hole of China is a
preserve, the game hardly being molested by the natives. We went into
the house of a small landowner of some three or four acres; over the
door was a tablet to the honour of a brother who had gained the
highest literary degree, and was therefore eligible for the highest
offices in the State. The owner himself was not so literary, and had
bought the degree of _bachelor_ for 108 taels (about 35_l_.). If he
tried to purchase the degree of _master_ he would have, he said, 1,000
taels to pay, besides passing through some kind of examination. We
asked him about the Rebels. He said that when they visited the rural
districts, they took whatever they pleased, saying that it belonged to
their Heavenly Father. Before meat they make a prayer to the Heavenly
Father, ending with a vow to destroy the 'demons' (Imperialists).
'But,' added my informant, 'they are poor creatures, and their
Heavenly Father does not seem to do much for them.' We also visited a
manufactory where they were extracting oil from cotton-seed.

_December 18th.--Six P.M._--We are to try a channel, such as it is,
to-morrow morning. I landed for a walk. Wade took a gun with him. We
saw quantities of waterfowl of all kinds. The plain on the left bank
of the river is bounded on the other side by a pretty lake. The plain
is subject to inundations, and seems to be covered by a bed of sand of
about five feet in thickness. The people cultivate it by trenching for
the clay beneath, and mixing it with the sand.

_December 19th.--10.30 A.M._--The 'Cruiser' went through this bad
passage safely. We followed, and are now aground. Anchors are being
laid out in hopes of dragging the ship over.

[Sidenote: Pressing through the mud.]

_December 20th.--Eleven A.M._--Our difficulty yesterday was not
unexpected,... but we were compelled to make the attempt. The mud was
very soft, and as we pressed against it, kept breaking away; but the
difficulty was, that as we moved the shoal, the tide was forcing us
towards it, and preventing our getting clear of it. At night we fixed
the ship securely by three anchors, and left it to make its own way,
which it did so effectually, that at 4 A.M. we slipped into deep
water. We did not get off till 10 A.M., and the first thing we had to
do was to turn in a channel which was exactly the length of