132 TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. Chap. VII. 



gravity of a judge. The reader may probably be 

 ignorant of the Chinese language, and I must there- 

 fore explain that a Chinese cannot pronounce our 

 letter r ; he has not such a sound in his language. 

 In trying to pronounce any word in which the letter 

 occurs, he invariably substitutes the sound of I for 

 that of r. It was therefore burnt rice, or the husks 

 of rice reduced to ashes, that he meant. I then 

 asked him the reason why he used this substance in 

 packing seeds, and he replied, in Canton English, 

 " S'pose my no mixie this seed, worms makie chov> 

 cliow he" Although the Chinese in Canton would 

 consider this excellent English, it may be as well to 

 explain that his meaning was, " Suppose I did not 

 mix ashes with the seeds, worms would eat them." 

 He alluded to a little maggot which would come out 

 during the voyage. " Don't be angry," said I, "but 

 we English fancy you do something to destroy the 

 vitality of the seeds, instead of endeavouring to pre- 

 serve it." " I know," said the old man, " you fancy 

 I boil them!" 



It is a most difficult matter to preserve the seeds 

 of trees and shrubs in the south of China, owing to 

 the attacks of maggots. This is, without doubt, one 

 of the reasons why Canton seeds so seldom grow 

 when they are received in England ; another reason 

 is the age of the seeds. Old ones, gathered in former 

 years, are generally mixed up with the fresh ones, 

 and are all sent together. Most assuredly, however, 

 poor Aching does not boil them nor poison them in 

 any way. 



