8 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. I. 
agreement. To put on the dress was an easy matter, but I 
had also to get my head shaved — an operation which 
required a barber. Wang, who was the most active of my 
two men, was laid up that morning with fever and ague, so 
that the duty devolved upon the coolie. The latter- was 
a large-boned, clumsy fellow, whose only recommenda- 
tion to me was his being a native of that part of the 
country to which I was bound. Having procured a pair 
of scissors, he clipped the hair from the front, back, and 
sides of my head, leaving only a patch upon the crown. 
He then washed those parts with hot water, after the 
manner of the Chinese, and, having done so, he took up 
a small razor and began to shave my head. I suppose I 
must have been the first person upon whom he had ever 
operated, and I am charitable enough to wish most 
sincerely that I may be the last. He did not shave, he 
actually scraped my poor head until the tears came run- 
ning down my cheeks, and I cried out with pain. All 
he said was, " Hai-yah — very bad, very bad," and con- 
tinued the operation. To make matters worse, and to 
try my temper more, the boatmen were peeping into the 
cabin and evidently enjoying the whole affair, and think- 
ing it capital sport. I really believe I should have made 
a scene of a less amusing kind had I not been restrained 
by prudential motives, and by the consideration that the 
poor coolie was really doing the best he could. The 
shaving was finished at last ; I then dressed myself in 
the costume of the country, and the result was pro- 
nounced by my servants and the boatmen to be very 
satisfactory. 
The whole country to the westward of Shanghae is 
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