Page:To the Court of the Emperor of China - vol I.djvu/145

Rh we set off again, in order to reach Ta-ngan-chen, where we arrived at nine in the evening, and where we passed the night.

In the conveyance of our baggage we met with a great many difficulties, of which the Coulis were the principal cause. It seemed as if the Mandarins had but little authority over them.

Our road this day led us again through several handsome villages and hamlets, and over very fertile arable land, of which a great part was sown with corn, turnips, and horse beans. All these plants were growing in straight lines, and in an order that might vie with that of our kitchen gardens. It appears that the Chinese never scatter the feed with the hand, but sow always in furrows, and with a dibble. This symmetrical regularity gave a charming appearance to the fields which were already in a state of vegetation.

Upon the hills there are a great many hollies, copses, and woods of beach and oak,

I observed also that the hogs in this part of the country differed entirely from those of Quang-tong, being quite black, and apparently of a wild breed, Their belly does not hang down; their snout