MACAO. 27 



specimens collected was a Rhus, Flemmyia, 

 Rosa, Malva, Cereopsis, &c. 



On the 1st of October I visited Macao. This 

 ancient colony of the Portuguese, in China, has 

 a very picturesque and romantic aspect on ap- 

 proaching it from the sea : it is situated upon a 

 peninsula, and, from bearing some resemblance 

 to a mallet, has received the name Macao, which 

 in the Portuguese language signifies that instru- 

 ment. The white houses, rising one above the 

 other ; the high mountains in the back-ground, 

 and about it; the castle, and monasteries, perched 

 on the elevated summits of some of the hills ; 

 the numerous sacred edifices, elevating them- 

 selves above the neighbouring houses, the most 

 conspicuous objects in all Roman Catholic coun- 

 tries, — all contribute to the beauty of this little 

 city : it seemed, both from the roadstead and on 

 landing, a Portuguese town, to which the taste 

 and wealth of our native land had been added, 

 not the least cause of its neatness or beauty : 

 it contains also very agreeable society, both for 

 residents and strangers. 



The streets of Macao are very narrow : this, 

 however, aflfords shelter to the pedestrian from 

 the fervent rays of the sun ; they are likewise 

 ill-paved and very steep, the houses rising from 

 the Praya Grande on one side, and the inner 



