Manchurian Books

Although
Whampoa of itself is an insignificant place, it is worthy of note,
as being the spot where, from the shallowness of the water, all
deeply laden ships are obliged to anchor.
Immense plantations of rice, skirted by bananas and other fruit-
trees, extend along the banks of the Pearl stream. The trees are
sometimes prettily arranged in alleys, but are planted far less for
ornament than for use. Rice always requires a great deal of
moisture, and the trees are planted in order to impart a greater
degree of solidity to the soil, and also to prevent the possibility
of its being washed away by the force of the stream. Pretty little
country houses of the genuine Chinese pattern, with their sloping,
pointed, indented roofs, and their coloured tiles inlaid with
different hues, were scattered here and there, under groups of shady
trees, while pagodas (called Tas) of various styles, and from three
to nine stories high, raised their heads on little eminences in the
neighbourhood of the villages, and attracted attention at a great
distance.


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