nt of
consideration; that in a little while all these will be a dream of the
past, gives wings to my wheel wherever it can be mounted, and ridden. The
yameni-runner is left far behind, and I have already engaged a row-boat
to cross the little lake in the rear of the city, and the boatman is
already pulling me to the "Ying-yun," when the poor yameni-runner comes
hurrying up and shouts frantically for me to come back and fetch him.

Knowing that the man has to take back his receipt I yield to his request,
follow him first to the Kui-kiang yamen, and from thence proceed to the
English consulate. Captain McQuinn, of the China Steam Navigation
Company's steamer Peking, and the consulate doctor see me riding down the
smooth gravelled bund, followed by a crowd of delighted Celestials.
"Hello! are you from Canton" they sing out in chorus. "Well, well, well!
nobody expected to ever see anything of you again; and so you got through
all safe, eh?"

"What's the matter? you look bad about the eyes," says the observant
doctor, upon shaking hands; "you look haggard and fagged out."

Upon surveying myself in a mirror at the consulate I can see that the
doctor is quite justified in his apprehensions. Hair long, face unshaved
for five weeks, thin and gaunt-looking from daily hunger, worry, and hard
dues generally, I look worse than a hunted greyhound. I look far worse,
however, than I feel; a few days' rest and wholesome fare will work
wonders.

An appetizing lunch of cold duck, cheese, and Bass's ale is quickly
provided by Mr. Everard, the consul, who seems very pleased that the
affair at Ki-ngan-foo ended without serious injury to anybody.

The Peking starts for Shanghai in an hour after my arrival; a warm bath,
a shave, and a suit of clothes, kindly provided by pilot King, brings
about something of a transformation in my appearance. Bountiful meals,
clean, springy beds, and elegantly fitted cabins, form an impressive
contrast to my life aboard the sampans on the Kan-kiang. The genii of
Aladdin's lamp could scarcely execute any more marvellous change than
that from my quarters and fare and surroundings at the village hittim,
where my last night on the road from Canton was spent, and my first night
aboard the elegant and luxurious Peking, only a day later.

A pleasant run down the Yang-tsi-kiang to Shanghai, and I arrive at that
city just twenty-four hours before the Japanese steamer, Yokohama Maru,
sails for Nagasaki. Taking pass