Chap. XVI. SATISFACTORY CORRESPONDENCE. 
277 
the <;unning of the old man. He knew perfectly well 
that it did not contain one word of truth : that I was 
not coming from Tinghae, but from Ning-po ; that I 
met with no breeze at sea except that which had quietly 
brought us to the desired port ; and, lastly, that I had 
not been sent along the coast, but had had a very 
pleasant journey through the interior of the country. I 
saw at once that the object of the good old Taoutae was 
to allow me to deny the truth of his statements ; and, 
upon the principle that no man is bound to criminate 
himself, I sent the following answer to Her Majesty's 
Consul, which was doubtless perfectly satisfactory to the 
Taoutae, and just what he wanted : — 
" Sir — I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of 
a letter from you of yesterday's date, to which is annexed 
a translation of a note you had received from the Taoutae 
of Shanghae, concerning which you request an explana- 
tion may be afforded as soon as possible. In answer to 
this, I beg to inform you that the circumstances noticed 
in the Taoutae's letter do not apply to me, and he is, 
therefore, mistaken, or has been misinformed. I have 
the honour to be. Sir, yours," &c. 
I need scarcely say that I heard no more of the 
matter, and from this I concluded that my answer must 
have been considered highly satisfactory. I arrived in 
Shanghae in good time to transact the business I had in 
hand, and not a little pleased at having so successfully 
accomplished my " overland" journey. 
