CiiAi'. XVI. 
JOURNEY TO SHANGHAE. 
263 
My object during this summer was to make a com- 
plete collection of all my finest plants, for the purpose 
of taking them home under my own care. I lost no 
time, therefore, in visiting all my former acquaintances — 
mandarins, and nurserymen — and made my selections 
when the plants were in bloom. 
The distance from Ning-po to Shanghae is about a 
hundred miles. I had completed my researches in the 
Ning-po district, and was very anxious to get to Shang- 
hae as soon as possible, in order to see some Azaleas in 
bloom, which I was anxious to add to my collections. 
In another fortnight their flowers would have been all 
faded, and it would then have been impossible to 
identify the different varieties. There were two routes 
from Ning-po to Shanghae, one for the foreigners and 
the other for the natives. The legal road was to go 
across to Chusan, then garrisoned by the English, a 
distance of thirty or forty miles, nearly due east, and 
then take the chance of finding some vessel about to 
sail for Woosung or Shanghae. I knew that, if I took 
this line, in all probability I should have to wait for 
eight or ten days in Chusan before such an opportunity 
would occur, a delay which would have entirely defeated 
the object which I had in view. I determined, therefore, 
to go by the interdicted route, and take my chance of 
consequences. 
The journey overland was a very interesting one. 
When I reached the town of Chinhae, at the mouth 
of the Ning-po river, I found that some small junks 
were to sail that evening for Chapoo, and I lost no time 
in securing a passage on board one of them. I was 
