Chap. V. 
EXPOSURE OF THE DEAD. 
79 
tombs which I met with on my way ; but when I 
reached the summit of the hills, and looked down upon 
the wide-spreading plain, covered with towns and vil- 
lages in all directions, densely peopled with human 
beings, it was easily accounted for. Here, as at Chusan 
and Shanghae, the traveller is continually coming upon 
coffins, placed on the surface of the ground, and in many 
instances decaying, and exposing the skeleton remains 
of the dead. I was much struck by frequently meeting 
with large numbers of coffins piled one above another, in 
heaps of from thirty to forty, chiefly those of young 
children. I was told that they are buried periodically, 
but from their appearance many of them must have 
remained in the same place for years, and their tenants 
must long ago have mouldered into dust. 
