grains daily. This poor wretch was not wholly unconscious of the
presence of visitors; and, laying by his pipe, he raised himself from the
ground, and dragged his body to a chair. With deadly pale face and
fixed, staring eyes, he presented a miserable appearance.

* * * * *

Our traveller also visited a pagoda,--the Half-Way Pagoda; so called by
the English because it is situated half-way between Canton and Whampoa.
On a small hillock, in the midst of vast tracts of rice, it raises its
nine stories to a height of one hundred and seventy feet. Though
formerly of great repute, it is now deserted. The interior has been
stripped of statues and ornaments, and the floors having been removed,
the visitor sees to the very summit. Externally, each stage is indicated
by a small balcony without railing, access being obtained by steep and
narrow flights of stairs. A picturesque effect is produced by these
projections, as everybody knows who has examined a "willow-pattern"
plate. They are built of coloured bricks, which are laid in rows, with
their points jutting obliquely outwards, and faced with variegated tiles.

Even more interesting was Madame Pfeiffer's peep into the "domestic
interior" of Mandarin Howqua.

The house was of large size, but only one story high, with wide and
splendid terraces. The windows looked into the inner courts. At the
entrance were two painted images of gods to ward off evil spirits, like
the horse-shoe formerly suspended to the cottages and barns of our
English peasants.

The front part was divided into several reception rooms, without front