Chap. IX. 
TREES OF POO-TO. 
151 
its usual colour, and the line between the yellow waters 
and the blue was distinctly and curiously marked. 
The wood on the island is preserved in the same 
manner as it is around all the other Buddhist temples. 
The principal species of trees and shrubs met with are 
Pinus sinensis, Cunningham ^lanceolaJta, yews, cy- 
presses, the camphor-tree, tallow-tree, oaks, and bam- 
boos. The Camellia japonica grows spontaneously in 
the woods, where we met with many specimens from 
twenty to thirty feet in height and with stems thick in 
proportion. The variety, however, was only the well- 
known single red. In other respects the flora of Poo-to 
is nearly the same as on the island of Chusan. 
A few pet plants were cultivated by all the priests 
who were fortunate enough to have private residences at 
the little temples on the sides of the hills. We were 
much pleased with the interest these poor people took in 
their favourite flowers, but were disappointed in the 
number and variety of plants, which, from the reports of 
others, we expected to have found. 
The island of Poo-to is set apart entirely as a resi- 
dence for the priests of the Buddhist religion. Few 
other persons are allowed to live there, and these are 
either servants or in some way connected with the priests. 
No women are permitted to reside on the island, it be- 
ing against the principles of the Buddhists to allow their 
priests to marry. The number of priests is estimated 
at 2000, but many of them are constantly absent on 
begging expeditions for the support of their religion. 
This establishment, like Tein-tung, has also a portion of 
land allotted to it for its support, and the remainder of the 
