102 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. VII. 
as at Ning-po and Chusan, constantly meets with coffins 
placed on the surface of the ground out in the fields, 
carefully thatched over with straw or mats to preserve 
them from the weather. Sometimes, though rarely, 
when the relatives are less careful than they generally 
are, I met with coffins broken or crumbling to pieces 
with age, exposing the remains of the dead. I was 
most struck with the coffins of children, which I met 
with everywhere ; these are raised from the ground on a 
few wooden posts, and carefully thatched over to protect 
them from the weather — reminding the stranger that 
I some parent, with feelings as tender and acute as 
his own, has been bereaved of a loved one, whom 
he, perhaps, expected should cheer and support him 
in his declining years, and whose remains he now care- 
fully watches. Those in the higher ranks of life have 
generally a family burial-place at a little distance from 
the town, planted with cypress and pine trees, with 
a temple and altar built to hold the josses or idols, and 
iwhere the various religious ceremonies are performed. 
A man with his family is stationed there to protect the 
place, and to burn candles and incense on certain high 
days. Others, again, are interred in what may be called 
public cemeteries, several of which I met with in the 
vicinity of Shanghae. These are large buildings, each 
containing a certain number of spacious halls or rooms, 
and having the coffins placed in rows around the 
sides. 
A flat and highly cultivated country, such as I have 
just described, cannot be expected to be rich in indi- 
genous plants. There are, however, many beautiful 
