iv PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. 
and romantic valleys ; its rivers and canals ; its natural 
productions, whether in the field, on the hill-side, or in 
the garden ; and its strange and interesting people, as 
they were seen by me in their every-day life/' And I 
expressed a hope that the public would receive the work 
in the same kind spirit, and with the same indulgence 
and favour, that were shown to my first "Wanderings/' 
My wishes have been fully realized. The Journey to 
the Tea Countries has been received with great favour, 
both by the public and the press ; and, while I gladly 
take this opportunity of expressing my thanks, I need 
scarcely say I have been highly gratified. 
As the style in which these works were brought out 
did not admit of their being sold at a price within the 
means of the great mass of the people, who are no doubt 
much interested in a country like China, and in the 
cultivation and manufacture of Tea, a beverage which is 
now indispensable to the poor as well as to the rich, — 
"that cheers but not inebriates,'' — Mr. Murray is of 
opinion that an edition slightly abridged will be accept- 
able ; one which, while nothing is left out of importance 
to the general reader, will enable the work to be brought 
out at a smaller cost. I have, therefore, gone carefully 
over the two volumes, and have struck out some things 
in the first which experience taught me to improve in 
the second. I have also omitted some meteorological 
observations and dry botanical details, which, although 
