JUNKS. 
71 
formed of different kinds of stone. Of these a coarse green agate, 
lapis lazuli, and a stone called Yu, were the most general. Of 
the agate I could learn nothing ; the lapis lazuli was said to be 
common on the island of Hai-nan ; the Yu I shall have occasion to 
mention hereafter. 
The audience having terminated, Chang and Yin left the ship 
under the same honours with which they had been received. As 
soon as they were gone, a junk came alongside with a present of 
bullocks, sheep, pigs, bags of rice, chests of tea, sugar, candles, 
and numerous other articles, intended as a supply to the squadron. 
But they were not proportionate, especially in bullocks, to the number 
of ships. The Chinese explained the deficiency, by stating that ten 
oxen had been drowned in attempting to embark them during rough 
weather ; but they showed no disposition to replace them. With 
the provision was brought a large quantity of fuel, consisting of 
charcoal and of coal. The former, as far as I could judge from some 
partially charred branches not deprived of their bark, was made 
chiefly from the oak. The latter contained little bitumen resembling 
plumbago rather than coal, and had been brought according to report 
from the neighbourhood of Pekin. 
The junks which conveyed these supplies were the most clumsy 
looking vessels imaginable, but were skilfully managed by the Chinese 
sailors. Although their tall masts, each of one entire tree taper- 
ing upwards, frequently surpassed our main mast in height, and 
were consequently liable to injure our yards, no accident occurred. 
They were provided with excellent cordage made from the fibre of 
a plant which grows on the banks of the Pei-ho. Their anchors 
were of wood and of iron ; the former had only one fluke, the latter 
several, and were formed like the grapnels of our boats. * They 
* De Guignes describes a similar anchor used by his boatmen on the Grand Canal to 
fasten their vessels to the shore. “ Dans le cas ou le bateau s’eloigne trop du rivage un 
matelot porte alors une ancre a terre, et l’on vire dessus pour s’en rapprocher : ces 
ancres, ou plutot ces grappins ont quatre branches, dont trois sont pointues, et la 
quatrieme a un anneau auquel est attachee une chaine de fer qui sert a deraper Pancre.” 
Voy. a Pek. 
