R U S S I A A N D C H I N ii. 229 



fbme by hideous fhrieks, others by knocking wood, and 

 beating, cauldrons ; the din was heightened by ftriking 

 the bell and beating the kettle drums of the great Pago- 

 da. The Chinefe fuppofe, that during an eclipfe the 

 wicked fpirit of the air, called by the Mongols Arachul- 

 la, is attacking the moon ; and that he is frightened 

 away by thefe hideous Ihrieks and noifesw Another in-r 

 fiance of" fuperftition fell under the obfervation of Mr. 

 Pallas, while he was at Maimatfchin. A fire broke out 

 in that town with fuch violence that feveral houfes were 

 inflames. None of the inhabitants^ however, attempted 

 to extinguifli it ; they ftood indeed in idle confternation 

 round the fire ;. and fome of them fprinkled occafionally 

 water among the flames, in order to footh the fire god,, 

 who, as they imagined, had chofen their houfes for a 

 facrifice. Indeed if the Ruflians had not exerted them- 

 felves in quenching the fire, the whole place would pro- 

 bably have been reduced to afhes *. 



* This account of Kiachta and Maimatfchin is taken from. Mr. Pal- 

 las's defcription of Kiachta, in the journal of his travels through Siberia, 

 p.iii. p- 109 — 126. Every circumllance relating to the religious vvor-- 

 lliip of the Eaftern nations is, in itfelf fo interefling that I thought it would . 

 not be unacceptable to my readers to give, a tranflation of the above paf- 

 fages refpedting the Chinefe Pagodas and Idols : although in a work 

 treating of the new difcoveries, and the commerce which is connected 

 with them. In the abovementioned journal the ingenious author con- ■ 

 tinues to defcribe from his own obfervations the manners, cultoms, drcfs, 

 diet, and feveral other particulars relative to the Chinefe ; which, al- ■ 

 though exceedingly curious and interefling, are foreign to my prefent 

 purpofe, and would have been incompatible with the fize of the prefent 

 work.- 



