CHAP. III.

WATER-MILLS.

55

nant. "I gave you a dollar," said he, "and you said that was bad; I changed it, and gave you copper cash, and you return them; pray what do you want?" The passengers now gathered round them, and there was every prospect of a serious riot. After a great deal of noise, however, the poor fellow pocketed his cash, protesting, at the same time, that he had been badly used, and threatening to have his revenge on Wang at some future time.

At the end of two days, the additional men having been engaged, and all the purchases completed, we passed up the river, and left the town of Yen-chow behind us. Our course was now in a north-westerly direction. The stream was very rapid in many parts, so much so that it is used for turning the waterwheels which grind and husk rice and other kinds of grain. The first of these machines which I observed was a few miles above Yen-chow-foo. At the first glance I thought it was a steamboat, and was greatly surprised. I really thought the Chinese had been telling the truth when they used to inform our countrymen in the south that steamboats were common in the interior. As I got nearer I found that the "steamboat" was a machine of the following description. A large barge or boat was firmly moored by stem and stern near the side of the river, in a part where the stream ran most rapidly. Two wheels, not unlike the paddles of a steamer, were placed at the sides of the boat, and connected with an axle which passed through it. On this axle were fixed a number of short cogs, each of which, as it came

round, pressed up a heavy mallet to a certain height, and then allowed it to fall down upon the grain placed in a basin below. These mallets were continually rising and falling, as the axle was driven rapidly round by the outside wheels, which were turned by the stream. The boat was thatched over to afford protection from the rain. As we got farther up the river we found that machines of this description were very common.

About ten or twelve miles above Yen-chow the country appears more fertile; the hills are covered again with low pines, and the lowlands abound in tallow-trees, camphor-trees, and bamboos. Large quantities of Indian corn and millet are grown in this part of the country, which is, for the most part, too hilly for rice crops.

Our progress upwards was now very slow, owing to the great rapidity of the river. Every now and then we came to rapids, which it took us hours to get over, notwithstanding that fifteen men, with long ropes fastened to the mast of our boat, were tracking along the shore, and five or six more were poling with long bamboos. Nothing shows so much as this the indefatigable perseverance of the Chinese. When looking upon a river such as this is, one would think it quite impossible to navigate it, yet even this difficulty is overcome by hard labour and perseverance.

The slow progress which we necessarily made suited my purposes exactly, and enabled me to explore the botanical riches of the country with convenience and ease. I used to rise at break of day, and

СНАР. ІІІ.

BOTANY OF THE COUNTRY.

57

spend the morning inspecting the hills and valleys near the sides of the river, and then return to the boat in time for breakfast. Breakfast over, I generally went on shore again, accompanied by my men, who carried the seeds, plants or flowers we might discover during our rambles. The first thing we did on these occasions was to ascend the nearest hill and take a survey of the windings of the river, with the number of rapids, in order that we might form some idea of the progress our boat would make during our absence. If the rapids were numerous we knew that she would progress slowly, and that we might wander to a considerable distance with perfect safety; if, on the other hand, the river seemed smooth, and its bed comparatively level, we were obliged to keep within a short distance of the banks.

During these rambles I met with many plants growing wild on the hills, which I had never seen before, except in gardens. Here the curious and much-prized Edgworthia chrysantha was growing in great abundance. Reeves's Spiræa and Spiræa prunifolia were found in great profusion. Several species of the Chimonanthus or Japan allspice, Forsythia viridissima, Buddlea Lindleyana, and numerous Daphnes, Gardenias, and Azaleas, were also met with. Many kinds of mosses and Lycopods were growing out of the crevices of the moist rock; amongst the latter, and very abundant, was a fine species named Lycopodium Willdenovii.

Amongst the trees the most common were the Dryandra cordata of Thunberg, the tung-eu of the

Chinese, which is valuable on account of the quantity of oil found its seeds, and the tallow-tree, which furnishes both tallow and oil. Here and there were

plantations of the common Chinese pine, and the lance-leaved one known to botanists as Cunninghamia lanceolata. A palm-tree, and the only species of the genus indigenous to, or cultivated in, the northern or central provinces of the empire, was seen on the hillside here in a high state of perfection. It seems a species of Chamaerops. It is particularly valuable to the northern Chinese, who use its large, brown, hairlike bracts for many purposes. Ropes and cables for their junks are made out of this substance, and seem to last, even under water, for a very long time. It is probably better and stronger for those purposes than the fibre of the cocoa-nut, which it resembles to a certain extent. Bed-bottoms are wrought out of this, and are largely used in the country by all classes of the natives. Agricultural labourers and coolies are fond of wearing hats and cloaks made out of the same substance, which in wet weather keeps out a great deal of rain; and there are many other purposes to which this useful tree is applied. Besides all this, it is most ornamental in the country where it

grows.

I am in hopes that one day we shall see this beautiful palm-tree ornamenting the hill-sides in the south of England, and in other mild European countries. With this view I sent a few plants home to Sir William Hooker, of the Royal Gardens at Kew, with a request that he would forward one of them to the

СНАР. ІІІ.

A VALUABLE PALM.

59

garden of His Royal Highness Prince Albert, at Osborne House, Isle of Wight.*

For the accompanying sketch of this interesting palm, and for several others in this work, I am indebted to the kindness of Captain Cracroft, R.N., a gentleman whose services in China, when in command of the "Reynard," were highly and justly appreciated by the foreign community.

6

*In the Botanical Magazine' for March, 1850, Sir Wm. Hooker thus writes of it :-" A palm, Chamaerops excelsa, (?) sent to the Royal gardens by Mr. Fortune, has braved, unharmed, and unprotected by any sort of covering, the severe winter now passed" (1849-50).