22 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. I. 
I had taken my seat in the second chair, and was 
patiently waiting until such time as the first men could 
give the second satisfactory reasons for spending part of 
their cash in tea and tobacco. The first notice, however, 
which I received of the unsuccessful result of this at- 
tempt, was an intimation that I was to be ejected from 
the chair. I knew this would not do, as from my 
imperfect knowledge of the language I might have 
some difficulty in finding another conveyance, and I did 
not know one foot of the way which I was going. I 
was therefore obliged to inquire into the dispute, and 
put an end to it by promising to pay the difference 
when we arrived at the end of the stage. This was 
evidently what the first rascals had been calculating 
upon ; but it had the effect of sk>pping all further 
disputes, and my bearers shouldered their burthen and 
jogged onwards. > 
The distance from the basin of the Grand Canal to 
the river on the opposite side is 28 or 30 le, between 
five and six miles. After leaving the city behind us, we 
passed through a pretty undulating country for about 
two miles, and then entered the town of Kan-du, which 
is built along the banks of the river Tcien-tang-kiang, 
sometimes called the Green River, which here falls into 
the Bay of Hang-chow. Kan-du is the seaport of Hang- 
chow. 
I had seen nothing of my servants during the whole 
way, and was beginning to expect a scene or adventure 
at the end of this part of the journey. The chair-bearers 
spoke a peculiar dialect, which I could scarcely make 
out, and I kept wondering as we went along what would 
