ON CHINESE GARDENS. 181 



aquatic birds ; and grottos, divided into many shining apartments, 

 adorned with marine productions, and gems of various sorts. 

 They plant upon these rocks all kinds of grass, creepers and 

 shrubs, which thrive in such situations, as moss, ground-ivy, fern, 

 stone-crop, common house-leek, and various other sorts of the 

 sedum, crane's-bill, dwarf box, rock roses, and broom ; with some 

 trees rooted into the crevices : and they place on their summits, 

 hermitages and idol temples, to which you ascend, by many 

 rugged, winding steps, cut in the rock. 



But far the most extraordinary, as well as the most pleasing of 

 their aquatic constructions, are the Hoei-ta, or submerged habi- 

 tations, consisting of many galleries, cabinets, and spacious halls, 

 built entirely under water ; their walls are decorated with beauti- 

 ful shells, corals, and sea-plants of all sorts, formed into many 

 singular shapes, and sunk into various irregularrecesses ; in which 

 are placed, in due order, Fung-shang, God of the Winds ; Bong- 

 hoy, Monarch of the Sea; Shu-Kong, King of the Waters ; with 

 all the inferior powers of the deep. The pavements are laid in 

 compartments of jasper, agat, and madrepores of Hay-nang, of the 

 many extraordinary kinds : the ceilings are entirely of glass, which 

 admits the light through the medium of the water, that rises 

 several feet above the summits of these structures ; the glass is of 

 various bright colours, very strong; and the different pieces, 

 artfully joined, to resist the pressure of the fluid with which they 

 are loaded. The use of these habitations, is the same as that of 

 Miao-ting, before described: they are resorted to, in very hot 

 weather, to feast and enjoy ; and it is singularly entertaining, in 

 the intervals of pleasure, to observe, through the crystal ceilings, 

 the agitation of the waters, the passage of vessels, and sports of 

 the fowl and fishes, that swim over the spectator's heads. 



On the borders of their lakes are seen extensive porticoes, and 

 many detached buildings, of different forms and dimensions, 

 accompanied with plantations, sea-ports with fleets of vessels lying 

 before them, forts with flags flying, and batteries of cannon : also, 

 thickets of flowering shrubs, meadows covered with cattle, corn 

 lands, cotton and sugar plantations, orchards ofvarious fruit-trees, 

 and rice grounds, which project into the lakes ; leaving, in the 

 midst of them, passages for boats : and, in some places, the bord- 

 ers consist of lofty woods, with creeks or rivers for the admission 

 of vessels, whose banks are covered with high grass, reeds, and 

 wild spreading trees, forming close gloomy arbours, under, which 



