which lie between the coast-line and the points formerly reached. For the talented sketches which illustrate the work I am indebted to my friend Mr. Scarth.
In keeping a journal of the ever-varying scenes which passed daily in review before me, I have not been unmindful of a friendly hint which I received from some reviewers of my former works. I have, therefore, endeavoured to describe more minutely the characters, manners, and customs of the Chinese in those districts in which I lived for a length of time almost like one of themselves. And with regard to this part of the performance I can only say that the figures on my canvas are such as I daily met with in the course of my travels, and are true to nature. The reader is left to draw his own conclusions; but it is hoped that those who have been inclined to form their estimate of the Chinese character from what has been written about the low rabble of Canton, will, after the perusal of these pages, look with a more favourable eye upon the inhabitants of China when seen from other points of view.
The natural productions of the country which came under my notice, whether simply ornamental in their character, or articles of commercial value, have been fully described. During a sojourn of some months in the heart of the great silk country I had an opportunity of seeing the cultivation of the mulberry, the feeding and rearing of the silk-worms, and the reeling of the silk; and these in-
