Chap. II. A " CHOP "-A CHINESE INN. 



41 



to the master of the servant, or to the hirer of the 

 boat, who retains it until his contract is satisfactorily 

 fulfilled. This system is practised universally amongst 

 the Chinese, who seem to have no faith in the lower 

 orders of the people. 



I quickly despatched Wang to look after a boat, 

 and desired him to bring the boatman with him to 

 the inn, to have his agreement drawn up and signed. 

 The other man ran out along with him, and I was 

 again left in a strange place amongst strangers. 



The inn in which I was located was a large old 

 building, pleasantly situated on the banks of the 

 Green River. All the lower part formed a sort of 

 shed or warehouse, which was filled with goods of 

 various kinds and the luggage of passengers. At 

 the upper end of this apartment a table was placed 

 in the middle of the floor, and served for the host and 

 his guests to dine upon. Around this table were 

 sitting five or six respectable-looking Chinese mer- 

 chants smoking from long bamboo pipes, and discuss- 

 ing the news of the day and the state of trade. 

 These men politely made way for me at the table. 

 I took the seat offered, and to be neighbour-like 

 commenced smoking as fast as any of them. In 

 other parts of the warehouse the servants of these 

 men, and other travelling servants, were lolling about, 

 or sound asleep upon the chairs or goods. No one 

 seemed to take any particular notice of me, and I 

 soon sat perfectly at my ease. 



A little incident happened which gave me some 

 uneasiness at the time, but at which I have often had 



