CHINESE HOUSES. 
87 
Polyganum lapathifolium, and aviculare , two species of Chenopodium , 
the Tribulus cistoides, Statice limonium , and Hibiscus trionum , were the 
only uncultivated plants which I met with. In my walk, I was taught 
not to trust to the appearance of cultivation on the banks of a river 
as an indication of the general fertility of a country. In the imme- 
diate vicinity of Tsai-tsun, the Holcus Sorghum , the Kow Leang, or 
tall com of the Chinese, clothed the margin of the river. Its high and 
thickly planted stems had prevented our seeing the country beyond 
them whilst we remained in the boats, and had led us to suppose that 
it was generally well cultivated. I now found it to consist of a sterile 
marsh, extending to an undefinable distance. The soil collected from 
the river, and sometimes deposited by its overflow, frequently ren- 
dered its immediate precincts productive, whilst all beyond was 
untouched by the hand of the cultivator. At this early period, I was 
enabled to observe, that much as the Chinese may excel in obtaining 
abundant products from land naturally fertile, they are much behind 
other nations in the art of improving that which is naturally barren. 
On my return, I passed through the village, and was presently 
surrounded by its male inhabitants. Dirt, squalidness, and extreme 
poverty, were as usual their leading characteristics. Their habitations 
were miserable beyond any thing which England can exemplify. 
Built of mud, and divided into unfurnished rooms, ventilated by 
several apertures, they looked more like the dens of beasts than the 
habitations of men. The state of these huts, and the want of clothing, 
may produce little human suffering during the summer ; but as the 
winter of this part of China is long and severe, its inhabitants must, 
without better provision against cold, endure great misery. In the 
midst of so much poverty, I was astonished at meeting with three 
women not only decently, but handsomely clothed, whom I sur- 
prised in turning suddenly the corner of a house. They were standing 
in an angle formed by the projection of two walls, and could not 
well escape me ; indeed they showed little inclination to do so, but 
appeared much pleased with an opportunity of examining one of the 
