ClIAP. III. 
JOURNEY TO THE HILLS. 
37 
the various plans they employed to getjt from me : one 
brought a handful of chillies, which he held out in one 
hand, and with the other pointed to the neckcloth, 
intimating that he would close the bargain in that way ; 
another did the same with a few earth-nuts, and some 
brought me a few weeds ; all, however, taking care to 
offer nothing of value. I began blundering Chinese to 
them as well as I could, upon which two of the men ran 
off to the village as fast as they could, desiring me to 
wait until they returned. I could not divine the reason 
of this ; but in order to please them, I complied with 
their wishes. They soon returned, bringing with them 
a bottle of sam-shoo, or Chinese spirits ; which they 
supposed I had asked for, and which they now tendered 
for the neckcloth, evidently considering that this offer 
must be irresistible. The crowd, however, was now 
becoming rather too great, and I walked on towards the 
hills, and began to ascend them — a plan which I always * I^^JfslTi^iJt, 
adopted when I wanted to get away from the Chinese, ' 
as they are generally too lazy to follow far where much 
exertion is required. The manoeuvre answered my pur- 
pose, for I was soon left to my own meditations. When 
I reached the highest hill, on which the pagoda stands, 
and looked down on the level plain over which I had 
passed, I was at no loss to comprehend from whence 
the numbers came by whom I had been surrounded, as 
large villages or towns now met my eye in all directions 
which had not been visible when I was on the plain. 
On reaching the pagoda I was astonished to find it in 
a most dilapidated condition, almost ruinous, although 
the main part of it, which had been strongly built, was 
