RISING GROUNDS. 291 



in the wet feafon would drown or wafh away 

 all the feeds ; or the plants, when deprived of 

 earth by the wailiing of the water, would be 

 too much expofed to the following heat and 

 drought. To prevent thefe inconveniencies, 

 the Chinefe have endeavoured to reduce the 

 hills into plains, or at leaf! to make them fimi- 

 lar to plains, by terraces, whofe height and 

 breadth are adapted to the declivity. Thefe 

 terraces they employ for feveral forts of 

 plants h ; and to each they give fuch a fitua- 

 tion as heft correfponds with its nature. Thofe 

 which can bear the greatefl drynefs are dif- 

 pofed at the top ; the more tender ones at the 

 bottom. When the rain has foftened the foil 

 in the upper terraces, the water is conveyed 

 by canals into the lower ones ; which there- 

 fore, befides the rain which falls upon them, 

 receive likewife the fuperfluous water of the 

 upper ones. 



The terraces, which are fometimes four or 

 five feet above one another, acquire fuch hard 

 folic! banks by rain and funfhine, that they 

 would (land for many years. However, they 

 have planted them with feveral trees, whole 



h In this manner did the Jews in the Holy Land culti- 

 ▼ate their hills. See Maundrel's Travels. 



U 2 roots 



