Chap. XVI. 



INDIGO AND SAFFLOWER. 



833 



I was heartily glad wlien my boat had passed 

 the place into purer air. As my boatmen sculled 

 all night, in the morning we were thirty miles 

 distant from Shanghae and within sight of the 

 walls of Cading, an old city which I passed some 

 years ago, when on my way to Soo-chow-foo. 

 Here I remained for several days, inspecting the 

 natural productions of the country. As this city 

 and the surrounding country is frequently visited 

 by missionaries and other residents in Shanghae, a 

 foreigner is a common sight to the natives, who 

 do not crowd round him as they do in more inland 

 towns. I could, therefore, pursue my investiga- 

 tions in town and country without being molested 

 in any way whatever. 



The surrounding country, although a plain, is 

 somewhat higher and more undulating in its gene- 

 ral character than that about Shanghae. The 

 land is exceedingly fertile and admirably adapted 

 for Chinese cotton cultivation, and consequently 

 we find that cotton is the staple production of the 

 district. But there are many other articles be- 

 sides which are worthy of notice. The Shanghae 

 indigo {Isates indigotica) is largely cultivated in the 

 Ke-wang-meow district, a few miles to the south. 

 The " Hong-wha," a variety of safflower (Car- 

 thamnus tinctorius), was found for the first time in 

 fields near Cading. This dye, I was informed, was 

 held in high esteem by the Chinese, and is used in 

 dyeing the red and scarlet silks and crapes which 

 are so common in the country and so much and 



