here from different parts o f the country, detained us a whole
day in order to have an opportunity o f laying their feveral
complaints before our phyfician, at the recommendation o f Van-
ta-giit, who had felt the good effedts o f his pradlice. Here, for
once, we had an inftance o f Chinefe pride giving way to felf-
intereft, and ufurped fuperiority condefcending to aik advice o f
barbarians. W e failed for two days in our little barges, through
one o f the moft wild, mountainous, and barren traits o f country
that I ever beheld, abounding more in the fublime and horrible,
than in the pidturefque or the beautiful. The lofty fum-
mits o f the mountains feemed to touch each other aerofs the
river and, at a diftance, it appeared as i f w e had to fail through
an arched cavern. The maffy fragments that had fallen down,
from time to time, and impeded the navigation, were indica-
cations that the paffage was not altogether free from danger. Five-
remarkable points o f fand-ftone rock, riling, in fucceffion above
each other with perpendicular faces, feemed as i f they had
been hewn Out o f one folid mountain : they were called ou-ma-
too, or the five horfes’ heads. The mountains at a diftance on
each fide o f the river were covered with pines, the nearer hills,
with coppice wood, in which the Camellia prevailed; and in
the- little glens were clufters o f filhermen’s huts, fusrounded by
fmall plantations o f tobacco.
Within the defile o f thefe wild mountains, we obferved feveral
extenfive collieries, which were advantageoully worked,
b y driving levels from the river into their fides. The coals,
"brought out o f the horizontal adits were immediately lowered
from a pier into veffels that were ready to receive and tranfport
port them to the potteries o f this province, and o f Kiang-fee.
Coal is little ufed in its raw ftate,but is firft charred in large pits
that are dug in the ground. Coal duft, mixed with earth, and
formed into fquare blocks, is frequently ufed to heat their little
ftoves, on which they boil their rice.
A t the city o f Tchao-tchoa-foo, where we arrived on the 13th,
we exchanged our flat-bottomed boats for large and commodious
yachts, the river being here much increafed by the confluence
o f another ftream. The boats .before this city were
moftly managed by young girls, whofe drefs confifted o f a neat
white jacket and petticoat and a gipfey ftraw hat. Having for
fo great a length o f time fcarcely ever fet our eyes upon a female,
except the heads o f fome at a diftance, peeping, from behind
the mud walls that fprround the houfes, or labouring in
the grounds o f Kiang-fee, the ferry girls, though in reality very
plain and coarfe-featured, were confidered as the moft beautiful
objedts that had occurred in the whole journey. T o the occupation
o f ferrying paffengers over the river it feemed they
added another, not quite fo honourable, for which,, however,
they had not only the confent and approbation o f their parents,
but alfo the fandtion o f the government, or perhaps, to fpeak
more corredtly, o f the governing magiftrates, given in con-
fideration o f their receiving a portion o f the wages o f pro-
ftitution.
In this mountainous diftridl a few filhermen’ s huts and
thofe o f the colliers were the only habitations that occurred;';
but the defedt o f population was abundantly fupplied by the
4 c 2 number