356 OBJECT OF THIS CIVILITY. ([Cuav. XIX. 
their motives, in order to counteract any evil de- 
sions they might think proper to hide under their 
assumed kindness and civility. In this instance 
their motives were perfectly plain to me, and were 
simply these: — According to the treaty of Nan- 
king, if any Englishman was found beyond the 
boundaries which were to have been fixed at each 
of the five ports, he was liable to be seized by 
the authorities and brought to the nearest British 
Consul, who, in these circumstances, was obliged to 
impose a very heavy fine upon the transgressor ; 
and therefore, if I had accepted their kind offers, 
I should have found, on my arrival at Shanghae, 
that I was a prisoner instead of a guest, and should, 
in all probability, have been handed over as such 
to the British Consul. On the other hand, if I 
hired my own boat, and went unaccompanied by 
any of the mandarin’s people, I was perfectly safe, 
according to the strict letter of the treaty, even al- 
though a complaint were lodged against me on my 
arrival at Shanghae. Nothing would have been 
done in the matter by the British Consul unless I 
had been bond fide taken up beyond the boundaries, 
which was not likely to happen; as the Chinese 
officials are extremely cautious in all matters of 
this kind, in order to avoid getting themselves into 
trouble. 
I immediately determined that I would not be 
outdone in politeness, and therefore, with many 
bows and reiterated thanks, I told them that I 
could not think of accepting so much gratuitous 
