Chap. XVI. KIND OFFER OF A FREE PASSAGE. 
271 
proper to liide under their assumed kindness and civi- 
lity. In this instance their motives were perfectly plain 
to me, and were simply these : — According to the treaty 
of Nanking, if any Englishman was found beyond the 
boundaries which were to have been fixed at each of 
the five ports, he was liable to be seized by the authori- 
ties and brought to the nearest British Consul, who, in 
these circumstances, was obliged to impose a very heavy 
fine upon the transgressor; and therefore, if I had 
accepted their kind offers, I should have found, on my 
arrival at Shanghae, that I was a prisoner instead of a 
guest, and should, in all probability, have been handed 
over as such to the British Consul. On the other hand, 
if I hired my own boat, and went unaccompanied by any 
of the mandarin's people, I was perfectly safe, according 
to the strict letter of the treaty, even although a com- 
plaint were lodged against me on my arrival at Shanghae. 
Nothing would have been done in the matter by the 
British Consul unless I had been bond fide taken up be- 
yond the boundaries, which was not likely to happen ; 
as the Chinese officials are extremely cautious in all 
matters of this kind, in order to avoid getting themselves 
into trouble. 
I immediately determined that I would not be out- 
done in politeness, and therefore, with many bows and 
reiterated thanks^ I told them that I could not think of 
accepting so much gratuitous kindness, as I was able to 
pay my own expenses ; and that all I required of them 
was simply permission to hire a small boat, with three 
or four men, which would enable me to get on to Shang- 
hae. They still kept on pressing their offer upon me, 
