It is generally supposed that the remote ancestors of this people, in the migration eastward, dwelt in _tents_; their circumstances would require such habitations; when they became stationary, their wants would prompt them to seek a more substantial covering; but their houses, pagodas, and temples, of the present day, bear evident proofs that this early covering from the heat and storm, was the only model which presented itself for imitation, in the erection of more secure and permanent habitations. The roof, concave on its upper side; and the veranda, with its slender columns, show most distinctly the original features of the tent; the whole fabric of the ordinary buildings is light and slender, retaining the outlines of its primeval simplicity. They therefore, will seek in vain, who expect to find here stately edifices, built after the Grecian or the Gothic model. Barrow, after having visited the imperial palaces, and travelled from north to south, through the whole breadth of the empire, affirms, that all the buildings of the Chinese are without elegance or convenience of design, without any settled proportion; mean in their appearance, and clumsy in their workmanship. Macartney was much better pleased with their architecture; though it is totally unlike any other, and irreconcilable to our rules, yet, in perfect consistence with its own, it frequently produces a most pleasing effect. The buildings of Canton present as great a variety in structure and style as can be found in the whole empire. A large part of the city and suburbs, is built on low ground or flats. Special care is therefore required to secure a solid basis, for houses and temples. Near the river, and in all the most loose and muddy situations, houses are raised on wooden piles, which make the foundation as secure as brick or stone, perhaps, even more so. In some cases the piles rise above the surface of the ground, the buildings constructed of wood, resting directly upon them: in other instances, the piles reach only within a few feet of the surface, and the remaining part of the foundation is made of mud, brick, or stone; when this is finished, the walls are usually carried up and completed with the same material. Many of the houses are nearly baseless, or have only a slender foundation composed of mud, of which also the walls are composed; hence, in severe rain, storms, and overflowings of the river, of which some have recently taken place, many of the walls are thrown down. Bricks are in most general use for the walls of houses; three fifths of those in the whole city are composed of them; the remaining part being mostly constructed of mud; most of the Tartars in the old city are said to inhabit dwellings of the latter kind.