" This city also contains the Tien-tan, or eminence of heaven. On this building is inscribed the character Lien, or heaven. It is circular, to represent the concave of hea ven, as the Tee-tan, or temple of the earth, is square. agreeable to the notions of the ancient Chinese." P. 327.
Palace between llai-tien and Yucn-min-yucn. " It was settled that the chief articles should be placed on each side of the throne, in a hall of audience. This hall was very magnificent on the outside. Its approach was through three quadrangular courts, surrounded by separate build ings. It stood on a platform of granite, which was about four feet above the court in front. The roof was sup ported by a double row of wooden pillars, painted red and varnished, and the capitals decorated with different figures, highly coloured, especially with dragons, the feet of each having five claws. The figures of these monsters. exhibited on the houses and furniture of the princes of the court, have bIlt four claws, the fifth being reserved for the emperor only. The entablature of the edifice is encompassed with a net of gilt wire, to keep of the birds from settling on any of the projections. The ball within side is above 100 feet long, upwards of 40 broad, and above 20 in height. Opening pannels are placed between the inmost row of pillars on the south side." P. 317-8.
Farm house at Lowang. " In the way they were in vited into a farm house by the tenant, who, with his son, regarded them with astonishment. The house was of wood, the uprights of which were of the natural form of the timber. The roof, which was without a ceiling, was covered with the straw of rice. The floor was of earth beat hard, and the rooms were divided by mats hanging from the beams. Two cotton spinning wheels NV( re in the outermost; but the females had retired. Clusters of bamboo grew round the house, and also the sort of palm whose leaf resembles a fan, and is used as such. P. 173.
" The houses near the river (Pei-hoo) appeared as if they were built of mud, but on a nearer examination they were found to be of bricks baked in the sun, which, as well as the tiles on the roofs, were afterwards plastered with a substance like mud. There is no lime, except from sea shells or stones, to be had at any great distance from the river, and a pebble is accounted a rarity." 1'. 217.
" The houses were mostly built of a lead coloured brick ; those of the meanest habitations were of pale brown, and very few were red.
" These different colours have probably arisen from the method of making the bricks. The brown had only been exposed to the solar heat ; the blue to a wood fire in kilns, without being affected by the flames ; while the red had sustained the force of the flame. On moulding
the clay into its proper form, it is the eastern custom to lay the bricks in regular rows upon one another, having layers of straw between each range. Many houses here have two stories, contrary to the Chinese mode in gene ral." P. 277-8 " The houses in most villages were enclosed with a fence made of the stems of the Kow-leang. Some of these villages are as large as European cities, but none are reckoned of note here, except such as are walled round.
" During this slow progress, hardly half an hour pass ed without bringing a town or village to view. The walls of the houses in the last were mostly of mud, baked in the sun, or moulded between planks, and bound with them till it was hard enough to bear a roof ; or of wicker work, coated with clay. The roofs were, in few instan ces, covered with green turf, but more generally with straw. The rooms were divided with lattice work, hung with broad paper, ornamented with images or moral sen tences. Each house has a court round it, enclosed with wattles, or the stem of the kow-leang. Neatness and order characterised the whole. The walls that sur rounded the towns were usually higher than the roofs of the houses within, and generally formed a square, facing the four cardinal points, with a gate in each. The streets were mostly narrow. The few large buildings were ei ther for public uses, or the dwellings of men in office. The habitations, as well as the dress of the great, are regulated by particular laws, and with an especial regard to the convenience of the poor. The houses were ge nerally plain, and of one story, the foundations being of freestone or granite, brought from the adjacent moun tains. The walls were mostly of brick, and the roofs co vered with rows of tiles, alternately concave and convex, cemented by clay. The larch fir is chiefly used in build ing. The windows are small, and made of paper. So little is iron used, that hardly a nail is to be seen in any houses. The floors are of marble or indurated earth. In more elegant buildings, a range of pillars, made of the tru.,ti:s of firs, ran parallel to the outer walls, and formed a gallery. Thus the body of the roof rests on the walls, and the projecting part on the pillars. In some structures are double or treble roofs, a few feet above each other. The chief doors and windows of public buildings look to the south. These are, chiefly, a hall of audience for the administration of justice, college for students, temples, granaries to hold supplies against scarcity, and a public library. Common houses have no columns, but the shops have two poles crossed with boards, on which are inscriptions and representations of what arc sold within.