146 



TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. Chap. VIII. 



Here we sculled the boat in-shore, and rested for the 

 night. On the following morning at daybreak we 

 got under way again, and proceeded up the river. 

 Numerous boats accompanied us, being on their way 

 for the large towns of Suiy-kow, Yen-ping-foo, and 

 Kien-ning-foo, all on the banks of the Min. As I 

 was dressed in the costume of the country, no one took 

 the slightest notice of me, and I considered myself 

 in a fair way to accomplish the object I had in view. 



The boatmen, who had been engaged at the mouth 

 of the Min, were perfectly ignorant of my intentions. 

 They now began to inquire how far I intended to go 

 in their boat, and whether it was my intention to 

 return with them. I told them I intended to take 

 their boat as far as Suiy-kow, a town said to be about 

 240 le from Foo-chow-foo. They held up their 

 hands in astonishment, and declared it was per- 

 fectly impossible for their boat to go so far. " Oh, 

 very well," I replied ; " then I shall engage another 

 boat, and you may return." Thereupon they held a 

 consultation amongst themselves for a minute or two, 

 and at last came to the conclusion that such a thing 

 ivas possible, and agreed to take me to Suiy-kow. 



Hitherto w r e had been passing through what is 

 commonly called the valley of the Min. It is rich 

 and fertile to an extraordinary degree. Groves of 

 leechee, longan, peach and plum trees, are seen over 

 all the plain. The sweet-scented Aglaia odorata is 

 largely cultivated for mixing with and perfuming 

 tobacco, and the Ckloranthus for scenting the finer 

 kinds of tea. Sugar-cane and tobacco are extensively 



