till the afternoon of the 7th.... I am pleased
with Ceylon, notwithstanding my mishaps. For a tropical climate it is
healthy and bearable; but we happened to be there at the very hottest
season. At Newra Elyia it is really cold, and, at the height of the
coffee estates, very tolerable to vegetate in.

The rapid homeward journey along a beaten route offered little of interest
to write about, especially as he was likely to be the bearer of his own
letter. On the 19th of May he reported to the Foreign Office his arrival in
London.

[1] The text of the Article respecting opium is as follows:--'Opium will
henceforth, pay thirty taels per picul import duty. The importer will
sell it only at the port. It will be carried into the interior by
Chinese only, and only as Chinese property; the Foreign trader will
not be allowed to accompany it. The provisions of Article IX. of the
Treaty of Tientsin, by which British subjects are authorised to
proceed into the interior with passports to trade, will not extend to
it, nor will those of Article XXVIII. of the same Treaty, by which the
transit-dues are regulated; the transit-dues on it will be arranged as
the Chinese Government see fit; nor, in future revisions of the
Tariff, is the rule of revision to be applied to opium as to other
goods.'

[2] In an official despatch he describes it as 'a solitary rock of about
300 feet in height, picturesquely clothed with natural timber and
ruined temples, around which are to be seen, at all hours of the day,
groups of bonzes, in their grey and yellow robes, devoutly lounging,
and conscientiously devoting themselves to the duty of doing
absolutely nothing.'

[3] His reply to the Merchants' address contained the following passage:
'Allow me to express the satisfaction which it gives me to find that
you specify the benefits that are likely to accrue to the inhabitants
of these countries themselves, as among the most important of the
results to be expected from our recent treaties with China and Japan.
On this head we have no doubt incurred very weighty responsibilities.
Uninvited, and by methods not always of the gentlest, we have broken
down the barriers behind which these ancient nations sought to conceal
from the world without the mysteries, perhaps also, in the case of
China at least, the raps and rottenness of their waning civ