280 



THE QUAN-TING VALLEY. 



Chap. XIIL 



of the best houses in the village, I went up to 

 him and politely asked him if he " had eaten his 

 rice." He called out immediately to a boy to 

 bring me a chair, and begged me to rest a little 

 before I proceeded on my journey. As nsiial, tea 

 was brought and set before me. As I chatted 

 away with the old man, the natives gathered 

 confidence and crowded round us in great num- 

 bers. Their fears soon left them when they found 

 I was much like one of themselves, although 

 without a tail. Everything about me was exam- 

 ined and criticised with the greatest minuteness. 

 My hat, my clothes, my shoes, and particularly 

 my watch, were all objects which attracted their 

 attention. I took all this in good part, answered 

 all their questions, and I trust when I left them 

 their opinion of the character of foreigners had 

 somewhat changed. 



Another mountain-pass had now to be got over, 

 nearly as high as the last one. When the top 

 of this was gained, I found I was now on the 

 summit of the highest range in this part of the 

 country. Our road now winded along the tops 

 of the mountains at this elevation for several 

 miles, and at last descended into the Quan-ting 

 valley, for which I was bound. This was some- 

 what like the Poo-in-chee valley just described, and 

 apparently about the same elevation. 



Having reached the temple, I had no difficulty 

 in finding my acquaintance of the previous day, 

 Mr. Wang-a-nok, as he called himself. It now 



