We have left the lakes at last, but alas we are still at the mercy of the wind, for owing to the width of the river tracising is impossible and the wind is against us, so after a hard morning's poling we finish our first day's journey at the Dragon it, tem from our starting point. It doesn't seem worth while to urge the captain to do another ten to-day with no prospect of an anchorage at night; so at the Dragon's Nest we remain. An uninteresting spot which by no means fulfils the promise of its name, so we leave it on the morrow without particular feeling of regret. The wind has changed and our hopes are high for a good day's journey. d changed, and so did the river. ight of Shuang-kou (§@ ff) it makes a sharp bend to the south and a couple of hours were spent in reaching an anchorage. Shuangkuu perhaps the largest place we had passed so far; only a market, town, but.a busy, populous one, with a not unimportant shipping and fishing interest. It was our first stop: ping place of any size in Anhui and the first that repudiated Mexicans. Spanish dollars were in demand, but the domain of the Mexican is bounded by Kiangsu province. Until we crossed the Honan border we found that the Spanish coin circulated freely, but in the latter province metal only is used. Close by us was anchored a huuseboat flying a white flag with a crimson cross. Aswe anticipated, her passenger was jesuit Father—an old man, an Italian, who on discovering that we did not speak French addressed us in very good English. Like ourselves he had started from Chinkiang, but he was uow within twenty miles of his destination, whilst we had not yet got half way. 'Ah,' said he, these Chinese are slow; we have been eleven days cluing this distance; had we come by the Lakes instead of by Teingkiangpu we should have been at Wuhohsien long ago.' Bleven days by the long way round Wo came the short way and had spent twenty Next day toward midnight, (we had a good moon now) we reached Wuhohsien (HLH) where is a customs, the first we have passed on the journey. Happily its officials were civil, permitting us to pas after a merely nominal examination.
The inland customs service of China, it is hardly necessary to remark, is an altogether different service to the Imperial Maritime Customs; different in every way possible for two services with the same object to differ, and differing itself in different localities, as the present writer can testify from bitter experience. The barriers in the Huai (#£) are not nearly so numerous as those in the Han (#9) nor
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.