182 poo-TO-SAN —ITS TEMPLES AND IDOLS. [Cuap. X. 
The temples or halls which contain the idols 
are extremely spacious, and resemble those which 
I have already described at Tein-tung and Ah-yu- 
Wang. These idols, many of which are thirty or 
forty feet in height, are generally made of wood or 
clay, and then richly gilt. There is one small 
temple, however, of a very unassuming appearance, 
where we met with some exquisite bronze statues, 
which would be considered of great value in Eng- 
land. These, of course, were much smaller than 
the others, but, viewed as works of art, they were 
by far the finest which I saw during my travels in 
China. 
Having examined these temples, we pursued our 
way towards another assemblage of them, about 
two miles to the eastward and close on the sea- 
shore. We entered the courts through a kind of 
triumphal arch, which looks out upon the sea, and 
found that these temples were constructed upon 
the same plan as all the others. As we had 
determined to make this part of the island our 
home during our stay, we fixed upon the cleanest 
looking temple, and asked the High Priest to allow 
us, without farther delay, to put our beds and 
travelling baggage into it. 
On the following day we inspected various parts 
of the island. Besides the large temples just no- 
ticed, there are about sixty or seventy smaller ones, 
built on all the hill sides, each of which contains 
three or four priests, who are all under the superior, 
or abbot, who resides near one of the large temples. 
