Chap. XV. LUH-LE-HEEN — ENGAGE CANAL BOATS. 325 



le-heen, distant from Kan-poo between two and 

 three miles. Here a canal terminates which is 

 connected with those which ramify all over the 

 plain of the Yan-tze-kiang, and here we found 

 travelling-boats from all quarters of the country 

 ready to be engaged. There is a canal which 

 leads from the city to this point, and by this 

 means we brought up our servants and luggage. 

 At Luh-le-heen the two canals are separated by 

 an embankment, and goods or luggage has to be 

 carried across on men's shoulders. 



Luh-le-heen is a small bustling village on the 

 banks of the canal, chiefly remarkable for the 

 number of tea-shops and other houses of refresh- 

 ment it contains. Judging from the crowds of 

 people we saw in these places, a thriving trade 

 must be done by their proprietors ; but it must be 

 taken into consideration that most of their cus- 

 tomers spend very small sums. In tea-shops in 

 China a cup of tea can be had for about the third 

 part of a farthing of our money, and oftentimes 

 for less than that, so that a shop of this kind may 

 be crowded from morning to evening and not a 

 large sum of money taken after all during the 

 day. 



We found no difficulty in engaging boats to 

 take us onwards to Shanghae, and having had our 

 luggage carried into them over the embankment, 

 we sculled away, and soon left the canal village far 

 behind us. Our route now lay along the borders 

 of the silk district, and everywhere we saw groves 



z 2 



