Page:Journal Of The Indian Archipelago And Eastern Asia Series.i, Vol.4 (IA in.ernet.dli.2015.107697).pdf/188

 with us for distribution; and as a dense living mass they stood still and listened eagerly to us while we preached to them the gospel.

Leaving Chioh-bey on our left, after having proceeded about two miles farther we saw the town where the famous pirate Koxinga used to reside. At the northern bank also, the ruins of what was once a fort belonging to him still meet the passenger's eye as he goes up or down the river.

The views of the country which presented themselves to us all along our course were full of varied beauty. Green hills were all around, some low and gently sloping, others higher and more abrupt, while some of them were adorned with pine trees ranged in rows up to their very summits, appearing, as seen between us and the clear blue sky beyond them, like earth-weaned pilgrims travelling up- wards towards heaven.

But the most interesting feature of the landscape was the perpetual recurrence, at short intervals of distance from each other, of those clusters of green shady trees which always indicate the locality of a village, or of a smaller or a larger town, showing that the whole district was densely peopled by members of the family of man.

We procceded by water till we came to within two miles of the outskirts of the ancient and still flourishing city of Chiang-chau. It was then about one o'clock P. M. when we found that the tide had receded so much as to leave the water too shallow for our somewhat bulky boat getting any further up at that time, so taking with us a large supply of Chinese tracts, we landed and walked the rest of of the way by the river side.

On arriving at the suburbs of the town we walked straight on without meeting with any sort of hindrance to our progress. Many persons came near and gazed at us as we passed, and soon we were surrounded and followed by large companies of people, but their words and their looks evinced only feelings of pleasing wonder; and the wonder and the pleasure which they manifested visibly increased when they heard us speak to them in the familiar tones of their own language. We distributed many tracts among the more intelligent looking of the people who crowded upon us eager to receive them; and repeatedly we stood on high steps in front of the warehouses and preached to them of Him whose grace our tracts unfold.

Having passed along several streets and under two or three high arched ornamental stone gateways, commemorative of famous men or of virtuous women of olden times, we arrived opposite the court of the chief magistrate of the city. There two or three of the city police came forward and offered to conduct us to any place which we might wish to sce; but it was evident enough that they wished us to make our stay in the city as short as possible. We told them we wished to walk along the top of the city walls, as we knew we should be less crowded and could more pleasantly