110 



MOSQUITO TOBACCO. 



Chap. VI. 



men to my servant. Delighted to find there was 

 some simple remedy, I sent on shore to the first 

 village we passed, and procured some sticks of 

 this invaluable substance. I found it answer the 

 purpose admirably, and used it every night during 

 the remainder of that journey wherever I hap- 

 pened to sleep, whether in boats, in temples, or in 

 the common inns of the country. 



When I reached England the account which I 

 gave of this substance attracted a good deal of 

 notice from entomologists and others, and I was 

 frequently asked if I had brought any of it home, 

 or if I knew what the ingredients were of which 

 it was composed. I was obliged to plead negli- 

 gence in not having done the former and igno- 

 rance as regards the latter. However much the 

 substance delighted me at first, its constant use, 

 its cheapness, and being an article extremely 

 common, led me, I suppose, to neglect it, as we 

 often do common things. This is the only expla- 

 nation I can give for my neglect, which, when I 

 came to consider the matter at home, surprised me 

 probably more than those who had made inquiries 

 regarding it. My ignorance of the ingredients 

 which composed it will not excite so much* surprise 

 in the minds of those acquainted with the cha- 

 racter of the Chinese. 



Having occasion to visit the island of Chusan in 

 the end of August, in order to make some arrange- 

 ments about grafted Yang-mae trees, I found a 

 quantity of this mosquito tobacco in a joss-stick 



