2 



AN EAKTHQUAKE. 



Chap. I. 



after leaving Hong-kong, having run in that time 

 somewhere about nine hundred miles. 



As on former occasions, I determined to make 

 this port my head-quarters during my travels in 

 the interior owing to the facilities it afforded for 

 the despatch of my collections to India or to Eng- 

 land. I was lucky enough to find my friend 

 Mr. Beale, to whom I was so much indebted during 

 my former " journey to • the tea districts," still in 

 Shanghae, and as kind and hospitable as ever. He 

 again invited me to make his house my home when- 

 ever I should visit this port, an invitation of which 

 I availed myself frequently during the three years 

 I have been in the country. His large and in- 

 teresting garden I found of the greatest value, as 

 in it I could store my various collections until an 

 opportunity occurred of having them shipped for 

 their destination. 



During the few days of my stay in Shanghae 

 I experienced for the first time in my life the 

 shock of an earthquake, a phenomenon which is 

 not unusual in this part of the world. It was 

 about eleven o'clock at night, one of those beautiful 

 nights which one finds only in the sunny lands of 

 the East. The stars were shining brightly in the 

 sky, but a slight haze seemed to spread itself over~ 

 the ground and the river ; and the atmosphere, 

 although perfectly calm, was warmer than is usual 

 at this early period of the spring. I had been 

 dining out, and had just returned home, and was 

 sitting with Mr. Beale at the drawing-room fire. 



