116 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. VII. 
were close to the water's edge. Many of them were 
rugged and barren, while others appeared more fertile 
and were cultivated a considerable way up their sides ; a 
third class were richly clothed with trees and brushwood. 
The fruit-trees already named were frequently seen 
growing on little level spots near villages. The forest- 
trees consisted chiefly of the common Chinese pine and 
Cunninghamia lanceolata. Altogether the scenery 
was most striking in its character, and richly repaid me 
for the inconveniences attending the journey. 
A large trade in wood is carried on here — indeed, it 
is the principal trade of Foo-chow — and we were con- 
stantly meeting large rafts floating down the stream on 
their way to the city. I observed small houses built on 
some of these rafts for the accommodation of the persons 
who had charge of them. Their occupation seemed to 
me a most delightful one, and as they glided gently down 
the stream, having on all sides the most beautiful and 
romantic scenery, I almost envied them their happy lot. 
The country on the banks of the Min at this part did 
not appear to be very thickly populated. I saw no towns 
of any size from Foo-chow to Suiy-kow ; even vil- 
lages and small farm-houses were few and far between. 
Whenever I landed — and I did so every day during the 
ebb tide — I had a good opportunity of forming an 
opinion on the character of the natives. Most of them 
seemed miserably poor, but all were quiet and harmless, 
and very different from those at the mouth of the river 
and on the islands near the coast. The latter are a 
dangerous set ; they live by robbery and piracy, and 
often set the Government itself at defiance. 
