368 RIVER SCENERY. [Cuar. XX. 
troops, it could defend the pass against the strongest 
force. 
A few miles below the city the river is blocked 
up, almost all the way across, with stones and old 
junks, which are covered at high water. I believe 
the intended plan of defence was, to wreck all our 
vessels on this barrier, and destroy our men by 
batteries erected near it! 
On the banks of the river are numerous temples, 
or joss houses, built in the most romantic and 
beautiful situations. A fig-tree (Ficus nitida) — 
a kind of Banyan —is a great, favourite with the 
priests, and is always found growing beside the 
temples, where its dark green leaves and wide- 
spreading branches afford an agreeable shade from 
the fierce rays of the sun. About nine miles below 
Foo-chow-foo, a pretty little pagoda stands on an 
island on the left bank of the river: near this is 
the anchorage for large vessels which it would not 
be prudent to take up to the town. All the low 
hills are neatly terraced and cultivated with sweet 
potatoes and earth-nuts, and on the more fertile of 
the mountains cultivation is carried on at least 
2500 feet above the level of the sea. But many of 
the mountains are quite barren; bare rocks of 
granite are showing themselves over their surface, 
from amongst which springs are almost always 
flowing, and when the water accumulates in the 
glens between the hills, it forms numerous beauti- 
ful cascades, as it tumbles down into the Min. 
Some parts of the region are well wooded, at least 
