226 



TEA DISTKICTS OF CHINA. Chap. XTII. 



the perspiration streaming from every pore, I began 

 to think of fever and ague, and all those ills which 

 the traveller is subject to in this unhealthy climate. 

 We reached the top of the hill at last, and our eyes 

 were gladdened with the sight of a rich luxuriant 

 spot, which I knew at once to be near a Buddhist 

 temple. Being a considerable way in advance of 

 my chairbearers and coolies, I sat down under the 

 shade of a tree to rest and get cool before I entered 

 its sacred precincts. In a few minutes my people 

 arrived with smiling countenances, for they had got a 

 glimpse of the temple through the trees, and knew 

 that rest and refreshment awaited them. 



The Buddhist priesthood seem always to have 

 selected the most beautiful spots for the erection of 

 their temples and dwellings. Many of these places 

 owe their chief beauty to the protection and cultiva- 

 tion of trees. The wood near a Buddhist temple in 

 China is carefully protected, and hence a traveller 

 can always distinguish their situation, even when 

 some miles distant. In this respect these priests 

 resemble the enlightened monks and abbots of the 

 olden time, to whose taste and care we owe some of 

 the richest and most beautiful sylvan scenery in 

 Europe. 



The temple, or collection of temples, which we 

 now approached, was situated on the sloping side of 

 a small valley, or basin, on the top of Woo-e-shan, 

 which seemed as if it had been scooped out for the 

 purpose. At the bottom of this basin a small lake 

 was seen glistening through the trees, and covered 



