250 PLANTS SENT TO ENGLAND. ([Cuapr. XIII. 
little cabin. A copy of the “ Pictorial Times,” 
which I happened to have with me, was greatly 
admired, and I was obliged to leave it amongst 
them. It is a remarkable fact, however, that no- 
thing, as far as I know, was ever stolen from me 
at this time, although several hundred persons 
visited my boat in my absence. The boatmen must 
either have been very sharp, or the people must have 
had a superstitious dread of the property of a 
foreigner: to put it down to their honour is, I am 
afraid, out of the question ! 7 
Having finished my researches amongst the hills, 
I left this part of the country and returned to 
Shanghae. The “ Helen Stuart,” one of the first 
vessels which left Shanghae for England direct, 
was at this time ready for sea, and I availed my- 
self of this opportunity to send some cases of plants 
to the Horticultural Society, which, I regret to 
say, arrived in very bad condition. When I had 
despatched these cases, I determined on another 
journey into the interior. 
Every one who has been in China, or who is at 
all acquainted wlth Chinese history, has heard of 
the city of Soo-chow-foo. If a stranger enters 
a shop in Hong-Kong, in Canton, or in any of 
the other towns in the south, he is sure to be 
told, when he inquires the price of any curiosity 
out of the common way, that it has been brought 
from this celebrated place; let him order any 
thing superb, and it must be sent for from 
Soo-chow — fine pictures, fine carved work, fine 
