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Rh an emissary, who was the colour of brass, and had the form of a dragon. There shone from him rays illuminating the sky. Prostrating myself twice I asked him, saying: What gifts would be acceptable to the Ocean Spirit? He answered: Well-born youths and young virgins, together with craftsmen of all kinds. Thus the herb may be obtained.'

This delighted the Ch‘in Emperor, who sent three thousand youths and maidens, as well as seeds of the five kinds of grain and artificers of all kinds. Then Hsü Fu set sail, and found a peaceful and fertile land. There he stopped and made himself king, and returned not."

This ending of the tale hardly tallies with that told much earlier in the Record. Apparently the event there described took place just before the Emperor's death, and nine years after he had despatched the great expedition. He is shown again skirting the sea-shore in the course of one of his frequent tours of the empire, still loth to abandon hope of meeting some sailor from whom he might gain possession of the magic plant of immortality. The passage runs thus: