Chap. III. 



A CHINA PASSAGE-BOAT. 



45 



CHAPTER III. 



Leave Hang-chow-foo — A China passage-boat — Scenery and natural 

 productions — Kemarkable hills — Our fellow-passengers — A 

 smoker of opium — I am discovered to be a foreigner — City of 

 Yen-chow-foo — A Chinaman cheats a Chinaman ! — The river and 

 water-mills — Botany of the country — A valuable palm-tree — 

 Birds — Lime-kilns and green granite — Tea-plant met with — 

 The new Funereal Cypress discovered — Its beauty — How its 

 seeds were procured — Dr. Lindley's opinion of its merits — Strange 

 echo — Eiver and land beggars — Charity. 



When the next morning dawned we got under way 

 and steered out into the river, which is here three or 

 four miles in width. The boat was strongly built, 

 flat-bottomed, and very sharp both fore and aft. 

 Ordinary boats, such as those seen at Shanghae, 

 would be perfectly useless here, for they would soon 

 be broken to pieces on the rocks and stones which 

 abound in this shallow but rapid river. 



We were deeply laden with cargo, and carried 

 about twenty passengers. The cargo was packed in 

 the bottom of the boat, and the passengers above it. 

 Two rows of sleeping-berths were constructed along 

 each side of the boat, and a passage between them, so 

 that both passengers and boatmen could walk from 

 stem to stern without any inconvenience. The first- 

 class passengers occupied the side-berths, and their 

 servants and coolies slept in the passage. 



A Chinese bed is not a very luxurious one. It 



