Chap. VIII. ROADSIDE TEMPLES— THE BAMBOO. 155 



Having visited many places on my route to the 

 temple, it was past midday ere I reached its sacred 

 precincts. The large bronze bell in the belfry was 

 tolling, and the priests were hurrying to the great 

 hall, where their devotions were about to commence, 

 for " it was the hour of prayer." 



The hills in the vicinity of the temple are richly 

 wooded. Indeed the priests of this sect seem to pre- 

 serve, in a most scrupulous manner, the trees which 

 grow in the neighbourhood of their temples, and thus 

 contribute greatly to the beauty of the scenery. Some 

 fine trees of Cryptomeria japonica adorn the ap- 

 proaches to the temple ; and the largest specimens of 

 the Chinese pine (Pinus sinensis) which I have met 

 with in the country stand near it. There are also 

 some fine bamboo woods here, which deserve more 

 than a passing glance. The stems of this variety are 

 sometimes a foot in circumference, clean, straight, 

 and from thirty to fifty feet in height. Those rough 

 branching kinds which I have seen in India, and in 

 other parts of the world, are not to be compared to 

 the northern Chinese variety. It ought by all means 

 to be introduced into our Indian possessions in the 

 Himalayas, where it would be as useful to the natives 

 as it is to the Chinese. 



The bamboo is one of the most valuable trees in 

 China, and is used for almost every conceivable pur- 

 pose. It is employed in making soldiers' hats and 

 shields, umbrellas, soles of shoes, scaffolding poles, 

 measures, baskets, ropes, paper, pencil-holders, brooms, 

 sedan-chairs, pipes, flower-stakes and trellis-work in 



