Some of the canals lead to the large cities of Sung-kiang-foo, Soo-chow-foo, Nanking, and onward by the Grand Canal to the capital itself. Others, again, running to the west and south-west, form the highways to the Tartar city of Chapoo, Hang-chow-foo, and to numerous other cities and towns which are studded over this large and important plain.
Mr. Fortune's way to the tea district lay in a south-westerly direction, and so populous is this part of China, that he passed two considerable towns, one of them walled and nearly as large as Shanghae, on the second day of his journey. Beyond this, he entered the great Hang-chow silk district, and the mulberry was observed in great abundance on the banks of the canal, and in patches ail over the country. In the broad and more shallow sheets of water, the people were gathering ling, a highly esteemed fruit, resembling in shape the head and horns of a bullock, in tubs like our washing-tubs. This silk district occupies a circle of at least a hundred miles in diameter, and it is the principal and best in the country.
At Tan-see, a bustling town of considerable size, the country changed from a level flat to hilly, and is under a high state of cultivation. Mr. Fortune says the country around Hang-chow-foo may be called the garden of China. Hang-chow-foo is itself one of the largest and most flourishing cities in the richest district of the Chinese empire. The Chinese authorities are exceedingly jealous of foreigners approaching or entering the city, the more especially as they have baffled the English by transferring the customs which used to be levied in the ports to this and other interior cities, in opposition to the terms of the treaty of Nankin.
As Mr. Fortune approached the city, everything, he says, which came under his observation marked it as a place of great importance. The Grand Canal was deep and wide, and boro on its waters many hundreds of boats of different sizes, all engaged in an active, bustling trade. Mr. Fortune bad been promised by his rascally attendants that they would conduct him to the Hang-chow river without passing through the town; but this, as usual, was a mere deception, and a chair was procured for the botanist, and coolies for the luggage.
Everything being satisfactorily arranged, I stepped into the chair, and, desiring my two servants to follow me, proceeded along the narrow streets at a rapid pace. After travelling in this way for about a mile, and expecting every moment to get out into the open country, I was greatly surprised by finding that I was getting more and more into a dense town. For the first time I began to suspect that my servants were deceiving me, and that I was to pass through the city of Hang-chow after all. These suspicions were soon confirmed by the appearance of the walls and ramparts of the city. It was now too late to object to this procedure, and I thought the best way to act was to let matters take their course, and remain passive in the business.
We passed through the gates into the city. It seemed an ancient place: the walls and ramparts were high, and in excellent repair, and the gates were guarded as usual by a number of soldiers. Its main street, through which I passed, is narrow when compared with streets in European towns; but it is well paved, and reminded me of the main street of Ning-po. Hang-chow, however, is a place of much greater importance than Ning-po, both in a political and mercantile point of view. It is the chief town of the Chekiang province, and is the residence of many of the principal mandarins and officers of government, as well as of many of the great merchants. It has been remarked, not unfrequently, when comparing the towns of Shanghae and