Chap. XI. 



HOKOW. 



197 



CHAPTER XL 



Town of Hokow — Its situation, trade, and great importance — Bohea 

 mountain chair — Mountain road — Beggars by the wayside — 

 Beautiful scenery — The priest and his bell — Town of Yuen-shan 

 — Appearance of the road — Tea coolies — Different modes of 

 carrying the tea-chests — Large tea-growing country — Soil and 

 plantatioDS — My first night in a Chinese inn — Beception — Dirty 

 bed-rooms — I console myself, and go to dinner. 



Hokow, or Hohow, as it is called by the southern 

 Chinese, is one of the most important inland towns 

 in the empire. It is situated in latitude 29° 54' 

 north, and in longitude 116° 18' east, on the left 

 bank of the river Kin-keang, down which I had come. 

 Judging from its size, and comparing it with other 

 towns, I imagine it contains about 300,000 inhabit- 

 ants. It is the great emporium of the black-tea 

 trade. Merchants from all parts of China come here, 

 either to buy teas, or to get them conveyed to other 

 parts of the country. 



Large inns, tea-hongs, and warehouses, are met 

 with in every part of the town, and particularly 

 along the banks of the river. The boats moored 

 abreast of the town are very numerous. There are 

 small ones for single passengers, large passage-boats 

 for the public, and mandarins' boats gaily decorated 

 with flags. Besides these there are large cargo-boats, 

 for conveying tea and other merchandise either east- 

 ward to Yuk-shan, or westward to the Poyang lake. 



