow but afford pleasant walking, or riding on horseback.

The soil of the island is naturally thin and unproductive, except in the small vallies where water is found and where the mould of the higher regions has been collected by mountain torrents. The industry of the Chinese has, however, in some measure overcome the original barrenness of the ground and now secures tolerably good crops. The productions consist chiefly of sweet potatoes, paddy, wheat, sugar- cane, ground-nuts and garden vegetables. The prevailing feature of the island, except where the hand of cultivation is constantly employ- ed, is naked barrenness. The eye searches in vain, except in a few favored spots, for the larger species of the vegetable kingdom. In the villages and around the temples, the comfort and convenience of men, have prompted them to plant and nourish a few shade trees and on the tops of some of the hills a few scattered firs are growing. The island produces no fruits except such as may be found in very limited quantities in private gardens. The markets of the city are abundantly