392 SPORTING IN BOTH HEMISPHERES. 



with foliage, appeared in sight, and after emerging from 

 beneath the high and overshadowed banks of a canal, we 

 suddenly found ourselves launched upon the Tai-hou, or 

 Great Lake, here, at the entrance, extremely shallow, and it 

 was as much as we could do to make our way even in our 

 boats, that drew very little water. 



We came to anchor near a handsome town constructed of 

 granite (which is here found of the finest quality), at the 

 foot of a mountain, and were quickly surrounded by numbers 

 of boats, attracted by curiosity, as we no longer concealed 

 our persons, as at Sou-Cheou-Fou, and to dispose of fruits and 

 vegetables. The people were all remarkably civil, and we 

 soon landed, with the view of ascending the mountain named 

 Tung-Tang-Ting-San, about a thousand feet high. Many of 

 the natives accompanied us, and several Buddhist priests. 

 We passed groves of evergreens, amongst which the cypress 

 predominated, and where vast numbers of ancient tombs, 

 temples, and joss-houses were scattered about, and on 

 arriving, by a rather steep ascent, at the summit of the 

 mountain, the prospect embraced what might have been 

 termed an inland ocean, studded with islands, the shores of 

 which were lined with towns and villages, and the slopes of 

 the hills covered with pagodas, temples, and tombs, em- 

 bosomed in foliage. The whole of this magnificent pano- 

 rama was lighted up and gilded by the setting sun, and in 

 contrast to the flat uninteresting country through which we 

 had hitherto passed, the effect was magnificent in the ex- 

 treme. The circumference of the Tai-hou Lake, including all 

 its sinuosities, is said to be three thousand eight hundred 

 lee, or more than one thousand miles, but rarely more than 

 a few fathoms in depth. In fact it is a vast inland swamp, 

 continually undergoing the process of draining on all sides, 

 and gradually diminishing in size and depth. We saw no 

 game-birds of any kind, but great numbers of rooks fre- 



