Cuar. XIX. ] TARTAR CITY OF CHAPOO. 351 
necessity of this advice was soon apparent ; for when 
the boat touched the beach, I found that I had to 
walk a quarter of a mile up to the knees in mud, 
before I could get on firm ground. Now came the 
critical part of my expedition. When I had got 
through the mud, I inquired for the nearest spring 
and commenced my ablutions, making no attempt 
to disguise myself, as I was dressed in the common 
English garb. Long before I had finished washing, 
I was surrounded by some hundreds of the natives, 
who seemed perfectly astonished at the sight of an 
Englishman, although this place had been attacked 
and taken during the late war. All sorts of in- 
quiries were made regarding me; “where had I come 
from ?” ‘where was I bound for ?” “what were my 
objects ?” and a hundred other questions were put to 
me, or to those who accompanied me. All were, 
however, quite civil and did not attempt to annoy 
me in the slightest degree. I now walked to 
some hills near the city, and inspected their vegeta- 
tion. On the way I visited some temples which 
had been battered down by our troops during the 
war, and which still remained in the same ruinous 
condition. Hundreds of people followed me to the 
hills, the view from which is one of the finest I 
ever saw in this country. Here it is that the hills 
of the south end, and the wide plain of the Yang- 
tse-kiang commences. On one side, looking towards 
the south and west, mountains are seen towering in 
all their grandeur ; whilst on the northern side, the 
eye rests on a rich and level plain, watered by its 
