n, belonging to a French Abbe. It is arranged with much
taste: in its centre was a small mosque-like temple, whilst at each
corner of the enclosure were towers of the same style. The road is the
favorite promenade and drive, and upon it, at the season when we were
there, were to be seen some very fine equipages, principally belonging
to persons from Hong-Kong and Canton.

Macao, like other Portuguese towns, has many churches and its quantum of
priests. The cathedral is the best looking building, although not so
large as some of the others. It had lately been repaired, and both
internally and externally presented a gay and gaudy appearance, in
strong contrast with the decayed condition of the houses surrounding it.

There is the ruin of the church of "Mater Dei," which had been destroyed
by fire, the entire front of which still stands, covered with carving,
a majestic monument of the pride and power of Rome.

The other churches, although their interiors are kept in some repair for
the purpose of worship, have crumbling and mouldering walls, proving
that "_Tempus, edax rerum_" has not spared them, and in the absence of
rejuvenating art, still uses his remorseless tooth upon the softening
stone.

Indeed, what strikes the stranger most sadly and forcibly as he saunters
through the streets, is the universal evidence of decay. It is
melancholy to see buildings, which must once have been magnificent,
slowly sinking into rain. The mind cannot help picturing these
buildings, brilliant with beauty, and resounding with festivity, when
Macao was the depot for the trade with China, with a fleet of all
nations filling its harbor, and its storehouses teeming with the rich
merchandise of the East.

But British perseverance, and Yankee enterprise, have asserted the
supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon race, and the vessels, which formerly made
this their port after their voyage around the Cape, now discharge and
receive their cargoes at Whampoa and Hong-Kong, whilst only occasionally
the masts of a man of war, or of some straggling merchantman, are to be
seen in the harbor of Macao.

The murder of Amaral in 1849, is said to have produced a prejudicial
effect upon the interests of Macao, but I cannot see how that could have
influenced it in this manner, as the difficulty had not extended to open
war, and a Chinaman would have been willing to trade if he found it
profitable, even should such have been the case; and had the Portuguese
artil