268 



A DINNER AUDIENCE. 



Chap. XIII. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 



A dinner audience — Adventure with a priest — Sanatarium for Ningpo 

 missionaries and others — Abies Kasmpferi — Journey to Quan- 

 ting — Bamboo woods and their value — Magnificent scenery — 

 Natives of Poo-in-chee — Golden bell at Quan-ting — Chinese tra- 

 ditions — Cold of the mountains — Journey with Mr. "Wang — A 

 disappointment — Adventure with pirates — Strange but satisfactory 

 signal — Results. 



The bedroom which. I expressed a wish to occupy, 

 as it seemed somewhat cleaner than the others, 

 was used during the day by an itinerant tailor, a 

 native of Fung-hwa-heen, who was in the habit of 

 going from place to place to mend or make the 

 garments of his customers. This man willingly 

 removed to other quarters, and gave the room up 

 to me. He was a good specimen of his race, 

 shrewd, intelligent, and formed a striking contrast 

 to the priest for whom he was working. Never 

 in all my travels in China had I met with such 

 poor specimens of the human race as these same 

 priests. They had that vacant stare about them 

 which indicated want of intellect, or at least, a 

 mind of a very low order indeed. They did 

 nothing all day long but loll on chairs or stools, 

 and gaze upon the ground, or into space, or at the 

 people who were working, and then they did not 

 appear to see what was going on, but kept looking 



