Chap. II. 



A DILEMMA. 



39 



could give the second satisfactory reasons for spend- 

 ing part of their cash in tea and tobacco. The first 

 notice, however, which I received of the unsuccessful 

 result of this attempt, was an intimation that I was 

 to be ejected from the chair. I knew this would not 

 do, as from my imperfect knowledge of the lan- 

 guage I might have some difficulty in finding another 

 conveyance, and I did not know one foot of the way 

 which I was going. I was therefore obliged to in- 

 quire into the dispute, and put an end to it by pro- 

 mising to pay the difference when we arrived at the 

 end of our stage. This was evidently what the first 

 rascals had been calculating upon ; but it had the 

 effect of stopping all further disputes, and my bearers 

 shouldered their burthen and jogged onwards. 



The distance from the basin of the Grand Canal 

 to the river on the opposite side is 28 or 30 le, 

 between five and six miles. After leaving the city 

 behind us, we passed through a pretty undulating 

 country for about two miles, and then entered the 

 town of Kan-du, which is built along the banks of the 

 river Tcien-tang-kiang, sometimes called the Green 

 River, which here falls into the Bay of Hang-chow. 

 Kan-du is the seaport of Hang-chow. 



I .had seen nothing of my servants during the 

 whole way, and was beginning to expect a scene or 

 adventure at the end of this part of the journey. The 

 chair-bearers spoke a peculiar dialect, which I could 

 scarcely make out, and I kept wondering as we went 

 along what would happen next. The only thing I 

 could make out was, that they were taking me to a 



