182 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. XI. 
in my anxiety to take the shortest road I lost sight of 
the highway, and got entangled amongst byways and 
canals. I was soon in a somewhat critical position ; the 
bridges which I was constantly crossing were old, narrow, 
and rotten, and the feet of my pony were every now and 
then getting entangled between the planks. At length 
we came to one much worse than the others, and 
although I got off and did everything to persuade the 
pony to follow me over it, with great reluctance he 
attempted to do so, but, when about the centre of the 
bridge, his feet got fast in the rotten planking, and in 
the struggle to free himself the centre gave way ; I had 
just time to spring to the bank, when the bridge and 
pony both fell into the canal. Luckily for me the poor 
animal swam to the side I was on, and allowed me to 
catch him when he got out of the water : he was com- 
pletely covered with mud, and my saddle and bridle 
were of course in a sad condition. By the assistance of 
some labourers who were at work within a short dis- 
tance, I was soon enabled to get out of this network of 
canals, and regain the main road ; but this was a lesson 
to me, and as long as I was in China I never afterwards 
went off the main road when I was on horseback. 
I reached a small town in the vicinity of the hills 
about two o'clock in the afternoon ; the pony, having 
had nothing to eat since we left Shanghae, was much 
exhausted, and I was therefore anxious to procure a feed 
of corn for him at some of the shops. The news of the 
presence of a foreigner in the town spread like lightning, 
and I was soon surrounded and followed by some thou- 
sands of people of both sexes, young and old, who were 
