the other I have seen only in the north of China.* It is less heavy than common Prussian blue, of a bright pale tint, and very beautiful. Turmeric root is frequently employed in Canton, but I did not observe it in use in Hwuy-chow.

These

I procured samples of these ingredients from the Chinamen in the factory, in order that there might be no mistake as to what they really were. were sent home to the Great Exhibition last year, and a portion of them submitted to Mr. Warrington, of Apothecaries' Hall, whose investigations in connexion with this subject are well known. In a paper read by him before the Chemical Society, and published in its Memoirs and Proceedings,' he says,

"Mr. Fortune has forwarded from the north of China, for the Industrial Exhibition, specimens of these materials (tea dyes), which, from their appearance, there can be no hesitation in stating are fibrous gypsum (calcined), turmeric root, and Prussian blue; the latter of a bright pale tint, most likely from admixture with alumina or porcelain-clay, which admixture may account for the alumina and silica found as stated in my previous paper, and the presence of which was then attributed possibly to the employment of kaolin or agalmatolite."

* I formerly mistook this for a kind of indigo.

CHAPTER VI.

My reception in the house of Wang's father

A smoky Chinese The dangers to which they Chinese mode of warming themselves on a

cottage My coolie and the dwarf

had been exposed

cold day Berberis

- Tea-seeds, &c., obtained Anecdote of the new - Obtain some young plants of it Deceitful character

of the Chinese Leave the far-famed Sung-lo-shan - Wang tries to cheat the chairmen Invents a story of a "great general "Leave Tun-che-Mountain scenery Pleasure of going down the river - Gale of wind amongst the mountains-Arrive at Nechow Shaou-hing-foo Tsaou-o - Pak-wan · Arrive at Ning-po.

-

AFTER this digression on the green-tea shrub, and the country where it was first found, I now resume the account of my travels.

When we reached the Sung-lo country I took up my quarters in a house which belonged to the father of my servant Wang. It was nearly dark before we arrived at the house, which was situated amongst the hills within two miles of the foot of Sung-lo. Had I fixed upon the spot myself I could not have found one better suited to the purposes I had in view. Old Mr. Wang was a farmer who at one time had been well off in the world, but, like many others, had been unfortunate, and was now very much reduced in circumstances. He received us in the kindest manner, and seemed to have great affection for his son. His wife also came to welcome us, at the same time apologising for the poor reception they gave us,

as they were so poor. I tried not to be outdone in politeness, and we were soon on the best possible

terms.

The table was soon spread with our evening meal, and, chopsticks in hand, we went to work and did ample justice to the fare set before us. Shortly afterwards, the Chinese being early in their habits, we retired to rest.

Next morning the rain was falling in torrents, so that it was impossible to stir out of doors. In these circumstances a Chinese cottage is a most uncomfortable place of confinement. Four families resided in the building in which I was now located-two in the lower and two in the upper story. Each of these families had a separate kitchen, and, as there were no chimneys, the smoke had to make its escape through the doors, windows, and roof of the house. The natives were accustomed to this, and did not greatly mind it, but to me it was almost insupportable. The smoke got into my eyes and almost drove me mad with pain. Go where I would it was all the same, for the house was quite full of it. I quite dreaded the approach of meal-time, when all the fires were lighted. There was no remedy, however, except going out into the heavy rain, so that I was obliged to suffer as patiently as I could.

On the evening of the second day my coolie and the good old dwarf arrived with my luggage, and told Wang some wonderful stories about the narrow escapes they had had from his friends the boatmen. The coolie said he had been so much alarmed that

H

he had spent the whole night in a temple, it being the only place where he considered himself safe. It was not necessary for me to believe all these things, more particularly as all the luggage had come safely to hand, which could scarcely have been the case had the boatmen been as bad as was represented.

For three days the rain fell incessantly, and it was also very cold. The Chinese tried to keep themselves warm by putting on thick clothing, and, strange to say, by reading aloud, which they did in a loud singing manner, repeating the words as fast as they could. When tired with this way of amusing themselves, nearly the whole of them went to bed, as being the most comfortable place under the circumstances, and strongly recommended me to follow their example.

Sung-lo mountain, which in ordinary weather I could have seen from the windows, was now enveloped in a cloak of mist, and every tree and bush was bent down with heavy drops of rain. At last, on the fourth day, the clouds cleared away, the sun shone out again with his usual brilliancy, and the whole face of nature wore a cheerful and smiling aspect. I was now out every day, from morning until evening, busily employed in collecting seeds, in examining the vegetation of the hills, and in obtaining information regarding the cultivation and manufacture of green tea. By this means I obtained a good collection of those tea-seeds and young plants from which the finest green teas of commerce are prepared, and much information of a useful kind,

which I have endeavoured in the last chapter to lay before the reader.

In the mean time I had not lost sight of the beautiful new Berberis, which I have already described, and which I was most anxious to procure, in order to introduce it into Europe. I had frequently desired Wang to endeavour to procure me some young plants of it from some garden in the neighbourhood, as I could not believe it to be so rare as only to exist in the old place where I had first seen it. However, he either could not find it, or, what was more probable, he gave himself no trouble about the matter. Knowing the potent influence of dollars, I called three or four of the family around me one morning, and, showing them the leaf which I had brought with me, promised a dollar to any one of them who would bring me a small plant of the same shrub. One of them went out immediately, and, to my surprise and pleasure, returned in less than five minutes with a fresh leaf of the plant in question. "That will do," said I; "that is just the thing I want: bring me a young plant with good roots, and I will give you the promised reward." They now held a consultation amongst themselves in an under tone, and at last said that the plant in question had some peculiar medical virtues, and that the lucky possessor would not part with it. "Sell me this one," said I, "and you will be able to buy a dozen others with the money." "No," one of them replied, "my uncle, in whose garden it is growing, does not want money; he is rich enough; but he requires a little