30 



TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. 



Chap. II. 



kept watch I cannot tell, but when I awoke, some 

 time before the morning dawned, the dangers of the 

 place seemed to be completely forgotten, except per- 

 haps in their dreams, for I found them sound asleep. 

 The other men were also sleeping heavily, and no 

 one seemed to have harmed us during our slumbers. 

 I now roused the whole of them, and, the morning 

 being fine, we proceeded on our journey towards the 

 city of Hang-chow-foo. 



During this three days' journey we had been 

 passing through a perfectly level country, having 

 seen only three or four small hills near the city of 

 Sung-kiang-foo. Now, however, the scene began to 

 change, and the hills which gird this extensive plain 

 on the west and south-west sides came into view. 

 We passed a town named Tan-see, which is on the 

 side of the grand canal on which we were now sailing. 

 Tan-see is a bustling town of considerable size, a few 

 miles to the north-east of Hang-chow-foo. The ap- 

 pearance of the flat country here was rich and beau- 

 tiful. Still the mulberry was seen extensively culti- 

 vated on all the higher patches of ground, and rice 

 occupied the low wet land. 



As we approached Hang-chow the vegetation of 

 the country was richer and under a higher state of 

 cultivation than any which had come under my 

 notice in other parts of China. It reminded me of 

 the appearance which those highly cultivated spots 

 present near our large market towns in England. 

 Here were beautiful groves of the loquat (Eriobotrya 

 japonica), yang-mai (Myrica sp.), peaches, plums, 



