Chap. XVIII. A FORTNIGHT'S HINDRANCES. 
297 
the Jan-dous ?" said I to my servant, never having 
heard the name before. " Oh ! they are pirates/' said 
he, " and we are all very much frightened at them." 
"Nonsense ! I exclaimed: " no pirates will attack 
us." At this time I had no idea that the coast was so 
infested with these lawless characters, and I put it all 
down to the cowardice of my informants. 
As soon as I got on board we hove up the anchor 
and dropped down to the mouth of the Min. We here 
found a large fleet of junks— about one hundred and 
seventy sail — all like ourselves loaded with wood and 
ready to start for the northern parts of Ning-po and 
Chapoo. That evening a meeting of the captains was 
held on board of our vessel, and a deputation appointed 
to wait upon the mandarins to request them to send a 
convoy of war-junks to protect the fleet from the pirates. 
These negotiations were carried on for several days ; but 
the demands of the mandarins were so exorbitant, that 
the junk people would not comply with them, and it was 
at last determined to sail without the convoy. Just as 
they came to this decision the wind changed and blew 
a gale from the north for three days, when it veered 
round to the south, and blew nearly as strong from that 
quarter, and for the same space of time. These vessels 
never go to sea in stormy weather, even if the wind is 
fair ; and what with gales of wind and negotiations 
with mandarins, I was obliged to content myself with a 
junk life for a fortnight at the mouth of the river. 
As long as I enjoyed health I got on well enough; 
but the exposure during the past summer, particularly 
at Foo-chow-foo, had gradually undermined my consti- 
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