for each man had to pay a few cash for the use of the ladder. Following in the train of the Chinamen, I descended the ladder, greatly to the astonishment of the celestial guardsman, who little expected a quang-yang" by this convenient route.

After spending a few days more in Foo-chow, and procuring some tea-plants from the hills in the vicinity, I was anxious to proceed onwards to Ning-po and Shanghae. There were three routes which might be taken; one was by sea, another was a land road which led along the coast by the city of Wanchow, and the third was up the river Min to Keinning-foo and across the Bohea mountains. The latter was much the longest way, as it leads far to the westward, in the direction of the far-famed Woo-eshan. For many reasons I was most anxious to reach this place, and so determined on the Min route.

Having finished my business in the district, I collected my things together, and went down to the mouth of the Min. Here I engaged a boat and set out on my journey. A few miles above the town of Foo-chow the river divides into two streams, one of which passes the city, while the other takes a more southerly course for some distance; they, however, reunite about ten miles from the sea. I took the southern passage, and thus avoided the city of Foo-chow altogether. Both wind and tide being fair, my boat glided up the river with great rapidity, and the first night I had the satisfaction of getting as far as the second bridge, three or four miles above the town. * The name given to foreigners here.

L

Here we sculled the boat in-shore, and rested for the night. On the following morning at daybreak we got under way again, and proceeded up the river. Numerous boats accompanied us, being on their way for the large towns of Suiy-kow, Yen-ping-foo, and Kien-ning-foo, all on the banks of the Min. As I was dressed in the costume of the country, no one took the slightest notice of me, and I considered myself in a fair way to accomplish the object I had in view.

The boatmen, who had been engaged at the mouth of the Min, were perfectly ignorant of my intentions. They now began to inquire how far I intended to go in their boat, and whether it was my intention to return with them. I told them I intended to take their boat as far as Suiy-kow, a town said to be about 240 le from Foo-chow-foo. They held up their hands in astonishment, and declared it was perfectly impossible for their boat to go so far. "Oh, very well," I replied; "then I shall engage another boat, and you may return." Thereupon they held a consultation amongst themselves for a minute or two, and at last came to the conclusion that such a thing was possible, and agreed to take me to Suiy-kow.

Hitherto we had been passing through what is commonly called the valley of the Min. It is rich and fertile to an extraordinary degree. Groves of leechee, longan, peach and plum trees, are seen over all the plain. The sweet-scented Aglaia odorata is largely cultivated for mixing with and perfuming tobacco, and the Chloranthus for scenting the finer kinds of tea. Sugar-cane and tobacco are extensively

grown in all the fields, and, besides the usual quantity of vegetables, I observed a large number of sweet-scented flowers, amongst which the Italian tuberose and the jasmine (Jasminum Sambac) occupied a prominent place. The latter are sold in the markets, and eagerly bought by the ladies for the purpose of ornamenting their hair.

When we got a few miles above Foo-chow we seemed to leave the valley, and the scenery began to change and assume quite a different aspect. The hills in many places were close to the water's edge. Many of them were rugged and barren, while others appeared more fertile and were cultivated a considerable way up their sides; a third class were richly clothed with trees and brushwood. The fruit-trees already named were frequently seen growing on little level spots near villages. The forest-trees consisted chiefly of the common Chinese pine and Cunninghamia lanceolata. Altogether the scenery was most striking in its character, and richly repaid me for the inconveniences attending the journey.

A large trade in wood is carried on here-indeed, it is the principal trade of Foo-chow-and we were constantly meeting large rafts floating down the stream on their way to the city. I observed small houses built on some of these rafts for the accommodation of the persons who had charge of them. Their occupation seemed to me a most delightful one, and as they glided gently down the stream, having on all sides the most beautiful and romantic scenery, I almost envied them their happy lot.

The country on the banks of the Min at this part

did not appear to be very thickly populated. I saw no towns of any size from Foo-chow to Suiy-kow ; even villages and small farm-houses were few and far between. Whenever I landed-and I did so every day during the ebb tide-I had a good opportunity of forming an opinion on the character of the natives. Most of them seemed miserably poor, but all were quiet and harmless, and very different from those at the mouth of the river and on the islands near the coast. The latter are a dangerous set; they live by robbery and piracy, and often set the Government itself at defiance.

On the morning of the fourth day we arrived at Suiy-kow. Travellers bound for the towns north of this place generally leave the river here, and go on by chair, as the rapids are numerous, and boats make slow progress against the stream.

This place is most pleasantly situated on the left bank of the river. It is but a small town, and I suppose does not contain more than 5000 or 6000 inhabitants. A very large number of boats, for the size of the place, were moored along the banks of the river. The principal trade of the town seems to be in furnishing supplies for the boatmen and their passengers, as they pass on their way either to the interior or down towards the coast.

My servants were now despatched to engage another boat, while I took a stroll through the town and its suburbs. In the course of two hours we met again at the landing-place, when I found they had not been successful, and were now most anxious for me to proceed by chair, which they said was the

usual way for travellers. As the journey was a long one, I was afraid I had not brought money enough to defray the expenses of travelling in that way, and was obliged, from prudential motives, to defer this interesting journey for a time.

I now considered that the best plan I could adopt, under the circumstances, was to send my servants onwards by themselves to the fine black-tea country of Woo-e-shan. Were I to take them with me by sea to Ning-po, and then send them back across the Bohea mountains, what guarantee had I that they would go there at all? They would be much more likely to provide themselves with plants in a country nearer home, and return, pretending they had been in Woo-e. But by sending them up the Min they were necessarily obliged to pass through the black-tea country in question on their route, and could have no inducement to deceive me. If they brought me any tea-plants at all I should be able to judge, from various circumstances, whether they were from the black-tea country.

Having arranged this matter in my own mind, I gave them a sufficient number of dollars to pay the expenses of their journey, and to make the purchases I had directed, besides which I promised them a liberal reward if they performed their mission to my satisfaction. I then left them to prosecute their journey, and returned alone to the mouth of the Min. Here I found a Portuguese lorcha ready to sail for Ning-po, in which I took a passage, and reached that city in twelve days.