There are two Confucian temples within the walls of the city; one of which having been burned a few years ago, has since been rebuilt, on a grand scale, by the Mandarins, and is said to be the finest building in the town. The main temple has a lofty portico, and a fretted roof which is supported by huge columns of granite. From this temple we went to a picturesque elevation overlooking the city, and the whole amphitheatre of hills in the midst of which it is built, and which is called _Wu-shih-shan_, or Black-stone Hill. At one place, more than half way up the steep and rugged ascent of this hill, there is a Buddhist temple, with ornamental buildings scattered here and there; and upon the highest point there is also an altar, constructed of stone, which supports a sort of iron vase, in which the superstitious Fuh-chauans--who resort thither thrice a year for the purpose of worshipping the heavens and the earth--burn their incense-paper. Strong sedan-bearers carried me with much apparent ease for some distance above the monastery, from which point I clambered up the remainder of the rock-ribbed summit, where the widely extended and beautiful view, not only of the city but of the mountains, the hills, and the rice-fields on the low land,--with the river and little canals intersecting the latter,--more than repaid for the fatigue which I encountered. The view of the city from this point is one of great interest; the two nine-storied pagodas,[39] together with the watch-towers on the walls, greatly relieving the monotony of the low, tiled roofs; while the scene is still further diversified by the great numbers of noble old banian-trees for which Fuh-chau is noted.[40] Passing down the other side of the _Wu-shih-shan_, we reached the city wall, and continued our walk upon it until we came to the south gate. The top and sides of these walls were everywhere covered with vines, grass, and lovely ferns. Some of the mountains, five or six miles below the city, are two or three thousand feet high. One of these, called Kushan Peak, has already become something of a sanatarium for foreigners; and the place is also noted as being the location of one of the most extensive and celebrated Buddhist monasteries in China, which is situated far up the side of the mountain, occupying a charming spot, only a few hundred feet from the top of the peak. Strangers visiting Fuh-chau usually make a pilgrimage to this spot; but the ascent of two or three miles--although it could have been accomplished in a mountain-chair--was too formidable an undertaking for an invalid, and I was obliged to be contented with a view of the broad and well-made path leading up to it. This path, which is shaded most of the way by lofty pines, has “rest-houses” erected along its winding course; and in the vicinity of the monastery--which commands a prospect stretching far away among the distant mountains and fertile valleys--huge camphor-trees are growing.