152 FA-TEE GARDENS [Cuar. 1X 
settlement, officers of the government, sent to 
apprehend thieves in the bay, have frequently failed 
to do so owing to this circumstance. The China- 
men, whenever they found that there was any 
danger of being taken, jumped all together over- 
board, diving out of sight, and swimming under 
water until they were out of the reach of their 
pursuers, or until they found shelter in some of 
the numerous boats belonging to their own clan, 
which lay moored in the bay. 
I lost no time in visiting the celebrated Fa-tee 
Gardens, near Canton, the “ flowery land,” as the 
name implies, from whence a great number of those 
fine plants were first procured which now decorate 
our gardens in England. They are situated two 
or three miles above the city, on the opposite side 
of the river, and are, in fact, Chinese nursery 
gardens, where plants are cultivated for sale. 
Here, then, I beheld a specimen of the far-famed 
system of Chinese gardening, about which we have 
read so much in European authors: I will, there- 
fore, describe them somewhat fully. The plants 
are principally kept in large pots arranged in rows 
along the sides of narrow paved walks, with the 
houses of the gardeners at the entrance through 
which the visitors pass to the gardens. There are 
about a dozen of these gardens, more or less ex- 
tensive, according to the business or wealth of the 
proprietor; but they are generally smaller than 
the smallest of our London nurseries. They have 
also stock-grounds, where the different plants are 
