Cuar. XIX.] NEW FLOWERS. 347 
complete collection of all my finest plants, for the 
purpose of taking them home under my own care. 
I lost no time, therefore, in visiting all my former 
acquaintances, mandarins and nurserymen — and 
made my selections when the plants were in bloom. 
Tree-peonies, Azaleas, Viburnums, Daphnes, Roses, 
and many other plants, all new to Europe, and of 
great beauty, were from time to time added to this 
collection. As many of these plants could be only 
verified by the colour of their flowers, it was abso- 
lutely necessary that I should visit the different 
districts three or four times during the spring, and 
consequently that I should lose as little time as pos- 
sible in travelling from one place to another. Shang- 
hae, Chusan, Ningpo, and many other parts of the 
interior, all lying wide of each other, had some ob- 
ject of interest which demanded my presence and 
attention. ; 
The distance from Ningpo to Shanghae is about 
a hundred miles. I had completed my researches 
in the Ningpo district, and was very anxious to get 
to Shanghae as soon as possible, in order to see 
some Azaleas in bloom, which I was anxious to add 
to my collections. In another fortnight their flowers 
would have been all faded, and it would then” 
have been impossible to identify the different varie- 
ties. There were two routes from Ningpo to Shang- 
hae, one for the foreigners and the other for the na- 
tives. The degal road was to go across to Chusan, then 
garrisoned by the English, a distance of thirty or 
forty miles, nearly due east, and then take the 
