Chinnery, the English artist, who during his lifetime became quite famous for his fine delineation of Oriental scenery, and his remarkably life-like sketches of the boat-people and other classes of Chinese, has also a conspicuous tomb within these walls. His pictures not only bear the impress of genius, but are particularly remarkable for their exquisite fidelity to nature, in which respect he is justly entitled to rank as the Teniers of the East. Romanism is the established religion of the colony; yet, out of thirteen churches, all but three are sequestered. St. Paul’s, a grand old stone church, which was built in 1634, was destroyed by fire in 1835. The façade, and high stone steps of this edifice are still standing; and judging from the ruin, which is a conspicuous object,--meeting the eye from every point of view,--it must have been an imposing structure. One of the chief points of interest in the Casa Gardens--which we visited--is the grotto where Camoëns, the Portuguese poet, is said to have written most of the Lusiad. Those familiar with that poem are aware that its author was banished to Macao by his Government, and spent five years of his life in that colony. The gardens are now owned by a Portuguese family, who reside in the imposing old mansion within the walls, and from whom visitors must procure permission to enter the enclosure. The place belonged formerly to the East India Company, and the house was then occupied by the chief officer of that establishment. A grand flight of stone steps leads to the main entrance of the dwelling, and at the time of our visit pots of rare plants, placed on stands, were arranged in a semicircle at their base; while oleanders--whose great growth and tropical luxuriance gave them more the appearance of trees than shrubs--were growing, and in full bloom on each side of the steps. These beautiful grounds are enclosed within a high stone wall, and were originally laid out on a scale of magnificence in keeping with the luxurious style and princely state for which the officers of the old East India Company, in their palmy days, were celebrated. Camoën’s Grotto--which is situated in a charming spot--contains a bronze bust of the poet, standing on a pedestal, on which are also traced, in bronze letters, some stanzas from the “Lusiad.” There is also set in the rock a marble panel, having engraved upon it a poem in praise of Camoëns. The poetic inscription is by a Frenchman, who calls himself the “poete exile.” The bust is a rude piece of art, but we were told that one, finely sculptured in marble, was about to be sent from Portugal to replace it. The Portuguese nation have long since awakened to a just sense of Camoën’s merits, but they can never blot out the severe expressions that occur in some passages of his great poem, in which he laments the neglect and injustice which he suffered from his country. Among these the following is full of the most bitter irony.