136 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. VIII. 
however, which detained us by the way. We had been 
sailing quickly up the right side of the river for some 
time, and, as we had reached a rapid, it was necessary to 
cross to the other side to pass it " close in-shore.'' As 
soon as we got across, four men, who had been concealed 
behind a bank, suddenly jumped up and seized our boat 
A noisy altercation now took place between our crew 
and the strangers in a dialect which was perfectly 
unknown to me. I called Sing-Hoo, who. Chinaman 
like, was already in the midst of the fray, and asked 
him what was the matter. He told me that the captain 
of our boat on a former voyage had bought some 
rice, for which he had not paid, and that the creditor 
and some of his friends had come with the determina- 
tion of getting the money, or, if not, they intended to 
carry off our sail. This was tantamount to stopping our 
boat, for we could not stem the current, which was still 
very strong, if our sail was taken away from us. 
When I went out I found two men already on the 
roof of the boat, unbending and hauling down the sail. 
The old creditor was standing in the bows, coolly looking 
on, and watching the progress of his men. Our captain 
had retired to the stern, where he was quietly smoking 
his pipe. His wife, however, was not taking things so 
tranquilly. She was stamping about— I beg her pardon, 
I ought to say skipping — with her little feet, in a 
towering rage, now running to the creditor, and now to 
her husband. At one time she tried to coax, at another 
to storm, but all was of no avail. " Pay me the debt," 
said the obdurate creditor, "or I must take the sail." 
She begged him to allow the boat to proceed to Nan-che 
