366 
PEKING. 
Chap. XXII. 
being visited by foreigners, so tbat I merely saw 
tbe outside of them. 
The south wall of the Chinese city, which I was 
now approaching, has three gates — one in the 
centre and one near each end. I passed out by 
the centre gate and through a mean-looking suburb 
into the open country. Here I found myself 
amongst fields and vegetable gardens ; and tombs 
innumerable were scattered over the surface of the 
country. My object now was to reach the south- 
western suburbs, where I had been told there were 
a number of gardens in which plants were culti- 
vated for sale. I had no difficulty in finding the 
south-west gate, as, for this purpose, I had only to 
follow the line of wall. But when I got there I 
was informed that the gardens I had come in 
search of were some two or three miles in the 
country to the southward. Nothing daunted, I 
set off in the direction indicated by my informant, 
determining to make inquiries as I went along. 
Many were the contradictory statements and direc- 
tions I received on the way. Sometimes I was 
assured that I was on the right road and only a 
short distance from the object of my search, and 
then, when 1 made sure that that distance had been 
gone over, the next person I met would coolly 
inform me that nothing of the kind I was in quest 
of existed in that part of the country. 
At last, however, the place I was in search of 
was found, and I presented myself to Mr. Jow, or 
Jow-sing, as he was called, the proprietor of one 
