Chap. XVII. 
DECEIT OF MANDARINS. 
289 
I was now anxious to proceed further into the country, 
particularly into the hilly black-tea district ; but the 
mandarins, who were informed of all my movements by 
their spies, did everything in their power to dissuade 
me from making the attempt. They told the consul 
that their only reason for wishing to prevent my going 
into the interior was, that the natives were in a state 
which made it unsafe for a foreigner to trust himself 
amongst them ; that by and by they would communicate 
with the magistrates in the district to which I wanted 
to go, and that after this was done I might proceed 
with safety. But I had had too much to do with the 
Chinese authorities in various parts of the country to 
place any reliance in what they said, more particularly 
when I knew that they had some end to gain. In the 
present instance their object was to procrastinate 
matters from day to day until I should be obliged to 
leave the district. When the Chinese have an end to 
gain, the only question with them is, whether they 
are most likely to succeed by telling the truth or 
telling lies ; either method is resorted to as may best 
suit their purpose, with a slight preference, perhaps, for 
the latter. 
When they found that, notwithstanding all their 
descriptions of the fierce and hostile disposition of the 
people, I was still determined to go, they declared that 
no tea was grown in this district ; being fully persuaded 
that an Englishmau could have no other object in 
exploring the country than to see the cultivation of his 
favourite beverage. Indeed, every Chinaman firmly 
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