Chap. XVII. 
BUDDHIST TEMPLE AND WORSHIP. 
263 
arrangement ; on the contrary, they offered me a room 
in which I could lock up my luggage during the day, and 
in which I could sleep at night. 
The beauty of the scenery around had not been exag- 
gerated by the Chinese : it was grand and imposing. 
High mountains rose behind the temple, while in front 
some glimpses were obtained through the trees of a wide 
and fertile valley. Besides the fine thickets of bamboo, 
there were in the vicinity of the buildings some noble 
specimens of different species of fir-trees. 
I have remarked that these mountains appear to be 
the strongholds of Buddhism. I will now endeavour to 
describe the Buddhist form of worship, which I witnessed 
in this temple. 
Anxious to see the whole of the service, I took my 
station at one of the passages leading to the large temple 
a few minutes before the priests assembled. I had not 
been there long before an old priest walked past me to a 
huge block of wood, carved in the form of a fish, which 
was slung from the roof of one of the passages. This he 
struck several times with a wooden pole, and a loud 
hollow sound was given out which was heard all over the 
building. The large bronze bell in the belfry was now 
tolled three times ; and the priests were observed coming 
fi-om all quarters, each having a yellow robe thrown over 
his left shoulder. At the same time an old man was 
going round beating on a piece of square board, to awake 
the priests who might be asleep, and to call the lazy 
ones to prayer. 
The temple to which the priests were hurrying was a 
large building, fully 100 feet square, and about 60 feet 
