We soon reached the island of Chock-Sing-Toon, and disembarked at a small pier near a village, which looked more like sampans pulled up on the shore than huts or cottages.  The children and I rode in chairs, while the gentlemen walked, first over a plain covered with scrubby palms, then through miles of well-cultivated plots of vegetable ground, till we reached a temple, built at the entrance to the valley for which we were bound.  Thence the path wound beside the stream flowing from the mountains above, and the vegetation became extremely luxuriant and beautiful.  Presently we came to a spot where a stone bridge spanned the torrent, with a temple on one side and a joss-house on the other.  It was apparently a particularly holy place, for our men had all brought quantities of joss-sticks and sacred paper with them to burn.  There was a sort of eating-house close by, where they remained whilst we climbed higher up to get a view.  The path was well made, and evidently much used, judging from the large number of natural temples we found adapted and decorated among the rocks.  As usual, our descent was a comparatively quick affair, and we soon found ourselves on board the junk on our way back to Macao, beating across the harbour.

Just before tiffin the yacht made her appearance, causing great excitement in the minds of the natives.  The gig was soon lowered and came as close as she could.  There was not water enough for her to come within four miles of the shore, but we went out to meet her occupants.  Tom, who was one of them, looked so ill and miserable that I felt quite alarmed for a few minutes, till the doctor comforted me by assurances that it was only the effect of the Chinese dinner last night—­an explanation I had no difficulty in accepting as the correct one after perusing the bill of fare.  In their desire to do him honour, and to give him pleasure, his hosts had provided the rarest delicacies, and of course he felt obliged to taste them all.  Some of the dishes were excellent, but many of them were rather trying to a European digestion, especially the fungus and lichen.  One sort had been grown on ice in the Antarctic Sea, the whale’s sinews came from the Arctic Ocean, the shark’s fins from the South Sea Islands, and the birds’ nests were of a quality to be found only in one particular cave in one particular island.  To drink, they had champagne in English glasses, and arrack in Chinese glasses.  The whole dinner was eaten with chop-sticks, though spoons were allowed for the soup.  After dinner there were some good speeches, the chief host expressing his deep regret that their manners and customs did not permit them to ask ladies, as they were particularly anxious to invite me, and had only abandoned the idea of doing so after considerable discussion.  I append the bill of fare:—­

March 6, 1877.

BILL OF FARE.

4 courses of small bowls, one to each guest, viz.—­

   Bird’s-nest Soup
   Pigeon’s Eggs
   Ice Fungus (said to grow in ice)
   Shark’s Fins (chopped)