136 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. IX. 
we could lodge during our stay in this part of the 
country. Twelve or fourteen miles of our journey was 
performed by water, but, the canal ending at the foot of 
the hills, we were obliged to walk or take chairs for the 
remainder of the way. The mountain travelling-chair of 
China is a very simple contrivance. It consists merely 
of two long bamboo poles, with a board placed between 
them for a seat, and two other cross-pieces, one for the 
back and the other for the feet ; a large Chinese um- 
brella is held over the head to afford protection from the 
sun and rain. 
The Chinese are quite philosophers after their own 
fashion. On our way to the temple, when tired with 
sitting so long in our boat, we several times got out and 
walked along the path on the sides of the canal. A 
great number of passage-boats going in the same direc- 
