76 
BANKS OF THE PEI-HO. 
of Arcadia, they would have been polluted by miserable objects 
of wretched and naked men, tracking our boats and toiling often 
through a deep mire under a burning sun. These poor fellows were 
attended by overseers, who kept them to their work, and prevented 
their desertion, but did not, as far as I could observe, exert their 
authority with cruelty. Scarcely had our eyes become in some 
degree familiarised with their appearance, when they were offended 
by the sight of a dead body frightfully swollen, lying on its back, 
and floating down the river. Our boatmen passed it without regard. 
I must confess, that in turning from the contemplation of such objects, 
I recovered with some difficulty that state of mind which was neces- 
sary to an unprejudiced examination of the country through which I 
was passing. 
The banks of the river during our first day’s journey were not much 
above its level, and seemed to be formed partly by its depositions, 
and partly by soil scraped from its bottom, and frequently contained 
long beds of shells, which gave them a stratified appearance. The 
country beyond them was low, and could seldom be distinguished 
from the boats, but when seen exhibited a dreary waste, unbroken 
by marks of cultivation. Patches of millet, interspersed with a species 
of bean, occasionally surrounded mud-huts, on the immediate margin 
of the river ; but their produce could scarcely be considered equal to 
the support, even of those people who assembled to see the Embassy 
pass. Of these, much the greater number were men miserably clad, 
having little else than a thin covering to their loins, and many were 
without even this essential to decency. The few women who 
mingled with them appeared to be quite insensible to the nudity of 
their neighbours ; who were so far from considering it offensive that 
they frequently applied the only article of clothing, which they 
possessed, to their shoulders. 
The dwellings of these people were built of mud, had no windows, 
but were exposed to the weather by a hundred apertures. When they 
were in sufficient numbers to form a village, the house of a mandarin 
of low rank was generally seen in their neighbourhood. This was 
