Chap. XI. 



VISIT TO FOO-CHOW-FOO. 



219 



CHAPTEE XL 



Visit the port of Foo-chow-foo — Its foreign trade — The advantages 

 and disadvantages of the port — Steamer " Confucius " — Sail for 

 Formosa — An amateur watch kept — Sea~sickncss of mandarins — 

 Appearance of Formosa from sea — Land on the island — Rice- 

 paper plant — The natives — Productions of the island — Suggestions 

 to the navy in these seas — Sail for Shanghae — Spring and spring 

 flowers. 



In the beginning of March, 1854, having com- 

 pleted my shipments and investigations in the 

 south, I engaged a passage in a schooner and 

 sailed for the port of Foo-chow-foo, the capital 

 city of the province of Fokien, on my way to the 

 more northerly ports of Shanghae and Ningpo. 

 My objects in taking Foo-chow-foo by the way 

 were two-fold. In the first place, I was anxious to 

 make arrangements for getting a large supply of 

 tea-seeds from the best black-tea districts about 

 Woo-e-shan, in the autumn, when they would be 

 ripe ; and secondly, I determined to try and pro- 

 cure some black-tea manufacturers from the same 

 districts, through the agency of some influential 

 friends at this port. The great American house 

 of Messrs. Eussell and Co., by means of energy 

 and large capital, had opened up a connexion with 

 these districts the year before, and had shipped 

 extensively direct from tlie river Min to America 



