Miscellaneous. 



451 



trade of granite, very handsomely worked. In the middle there is an 

 altar cut out of a single block of the same rock, and close to it, an 

 enormous bell of cast-metal suspended to pillars of granite. 



Notwithstanding the number of ages these monuments have existed, 

 they are in a perfect state of preservation, which proves the solidity of 

 their construction. 



The heat was insupportable during my ascent of In-Shan, and I was 

 dying of thirst ; but a fresh breeze, and some mulberries which I ga- 

 thered on the summit of the mountain, restored my strength. A kind 

 Providence seems to have thrown some seeds of that tree into a fissure 

 of the altar expressly to alleviate the fatigues of the traveller. With 

 the exception of this mulberry tree, there was not a single plant to be 

 seen in that enclosure. 



While I was resting myself, the guide astonished me by his fool- 

 hardiness. The abyss over which the mountain projects is so deep, 

 that it is hardly possible to look down into it without feeling giddy ; 

 but this man, careless of danger, springing upon the top of the bal- 

 lustrade, went twice round the plateau, jumping from pillar to pillar, 

 distant about one and a half archine from each other. It made me 

 shudder to see him expose himself to so much danger, but he pre- 

 served the greatest coolness, and I did not observe the slightest trace 

 of emotion on his countenance. 



The view from the summit of In-Shan is magnificent. It is the most 

 commanding point in the country. Before me, the crests of the moun- 

 tains, illuminated by the setting sun, stretch out like the waves of the 

 sea ; over head, is a clear blue sky, and in the horizon other chains 

 appear, varying as much in their forms as in the beauty of their tints. 

 From this spot the view embraces an immense space — a pure and light 

 air is inhaled with delight. While I am observing, a majestic eagle 

 hovers so near as almost to graze my head ; around me is the silence 

 of the desert ; alone in the distance, on the flank of the mountain, a 

 shepherd is driving his flock towards the plain; and here and there 

 rich pastures display their verdure. 



Water is very generally wanting in the northern mountains, and 

 only small rivulets, formed by the moisture derived from the atmos- 

 phere are met with in the valleys ; one of them takes its rise at the 

 base of Mount In-Shan, disappears for half its course under detrital 

 blocks and alluvia, to appear again as a spring near the temple of 

 Loun-Tzouan-Sy. Its water is very pure, and is reckoned the best in 

 the environs of Pekin. It has been dammed up for the purpose of 

 turning a flour-mill with a horizontal wheel. This place is extremely 



