e faint blue mountains in the distance.

Among the houses on the right was that of the vice-consul, Mr. Thorn.
Anchoring our boat as near to his landing-place as possible, we made
arrangements for the night, it being then too late to pay him the
accustomed visit. We had, however, scarcely spread our mattresses, and
put some supper on the fire, when we were hailed by a Chinese boy, and
requested to come on shore. Ignorant from whence the invitation might
come, but nothing loath, we hauled our boat to the jetty, and, landing,
followed young pigtail, who ushered us through a court-yard into a house
of tolerable dimensions, agreeably arranged according to English ideas
of comfort. In five minutes more we were introduced to Mr. Mackenzie, an
English merchant, who, having been informed of our arrival, had sent for
us to request that, during our stay at Ningpo, we would make his house
our home. We would not tax his hospitality so far as to sleep at his
house, having already made our own arrangements; but we willingly
accepted his kind offer of being his guests during the day, and proved
our sincerity by immediately sitting down to an excellent dinner, and in
the evening we retreated to our boat. The next morning we breakfasted
with our host, and then crossed the river, to inspect the city. Having
landed at one of the gates, we hired a sort of sedan chairs, which were
carried by two athletic Tartars, and proceeded to examine a very
remarkable building called the Ruined Pagoda. I shall give Dr. Milne's
description of it, taken out of the Chinese repository, as I think it
will be better than my own:--

"We bent our steps to the Tien-fung, called by foreigners the Ruined
Pagoda. Foreigners make for it as soon as they enter the east gate.
After shaping their course in a south-east direction through numberless
streets, it abruptly bursts upon the view, rising 160 feet above their
heads, and towering high above the surrounding houses. The pagoda is
hexagonal, and counts seven stories and twenty-eight windows. Above
every window is a lantern, and when the pagoda is illuminated, the
effect is very brilliant. This building is in much need of repair, and
is daily becoming more dilapidated. It has already deviated many feet
from the perpendicular, and might not unaptly be described as the
Leaning Tower of Ningpo."

Dr. Milne thus describes the view from the summit:--

"The entire city and suburbs lay beneath us; the valley of Ningpo, w