Chap. XI. 



YUEN-SHAN. 



201 



road near the base of the hill. As I was passing 

 through this archway an old man, a priest, came out 

 and struck a bell three times. Whether this was 

 done in my honour, or to propitiate the gods for my 

 safety and success, I cannot tell, but it was evident 

 the priest expected something for his trouble, and 

 Sing-Hoo, who pretended to be a good Buddhist, 

 gave him a few cash as we passed under the arch. 



We now entered the town of Yuen-shan, It is 

 about 60 le distant from Hokow, and stands on the 

 banks of the mountain stream. Though not large, it 

 seems a flourishing place. It is on the highway from 

 the black-tea country of Fokien, and nearly all the teas 

 brought thence on the backs of coolies are here put 

 in small boats and conveyed to Hokow. Owing to 

 there being a water-communication between these 

 towns, I did not observe much traffic on the road. 

 I was now, however, about to enter upon a crowded 

 and bustling thoroughfare, like that between the 

 sources of the two rivers described in the last chapter. 



As it was mid-day when we entered Yuen-shan, I 

 went to an inn, and had some refreshment, while the 

 coolies had their dinner. When we resumed our 

 journey, we found many travellers on the road, going 

 and returning from the tea-country in chairs. All of 

 them seemed to be sound asleep. This is a common 

 practice amongst the mountain travellers, the chairs 

 being constructed so as to enable them to do so com- 

 fortably. 



Coolies were now met in great numbers, loaded 

 with tea-chests. Many of them carried only one 



