turesque valley, full of beautiful trees, and did not
contain many graves. From it there is a fine view of the bay and
islands, and the city of Amoy.

In crossing the bay on our return, there was pointed out a singularly
shaped rock in height about thirty feet, with a narrow base, and
swelling out as it ascended, in appearance similar to a boy's top. The
Chinese have a startling prophecy connected with it, which is, that when
it shall fall, the present dynasty of China will also decline; reminding
one of the Latin saying, "When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall." But
Rome has fallen, and the Coliseum still stands! Will the parallel hold
good between this rock and China? The island of Koo-lung-Seu, when the
British made the attack upon Amoy, appears to have been well fortified,
but the Chinese committed a great error in the _training_ of their guns,
or rather in placing them so as to have been unable to take any other
range than point blank! Here is a fort mounting upwards of fifty guns of
large calibre, which would have commanded the bay, but the embrasures
are so small as barely to admit the muzzle of the gun, the breech of
which was imbedded in the earth. These were soon silenced, as may well
be supposed, by the attacking squadron taking a position beyond their
range, and training their own batteries to bear upon the Chinese
gunners within, who kept blazing away into the unresisting air, whilst
the British riddled the fort at leisure. The mandarin in charge, a
Tartar, who would not be caught, drowned himself.

From Mr. Bradley, our intelligent Consul at Amoy, who appears to have
devoted much time to the study of the Chinese and their customs,
obtained a great deal of information respecting them.

In regard to marriages, he stated, that when a Chinaman considers
himself rich enough to take a wife, he informs the object of his choice
_by letter_, which is usually a sheet of paper some five or six feet in
length; this is shown to her parents, and if the match is thought a
proper one, she is allowed to make known her compliance in a
_billet-doux_ of equal proportions. After this interchange, the father
of the selected fair calls upon the proposing party to arrange
preliminaries, amongst not the least important of which is the payment
of a sum of money agreed upon between them; this fund is _supposed_ to
be for the furnishing of the bride.

The happy day is then appointed, and when it arrives a plentiful supply
of ed