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stamp. How it found its way here to the
interior of the Celestial Empire is to me a
mystery.
The next day was devoted to temples,
pagodas and public buildings, only a few of
which I have space to mention. The “Tem-
ple of the 500 Genii,” where that number of
hideous wooden idols are ranged around the
interior of a large building, looking like a
lot of tobacconists signs, once gay with
paint and gilding, but now dusty and
dilapidated. The Temple of Confucius—
where there is a colossal statue of
that old sage. The roof and decorations at
this temple are painted green—to him the
sacred color. We entered the court-yard
by a side door, and my guide pointed out
the front gate, and just inside the inclosure
a small bridge, over which, he said, no one
had ever passed but the Emperor. Desir-
ing what Margaret Fuller calls “a univer-
sal experience,” I told Orr-Kum to engage
the attention of the attending priest, while
I quietly slipped round and passed over the
bridge hitherto sacred to the foot of the
Chinese “Son of Heaven.”
In the “Temple of Longevity” was a fat
and jolly looking old idol, with six hands.
He was reclining on his sido, with mouth
wide open, apparently enjoying a hearty
laugh. This is consistent with the idea
that length of days is promoted by good
humor. As I lit my cigar from a joss-stick
burning in front of this “jolly old cove,”
the attendant glared at me with astonish-
ment, but the usual doceur of a small piece
of silver reconciled him to my seeming ir-
reverence.
The “Flower Pagoda” was the most
charming of all the sights in Canton. No
hideous idols here, but beautiful flowers of
every hue render it fit place of worship for
Christian or heathen.
The execution ground is a small court
surrounded by high walls. Here 75,000
rebels were executed in a single year dur-
ing the Taeping rebellion.
We visited the Examination Halls at the
southeast angle of the city wall. This is
used once every three years at the competi-
tive examinations. Here, ranged in long
rows, are 14,000 celis, each 3⅛ by 6 feet,
where the candidates are isolated during
the examination, being allowed only writ-
ing material to compose their theses. Only
five months ago all these cells were occu-
pied.
It was quite dark before we finished cur
