CHAP. I. GARDENS OF FOREIGN RESIDENTS. 17 Large quantities of the Olea fragrans, the Qui Wha, are planted in different parts of the garden. These succeed much better here than in the south of China. In the autumn, when they are in bloom, the air is perfumed with the most delicious fragrance. Another most fragrant plant is the new Gardenia (G. Fortuniana), now common in English gardens, to which it was introduced by the Horticultural Society in 1845. In Mr. Beale's garden many of the bushes of this charming species are ten or twelve feet in circumference, and in the season are covered with fine double white flowers, as large as a camellia, and highly fragrant. Altogether this is a most interesting garden, and promises to be to Shanghae what the well-known garden of Mr. Beale's father was to Macao. The Messrs. Mackenzie's garden here is also well worthy of notice. It resembles some of those attached to the neat suburban residences near London. The shrubs are arranged with great taste in groups and single specimens on the lawn, and consist of all the species and varieties common in this part of China. The collection of Azaleas is particularly fine. During the summer time, when these plants are in bloom, they are placed on a stage, and protected from the sun and rain. They flower in great profusion; the individual flowers are larger, and the colours are more brilliant, than they are in England. Here, too, are gorgeous specimens of the new Viburnums (V. plicatum and V. macrocephalum) sent to Chiswick in 1845. The first English apple-tree fruited in this garden about a year ago. C The gentlemen connected with the London Missionary Society have a village of their own about a quarter of a mile back from the English town. Each house has a good garden in front of it, full of interesting Chinese shrubs and trees. Dr. Lockhart has the finest collection. These short statements are sufficient to show what has been done since the last war. Chinese plants have not only been introduced to Europe and America, to enliven and beautify our parks and gardens, but we have also enriched those of the Celestial Empire with the productions of the West. Nothing, I believe, can give the Chinese a higher idea of our civilisation and attainments than our love for flowers, or tend more to create a kindly feeling between us and them. Before all these gardens could be stocked the demand for shrubs and trees was necessarily great, and varieties which in former days were comparatively rare about Shanghae have been brought down in boat-loads and sold at very low prices. Good young plants of Cryptomeria, three to four feet in height, are now sold for thirty cash each, about a penny of our money; a hundred fine bushy plants of the new Gardenia just noticed have frequently been bought for a dollar. It is amusing to see the boatloads of plants ranged along the river banks to tempt the eye of the English planter. They are chiefly brought from the large towns of Soo-chow and Hangchow, the former fifty miles distant, and the latter about a hundred. CHAP. II. OBJECT IN COMING NORTH. 19 CHAPTER II. My object in coming north - Difficulty in procuring tea-plants- No dependence can be placed upon the Chinese Adopt the dress of the country Start for the interior Mode of getting my head shaved City of Kea-hing-foo and its old cemetery - Lakes and Mode of gathering the "ling" - Great silk country "ling" and its suburbs City of Seh-mun-yuen Fear of thieves The "Garden of China" - Description of the city - Kan-du A "chop" - - Adventure in the city A Chinese inn- I get no breakfast and lose my dinner-Boat engaged for Hwuy-chow Importance of Hang-chow both for trading and "squeezing." My object in coming thus far north was to obtain seeds and plants of the tea shrub for the Hon. East India Company's plantations in the north-west provinces of India. It was a matter of great importance to procure them from those districts in China where the best teas were produced, and I now set about accomplishing this object. There were various tea districts near Ning-po where very fair green teas were prepared for Chinese use; but these teas were not very well suited to the foreign market. It might be that the plant was precisely the same variety from which the finer sorts were made, and that the difference consisted only in climate, in soil, or, more likely still, in a different mode of manipulation. This might or might not be the case; no one, so far as I knew, had ever visited the Hwuy-chow district and brought away plants from the tea hills there. In these circum stances I considered that it would be a most unsatisfactory proceeding to procure plants and seeds from the Ning-po district only, or to take it for granted that they were the same as those in the great greentea country of Hwuy-chow. It was a very easy matter to get plants and seeds from the tea countries near Ning-po. Foreigners are allowed to visit the islands in the Chusan archipelago, such as Chusan and Kin-tang, in both of which the tea shrub is most abundant. They can also go to the celebrated temple of Tein-tung, about twenty miles inland, in the neighbourhood of which tea is cultivated upon an extensive scale. But the Hwuy-chow district is upwards of 200 miles inland from either of the northern ports of Shanghae or Ning-po. It is a sealed country to Europeans. If we except the Jesuit missionaries, no one has ever entered within the sacred precincts of Hwuy-chow.* Having determined, if possible, to procure plants and seeds from this celebrated country, there were but two ways of proceeding in the business. Either Chinese agents must be employed to go into the country to procure them and bring them down, or I must go there myself. At first sight the former way seemed the only one possible-certainly it was the easiest. But there were some very formidable objections to this course. Suppose I had engaged Chinese agents for this purpose-and plenty would have *Since this was written I have been informed that the Rev. Mr. Medhurst passed through some part of this district. CHAP. II. NO DEPENDENCE ON THE CHINESE. 21 undertaken the mission-how could I be at all certain that the plants or seeds which they would have brought me had been obtained in the districts in question? No dependence can be placed upon the veracity of the Chinese. I may seem uncharitable, but such is really the case; and if it suited the purpose of the agents employed in this matter they would have gone a few miles inland to the nearest tea district-one which I could have visited myself with ease and safety-and have made up their collection there. After staying away for a month or two they would have returned to me with the collection, and, if requisite, have sworn that they had obtained it in the country to which I had desired them to proceed. It is just possible that they might have done otherwise; but even if they had I could not have been certain that such was the case, and I therefore abandoned all idea of managing the business in that way, and determined to make an effort to penetrate into the Hwuy-chow country myself, where I could not only procure the true plants which produce the finest green teas of commerce, but also gain some information with regard to the nature of the soil of the district and the best modes of cultivation. I had two Hwuy-chow men in my service at this time. I sent for them, and inquired whether it was possible to penetrate so far into the country. They replied that we could easily do so, and that they were quite willing to accompany me, only stipulating that I should discard my English costume and adopt the |