Page:Through China with a camera.pdf/188

CHAPTER VII.

FORMOSA.

pilot, named Opium, came off to the steamer and brought her to a secure anchorage about a mile from shore. There was a pretty heavy sea on at this time, rendering it dangerous, even in a surf-boat, to make for the mouth of the harbour; so Dr. Maxwell and I determined to go ashore with Opium, trusting to his local knowledge to land us safely somewhere along the coast. This pilot was a cool, imperturbable seaman, a daring specimen, who had been out in all weathers and who was said to have earned his singular cognomen of Opium from his notoriety as a smuggler of that valuable drug.