APPROACH TO TIEN-SING. 
77 
usually of a square form, and built of sun-dried brick of a blue colour, 
and covered with a shining roof. Around it was a wall, in front of 
which stood a high upright pole bearing a flag, inscribed with large 
Chinese characters. Over the enclosure I often observed a row of 
female heads, which looked as if separated from their bodies, and 
planted upon it : they always disappeared, however, when attentively 
gazed on. 
Amongst the objects which attracted our attention during the day, 
the large stacks of salt described by Sir George Staunton and 
Mr. Barrow were most conspicuous. These were not however 
composed of bags, but of loose salt, which in most instances was 
covered with bamboo matting, under a coating of clay. In others, 
it was partially or wholly exposed. In the last case, men were 
turning it over with shovels, and exposing it to the sun. It was 
stated by some of our Chinese attendants, that it was formed in pits, 
near the spot on which we saw it. 
During our second day’s journey, we were often amused by ob- 
serving a man or a boy floating down the stream astride on a 
bundle of rushes, and directing his course by a single paddle. That 
the Chinese should be dexterous in supporting and guiding them- 
selves in water, was little surprising to me when I contemplated the 
many children who inhabited the banks of the river, and were con- 
stantly sporting in its stream. 
As we advanced, the country gradually, though slowly, improved. 
The patches of millet became of greater extent ; and we saw a 
greater number of people perfectly clothed. This alteration of cha- 
racter was still more apparent when we approached within a few 
miles of Tien-sing. Large fields of corn and pulse were now frequently 
contiguous, the dwellings more substantial, and the inhabitants more 
healthy and robust than any we had before observed. The number 
of people indeed who lined the banks of the river, and the nume- 
rous boats which blockaded our passage, for the last two or three 
miles before we reached this city, was incalculably great. But it 
must not be supposed that they formed its own population only, 
