172 TEA DISTRICTS OF CHIls A. Chap. IX. 



orable. The sail was unbent, one of the men got it 

 on his shoulders, and our visitors walked away. 



This was a serious mishap to me, as I could see 

 no means of getting on to Nan-che. At last Sing- 

 Hoo proposed to walk to the town, and bring down 

 a small boat for me and the luggage. This appeared 

 to be the best plan under the circumstances, so I 

 consented, and he took his departure. The people 

 in the boat did not seem to give themselves much 

 uneasiness about the business. With the exception 

 of the captain and his wife, they all lay down in 

 their berths, and were soon fast asleep. 



At daylight on the following morning I was 

 awakened by a noise in the boat, and on opening 

 my eyes I observed the captain standing on the 

 bows and threatening to drown himself in the river. 

 He was held back by his wife and one of his men, 

 who were both entreating him to desist from his pur- 

 pose and to come inside. He struggled with great 

 violence until he shook them both off, when he com- 

 menced deliberately to throw off his clothes. The 

 others looked on in silence, and as he was still in- 

 toxicated I fully expected to see him plunge into the 

 stream. When left to himself, however, he seemed 

 to change his mind, and, after looking moodily on 

 the river for a few seconds, he walked quietly into 

 the boat, called for his pipe and began to smoke. 

 Soon afterwards he started for Nan-che to try and 

 raise some money to satisfy his creditor. 



About mid-day my servant arrived with a small 

 boat which he had brought to take me on to Nan- 



