Among the houses on the right was that of the vice-consul, Mr. Thorn. Anchoring our boat as near to his landing-place as possible, we made arrangements for the night, it being then too late to pay him the accustomed visit. We had, however, scarcely spread our mattresses, and put some supper on the fire, when we were hailed by a Chinese boy, and requested to come on shore. Ignorant from whence the invitation might come, but nothing loath, we hauled our boat to the jetty, and, landing, followed young pigtail, who ushered us through a court-yard into a house of tolerable dimensions, agreeably arranged according to English ideas of comfort. In five minutes more we were introduced to Mr. Mackenzie, an English merchant, who, having been informed of our arrival, had sent for us to request that, during our stay at Ningpo, we would make his house our home. We would not tax his hospitality so far as to sleep at his house, having already made our own arrangements; but we willingly accepted his kind offer of being his guests during the day, and proved our sincerity by immediately sitting down to an excellent dinner, and in the evening we retreated to our boat. The next morning we breakfasted with our host, and then crossed the river, to inspect the city. Having landed at one of the gates, we hired a sort of sedan chairs, which were carried by two athletic Tartars, and proceeded to examine a very remarkable building called the Ruined Pagoda. I shall give Dr. Milne's description of it, taken out of the Chinese repository, as I think it will be better than my own:-- "We bent our steps to the Tien-fung, called by foreigners the Ruined Pagoda. Foreigners make for it as soon as they enter the east gate. After shaping their course in a south-east direction through numberless streets, it abruptly bursts upon the view, rising 160 feet above their heads, and towering high above the surrounding houses. The pagoda is hexagonal, and counts seven stories and twenty-eight windows. Above every window is a lantern, and when the pagoda is illuminated, the effect is very brilliant. This building is in much need of repair, and is daily becoming more dilapidated. It has already deviated many feet from the perpendicular, and might not unaptly be described as the Leaning Tower of Ningpo." Dr. Milne thus describes the view from the summit:-- "The entire city and suburbs lay beneath us; the valley of Ningpo, with its hamlets and villages, hills and rivers, on every side; and away in the distance, on the one hand chains of lofty mountains, the sea, with all its islands, on the other." Dr. Milne asserts that Ningpo is 10,000 years old, and that the pagoda was raised antecedent to the city being built. He concludes by explaining the object of the Chinese in raising these monuments. [Illustration: PAGODA--NINGPO.]