19 APRIL 1845, Page 11

PANORAMA OF NANKING.

MR. BURFORD now transports us from Leicester Square into the heart of the Celestial Empire. On an eminence reached by a few steps, his visiters command a bird's-eye view of the second city, erst the capital, of China,— Nanking; renowned for its porcelain pagoda, and the once popular material for pantaloons. The spectator is supposed to stand upon the slope of a green hill topped by a "joss-house"; below lies the city, environed by a continuous wall, upwards of twenty miles in circumference, studded with tents pitched at regular intervals along its whole extent and almost sur- rounded by a canal as by a wet ditch. The porcelain pagoda is the most prominent object in the view ; towering to the height of two hundred and sixty feet, in all the glory of red and green tiles. The city presents a mass of low houses all alike, ranged in long narrow streets parallel to each other; and the country round is a vast plain of verdure, its undulating surface flooded in parts, and varied by trees and conical hills, surmounted by joss- houses. The great river Yank-tsze-Keang is visible in the distance; and the horizon is bounded by a range of lofty mountains, of strange shapes. In the foreground is a group of figures representing the British Plenipoten- tiary and Commanders holding conference with the Chinese Commissioners. The painting is free and masterly; and the effect of sunlight is beautifully

siotused.