William H. Seward's travels around the world (1873) (14784767885)

Identifier: williamhsewardst01sewa (find matches)

Title: William H. Seward's travels around the world

Year: 1873 (1870s)

Authors: Seward, William Henry, 1801-1872 Seward, Olive Risley, 1844-1906

Subjects: Voyages around the world

Publisher: New York, D. Appleton and company

Contributing Library: The Library of Congress

Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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l and Western luxury and elegance. Many streams, gathered on adjacentmountain-slopes, are broughtinto large artificial lakes, andthence distributed by deepand clear canals through thegrounds, and then used equal-ly for pleasure, navigation,and irrigation. The canals,after performing these serv-ices, unite and flow througha broad and deep canal intoPeking, where they constitutethe great and picturesque lakewhich we have before men-tioned as the finest ornamentof the imperial city. Whilethe canals have been builtwith excellent masonry, theyare crossed with graceful mar-ble bridges in various direc-tions. The fields, meadows,and lawns, are fertile, butnow in a condition of com-plete neglect and waste. Atthe centre of the plain a cir-cular rocky islet rises abrupt-ly to a height of two hun-dred and fifty feet. This arti-ficial hill is traced with spiralterraces which fascinate thevisitor by continually bring-ing into view palaces, pavil-ions, pagodas, temples, allhalf concealed by hanging

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178 JAPAN, CHINA, AND COCHIN CHINA. gardens and groves, which are embellished with fountains, statuary,and shrines. The summit is crowned with an imperial summer-house in the Italian style, its wall richly frescoed, and its roofglistening with blue and yellow porcelain. One of the delights ofYuen-Min-Yuen was a unique temple, wrought of polished bronze,standing on the acclivity of this islet. We shall never weary ofthe Chinese pagoda. One of those at Yuen-Min-Yuen, which, withthe temple last mentioned, preserves much of its form and beauty, isa gem of that sort of structures. It is of slender proportions, andbuilt entirely of porcelain of variegated colors. There must havebeen a time when the sculptor of China, while he disdained to copyforeign models, had learned how to bring Greek and Roman tasteand art to give effect to national designs. Although the lions, thesphinxes, and the dragons, which are profusely displayed here, areimaginative conceptions, any one of them would, by its ex

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1873

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