104 Memorandum of an Excursion to the Tea Hills. [Feb. 



day; the people suggested that we should remain there till a boat 

 could be procured. The day, however, being tolerably cool, we crossed 

 the river, and proceeded on foot along its banks to Kre-bo, where we 

 arrived about four p. m. On the road a man who had seen us endea- 

 vouring to sell our gold the day before, told us he believed he could 

 find us a purchaser. Mr. Gutzlafp accordingly accompanied him to 

 the house of a farmer, who after having agreed to give 18 dollars for 

 30 dollar's worth of gold, suddenly changed his mind, and said he 

 would only give weight for weight. At Koe-Bo, however, we were 

 more successful, procuring 18 dollars for the same 30 dollar's worth 

 of gold. On the road the villages poured forth their population as we 

 moved along. At one place they were actually overheard by Mr. 

 Gutzlafp thanking our guides for having conducted us by that road, 

 and proposing to raise a subscription to reward them. At Kre-bo 

 we learned that some petty officers had been inquiring after us, 

 which frightened our guides, and made us desirous to hasten our return. 

 Having procured chairs we pushed on accordingly to Koe ee, our first 

 resting place, where we arrived about seven p. m., and halted for the 

 night. Next morning, the 14th, we mounted our chairs before day-break, 

 but after goingalittle way the bearers let us down to wait for day- light, 

 and we took the opportunity of going to look at a Chinese play which 

 was in the course of performance hard by. There were only two actors 

 but several singers, whose music to our barbarian ears was far from 

 enchanting. Crossing the pass we met great numbers of people carry- 

 ing salt in baskets hung in bangies, as in Bengal, a few with bas- 

 kets full of the small muscle reared on the mud fiats near the place 

 of our landing. After getting into the plain we took a more direct 

 road for Taou than that by which we had left it. The people forsook 

 their work on the fields, and emptied their numerous villages to gaze 

 at us. As the morning was cold I wore a pair of dark worsted gloves, 

 which I found excited a good deal of speculation. The general opinion 

 was, that I was a hairy animal, and that under my clothes my skin was 

 covered with the same sort of fur as my hands. In China gloves are 

 never worn. At length one more sceptical than the rest resolved to exa- 

 mine the paw, and his doubt being thus further strengthened, he request- 

 ed me to turn up the sleeve of my coat. I did so, at the same time 

 pulling off a glove to the admiration of the multitude, who immediate- 

 ly set up a shout of laughter at those who had pronounced the stran- 

 gers of a race half man and half baboons. We met some officers in 

 chairs attended by soldiers, but they offered us no interruption, not 

 even communicating with us. Our bearers, however, easily prevailed 

 on theirs to exchange burthens, each party being thus enabled to direct 



