244 GARDEN AND PLANTS. [Cuar. XII. 
striking and beautiful kinds for the Horticultural 
Society. 
Several very distinct and beautiful Azaleas were 
added to my collections at Shanghae, as well as 
many other plants. of an ornamental character 
which have not yet been described. I fully expect 
that many of these will prove hardy enough to 
thrive in the open air in England, and that others 
will make excellent plants for the greenhouse. 
Being now well acquainted with the country in 
the immediate vicinity of Shanghae, I was anxious 
to extend my researches into the interior, par- 
ticularly as far as some hills which were said to be 
about thirty miles distant, in a westerly direction. 
It was extremely difficult to gain any information 
on this subject from the Chinese, who were par- 
ticularly jealous of foreigners going any distance 
inland. Their suspicious feelings had also been 
much increased at this time, by the indiscretion of 
some of our own countrymen, who had hired a boat 
and gone a considerable distance up one of the 
rivers, taking soundings with bamboo poles, in the 
manner of the Chinese. The authorities suspected 
that they had some particular object in view in 
ascertaining the depth of the river, and imme- 
diately complained to Captain Balfour, the English 
consul, who was consequently obliged to notice the 
circumstance. 
Being determined, however, to make an effort to 
accomplish the object I had in view, I procured a 
pony and a pocket compass, and started off one 
