Some authors use interchangeably the words dagaba and pagoda. Exactness with reference to Oriental terms is very difficult to attain. The same word is not unfrequently used among the natives themselves, to denote different objects, and travelers frequently confound the terms and use them confusedly. We aim at the highest precision. Dagabas are lofty, tapering, cylindrical buildings, erected over a relic of Buddha, though sometimes pagodas also are used for keeping the relics of Buddha. The pagoda at Tung Cho, near Peking, has thirteen stories, and is 150 feet high; its base is forty feet in diameter. It stands near the northern wall of the city, and is the most conspicuous object to be seen for many miles around the place. Once a year it is the custom, in some cities, to illuminate the pagodas. A large number of paper lanterns are used, each having a lamp or common candle in it. The priests hang the lighted lanterns at each corner of each story of the pagoda. At Nanking there stood, a short time since, a celebrated pagoda, called the “Porcelain Tower.” This tower was of equal stories, the lower one being 120 feet around. It rested upon a solid foundation of brick work, ten feet high, up which a flight of twelve steps led to the tower. A spiral staircase led to the top, which was 260 feet from the ground. The body of the tower was of brick; this was encased with tiles of glazed porcelain of green, red, yellow and white, and various other colors. The stories had projecting roofs, which were covered with green tiles, and seventy-two bells were suspended from each corner. These bells were rung by the wind, and sent their tinkling tones down among the busy crowds below. In the interior were hundreds of little gilded images. The tower was commenced 1430 A.D., and finished in 1449 A.D. It was totally destroyed by the Tae-Ping rebels about 1860. CHINESE BUDDHIST TEMPLES.