Cuar. XII] ADVENTURE WITH MY PONY. 247 
said I. “ Very well, give me the money, and I will 
fetch you a basin of boiled rice for him.” “ You 
had better bring him a pair of chopsticks also,” said 
I, as I put the money into his hand. The idea of 
a pony eating with chopsticks delighted the crowd, 
and put them into high good humour: during my 
travels in the interior, I often found the benefit of 
having a joke with the natives. 
My pony seemed to enjoy the meal which was 
set before him, and I too had some rice from the 
same pot. I then proceeded on foot to examine 
the nearest hill, and soon came to the conclusion 
that it would be advantageous for me to be some 
days in the vicinity of this place. As I could not 
trust the natives with the pony, which belonged 
to the head mandarin in Shanghae, I determined 
to take him home again myself, and hire a boat 
with which I could return by any of the numerous 
canals which branch all over the coutitry, and stay 
as long as I pleased. I reached Shanghae late on 
the same evening, weary enough, having ridden at 
least sixty miles during the day. 
_A few days after this, having engaged a boat, 
I started early one morning, and taking advantage 
of the tide, which ebbs and flows over all this part 
of the country, I reached the hills on the same 
evening. The country through which I passed 
was rich and fertile, cotton forming the staple pro- 
duction of the fields in the neighbourhood of 
Shanghae. After passing the cotton district, I 
came into a tract of country in which a cruciferous 
x 4 
