70 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. V. 
I immediately walked into the place from whence the 
sounds came, and found, to my disappointment, that it 
was one of the numerous temples with which the city 
abounds, and that the sounds of praise which fell upon 
my ears were only addressed to the gods of the heathen. 
But many of these temples are in a most ruinous state, 
and are evidently not so well supported now as they 
have been at some former time. In fact, the town of 
Ning-po itself, with all its riches and all its advantages, 
has been in a decaying state for years, and is one 
example, amongst many others, of the truth of what I 
formerly stated concerning the general state of this 
country. 
My first business, when I reached Ning-po, was to 
make inquiries regarding the gardens of the mandarins, 
which I had heard something of from the officers who 
were there when the city was taken by the English 
troops during the war. I had the same difficulties to 
encounter as I had at Amoy, owing to the jealousy of the 
Chinese. Ultimately, however, these too were overcome, 
and I obtained access to several mandarins' gardens and 
nurseries, out of which several new plants were procured, 
which proved very valuable additions to my collections. 
Here, as at other places, I made many inquiries after 
the supposed yellow camellia, and offered ten dollars to 
any Chinaman who would bring me one. Anything 
can be had in China for dollars 1 and it was not long 
before two plants were brought to me, one of which was 
said to be light yellow, and the other as deep a colour as 
the double yellow rose. Both had flower-buds upon 
them, but neither were in bloom. I felt quite certain 
