478 Voyage of the Novara. 



to order Ills pretty little yacht Flirt to be got ready for- 

 our accommodation, and we set off, accompanied by the 

 heroic Mr. Gray, of the American house of Russell and Co., 

 who lost one foot while fighting against the Tai-ping rebels 

 before the very gates of Shanghai. As the Europeans are in 

 the habit of using these pleasure-boats as residences during 

 their visit to the interior, so as not to be dependent upon the 

 somewhat uncertain hospitality of the Chinese, they are 

 provided with every accessory to comfort, being fitted with 

 a neat cabin, a small library, boudoir, berth-cabin, &c. 

 They usually carry an immense spread of canvas, and dur- 

 ing calms are propelled like the native boats with one big 

 oar from the stern, whicli serves at the same time as a rud- 

 der. The sail up the Wusung, in which upwards of a hun- 

 dred sail of merchantmen, and above a thousand junks, were 

 lying at anchor, was very interesting. Many of the junks 

 lying off the Catholic cathedral of Tonka-du displayed a flag 

 with a white cross on a black ground, in token of the re- 

 ligious faith of the crew. Here also we saw for the first time 

 some Siamese ships, built in Siam, for the most part on Eu- 

 ropean models. Of these we counted eleven. By way of 

 ensign, they had an elephant rather nicely drawn, sometimes 

 on a red, sometimes on a blue field, according to the fancy or 

 the taste of the owner. These vessels have Siamese crews 

 and English captains, and are armed with ten or twelve can- 

 non, so that his Siamese Majesty can at a moment's notice 

 use his little fleet of merchantmen for warlike purposes. 



