RETURN TO PEKING. 
Chap. XXIII. 
posing to view the pagodas, bridges, and towers 
which but a short time before had been invisible. 
During the day I visited some temples and gardens 
on the other side of a valley, and secured a supply 
of the plants of the district for the herbarium, and 
the seeds of several trees of an ornamental and 
useful character worth introducing into Europe. 
The people amongst these hills seemed to be a 
quiet and inoffensive race, miserably poor, having 
only the bare necessaries of life and none of its 
luxuries. The Buddhist priests were apparently 
much better off, being, no doubt, upheld and sup- 
ported by their devotees among the wealthier 
classes of the capital, who came to enjoy the 
scenery amongst the hills and to worship in the 
temples. 
After a pleasant sojourn of two days in this 
part of the country I returned to Peking. As on 
the way out, long trains of donkeys and camels 
were met and passed on the road, many of them 
being laden with coal, which is found in abundance 
amongst these western hills. On the way back I 
paid another visit to the cemetery of Pale-twang, 
and obtained a fresh supply of the seeds of the 
curious fir-tree I have already described. 
Having finished my work in Peking and packed 
up the collections I had formed there, T left that 
city on the 28th of September, and considered 
myself as once more “ homeward bound.” My 
friend Dr. Lockhart accompanied me several 
miles on my way. With many good wishes for a 
