226 



STEAMER " CONFUCIUS." Chap. XI. 



for the northern ports. My lucky star, however, 

 happened to be in the ascendant. One fine morn- 

 ing a Portuguese lorcha came into port, bound 

 north to Ningpo, convoying a number of junks to 

 protect them from pirates. As this vessel was 

 heavily armed, I determined to trust myself in her, 

 and had gone on board to look at her accommoda- 

 tions, and to make arrangements about my passage- 

 money. 



" It never rains but it pours," says the proverb, 

 which I cannot help thinking is a gross calumny, 

 particularly on those soft spring showers which 

 were at this time (April) falling on the east coast 

 of China. The proverb proved true, however, in 

 a figurative sense, in this instance, for, before I 

 had made arrangements for a passage in the 

 lorcha, the American steamer " Confucius" made 

 her appearance from Shanghae, and soon came to 

 an anchor amongst the Chinese junks a little 

 below the town. As I suspected the steamer 

 might have been chartered by Messrs. Russell and 

 Co. in Shanghae, to carry some important news, I 

 felt some diffidence in making any inquiries as to 

 her destination. My friend Mr. Clark, however, 

 who knew how anxious I was to get north, men- 

 tioned the circumstance to Captain Dearborn, and 

 that gentleman most kindly came forward and 

 offered me a passage without its having been 

 asked. In the mean time, as there were numerous 

 pirates on the coast, of whom the mandarins them- 

 selves were afraid, the Government chartered the 



