Chap. III. 
A FRIEND IN NEED. 
65 
tables sound asleep. Seeing strangers arrive, some of 
the more restless were rather inquisitive, and began to 
put a number of questions to us. My man Wang was 
a native of this district, and of course understood the 
dialect perfectly, but he evidently wanted to have as 
little to say as possible. As for myself, I told them 
I did not understand what they said. One fellow in 
particular, who probably was sharp enough to detect 
something unusual in my appearance, was determined 
not to be put off in this way, and kept asking me a 
variety of questions. At length the old innkeeper came 
up and said with the utmost gravity, "It is of no use 
your talking to this person, he understands the Kwan-hwa 
(or Court dialect) only ; you do not speak that, and of 
course he cannot understand you, nor you him."" This 
seemed to be perfectly satisfactory to all parties, and I 
was left unmolested. 
Our chairs being ready, we got into them, and, passing 
through the town, crossed the river and took the road 
for Sung-lo and Hieu-ning. We reached our destination 
a little before dark, and I had the first view of the far- 
famed Sung-lo-shan, the hill where green tea is said to 
have been first discovered. 
