Page:China historical and descriptive.djvu/27

 manners, and language were considered to be sufficiently Chinese to escape detection, it was communicated to him, under a sort of demi-official message, that his intentions were known, and it would be in vain for him to make the attempt, as measures had been taken to make it impossible for him to enter the Chinese territories beyond the limits of the English factory. He alleged that his views were innocent, that he was simply an individual, urged solely by curiosity and a desire to mix among the people, and to witness the happy condition of this far-famed nation, and wholly unconnected with any political, commercial, or religious views; and he particularly urged that he was no missionary of any kind, as those of that character had of late given uneasiness to the Government. But he urged his suit in vain.

"He next tried Cochin-China, but with no better success — the same kind of political jealousy prevailing in that country as in China. Determined, however, not to be thwarted in his object, he proceeded to Calcutta, travelled to the northern frontier of Bengal, found means to penetrate through Bhootan to Sassa in Thibet, and was on the point of realising his long-deferred hope by a journey along the Tartar frontier to the capital of China, when he was detected by the Chinese authorities, and ordered immediately to quit the country — so utterly impossible is it to deceive that watchful Government."

The coast-line from the Isthmus of Corea to the Island of Hainan is about seventeen hundred miles long, being bold and rocky to the south, and abounding in numerous