Chap. IX. DEVOTION OF THE PRIESTS. J 43 
my feeding-time seemed to be the most interesting mo- 
ment to them. My dinner was placed on a round table 
in the centre of the room, and although rather curiously 
concocted, being half Chinese and half EngUsh, the exer- 
cise and fresh air of the mountains gave me a keen 
appetite. The difficulties of the chopsticks were soon 
got over, and I was able to manage them nearly as well 
as the Chinese themselves. The priests and their friends 
filled the chairs, which are always placed down the sides 
of a Chinese hall, each man with his pipe in his mouth 
and his cup of tea by his side. With all deference to 
my host and his friends, I was obliged to request the 
smoking to be stopped, as it was disagreeable to me while 
at dinner; in other respects I believe I was polite'' 
enough. I shall never forget how inexpressibly lonely I 
felt the first night after the departure of my friends. 
The Chinese one by one dropped off to their homes or to 
bed, and at last my host himself gave several unequivocal 
yawns, which reminded me that it was time to retire for 
the night. My bed-room was upstairs, and to get to it I 
had to pass through a small temple, such as I have 
already noticed, dedicated to Tein-how, or the " Queen 
of Heaven," and crowded with other idols. Incense was 
burning on the altar in front of the idols ; a solitary 
lamp shed a dim light over the objects in the room, and a 
kind of solemn stillness seemed to pervade the whole 
place. In the room below, and also in one in an adjoining 
house, I could hear the priests engaged in their devo- 
tional exercises, in that singing tone which is peculiar to 
them. Then the sounds of the gong fell upon my ears ; 
and, at intervals, a single solemn toll of the large bronze 
