Chap. VII. 
VOYAGE UP THE MIN. 
115 
The boatmen, who had been engaged at the mouth of 
the Min, were perfectly ignorant of my intentions. They 
now began to inquire how far 1 intended to go in their 
boat, and whether it was my intention to return with 
them. I told them I intended to take their boat as far 
as Suiy-kow, a town said to be about 240 le from Foo- 
chow-foo. They held up their hands in astonishment, and 
declared it was perfectly impossible for their boat to go 
so far. " Oh, very well," I replied ; " then I shall 
engage another boat, and you may return." Thereupon 
they held a consultation amongst themselves for a 
minute or two, and at last came to the conclusion that 
such a thing was possible, and agreed to take me to 
Suiy-kow. 
Hitherto we had been passing through what is com- 
monly called the valley of the Min. It is rich and 
fertile to an extraordinary degree. Groves of leechee, 
longan, peach and plum trees, are seen over all the 
plain. The sweet-scented Aglaia odorata is largely 
cultivated for mixing with and perfuming tobacco, and 
the Chloranthus for scenting the finer kinds of tea. 
Sugar-cane and tobacco are extensively grown in all the 
fields, and, besides the usual quantity of vegetables, I 
observed a large number of sweet-scented flowers, 
amongst which the Italian tube-rose and the jasmine 
(Jasminum Sambac) occupied a prominent place. 
The latter are sold in the markets, and eagerly bought 
by the ladies for the purpose of ornamenting their hair. 
When we got a few miles above Foo-chow we seemed 
to leave the valley, and the scenery began to change and 
assume quite a different aspect. The hills in many places 
