Two visits to the Tea countries of China and the British Tea Plantations in the Himalaya; with a ... full description of the culture of the Tea plant, the agriculture, horticulture, and botany of China. Third edition, etc

Front matter

THE. r&t-tnsmcrs or CMKk IkiMD )ND)Æ BY ROBI fQRTUNZ Vol. I. TWO VISITS TO THE TEA COUNTRIES OF CHINA AND THE BRITISH TEA PLANTATIONS IN THE HIMALAYA; WITH A NAERATIVE OF ADVENTURES, AND A FULL DESCRIPTION OF THE CTJLTURE OF THE TEA PLANT, THE AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, AND BOTANY OF CHINA. By BOBEBT FOBTUNE, FORMERLY BOTANICAL COLLECTOR TO THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, AND NOW IN THE SERVICE OF THE HON. EAST INDIA COMPANY IN CHINA. IN TWO VOLUMES. -Vol. I. M\)iVQ (EDitton. WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS. t LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1853. LONDON : PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SOKS, STAMFORD STREET. FBEFACE TO THIBD EDITION. It is now about ten years since I paid my first visit to the Celestial Empire in the capacity of Botanical Col lector to the Horticultural Society of London.

On my return to this country in 1846 I ventured to publish an account of my travels in a volume entitled Three Years' Wanderings in the Northern Provinces of China. This work was very favourably received by the public, and a second edition was called for soon after the publi cation of the first. In 1848 I was deputed by the Court of Directors of the East India Company to re-visit China for the purpose of obtaining some tea manufacturers' implements, and a large collection of tea-plants and seeds, from those northern or central districts of the empire where the finest descriptions of teas are made for the European and American markets. A few months ago I returned to England, having accomplished the object of my mission, and submitted to the public an account of my Journey to the Tea Countries. My object, as stated in the Preface to that work, was to give the reader " a peep into the Celestial Empire ; to show its strange hills a2

Preface

TO THE THIRD EDITION. IV and romantic valleys ; its rivers and canals ; its natural productions, whether in the field, on the hdl-side, or in the garden ; and its strange and interesting people, as they were seen by me in their every-day Use." And I expressed a hope that the public would receive the work in the same kind spirit, and with the same indulgence and favour, that were shown to my first "Wanderings." My wishes have been fully realized. The Journey to the Tea Countries has been received with great favour, both by the public and the press ; and, whde I gladly take this opportunity of expressing my thanks, I need scarcely say I have been highly gratified. As the style in which these works were brought out did not admit of then being sold at a price within the means of the great mass of the people, who are no doubt much interested in a country like China, and in the cultivation and manufacture of Tea, a beverage which is now indispensable to the poor as well as to the rich, — "that cheers but not inebriates," — Mr. Murray is of opinion that an edition shghtly abridged wdl be acceptable ; one which, while nothing is left out of importance to the general reader, will enable the work to be brought out at a smaUer cost.

I have, therefore, gone carefully over the two volumes, and have struck out some things in the first which experience taught me to improve in the second. I have also omitted some meteorological observations and dry botanical details, which, although

PREFACE.

TO THE THIRD EDITION. V most acceptable to the scientific and learned, are not very interesting to the general reader. Nothing, how ever, has been omitted which I believe of general interest. My adventures amongst the most remarkable and least-known people in the world, then manners and customs, the natural productions of the country in so far as they are of importance to man, and, above all, the mode of cultivating and making our favourite beverage, tea, have aU been left as originally written in the country itself, unless where my earlier observations have been corrected by more experience. My encounter with a fleet of pirates on the coast of Fokien, which at one time was considered a " traveller's story" by those who were wiser than the traveller, will now, when people have more knowledge of the Chinese, be more easdy credited, particularly by the members of missionary societies in Europe and America, who have to deplore the loss of several of their most promising labourers, who have been cruelly murdered by these lawless savages. London, December, 1852. a

Chapter I

First View of China, and the Impressions produced — Land at Hong-kong — Description of its Harbour — Town of Victoria — Chinese Towns, Stanley and Aberdeen — Description of the Island — Effects of Rains — " Happy Valley " noticed — Chinese mode of " stopping the Supplies " — Views from the Tops of Mountains — Climate — Botany of the Ialand — Few Animals indigenous — Unhealthiness of the Settlement — Character of the Chinese Population — Mixed Character of Foreigners — Remarks on the Settlement as a Place of Trade Page 1 ko

Chapter II

Leave Hong-kong for Amoy — Opium Station at Namoa — Liberty the English enjoy there — Chinese Population, and their Modes of living — A new Admiral makes new Laws — Cherry Brandy alters his Views — The Account which, as in Duty bound, he sends to Peking — Amoy — Remarks on its Trade — Travels in the Country amongst the People — The want of a Tail — The Hills — Island of Koo-Lung-Soo — Effects of War — Strange Rocks — Unhealthy Nature of the Island — Botany and Birds — Visit to one of the chief Mandarins — His House and Grounds 15

Chapter III

Leave Amoy — Gale in the Formosa Channel — Driven back to Chimoo — Chimoo Bay — Chinese Mode of paying Taxes — Character of the Natives — Journey to the Hills — Chimoo Pagoda — Interesting Scenery — Attacked and robbed — My Servant's Opinion of the State of Matters — Get back in Safety to the Shore — Novel Mode of crossing the wet Sands — The Bay of Chinchew Page 31

Chapter IV

Land at Chusan — Description of the Island — Town of Tinghae — Agriculture — Staple Productions — Hemp Plants — Palm of which Ropes are made — Trefoil cultivated for Manure — Oil Plant — Flora — Hills covered with Azaleas, &c. — The Tallow Tree — Green Tea Shrub — Bamboos and other Trees — Fruits — Yang Mai and Kum-Quat — Inhabitants and Shops in Tinghae — English Names on Shop Doors — A new Language — Mode of classing Foreigners — Diseases of the Eye common — Salt-making — Method of preparing the Vegetable Tallow — Mode of hatching Eggs by artificial Heat 42

Chapter V

First Visit to Ning-po — The Bridge of Boats — City and Pagoda — Medical Missionary — Temperature — Chinese Mode of keeping themselves warm — Charcoal Stoves — My Lodgings — Chinese Gamblers — Description of Shops — Silks and Embroidery — Jade Stone — Cotton Printing — Rope-making — Curiosity Shops and Contents — " Furniture Street " and Furniture — Banking Establishment — No prospect of Foreign Trade — Temples, and Devotion of some of the People — Dwarfed Trees — Mode of dwarfing explained — Mandarins' Gardens visited and described — View from northern Hills — Agriculture — Native Flora of these Hills — Graves of the Dead — Coffins exposed 61

Chapter VI

Remarks on the Chinese Language — Ice-houses near Ning-po described — Their Simplicity and Utility — Novel Modes of Fishing — Fishing Cormorants met with — Their Actions described — Two Pair purchased — Account of their Food and Habits

Chapter VII

Shanghae visited at the end of 1843 — My Lodgings — Prejudices and Superstitions of the Inhabitants — The City described — Shops and Merchandise — Food — An important Station for Foreign Trade — The Exports of the Country ; Teas and Silk easily brought to it — The adjacent Country described — Its Canals — Agriculture — Tombs of the Dead — Trees and Shrubs — Gardens and Nurseries — Difficulty of access to them — Cunning and Deceit of the Chinese — A Chinese Dinner — Theatricals Page 91

Chapter VIII

Return to the South of China — The Canton River described — Forts at the Bocca Tigris — Productions of the Country — The "Sighing" Willow — Cultivation of the Nelumbium — Boats on the River — The Barber's Boat — Splendour of the Flower Boats — Appearance of the River at Festivals — Order which prevails in this floating City — Houses built over Water — Chinese Dexterity in swimming and diving — Fa-Tee Gardens — Chinese new Year — Attacked and robbed by the Chinese — A subsequent Attack made upon some Officers of the English Government. . . 115

Chapter IX

Visit to the Ning-po Green Tea District — Mountain Travelling Chair — The Buddhist Temple of Tern-Tung — Scenery around the Temple — Traditionary History communicated by the Priest — Invitation to Dinner with the Priests — First Trial with Chopsticks — Politeness ! of the Chinese — Usual Dinner Company — My Bed — Wild Boar Hunt — Narrow Escape — Mode of frightening the Animals from the Bamboo Plantations — Mountain Scenery — Buddhist Temple of Ah- Yu- Wang — Poo- To-San, or the Worshipping Island — Its Temples and Idols — Bronze Gods* — Trees and Shrubs — Sale of Gods or Josses — Offerings to the Gods in Shanghae and Ning-po — Processions in Honour of the Gods — Christian Missions — Medical Missionary Society — Roman Catholics X CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

Chapter X

Chusan Archipelago — Storm in a small Boat — Nearly upset — Kin-Tang, or Silver Island — Its Inhabitants — Their Surprise on seeing a Foreigner — Yang-Tse-Kiang River — Its numerous Sand Banks — Our Schooner aground — Novel Method of getting Assistance from the Chinese — Village of Woo-Sung — Opium Station — Remarks on the Opium Trade — Its Effects upon the Chinese Page 163

CHAPTER XL

Shanghae in 1844 — Its Gardens and Plants — Start for the Hills in the Interior — Canals and Bridges — Adventure with my Pony — The "Tein-ching," or blue Dye, found — Hills and their Vegetation described — The Surprise of the Natives on seeing a Foreigner — Their Curiosity and Honesty ! — Plants sent to England — Another Journey into the Interior — Some large Northern Cities noticed — A Midnight Visit from Thieves — The far-famed City of Soc-chow-foo visited — A Description of it — New Plants found — Central Position of Soo-chow as a Place of Trade — Baths for the Million — Return to Shanghae. 179

Chapter XII

Chinese Cotton Cultivation — Yellow Cotton — District where it grows — Cotton Country described — Soil — Manure, and mode of Application — Preceding Crops — Time of Sowing — Method — Rains — Summer Cultivation — Early Rain advantageous — Time of Reaping and Gathering — Cotton Farmers and their Families — Drying and Cleaning Process described — Marketing — Independence of the Seller — Crowded Streets in Shanghae during the Cotton Season — Warehouses and Packing Home Consumption — Stalks used for Fuel 199

Chapter XIII

Climate of China — Summer and Winter — Temperature of Hon^- Kong — Of Shanghae — Monsoons -— Typhoons — Signs of their Approach — Description of a Typhoon witnessed by the Author — Effect produced upon Vegetation — Rains — Wet and Dry Seasons . : Page 210

Chapter XIV

Chinese Agriculture — Exaggerated Statements regarding its Advancement — Soil of the Hills — Tea-Land — Soil of the Plains — Summer Crops — Rice and its Cultivation — Chinese Plough and Harrow — Number of Crops produced — Method of obtaining two Crops of Rice in Summer in the Province of Chekiang — Rice Harvest — Terrace Cultivation described — The Tein-ching Plant, from which the Northern Indigo is obtained — Summer Hill Crops — Cultivation of sweet Potatoes — Earth-nuts — Winter Crops — Celebrated Shan-tung Cabbage — Oil Plant — Wheat, Barley, &c. — Ripening of Winter Crops — Manures — Two Plants cultivated for this Purpose — Their Cultivation and Mode of Application — A Manure for mixing with Seeds — Its Utility — Other Manures in common Use — Manure Tanks — Night Soil and Urine — Mode of Application — Succession and Rotation of Crops 221

Chapter XV

Return to Chusan — Its supposed Unhealthiness — Mortality amongst the Queen's Troops when first stationed there — Subsequent Salubrity — Its Advantages over Hong-kong as a British Settlement — Remarks on the Treaty with China — Ning-po — Gardens of the Mandarins — Manners of Chinese Ladies — Sail for Hong-kong — Tombs of the Chinese — Situations supposed to be the best — Soothsayers employed — Their Methods of working on the Minds of the People — Mr. Lay consulted as to the best Site for a Grave — Inscriptions on the Tombs — Periodical Visits to them by Relatives — Different Modes of Interment — Coffins exposed in the Fields — Kept in Houses — Tomb near Sung-kiang-foo — Favourite Flowers for planting on the Graves

Chapter XVI

Spring in the North of China — New Flowers — Journey through the Country — Motley Group of Fellow-Passengers — A Morning Scene in a Chinese Junk — Tartar City of Chapoo — Shops and Trade — Crowds of People — A Visit to the Mandarins — A Free Passage onward offered — Their Object in this — Means taken to thwart them — Leave Chapoo for Shanghae — Country and Town of Ping-hoo — Silk-Districts visited — Cultivation of the Mulberry — Management of the Silkworm — Arrival at Shanghae — Consul's Letter enclosing one from the Taoutae, or Head Mandarin — A most satisfactory Reply . . . Page 262

Chapter XVII

Sail for Foo-chow-foo on the River Min — Novel Mode of engaging a Pilot — Entrance to the River — Scenery on its Banks — Bridge of Foo-chow-foo — Chinese Chairmen — Insults received from the Natives — City and Suburbs — Native Trade — Fishing Cormorants — Bank Notes — Character of the Natives — The Ladies, and their Fondness for Flowers — Population — Remarks on Foo-chow-foo as a Place of Foreign Trade — Government Spies — Deceit of the Mandarins — Leave Foo-chow-foo for the Tea- Hills — Mountain Scenery described — Black-Tea Districts — Agriculture of the District — Native Fruit 278

Chapter XVIII

Engage a Passage in a Junk — Leave the District of the Min — An Attack of Fever — Religious Ceremonies on board the Junk — Attacked by Pirates — Scene on board — Cowardice of the Chinese — Pirates beat off — Gratitude of the Crew — A safe Anchorage ! — Another Fleet of Pirates — Attack and Results — Arrive at Chusan — Ingratitude of the Crew — Mode of making them keep their Word — Kindness of foreign Residents at Shanghae — Large Peaches — Collections packed — Leave the North of China — Sail for England — Arrival in the Thames — Conclusion LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. VOL. I. 1. Mode of gathering Ling ... Frontispiece. 2. Engraved Title-page. 3. Temple of the Heavenly Winds - - - page 63 4. Ice-houses near Ning-po ------ 82 5. Tea-gardens at Shanghae - 91 6. Mountain Chair -------- 136 7. Opium-pipe - - - - - - - -177 8.

Water-wheel for Irrigation ------ 231 9. Chinese Marriage-Procession 251 10. Tombs on the Island of Chusan 256 11. Tomb of a Mandarin's Wife 261 12. Pagoda Island on the River Min ----- 294 13. Anemone on the Tombs - 315 14. Map - - - - at ""' ""'■ FIBST JOURNEY.

Chapter I

First View of China, and the Impressions produced — Land at Hong-kong — Description of its Harbour — Town of Victoria - — Chinese Towns, Stanley and Aberdeen — Description of the Island — Effects of Rains — " Happy Valley " noticed — Chinese mode of " Stopping the Supplies " — Views from the Tops of Mountains — Climate — Botany of the Island — Few Animals indigenous — Unhealthiness of the Settlement — Character of the Chinese Population — Mixed Character of Foreigners — Remarks on the Settlement as a Place of Trade. On the sixth of July, 1843, after a passage of four months from England, I had the first view of the shores of China : and although I had often heard of the bare and unproductive hills of this celebrated country, I certainly was not prepared to find them so barren as they really are.

Viewed from the sea, they have everywhere a scorched appearance, with rocks of granite and red clay showing all over their surface : the trees are few, and stunted in their growth, being perfectly useless for anything but fire-wood, the purpose to which they are generally applied in this part of the country. A kind of fir-tree {Pinus sinensis) seems to struggle hard for existence, and is found in great quantities all over the VOL. I. B ClIAP. I. hill sides ; but, what with the barren nature of the sod, and the Chinese practice of lopping off its branches for fuel, it never attains any size, but is merely a stunted bush. Was this, then, the " flowery land," the land of camellias, azaleas, and roses, of which I had heard so much in England ? After a few hours' pleasant sading amongst the islands, we at last reached the beautiful bay of Hong-kong, and anchored opposite to the new town of Victoria.

Hong kong bay is one of the finest which I have ever seen ; it is eight or ten miles in length, and irregular in breadth ; in some places two, and in others six miles wide, having excellent anchorage all over it, and perfectly free from hidden dangers. It is completely sheltered by the mountains of Hong-kong on the south, and by those of the main land of China on the opposite shore ; land locked, in fact, on all sides ; so that the shipping can ride out the heaviest gales with perfect safety. The new town of Victoria is situated on the north side of the island, along the shores of this splendid bay, with the mountain chain rising precipitously and majes tically behind it. When viewed from the sea it has a curious and irregular appearance ; but as the plan of the town becomes more developed, and better houses are built, it will really be a very pretty Uttle place.

When I left China, at the end of December, 1845, it had made most rapid progress ; new houses, and even new streets, had risen, as if by magic. Some noble government buddings were nearly completed, to be used as barracks for the soldiers ; exceUent and substantial houses were erected, or in the course of erection, for the merchants ; Chai\ I. HONG-KONG. ■ 3 and a large Chinese town had been built to the westward, for the principal part of the Chinese population. A beautiful road, called the Queen's Road, has been formed along the shore for several miles ; and this was lined with excellent houses and many very good shops. Many of the Chinese shops are little inferior to those in Canton, and certainly equal to what used to be in Macao. In fact, a very large proportion of the Macao shopkeepers have removed their establishments to Hong kong ; the former place being now useless for the purpose of trade since the English left it.

The bazaar or market is also a most excellent one. Here we find all the natural productions of China, which are brought regularly from the main land ; such as the shuts and vegetables indigenous to the country ; fowls, ducks, teal, quails, and pheasants ; meat of all kinds ; and in fact every luxury which the natives or foreigners can possibly require. Besides these, English potatoes, green peas, and several other kinds of foreign vegetables, are plen tiful at almost all seasons of the year. The only other Chinese towns on the island of any note besides the new one just noticed are on the south side, and used to be called Little Hong-kong and Chuckchew : their names have been changed lately by the governor, Sir J. Davis, into Stanley and Aberdeen. They are merely fishing-towns ; but the government always keep up a military station at the latter, which renders it of some importance.

Hong-kong is one of the largest islands near the mouth of the Canton river. It is about eight miles from east to west, and the widest part of it is not more B Chap. I. than six miles; but it is very irregular, some parts being only three miles in breadth, and the land jutting out here and there, forming a succession of headlands and bays. Imagine, then, an island considerably longer than it is broad, perfectly mountainous, and sloping in a rugged manner to the water's edge, having here and there deep ravines almost at equal distances along the coast, which extend from the tops of the mountains down to the sea, deepening and widening in their course. There are immense blocks of granite in these ravines, which have either been bared by the rapid currents of water in its descent during the rains, or which have tumbled into them from the sides of the mountains at some former period of time.

The water in these ravines is abundant and excellent ; and hence the poetical name which the Chinese have given our island — Hong-kong, or more properly Heang-keang, the "Tsland of fragrant streams." During the wet season — for it rains in torrents then — these Uttle streams swell with the augmentation of fresh water, and rush down from the mountains with a velocity which sweeps everything before them. In May, 1845, one of these storms of thunder and rain visited Victoria ; and the effects produced by it were perfectly astonishing ; houses were undermined, roads made at a great expense only a few months before were swept away ; drains were burst open ; and many of the bridges and other public works rendered perfectly useless. ' The Hong-kong Register ' thus notices the storm to which I adude : " The damage was very great, both to the recently-formed roads and to many buildings in the course of erection ; Chap. I. EFFECTS OF RAINS. 5 and had the violence of the rain continued an hour or two longer, many houses must have been undermined and destroyed.

As it was, much individual inconvenience has been sustained. About 5 o'clock the whole of Queen's Road, from the entrance to the large bazaar to the market-place, was completely flooded, to the depth of from two to four feet. All the streets leading upwards to the hill served as feeders to this lake. In Peel Street particularly the torrent rushed along, bearing everything before it, and the street still resembles a dried-up watercourse, covered with stones and wrecks of buddings. The passages from the Queen's Road to the sea were aU full ; the one leading through Chunam's Hong for hours presented the appearance of a rapid river, and many of the houses on each side were only saved from the flood by mud-walls hastily raised. About 6 o'clock the rain moderated, but for some time after the road was quite impassable.

A Coolie, at tempting to ford the stream rushing down D'Aguilar Street, was borne off his feet, but saved himself by catching hold of the frame of a mat-shed. The drain lately formed could not carry off the water, which com mitted great devastation, flooding a new house in its vicinity to the depth of nearly three feet, and destroying some new waUs. All the open drains in the upper streets have suffered, many are entirely destroyed, leaving scarcely a trace of the street. A stream from a distant watercourse flowed along the road above the bungalow, occupied by the attorney-general, and, de scending with great fury upon the roof of one of his out-offices, carried away a great part of it. In many Chap. I. WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 6 places the Queen's Road has been covered with sod, sand, &c, to the depth of more than two feet, and nearly all the cross drains are choked up.

The bridge at the Commissariat has been carried away, and that in the Wang-nai-chung has also disappeared. Several lives were lost by the faU of a house in which some Chinese resided ; and it is said the stream at Pokfowlum burst upon a mat hut in which were a number of Coolies employed upon the new road ; three saved them selves in a tree, but many more are missing, and are supposed to have been carried out to sea." There is very little flat ground on the island capable of being brought under cultivation ; indeed the only tract of any extent is the " Wang-nai-chung," or, as the English caU it, the " Happy VaUey," about two miles east from the town ; and even that is not more than twenty or thirty acres in extent. There are several other small plots of ground near the bottom of the hills, and some few terraced patches amongst them, but the whole is of very trifling extent.

In former times the Chinese used to cultivate crops of rice and vegetables in the Wang-nai-chung Valley, but the place proved to be very unhealthy ; and the Government, supposing that the malaria might proceed from the water necessary to bring the crops to maturity, prohibited the natives from cultivating them, and set about draining the land. From this description it will be seen that our settlement on this island is entirely dependent on the dominions of his Celestial Majesty for supplies, which he, of course, can cut off when he pleases. Shortly after the Governor, Sir John Francis Davis, took the helm of Chap. I. STOPPING THE SUPPLIES. 7 affairs in China, he, with the advice of the Legislative Council of Hong-kong, passed a law for registering all the inhabitants of the island, English and Chinese, the latter of course being under the rule of Her Britannic Majesty's representative.

The Chinese population, ever jealous of foreigners, fancied there was more in this than met the eye, and that it was done for the purpose of squeezing them, and they actually rebelled against the decree. A meeting of all the Compradores and other great men took place, and one of the results was, that the " supplies " were stopped. For several days everything stood stdl, the CooUes would not work, the boats would not bring provisions, in fact, the Chinese were in a fair way of starving the " Legislative Council of Hong-kong" into making better laws; and they succeeded at last in making them alter the celebrated Registration Act into one more agreeable to their feelings. V From the tops of the mountains the view is grand and imposing in the extreme ; mountain is seen rising above mountain, rugged, barren, and wild — the elevation of the highest being nearly two thousand feet ; the sea as far as the eye can reach is studded with islands of the same character as Hong-kong ; on one side our beautiful bay Ues beneath us, crowded with shipping and boats, and, on the other, the far extending waters of the China sea.

The climate of Hong-kong is far from being agreeable, and has proved very unhealthy, both to Europeans and to the native Chinese. During the months of July and August — the hottest in the year — the maximum heat Chap. I. 8 WANDERINGS IN CHINA. shown by my thermometer was 94° Fans., and the minimum in the same time was 80°. The difference between the heat of day and night is generally about 10 degrees. In winter the thermometer sometimes sinks as low as the freezing point, but this is a rare occurrence. Even in the midst of winter, when the sun shines, it is scarcely possible to walk out without the shelter of an umbrella, and if any one has the hardihood to attempt it he invariably suffers for his folly. The air is so dry that one can scarcely breathe, and there is no shade to break the force of the almost vertical rays of the sun.

At other times in winter, the wind blows cold and cutting from the north, and fires are necessary in the houses ; indeed, at all seasons the climate is liable to sudden changes of temperature. The botany of the island possesses a considerable degree of interest, at least would have done so some years ago, when the plants indigenous to it were less known than they now are. By far the most beautiful plants met with on the low ground are the different species of Lagerstrœmia. There are two or three varieties, having red, white, and purple flowers, and in the summer months, when they are in bloom, they are quite the hawthorns of China,. — surpassing in then gorgeous flowers even that beautiful family. I have generally met with them in a wdd state very near the sea-shore. A little higher up we find the beautiful Ixora coccinea flowering in profusion in the clefts of the rocks, and its scarlet heads of bloom under the Hong-kong sun are of the most dazzling brightness.

The ravines are crowded with ferns and creeping shrubs Chap. I. BOTANY. 9 of different kinds, not however of much interest to the lover of ornamental flowering plants. Here, however, under the ever-dripping rocks, we find the beautiful Chirita sinensis, a plant with elegant foxglove ldac flowers, which I sent to the Horticultural Society soon after I arrived in China, and which is now to be found in many of the gardens of England. The trees on the island are few, and generally in a stunted condition. The fir {Pinus sinensis) is common here, as it is all along the coast of China; Cunninghamia sinensis is rare on Hong-kong, although frequently met with on the main land ; the tallow-tree is also indigenous, but no use is made of its fruit. Many kinds of the fig tribe are common, and one, the Fi,cus nitida, a kind of banyan, sometimes forms a very ornamental tree.