vi 



PREFACE. 



which lie between the coast-line and the points 

 formerly reached. For the talented sketches which 

 illustrate the work I am indebted to my friend 

 Mr. Scarth. 



In keeping a journal of the ever-varying scenes 

 which passed daily in review before me, I have 

 not been unmindful of a friendly hint which 

 I received from some reviewers of my former 

 works. I have, therefore, endeavoured to de- 

 scribe more minutely the characters, manners, and 

 customs of the Chinese in those districts in which 

 I lived for a length of time almost like one of 

 themselves. And with regard to this part of the 

 performance I can only say that the figures on 

 my canvas are such as I daily met with in the 

 course of my travels, and are true to nature. The 

 reader is left to draw his own conclusions ; but it is 

 hoped that those who have been inclined to form 

 their estimate of the Chinese character from what 

 has been written about the low rabble of Canton, 

 will, after the perusal of these pages, look with 

 a more favourable eye upon the inhabitants of 

 China when seen from other points of view. 



The natural productions of the country which 

 came under my notice, whether simply ornamental 

 in their character, or articles of commercial value, 

 have been fully described. During a sojourn of 

 some months in the heart of the great silk country 

 I had an opportunity of seeing the cultivation of 

 the mulberry, the feeding and rearing of the silk- 

 worms, and the reeling of the silk ; and these in- 



