166 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. X. 
Providentially the wind lulled for a short time, which 
enabled us to hoist more sail ; and soon afterwards we 
got to leeward of one of the numerous small islands 
which are scattered over this part of the coast. As soon 
as we had anchored all hands began baling the water 
out of the boat. We were in a most pitiful condition, all 
our clothes and beds being completely soaked with sea- 
water ; some plants, but luckily only duplicates, which 
I had with me, were, of course, totally destroyed ; but 
our hearts were light, and we were thankful that our 
lives had been saved. Before daylight the boat was all 
right again, and, as the weather had moderated, we were 
able to proceed on our course to Chusan. 
Kin-tang, or Silver Island as it is called by the 
English, is a large island in this archipelago. Although 
near Chusan, it was seldom visited by any of the 
English there ; but its hills and valleys were very inter- 
esting in a botanical point of view, and on that account 
I was in the habit of anchoring my little boat in some of 
its numerous bays, and exploring its botanical produc- 
tions. The surprise of the simple inhabitants, many of 
whom had never left the island in their lives, was often 
very great when I came down unexpectedly upon their 
little villages. The reader will easily credit this if he 
will only picture to himself the surprise and astonish- 
ment with which a Chinese would be regarded were he 
to appear suddenly in some secluded village in the 
highlands of Scotland or Wales, where no such pheno- 
menon had ever been seen before. I remember, on one 
occasion, that, having toiled up to the top of one of the 
beautiful hills on the island of Kin-tang, I observed on 
