148 



TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. 



Chap. VIII. 



did not appear to be very thickly populated. I saw 

 no towns of any size from Foo-chow to Suiy-kow; 

 even villages and small farm-houses were few and 

 far between. Whenever I landed- — and I did so 

 every day during the ebb tide — I had a good oppor- 

 tunity of forming an opinion on the character of the 

 natives. Most of them seemed miserably poor, but 

 all were quiet and harmless, and very different from 

 those at the mouth of the river and on the islands 

 near the coast. The latter are a dangerous set ; they 

 live by robbery and piracy, and often set the Govern- 

 ment itself at defiance. 



On the morning of the fourth day we arrived 

 at Suiy-kow. Travellers bound for the towns north 

 of this place generally leave the river here, and go on 

 by chair, as the rapids are numerous, and boats make 

 slow progress against the stream. 



This place is most pleasantly situated on the left 

 bank of the river. It is but a small town, and I sup- 

 pose does not contain more than 5000 or 6000 inha- 

 bitants. A very large number of boats, for the size 

 of the place, were moored along the banks of the 

 river. The principal trade of the town seems to be 

 in furnishing supplies for the boatmen and their pas- 

 sengers, as they pass on their way either to the 

 interior or down towards the coast. 



My servants were now despatched to engage 

 another boat, while I took a stroll through the town 

 and its suburbs. In the course of two hours we met 

 again at the landing-place, when I found they had 

 not been successful, and were now most anxious 

 for me to proceed by chair, which they said was the 



