76 , EAMBLES OF A NATUEALIST. [Ch. V. 



aid of a large mat-sail and a sea-breeze, we rapidly proceeded 

 up the Tam-suy River, soon arriving at the spot where it 

 first divides at Kan-tow. From here we followed the right- 

 hand branch which flows east by south through cultivated 

 fields, in which we occasionally met with patches of Boeh- 

 meria nivea, and small groves of betel-palm(Areca catechu) ; 

 but the characteristic tree of the banks here, as everywhere 

 along the river, was the bamboo, whose graceful and feathery 

 foliage gave a great charm to the scene. On the north-east 

 side were numerous lulls, of heights varying between 1000 

 and 1500 feet, amongst which are situated the sulphur- 

 springs, already described. A little more than three miles 

 brought us to the village of Pah-chie-nah, which is more 

 airy and cleanly than either Mbangka or Hoo-wei, and pos- 

 sesses an excellent market-place, though the inhabitants 

 appear to be of the same poor class. Numerous duck-boats 

 were met with on these banks, which bring some couple of 

 hundred ducks to a feeding-ground, where they are turned 

 loose to spend the day under the charge of a lad, who acts 

 as duck-herd. They keep close together aU day, so that 

 they might aU be covered with a blanket, and at night are 

 conveyed in the boat back to their pens. Another feature 

 of the route was the Chinese water-wheels for irrigating the 

 fields, in which three or four Chinese are constantly at work, 

 treadmill-fashion. 



At sunset we moored our boat a mile beyond Pah-chie- 

 nah, in a bend of the river and at the foot of a hill which 

 commanded a magnificent view of the noble range of moun- 

 tains running from north to south of the island, and which 

 the setting sun lighted up gloriously. On the opposite side 

 of the river, upon a steep rocky bank, was a house, outside 

 of which sat a family of Chinese of a better class, the head 



