Cuar. XIII] CITY OF CADING. 255 
thing we ean do is to go to bed again until day- 
light.” This being agreed to, we were soon all once 
more sound asleep. When morning dawned, | 
sent my servant into the town of Cading with a 
few dollars, which procured me another dress, and 
we proceeded on our journey. 
The city of Cading is large and fortified, ~ 
although the walls and ramparts are in a state 
of decay. It is evidently a very ancient place. 
Here a large quantity of the celebrated carving is 
done, for which the Chinese in the north are so 
well known. After leaving this town, the canal 
which was narrow, continued in a_ northerly 
direction for a few miles, and then, all at once, our 
little boat shot out of it into a broad and beautiful 
canal, resembling a lake or broad river, running 
nearly east and west, and probably connecting 
itself with the Yang-tse-kiang river, somewhere 
between Woosung and Nanking. The scenery 
here is extremely striking; the broad and smooth 
canal bears on its waters hundreds of Chinese boats 
of all sizes, under sail, and each hurrying to its 
place of destination; pagodas here and there dre 
seen rearing their heads above the woods and 
Budhist temples, which are scattered over this 
wide and extensive plain. One of these temples 
crowns a solitary little hill named Quin-san, which 
at certain seasons of the year is visited by crowds 
of people from Soo-chow and the neighbouring 
towns; the whole country, as far as the eye can 
reach, is one vast rice-field, and everywhere the 
