10 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. L 
tions were. A number of old grain-junks, of great size 
considering the depth of water, are moored in the canal 
abreast of the city, and are apparently used as dwelling- 
houses by the natives ; some, however, are half sunk in 
the water, and appear entirely abandoned. Junks of 
the same description as these are seen abreast of all the 
large towns on the Grand Canal. When too old for the 
Government service they seem to be drawn up to the 
nearest city, and either used by Government officers as 
dwelling-houses, or sold to the highest bidder. 
We had now entered the great Hang- chow silk dis- 
trict, and the mulberry was observed in great abundance 
on the banks of the canal, and in patches over all the 
country. 
I was greatly struck with the appearance of a cemetery 
on the western side of the city of Kea-hing-foo, not very 
far from the city walls. Its large extent gave a good 
idea of the numerous and dense population of the town. 
It had evidently existed for many ages, for a great num- 
ber of the tombstones were crumbling to pieces, and 
mingling with the ashes of the dead. But this " place of 
skulls" was no barren waste, like those churchyards 
which we see in large towns at home. Here the dead 
were interred amidst groves of the weeping willow, mul- 
berry-trees, and several species of juniper and pine, 
j Wild roses and creepers of various kinds were scrambling 
over the tombs, and the whole place presented a hallowed 
and pleasing aspect. 
Leaving the old town behind us, and sailing westward, 
we entered a broad sheet of water of considerable size, 
which is probably part of, or at least joins, the celebrated 
