Cuar. XX.] ENGAGE A PILOT. 365 
appearance. It seems that these people only come 
here at certain periods of the year to fish; and 
when the season is past, they move to more comfort- 
able quarters on the main-land. No women are 
ever allowed to inhabit the island. 
Having picked out the most weather-beaten man 
we could find, we asked himif he knew the passage 
to the Min, and if he could take a vessel in which 
drew three fathoms of water. He immediately 
answered in the affirmative; but when we wanted 
him to come on board, he altered his mind and 
hesitated, probably because he had not confidence 
in us; or, it might be, he was frightened at the 
consequences, not knowing how his conduct would 
be viewed by the authorities. Mr. Shaw, Captain 
Freeman, and myself, now held a conference as to 
what was tobe done. A ship and a valuable cargo 
were at stake; the numerous and dangerous sand- 
banks near the mouth of the river were visible; and 
as the man only refused us his service through fear 
and ignorance, we concluded that, as “necessity 
has no law,” there could be no great harm in taking 
him against his will. We accordingly pulled along- 
side his little junk, and took him and it off to the 
ship, where he very soon got over all his fears. 
The Chinese are certainly a strange and unac- 
countable race. Never in my life did I witness 
greater apathy than was shown by this boat’s crew 
when we took them off to the ship. Their companions 
too—for there were several boats in the little bay 
—secarcely even looked at us, or manifested the 
