Cuar. X.] POO-TO-SAN — ITS TEMPLES AND IDOLS. 183 
Even on the top of the highest hill, probably 1500 
or 1800 feet above the level of the sea, we found a 
temple of considerable size and in excellent repair. 
There are winding stone steps from the sea beach 
all the way up to this temple, and a small resting- 
place about half way up the hill, where the weary 
devotee may rest and drink of the refreshing stream 
which flows down the sides of the mountain, and 
in the little temple close at hand, which is also 
crowded with idols, he can supplicate Budha for 
strength to enable him to reach the end of his 
journey. We were surprised to find a Budhist 
temple in such excellent order as the one on the 
summit of the hill provedto bein. It isa striking 
fact, that almost all these places are crumbling fast 
into ruins. There are a few exceptions, in cases 
where they happen to get a good name amongst 
the people from the supposed kindness of the gods; 
but the great mass are in a state of decay. 
From the upper temple on Poo-to-san the view is 
strikingly grand. Rugged mountains are seen rising 
one above another and capped with clouds. Hun- 
dreds of islands, some fertile, others rocky and 
barren, lay scattered over thesea. When we looked 
in one direction amongst the islands, the water was 
yellow and muddy ; but, to the eastward, the deep 
blue ocean had resumed its usual colour, and the line 
between the yellow waters and the blue was dis- 
tinctly and curiously marked. 
The wood on the island is preserved in the same 
manner as it is around all the other Budhist temples. 
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