Cuar, XIX.] CROWDS OF PEOPLE. 353 
numerous crowd had surrounded and accompanied 
me, during the whole of the day; but now that I 
was on the eve of taking my departure, it was 
greatly augmented. Every street, lane, window, 
and house-top was crowded with human beings; all, 
however, perfectly harmless and civil. When | 
reached the canal and attempted to speak with one 
of the boatmen, the crowd pressed after me in such 
numbers, that the boat, had I got on board, would 
probably have been swamped. The poor boatmen 
were so frightened, that no reward which I could 
hold out would induce them to give me a passage. 
They begged and prayed me not to enter their 
boats, as some accident would happen from the 
number of persons whom nothing could prevent 
from crowding in after me. 
I was now in a dilemma, and I scarcely knew 
how to get out of it. At last I determined, much 
against my inclination, to go to the mandarins. It 
is a bad plan to have any thing to do with Chinese 
officials when it can be possibly avoided, but in 
this case there was no help for it; so, having in- 
quired for the residence of the superintendent of 
boats, I set off to call upon him, followed, of course, 
by an immense mob. As we were going to his 
house, my servant came up to me and requested 
that I would not tell the mandarin that he was in - 
my service, or that he had any thing to do in bring- 
ing me there. As I could speak the language suf- 
ficiently well to make myself understood, I did not 
need him as an interpreter, and I was of course 
A A 
