56 



TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. Chap. III. 



round, pressed up a heavy mallet to a certain height, 

 and then allowed it to fall down upon the grain placed 

 in a basin below. These mallets were continually 

 rising and falling, as the axle was driven rapidly 

 round by the outside wheels, which were turned by 

 the stream. The boat was thatched over to afford 

 protection from the rain. As we got farther up the 

 river we found that machines of this description were 

 very common. 



About ten or twelve miles above Yen-chow the 

 country appears more fertile ; the hills are covered 

 again with low pines, and the lowlands abound in 

 tallow-trees, camphor-trees, and bamboos. Large 

 quantities of Indian corn and millet are grown in this 

 part of the country, which is, for the most part, too 

 hilly for rice crops. 



Our progress upwards was now very slow, owing 

 to the great rapidity of the river. Every now and 

 then we came to rapids, which it took us hours to get 

 over, notwithstanding that fifteen men, with long 

 ropes fastened to the mast of our boat, were tracking 

 along the shore, and five or six more were poling 

 with long bamboos. Nothing shows so much as this 

 the indefatigable perseverance of the Chinese. When 

 looking upon a river such as this is, one would think 

 it quite impossible to navigate it, yet even this diffi- 

 culty is overcome by hard labour and perseverance. 



The slow progress which we necessarily made 

 suited my purposes exactly, and enabled me to ex- 

 plore the botanical riches of the country with conve- 

 nience and ease. I used to rise at break of day, and 



