Chap. II. 



SCENE IN TEMPLE. 



31 



contained a number of small sticks, each having a 

 Chinese character upon it. An adept in shaking 

 can easily detach one of these sticks from the 

 others, and when it falls upon the floor it is picked 

 up and taken to a priest, who reads the character 

 and refers to his book for the interpretation 

 thereof. A small slip of paper is now given to 

 the devotee, which he carries home with him, and 

 places in his house or in his fields, in order to 

 bring him good luck. I observed that not unfre- 

 quently it was very difficult to satisfy these persons 

 with the paper given to them by the priest, and 

 that they often referred to those who were standing 

 around, and asked their opinion on the matter. 



The scene altogether was a striking one, and was 

 well calculated to make a deep impression on the 

 mind of any one looking on as I was. Hundreds 

 of candles were burning on the altars, clouds of in- 

 cense were rising and filling the atmosphere ; from 

 time to time a large drum was struck which could 

 be heard at a distance outside the building ; and 

 bells were tinkling and mingling their sounds with 

 those of the monster drum. The sounds of many 

 of these bells are finer than anything I ever heard 

 in England. Most of the fine ones are ancient, 

 and were made at a time when the arts ranked 

 higher in China than they do at the present day. 



In the midst of all these religious services, 

 which candour compels me to say were outwardly 

 most devoutly performed, things were going on 

 amongst the worshippers which as foreigners and 



