p. xvm. 
CURIOSITY OF NATIVES. 
packed. I determined to take them over to China 
under my own care, as the monsoon was still 
blowing strong from the south, and it was too 
early to ship them for home. A number of Ward’s 
cases which had been made for me by Japanese 
carpenters were now filled with soil, and planted 
with many rare and beautiful examples of the 
trees and shrubs of Japan. During the operation 
of planting I was visited by many of the inha- 
bitants of Kanagawa, who evidently watched my 
proceedings with a good deal of curiosity and in- 
terest. They had never seen such queer little 
greenhouses before, and made many inquiries re- 
garding the treatment of the plants during their 
long voyage. When I told them that the plants 
would be four or five months at sea, and that 
during that long period they would never receive 
any water — that in fact the cases would never be 
opened from the time they left China until they 
reached England — they looked rather puzzled and 
incredulous ; but this was not to be wondered at, 
as that little fact has puzzled wiser heads than 
theirs. 
When I had got everything ready for shipment, 
Her Majesty’s Consul, Captain F. Howard Vyse, 
to whom I was indebted for many acts of courtesy 
during my residence in Kanagawa, gave me a 
note to the customhouse authorities, who allowed 
me to ship my collections free of duty, and, what 
was of even more importance, without being 
opened and unpacked. 
