35° Toiirnal of Travel and Natural History 



sand-martins (Cotyle sinensis and C. riparia), which seems to breed 

 here. The river was covered with small ferry boats and sampans, 

 whilst numerous trading junks were loading at the Avharfs for the 

 North river trade, and large rafts were floating down stream from 

 the upper districts about Wu-chu-fu, where timber is plentiful. 

 On some of these large timber rafts are whole villages of the 

 lumber-men, and the rafts are so constructed as to be divisible, in 

 order to pass narrow creeks or sharp bends on their passage. 



We could see in front of us, about three miles distant, the tall 

 white pagoda of San-shui, and within an hour and a-half after 

 leaving Sy-nam we reached the landing-place for San-shui, the 

 town itself lying inland about two miles. San means three and 

 shui water, the name being caused by the junction of the North 

 and West rivers, forming the Canton River, taking place here. 

 Our distance from Canton- was now forty-five miles. The town is 

 walled, and is the chief town of the district. 



On Wednesday the 13th March, by 7 a.m., we were passing 

 Tsing-Kee, with its large square tower, denoting a government 

 pawnbroking establishment. As soon as we had cleared this 

 place, we had our usual matutinal swim, and then a walk along 

 the paddy-fields. Far a-head were now to be seen distant ranges 

 of hills and mountains, whilst the country about us grew more un- 

 dulating, shewing that we had reached the antient coast-line, having 

 left the rich alluvial districts which mark the Cantonese delta. 



Villages are frequent on both banks, and thickly populated, 

 nearly all having good schools attached to them, and every child 

 above tender years was able to read, and most to write. Ni-Tawng 

 and Poo-e-Shui were the next villages of importance ; the latter 

 remarkable for its large modern college, founded in the first 

 year of the reign of the late Emperor Hien-Fung. On the north 

 bank and opposite are large examination halls, marked by a forest 

 of mandarin poles ; also, a large depot for salt. In the back- 

 ground were the Nam-wan-Shan, or " hills of the southern bay," 

 averaging some fifteen hundred feet elevation. On the shores 

 here were noble specimens of the shady banyan tree (Ficus Indicus) 

 and in the sun on the banks were numerous lizards, among them 

 the Tachydromus sexlineatus and others. We examined some 

 large fish-tanks at Sha-Wan, in which were preserved the Li-in,* 

 a fish far superior to our carp, and growing over ten pounds 

 weight 



* The Li-in = The Gouramier (Osphroncmus olfax). 



