4< one fide o f it refembling that which the Emperor delivered
“ to me yefterday for the king,
“ It would be an endlefs talk were I to attempt a detail o f
“ all the wonders o f this charming place. There is no
“ beauty o f diftribution, no feature o f amenity, no
• reach o f fancy which embelliihes our pleafure grounds in
“ England, that is not to be found here. Had China been.
* acceffible to Mr. Browne or Mr. Hamilton, I ihould have
fworn they had drawn their happieft ideas from the rich
“ fources, which I have tailed this day ; for in the courfe o f a
“ few hours I have enjoyed fuch vieiffitudes o f rural de-
“ light, as I did not conceive could be felt out o f England, being
“ at different moments enchanted by fcenes perfectly fimii'ar to
“ thofe I had known there, to the magnificence o f Stowe, the
fofter beauties o f Wooburn, and the fairy-land o f Paine’s
I Hill. 1
ft One thing I was particularly ftruckwith, I mean the happy
“ choice o f fituation for ornamental buildings. From attention
“ to this circumitance they have not the air o f being crowded
“ or difproportioned ; they never intrude upon the e y e ; but
wherever they appear always ihewthemfelves to advantage, and
“ aid, improve, and enliven the profped.
“ In many places the lake is overfpread with the Nenuphar
or lotus (nelumbium) refembling our broad leaved water lilly.
“ This is an accompaniment which, though the Chinefe are
“ paffionately fond of, cultivating it in all their pieces o f water,
“ I con-
“ I confefs I don’t much admire. Artificial rocks and ponds
“ with gold and-filverfilh are perhaps too often introduced,
“ and the monftrous porcelain figures o f lions and tygers,
ufually placed before the pavilions, are difpleafing to an Eu-
“ ropean e y e ; but thefe are trifles o f no great moment; and
*c I am aftoniftied that now, after a fix hours critical furvey o f
“ thefe gardens, I can fcarcely recoiled any thing befides to find
“ fault with.
“ A t our taking leave o f the minifter, he told us that we had
only feen the eaftern fide o f the gardens, but that the weft-
“ ern fide, which was the larger part ftill remained for him to
ihew us, and that he Ihould have that pleafure another
“ day.
“ Accordingly, on the day o f the Emperor’s anniverfary fef-
“ tival, after the ceremony was ended, the firit or great Colao
“ Ho-chun-tong, the Foo-leou, the Foo-leou s brother Foo-chan-tong,
“ and Song-ta-gin, with the other great men who attended us
v two days fince, in our vifit to the eaftern garden, now pro-
“ pofed to accompany us to the weftern, which forms a ftrong
“ contrail with the other, and exhibits all the fublimer beauties
<c o f nature in as high a degree as the part which we faw before
“ poffefles the attradions o f foftnefs- and amenity. It is one
“ o f the fineft foreft-fcefies in the world 5 wild, woody, mount-
“ ainous and rocky, abounding with flags and deer o f different
“ fpecies, and mod o f the other beafts o f the chace, not dan-
“ gerous to man.
s 2 “ In