128 
TUNG-CHOW. 
The difference of temperature and moisture of the day and night, 
which was considerable whilst we remained at Tung- Chow, had a 
direct tendency to induce inflammatory disease ; and, aided by impru- 
dence in bathing at mid-day under a hot sun, and too great, though 
by no means intemperate potation, of the ardent spirits of the Chinese, 
occasioned two or three severe cases of inflammation of the bowels 
and lungs in the guard and band. Should any circumstances ever 
again carry an Embassy to Tung-Chow, it would be better for all its 
members to sleep, if possible, on shore. The exhalations of the 
river, charged with all kinds of effluvia produced by the uncleanly 
habits of a large population living on the water, and the decomposing 
vegetable and animal matter ejected from the boats, will thus be 
avoided. Those also who are too ignorant correctly to estimate the 
effect of any particular habit will be thus within the reach of persons 
who may be able to control them. No sufficient accommodation 
having, on our arrival at Tung-Chow, been provided for the whole 
of His Lordship’s guard and band, many of them were obliged to 
live in their boats, and were in consequence enabled to indulge their 
propensities to what they considered enjoyment, without fully bene- 
fiting from the intelligent regulations of their commanding officer. 
His Lordship’s guard deserve, however, this tribute of praise, that 
they conducted themselves, from the time of entering the Chinese 
empire to that of leaving it, with undeviating propriety in every duty 
connected with their particular situation ; and were only untractable 
in what concerned their own health. 
The water of the Pei-ho, when first taken up, is of a milky colour, 
and holds a considerable quantity of earthy matter in suspension. The 
Chinese precipitated this, in some degree, by agitating the water 
with a piece of alum enclosed in the end of a bamboo, but did not 
deprive it entirely of its noxious properties. Drip stones, under 
these and similar circumstances, would have been invaluable to us. 
We often considered a draught of pure water, in the interior of China, 
as great a luxury as it usually is to those who have been some weeks 
at sea. 
