ponds gives a sense of coolness to the pleasuregrounds, and the white and pink water-lilies which adorn their surface furnish excuses to revellers for holding endless wine-feasts on their margins. In the literature frequent references are made to such entertainments, and numerous volumes have been carefully compiled of the more highly esteemed poems made on such occasions in praise of the camellia, apricot, peach, chrysanthemum, hibiscus, and an endless array of other flowers, by the minor poets of the country.

The manner and convenience of travel supply a faithful index of the stage of civilization to which the people of a country have arrived, and in the conveyances in vogue in China we see repeated the strange contradictions which have met us as we have glanced at each feature of Chinese society. In every case there is much to be admired; but in every case, what is good and excellent is marred by some defacing or neutralizing quality. Just as the outward appearance of their furniture is spoiled by the exquisite discomfort of their chairs and divans; and their stately ceremonies, by dirt and squalor ; so their means of travelling, which in some ways are luxurious, are discredited by the discomfort of the carts, the mud and ruts of the roads, and the miserable condition of the inns. With us the question of pace enters largely into our ideas of travelling, but in the leisurely East, where hurry is unknown, the speed with which a journey can be made is not of the slightest consequence. We have lately had an excellent illustration of this on the waters of the Yang-tsze Kiang. At the present time steamers go up the river to Ich'ang, a distance of

fifteen hundred miles from the mouth.

For four hundred miles above that point there are a succession of rapids, to ascend which, in a native boat at certain seasons of the year, occupies six or seven weeks, or just about the length of time it takes a fast steamer to make its way from Ich'ang to London. It has been shown to the Chinese how it would be possible to remove the greater part of the obstacles which make the voyage so difficult, and how, when this is done, steamers might readily continue their way up the river. But nothing will induce the Government, the local officials, or the merchants interested, to support the scheme, and all deliberately prefer to put up with the delay, dangers, and frequent losses incurred under the present system to encouraging an enterprise which would save four-fifths of the time employed, and would reduce the peril and loss to a minimum.

The particular kinds of conveyance used in China vary with the nature of the country. In the north, where the huge delta plain and immense table-lands form the surface, carts are commonly used, and these again furnish an instance of the mixed nature of Chinese civilization. They are made on two wheels, without springs and without seats. As has been said, the Chinese have no idea of comfort as we understand the word, and these vehicles are a complete justification of the statement. To a European they are the acme of misery. The occupant seats himself on the floor of the cart, and is thrown hither and thither as the ruts may determine and the skill of the driver may permit. The novice, when going to sea, is commonly advised to attempt to avoid the inevitable fate which awaits him by

allowing his body to sway with the movements of the vessel, and in the same way those who drive in Chinese carts are recommended to yield their persons to the strange bumps and rockings of the springless vehicles, but, so far as the experience of the present writer goes, no better result follows in this than in the other case. It is remarkable that, though carts have been in use for thirty or more centuries, the Chinese have made no attempt to improve their very rough construction. Springs are unknown, and the only method occasionally adopted to mitigate the horrors of driving is that of placing the axles and wheels behind the body of the cart, and at the rear extremity of the beams of wood which constitute the support of the vehicle, and when produced in front form the shafts. In this way the cart is swung between the animal drawing it and the axle. No seat is provided for the driver, who commonly takes possession of the off shaft, and seriously interferes with the ventilation available for the passenger by almost entirely blocking up the only opening which serves both as door and window. Carts of the ordinary kind stand for hire in the streets of Peking and of other northern cities, and are constantly employed as far south as the banks of the Yang-tsze Kiang. For carrying purposes large waggons are used which are commonly drawn by seven animals, a pony being in the shafts and the rest being arranged three abreast in front. Such conveyances when loaded travel from fifty to eighty Chinese miles a day, or from about sixteen to twentysix English miles. In the neighbourhood of Newchwang an immense traffic is carried on by means of these vehicles, and during the busiest two months