Chap. I. 
HANG-CHOW-FOO. 
17 
some difficulties would be experienced in procuring a 
chair, either through fear of the mandarins, or with a 
view of extorting money. The old man, who made his 
living by letting chairs and selling tea, took everything 
very quietly, and did not seem to despise a good cus- 
tomer, even if he was a foreigner. A chair was soon 
ready for me to proceed on my journey. The bearers 
were paid by the master of the house to take me one 
stage — about half way — and a sum of money was given 
them to engage another chair for the remainder of the 
journey, to a place called Kan-du, which is situated on 
the banks of the large river which here falls into the 
bay of Hang-chow. 
Everything being satisfactorily arranged, I stepped 
into the chair, and, desiring my two servants to follow 
me, proceeded along the narrow streets at a rapid pace. 
After travelling in this way for about a mile, and expect- 
ing every moment to get out into the open country, I 
was greatly surprised by finding that I was getting more 
and more into a dense town. For the first time I began 
to suspect that my servants were deceiving me, and that 
I was to pass through the city of Hang-chow after all. 
These suspicions were soon confirmed by the appearance 
of the walls and ramparts of the city. It was now too 
late to object to this procedure, and I thought the best 
way to act was to let matters take their course and re- 
main passive in the business. 
We passed through the gates into the city. It seemed 
an ancient place : the walls and ramparts were high 
and in excellent repair, and the gates were guarded as 
usual by a number of soldiers. Its main street. 
