288 



TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. Chap. XVH. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



Trm at Pouching-hien — Opium-smokers and gamblers — Value of life 

 in China — A midnight disturbance — Sing-Hoo fights with a joss- 

 stick — Difficulty of procuring men next day — Sing-Hoo carries the 

 luggage, and we march — His bamboo breaks — Scene amongst 

 beggars — Description of beggars in China — A " king of the 

 beggars " — Charity always given — I continue my journey — 

 Mountain passes and Buddhist temples — A border town and Tartar 

 guard — "We are inspected and allowed to pass on. 



Having left tea and the tea-hills behind me, I shall 

 now go on with rny narrative. When I arrived at 

 the city of Pouching-hien it was nearly dark. It 

 had been raining heavily all the afternoon, and, being 

 wet and uncomfortable, I was glad of the shelter 

 afforded by a Chinese inn. The one which I entered 

 did not appear to be so respectable as I could have 

 wished, and I would have left it and sought another 

 had the weather been better, but as the night was so 

 wet I determined to stop where I was. 



The chair-bearers and coolie, who had been re- 

 engaged at Woo-e-shan, had now arrived at the end 

 of their journey, according to agreement, and in- 

 tended returning home again next day. They gene- 

 rally took care to be paid the proportion of their fare 

 at the end of each day's journey, and I now desired 

 Sing-Hoo to pay them the remainder and get rid of 

 them as soon as possible. He informed me he had 



