munioating with the road to Sheudi, than a portly personage, with a long
white heard, and two yonnger officers, with black beards and swarthy complexions,
joined us. A crowd of curious natives had also collected, and
followed us until we left the city.
Bach of the men carried a haversack, in addition to his arms, leaving
about 120 pounds weight of baggage to be divided among the four coolies.
The men, Terry and Mitchell, marched in advance, the former carrying the
flag, while the other men, Smith and Davis, remained in the rear of the baggage;
this order was preserved during the whole expedition. We had not
proceeded half a mile before our coolies showed signs of breaking down under
their loads, and, even though we might force them to keep up for some time
longer, it was evident that we could not make much progress without further
help; Mr. Jones, therefore, requested the portly old officer, who seemed to
have special charge over us, to supply us with four more coolies, promising
that they should be paid on our return. After waiting half an hour at the
northern end of the city, four spare young natives came up with bamboo
poles, and relieved the Chinamen of half their load. We now took the high
road to Sheudi, passing the salt creek which comes up from the village of
Turné, by a bridge of one arch; the crowd turned back at this point, leaving
us about a dozen followers, who seemed to be attendants or subordinates of
the principal officers.
Beyond the bridge we passed over a meadow, studded with singular broken
rocks of secondary limestone, covered with clumps of pine trees. The
road then passed around the base of a hill, the front of which was occupied
by a temple of massive stone masonry. I t was shaded with large trees, resembling
in foliage the Indian fig or sycamore. Paths, over which the hedges of
bamboo formed complete arches, ran up the sides of the hill. On our right were
meadows of bearded rice, a variety which Dr. Lynah declared to be unknown
in the southern States. The country now became open and undulating, and covered
with the richest vegetation; not only was all the low land planted with
rice, but the hills were in many places terraced nearly to the top, and the water
carefully conducted from field to field by artificial channels. The streams were
lined with thick hedges of banana, and the knolls which dotted the landscape
were crowned with groves of the Lew Chew pine, a beautiful tree, strongly
resembling the cedar of Lebanon in its flat horizontal layers of foliage; it is
probably a new species. There was something in the forms of the landscape
which reminded me of the richest English scenery, mixed with the superb
vegetation of the tropics. The views on each side increased in beauty as we
approached Sheudi, the capital city of the island, which is scattered along the
southwest slope of a group of hills. The houses are half buried in foliage, and
stretch over an extent of a mile, the citadel, or residence of the viceroy, occupying
an elevated central position.
The day was dark and cloudy, threatening rain, and fresh wind blew in
our faces as we climbed the heights. Near the summit we passed through a
high wooden gate, upon which were inscribed two Chinese characters, (signifying
p the central hill,” or “ place of authority,”) and entered the main street
of the city, which is broad, handsomely paved, and lined with high walls, behind
which, and the foliage of their gardens, the principal dwellings are
mostly concealed. As we reached the gate, the flag was unrolled, and fastened
upon the end of a musket. A fine grove of old trees, with crooked trunks,
gnarled boughs, and thick, dark-green foliage, attracted my attention on entering.
We had not proceeded fifty paces before the officers attending us
beckoned to us to enter a doorway on the right side of the street. We made a
halt, and, leaving men and coolies outside, went in. I t proved to be a Gung-
qud, or resting place for travellers, or rather for officers of government, since
in Lew Chew there are no other travellers. The Cung-qua corresponds very
nearly to the Turkish khan, except that, being used only by persons of some
consideration it is far more neat and elegant in every respect. The house into
which we were ushered resembled a private dwelling of the better class. The
principal apartment was carpeted with very fine soft mats, and surrounded on
three sides by an open verandah. Adjoining the building were kitchens and
out-houses for servants, and in front a small yard planted with sago palms and
a tree resembling the Inocarpus. We were-politely received by a gentleman
in a gray robe, who performed the ko-tow towards us in the most approved
style. Seats were brought, and tea, prepared after the Chinese fashion, served
in small cups. The attendant was directed, by signs, to wait first upon Mr.
Jones, who was thenceforth recognized as the head of the party. The former
served us on his knees, both when he offered and when he took away the
cups. We remained but a few minutes, and took our leave, evidently to the
surprise and perplexity of our conductors, who did not as yet comprehend
our object.
On leaving Napha, we had noticed an expression of doubt and anxiety
upon the faces of the natives, and this rather increased as we proceeded. No
remonstrance whatever was made to us, but our movements were suspiciously
scrutinized. When, therefore, we left the Cung-quil, and instead of returning^
took our course directly onward through the city, the faces of our convoy became
clouded, and an expression of alarm communicated itself to those of the
natives whose curiosity had attracted them around us. We soon reached the
gate of the citadel, at the foot of the massive walls, which, rising through
groves of trees, dominate over the city. The gate was closed, but had it
been open, we should not have presumed to enter. The northern and eastern
slope of the hill is covered with splendid old trees, divided by winding, shaded
avenues, on the sides of which many natives were sitting, with fans in their
hands. The sun, which shone out hot and clear for an instant, chequered
this rich park-like scenery with strong contrasts of light and shadow, and
down through the depths of the trees illuminated the face of a pool of water,