62 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. V, 
the whole to rise and fall to a certain extent with the tide. 
By this means there is sufficient room under the bridge 
to allow fishing and passage boats to pass through at all 
times of the tide, providing it is not running too strong. 
At spring tides the water rushes through these spaces 
between the boats with great velocity, and sometimes it 
is next to impossible to get through. 
The city itself is strongly fortified with high walls and 
ramparts about five miles round, and the space inside the 
walls is almost entirely filled with houses, in most parts 
densely crowded together. There are two or three very 
fine streets — finer, indeed, and wider than those of any 
other Chinese town which I have visited. A good view 
of the city and the surrounding country, as far as the eye 
can reach, is obtained from the top of a pagoda about 
one hundred and thirty feet high, having a staircase 
inside by which the top can be reached. (See following 
page.) This pagoda is named ^^Tien-foong-tah/' or the 
" Temple of the Heavenly Winds it is evidently very 
old, and, like many others of the same kind, is in a state 
of decay. Whenever I visited this place, the priests 
(Budhists) were always in attendance with their offer- 
ings of cake and tea, for which a small gratuity was 
expected. 
When I first landed at ]Ning-po, the British consul 
Mr. Thom, had not arrived, and I was quite at a loss 
where to go, or to whom to apply for quarters. Leaving 
my boat and servant on the river, I strolled away into 
the city to reconnoitre, thinking that something might 
turn up which I could use for my advantage. I was 
soon surrounded by crowds of the natives, and amongst 
