124 CANALS OF CHINA. [Cuar. VIII. 
place to live at, it has many advantages over its 
southern rival. 
I have already said that this part of China is 
a complete net-work of rivers and canals. These 
were often most annoying to me in my travels over 
the country, when I happened to get off the 
Emperor’s highway, a circumstance of no rare 
occurrence. I have often been obliged to press a 
boat into my service much against the will of the 
owners, more particularly when I visited this region 
for the first time, because I was then unacquainted 
with the localities, and the Chinese always seemed 
to fear I might take, or rob, their boats if I suc- 
ceeded in getting into them, such were the opinions 
formed of foreigners at that time. 
One day, in particular, I had been a considerable 
distance inland to the westward of Shanghae, and 
on my return, by some means or other, I got off the 
beaten track, and in pursuing my way, as I supposed 
in the proper direction, I was “ brought up” by a 
large and deep canal. About two miles from where 
I stood, I saw a bridge, and, as it was nearly dark, 
I made for it as fast as I could. Unluckily, how- 
ever, just as I thought my difficulties were over, 
being within gun-shot of the bridge, I was again 
stopped by another canal, which crossed the former 
one at right angles. I was now completely brought 
to a stand still, but in a few minutes I perceived a 
boat approaching, and a man tracking it on the 
same side as that on which we were. As soon as it 
came near, we called out to the men on board to 
