ClIAP. II. 
A CHINA PASSAGE-BOAT. 
29 
A Chinese bed is not a very luxurious one. It consists 
simply of a mat to lie upon, a hard square pillow for the 
head, and a coverlet stuffed with cotton to draw over the 
body as a protection from the cold. 
I had the berth nearest the stern of the boat, a dwarf 
occupied the one opposite, and my two servants slept in 
the passage between us. The galley, or, I should rather 
say, cooking apparatus, was placed outside in the stem, 
near to the steersman. 
Each passenger, when he takes his passage in these 
boats, agrees for three meals a day at a certain fixed rate. 
We were to have cong^ in the morning, rice at mid-day, 
and rice-cong^ again in the evening. Anything else the 
passengers wanted, such as tea, fish, meat, or vegetables, 
they had to provide and cook for themselves. The 
arrangement seems a good one, and it enables those who 
are so inclined to travel at a very small cost. Many of 
the passengers had nothing else than what was provided 
by the boatmen, excepting perhaps a little tea, which 
they all carried with them, and which in this country 
is cheap enough. 
In the morning a basin of hot water, with a cloth in 
it, was brought to me to perform my ablutions. The 
following is the Chinese way of using this: the cloth 
is dipped in the hot water and then wrung until the 
greater part of the water is pressed out. In this hot and 
damp state it is spread out on both hands, and the face, 
neck, and head rubbed over with it. This mode of 
washing is not the most effectual, but there is nothing 
more refreshing on a warm day, if one comes in from a 
walk hot and weary ; it is far more refreshing than 
