The Morning herald., 1877-10-09
or IN A CHINESE PAGODA.

0nR oxB0 NO more, 0RVlHB Uuen Vlctlu
to the madness d the Tai7pings, the Pih
ahe-tah st Soochow, enjoys the distinction
of being the largest pagoda in China. It il
q fine specimen Of this curious species o.
sdifces, and, Of course, . magnet to tht
traveller in this part of the world. ~ ~
The city of Soochow, whsre this pagoda
is situated, is about seventy-fve miles dis
tant in q northwesterly direction from
Shanghai, and is reached after twenty
four or thirty hours sail along the many
canals that intersect the whole region here.
abouts, and from the universal means OF
communication. The city has long been
famous for its wealth and splendor, the
people having proverb that ':Heaven is
above and soochow and Hangchow be-
meath" It was deprived, however, of
much Of its prosperity and beauty by the
rebels, who laid perhaps the larger part in
ruins. Known among foreigners as the
paris Of China" it has felt severely as
Paris has the savagery of 'fanaticism and
mob misrule. The population has declined
from repated two millions to barely one
fourth of that number, and weed-grown
mounds, breaking the monotonous level in
every direction, are mute, but significant,
testimonies to the horrors of the Tapping
occupancy. The ground is sowed with
ruins, 50 that the proprietor who wishes
to improve his plot Of land has first to re.
move the debris Of, tiles, bricks, and
mortar. ,..-
There ere Eve pagodas within the walls
of Soochow, but the glory Of the town is
the great Pih-she-t'ah, which raises its am
bilious top as il, needless of Babel and her
fate, ii was striving to reach the heaven
overhead. s-n. sr.".. .-etH
Arrived at the goal of our pilgrimage, an
arduous task still ramained-to get into the
pagoda without the payment Of such a fee
as would entail the loss of our self-respect
as well as our coin. The native pays gen.
orally seven cash, or little more than half
q cent for admission, but tourists Who oc-
casionally penetrate as Tar inland as Soo-
chow, and -exeursionists from Shanghai,
have 80 spoilt the custodians Of the pagoda,
that foreigners now run the chance of al
outrageous squeeze. In the present In.
stance, dollar was demanded for each OF
the party. A twenty minutes parley, h the
midst Of a gaping, rude, insulting crowd,
brought the charge down to dollar for the
whole group, but further than this he OF
the keys would not retreat until our spokes-
man had recourse to device, ludicrous ans
sudacious, but efectual. "Very good" he
said, 1--WE are in no hurry. We have moth
ing to do all day. Consider our offer, and
meanwhile We will rest ourselves in your
temple" No sooner said than done. We
entered the sanctuary and seated ourselves
IN the chief seats, the whole rabble at om
heels. The priests were at their wits ends,
Auttering about like birds whose nests is
menaced by snake. Too polite to forbid
our invasion, and too feeble to prevent the
vulgar herd from following and overrun
ming the place, they soon showed disposi-
ton to compromise, and ultimately let US
in for fee which, though still exorbi-
tant, was only one-tenth Of the original DE-
mand.
We were now ushered into the octagonal
tower and left free to explore it. The in
ternal plan is simple and effective. The
structure is double, the inner column being
filed with inches, where idols sit and accept
the incense of the devout. The staircases
wind, in easy and comfortable stages, be-
tween the wodiyisions, an opening at every
story to the galleries affording light and
air. The floors, Ike the walls, are of large
black brick, very hard andserviceable, and
in the more frequeuted passages, taking a
glossy and almost porcelain polish from the
friction of numberless sandals. Projecting
from the tower, at every floor, is wooden
gallery shaded by the peaked roots, bell
hung, which distinguish this curiosity Of
architecture. Prom these verandas extensive
views of the city and environs are obtained,
some very beautiful ..-
But the galleries are shaky things, and it
was safer to leave them and their views and
content ourselves with further e1amina.
ton of the pasoda. Arrived at the. eighth
story-there are nine in alive noticed the
immense beam that, founded in the sole