GARDENS OF THE GENTRY. 
Chap. I. 
gold and silver fish and tortoises disport them- 
selves. It is quite refreshing to the eye to look 
out from the houses upon these gardens. The 
plants generally met with in them were the fol- 
lowing : — Cycas revoluta, Azaleas, the pretty little 
dwarf variegated bamboo introduced by me into 
England from China, Pines, Junipers, Taxus, Po- 
docarpus, Rhapis flabelliformis , and some ferns. 
These gardens may be called the gardens of the 
respectable working classes. 
Japanese gentlemen in Nagasaki, whose wealth 
enables them to follow out their favourite pur- 
suits more extensively, have another class of 
gardens. These, although small according to our 
ideas, are still considerably larger, than those of 
the working classes ; many of them are about a 
quarter of an acre in extent. They are generally 
turfed over ; and, like the smaller ones, they are 
laid out with an undulating surface, some parts 
being formed into little mounds, while others are 
converted into lakes. In several of these places 
I met with azaleas of extraordinary size — much 
larger than I have ever seen in China, or in any 
other part of the world, the London exhibitions 
not excepted. One I measured was no less than 
40 feet in circumference ! These plants are kept 
neatly nipped and clipped into a fine round form, 
perfectly flat upon the top, and look like dining- 
room tables. They must be gorgeous objects 
when in flower. Farfugium grande , and many 
other variegated plants still undescribed, were 
