184 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. XI. 
same evening, weary enough, having ridden at least sixty 
miles during the day. 
A few days after this, having engaged a boat, I started 
early one morning, and taking advantage of the tide, 
which ebbs and flows over all this part of the country, 
I reached the hills on the same evening. The country 
through which I passed was rich and fertile, cotton form- 
ing the staple production of the fields in the neighbour- 
hood of Shanghae. After passing the cotton district, I 
came into a tract of country in which a cruciferous plant 
seemed to be principally cultivated. From this plant a 
Ikind of indigo or blue dye is prepared ; it is called Tein- 
ching by the Chinese. Very large quantities of this 
substance are brought to Shanghae, and all the other 
towns in the north of China, where it is used in dyeing 
the blue cotton cloth which forms the principal article 
of dress of the poorer classes. I brought home living 
specimens of the plant which produces this dye, and as 
these are now in flower in the gardens of the Horticul- 
tural Society, the proper scientific name of the plant 
will soon be ascertained.* 
As I approached the hills the level of the country 
became lower, and at that time of the year (June) it was 
completely flooded, and rice was extensively cultivated. 
In general, the higher land of this vast plain is used in 
the cultivation of cotton and the cruciferous plant men- 
tioned above ; while the lower lands, those which are 
easily flooded, are converted into rice-fields. Here and 
there on my way I met with large trees of the Salisburia 
* It has proved to be a new species, and has been named Isatis 
( j indigotica. 
