SPOBT NEAB ICHANG 169 



characters of the late Sir Harry Parkes. Upon calling 

 upon the lowban for an explanation he smiled and in- 

 formed me that it was a 'No. 1 piecee fla^ij;-,' and for him 

 no donbt it was so, for he had made use of its protection 

 to smuggle a quantity of various kinds of excisable 

 articles, such as salt, musk, and medicines, past the lekin 

 stations, the Customs authorities not interfering with a 

 Minister's boat. I had noticed at Kia-tini?-fu that the 

 crew were busy shipping a lot of salt — so much, in fact, 

 that I had to put a stop to it, as we were getting too 

 deep in the water — but that it was all to be smuggled 

 under a false flag never dawned upon me. I certainly 

 noticed with some pride that at places the boat attracted 

 a good deal of attention, the people firing crackers, &c. ; 

 Init I put it down to her smart appearance or to the 

 presence of a mandarin whose boat I had not observed. 



I was now very busy drying, packing, and sending 

 off the collections I had got together, and after all were 

 despatched I spent the time in shooting at different places 

 on the banks of the river that I visited in my boat. 

 There is very fair sport to be obtained, wildfowl being 

 plentiful, but difficult to approach. Pheasants abound 

 in places where there is sufficient cover, and a few deer 

 are to be found. The weather generally was fine but 

 cold, and the river in the winter had run down to its 

 lowest level. 



On November 15 a leopard suddenly appeared on 



