ch'ien-t'ang river 163 



of the surrounding country had not been 

 overdrawn. We engaged a small boat, 

 crossed the lake, and after walking through 

 the country for about ^ of an hour we 

 came to the river at the point where our 

 boat was anchored. The coolies with our 

 effects were there waiting for us, and we at 

 once took possession of our new boat on 

 which we had arranged to live for at least 

 20 days ; and here was our first vexation. 

 We supposed that the hire of the coolies 

 for carrying our effects across the country 

 would not exceed five dollars, but when we 

 looked around and counted the number 

 engaged we paid the twenty dollars 

 demanded rather than have a row at the 

 outset of our expedition. As we understood 

 that foreigners were not in the habit of 

 shooting in that part of the country it was 

 quite clear that the Chinese were taking 

 advantage of the three strangers who had 

 come among them. And yet one of these 

 strangers was born in China and the other 

 two had lived many years in the Empire. 

 There was no reason why they should have 

 allowed themselves to be thus imposed upon. 

 Had we acted as a little common sense 

 would have dictated we would have arranged 



