ARRIVAL AT CHUNG-KING 89 
morrow. The country now is getting more hilly, but 
not very interesting. Very few trees are seen. The 
thermometer 79° to-day, and rain fell in the evening. 
April 21.—Arrived at Chung-king at noon. Took 
chairs on landing, as it was not wise for Europeans to 
walk in the streets at that time. A long and uncom- 
~ fortable journey, taking nearly three quarters of an 
hour, principally up flights of steps, brought us to the 
house of Mr. Cockburn, the British Resident, who had 
passed nearly three years in this disagreeable place. 
This is a very large and important city, being the 
principal centre for the Yunnan and Sze-chuen trade, 
many hundreds of junks trading from here as far down 
as Ichang and Sha-shih. It is a great place also for the 
distribution of foreign manufactured goods throughout 
these provinces. 
At Chung-king a considerable change was made in 
my crew. I had among them some men who had been 
with me to Chang-yang, and whom I had trained as col- 
lectors. These I kept, as they would be again very 
useful, but the remainder, with the exception of the 
lowban, were discharged, and in their places men from 
Chung-king were engaged, as they were better ac- 
quainted with the upper parts of the river. These 
signed an agreement to take the boat to Kia-ting-fu in 
eighteen days, and in getting men, it is always neces- 
