RETURN TO ICHANG 53 
in spite of the difficulties that were put in my way. 
Those that have been mentioned were not the only 
ones, and as a further illustration of the way in which 
I was treated, on one occasion one of my men, collect- 
ing a large species of Ornithoptera, unfortunately 
damaged a few shoots of growing Indian corn, doing 
harm to the extent probably of twenty cash. An old 
woman came up, and poured forth upon us some of the 
most flowery portions of the Chinese language with such 
volubility and persistence that she caused a crowd to 
collect, and to avoid a disturbance I was obliged to 
pay 2,000 cash. It took some time getting everything 
together and packed, getting the apparatus from the 
native collectors, and especially seeing to the bottles 
containing cyanide (as to leave these among such a 
careless and ignorant people would be culpable), and 
arranging for stationing collectors for the following 
season. At last, having completed everything, I left for 
Ichang, and took four days over the journey. I found 
the river very high, and the current so strong that the 
boat was swept down two miles and had to be tracked 
up on the other side. 
