106 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. VII. 
principal buildings, one behind the other, on the side of 
the hill ; the second being built on a higher foundation 
than the first, and the third in like manner higher than 
the second. At right angles with the three large temples 
on each side are the dwellings of the priests. The 
"three precious Buddhas," past, present, and future, the 
deity with numerous arms, and many other images 
crowd these temples. In one I observed upwards of a 
hundred cushions on which the devotees kneel in front 
of the idols, and candles and incense were burning in all 
directions. 
Having seen the principal temples, I was led to the 
kitchen and dining-room. When it is remembered that 
upwards of a hundred priests take their meals here 
daily, it may easily be imagined that these places are 
worthy of a visit. The dining-room is a large square 
building, having a number of tables placed across it at 
which the priests eat their frugal meals. At the time 
of my visit they had just sat down to dinner, so that I 
had an opportunity of seeing a greater number of them 
together than I had ever seen before. They appeared a 
strange and motley assembly. Most of them had a stupid 
and unintellectual appearance — these were generally the 
lower orders of the priesthood. The abbot and those 
who ranked highest were intelligent and active-looking 
men ; but all had a kind of swarthy paleness of coun- 
tenance, which was not agreeable to look upon. Many 
of them rose as I entered their dining-hall, and politely 
asked me to sit down and eat rice. I thanked them, 
but declined the invitation, and proceeded with an 
inspection of the place. In the kitchen the wonders 
