CiiAP. XV. COFFINS KEPT IN HOUSES. 257 
part of the world — trees of the pine tribe are generally ; 
planted in the burying-grounds. Lord Jocelyn, in his* 
* Campaign in China/ mentions such places in the 
following beautiful and appropriate language : — " Here 
and there, as if dropped at random upon the sides of the 
hills, were clumps of pine-trees, and, peeping through 
their thick foliage, the roofs of houses and temples 
diversified the scene. Amongst many of the beautiful 
groves of trees which here invite the wanderer to repose, 
spots are selected as the resting-places of mortality ; and 
gazing on those tranquil scenes, where the sweet cle- 
matis and fragrant flowers help to decorate the last 
home of man, the most careless eye cannot fail to mark 
the beauties of the grave.'' 
In the Shanghae district I have frequently visited 
large houses which seem to have been built by the rich 
expressly as mausoleums. In these houses I generally 
found a coffin in one of the principal rooms, and an 
altar, with all the trappings of idolatry, where incense 
on high days is burned to the memory of the deceased, 
and various other ceremonies are gone through by the 
relatives. These houses or temples are generally sur- 
rounded by a pine wood, and sometimes the body is 
buried out of doors — the altar and records only being 
kept in the temple, where a servant with his family 
is always placed to look after them. 
"When the English first established themselves at 
Shanghae, some of them had thoughts of taking houses 
in the country, that their families might enjoy retirement 
and fresh air. One day towards the end of 1843 I 
