61 ON CHINESE GARDENS. 



strous talons, mysterious, cabalistical sentences, inscribed oft 

 tables of brass, with preparations that yield a constant flame, 

 serving at once to astonish and guide the passenger ; from time to 

 time he is surprized with repeated shocks of electral impulse, 

 with showers of artificial rain, or sudden violent gusts of wind, 

 and instantaneous explosions of fire : the earth trembles under 

 him by the power of confined air, and his ear is continually struck 

 with many different sounds, produced by the same means, some 

 resembling the cries' of men in torment, ; some the roaring of 

 bulls and the cries of ferocious animals, with the yell of hounds, 

 and the voices of hunters; others are like the mixed croaking of 

 ravenous birds, and others imitate thunder, the raging of the sea, 

 the explosion of cannon, the sound of trumpets, and all the noise 

 of war. 



His road then lies through lofty woods, where serpents and 

 lizards of many beautiful sorts crawl upon the ground, and where 

 innumerable apes, cats and parrots, clamber upon the trees, to 

 intimidate him as he passes ; or through flowery thickets, where 

 he is delighted with the singing of birds, the harmony of flutes 

 and soft instrumental music ; sometimes in this romantic excur- 

 sion, the passenger finds himself in spacious recesses, surrounded 

 with arbors of jessamine, vine and roses, or in splendid pavilions, 

 richly painted and illuminated by the sun ; here beauteous Tar- 

 tarean damsels, in loose transparent robes, that flutter in the 

 scented air, present him rich wines, or invigorating infusions 

 of Ginseng, and amber, in goblets of agate ; mangostans, ananas, 

 and fruits of Quangsi, in baskets, of golden filagree; they crown 

 him with garlands of flowers, and invite him to taste the sweets of 

 retirement, on Persian carpets, and beds of camusathskin down. 



These enchanted scenes always abound with water-works so 

 contrived as to produce many surprising effects ; and many splen- 

 did pieces of scenery ; amongst which their Kia-king, or water 

 palaces, are the most extraordinary; they consist of many colo- 

 nades, arcades, galleries, and open cabinets, formed of smooth 

 sheets and jets of fair water, artfully rising or falling over grounds 

 of different coloured glass, or over innumerable lamps, which 

 varying the tints of the liquid, give to the structures the appear- 

 ance and lustre of diamond, sapphire, emerald, ruby, amethist 



and topaz, 



(To be continued.) 



