less inclined to the opinion, that Du Halde's statement was, at the time he made it, too great; but when we keep in mind that nearly a century has passed since he published his account, that the population of the empire has been constantly and rapidly increasing, and that, in addition to this, the growing commerce of the port has drawn hither, from the neighbouring country and provinces, numerous persons, who with their families have become permanent inhabitants of the city; also, that the extent of the suburbs has been considerably enlarged;—these and other considerations, which might be mentioned, constrain us to doubt the truth of the statement given in the encyclopedia. But we waive this point and suspend our opinion, until we come to give a particular account of Canton city and its inhabitants.
"The houses are mostly of one story; but those of the mandarins and principal merchants are high"—some of them full two stories!—"and well built. In every quarter of the town and suburbs are seen temples and pagodas. "—There are in the "town and suburbs," only three pagodas, and one of them is a Mohammedan mosque. The temples contain images; the pagodas, properly so called, do not. The difference between the Chinese temple, meaou, and pagoda, ta, is very remarkable; the meaou is always a low building, and seldom, if ever, has more than one story; the ta is high, and has three, five, and sometimes nine stories. The temple is inhabited,—usually by priests or beggars; the pagoda is always without inhabitant.
The account of "triumphal arches," and of an "unbroken range of piazza," is not without some shadow of truth, though it is incorrect. The "arches" in question have, indeed, some resemblance to the triumphal, and so have they likewise to turnpike-gates; and they might as well be called by the one name as the other. These structures have generally inscriptions upon them; but they
