42 DESCRIPTION OF HOUSE 



and his duties are to keep liis men np to their work, 

 and make all arrangements for their feeding, &c. It 

 is always usual to give a cumshaw or present at the 

 end of a journey if the men have behaved themselves 

 well. The hongs where coolies are to be engaged are 

 licensed by the local government. 



My passport for the province of Hu-peh having been 

 already obtained at Hankow, and all being ready for a 

 start, I left Ichang on April 16, accompanied by Dr. 

 Henry as far as the barrier, he having obtained three 

 months' leave, which he intended to sj^end in a botani- 

 cal and exploring trip all round Ichang. 



The journe}' to Chang-yang lias been described 

 before, and the only difference between this and the 

 former journey was, that it occupied four days instead 

 of three, I arriving at my destination on April 20. 



Here I found that the house had been cleared out 

 and cleaned for my reception. It was about 30 feet by 

 20 feet, with mud walls about 12 feet high, and had an 

 earthen floor and a thatched roof, but no internal divi- 

 sions. This was inconvenient, and as soon as possible I 

 got a rough native carpenter in, and made him build a 

 partition right across from the ridge to the floor. In 

 the partition I had a door fitted with a lock, so that my 

 collections, money, and other valuables might be kept 

 in reasonable security; and as this private room of 



