The
vessel mounted twelve guns and sixty-eight hands.
The captain set before us Portuguese wine and English beer, and the
evening was far advanced before we reached home.
The longest trip that can be made from Canton is one twenty miles up
the Pearl stream, and Mr. Agassiz was kind enough to procure me this
pleasure. He hired a good boat, which he furnished abundantly with
eatables and drinkables, and invited a missionary, who had made the
trip several times, Herr von Carlowitz, and myself. The company of
a missionary is as yet by far the safest escort in China. These
gentlemen speak the language; they become gradually acquainted with
the people, and travel about, with hardly any obstacle to speak of,
all round the vicinity of Canton.
About a week before we had decided on going, a few young gentlemen
had endeavoured to make the same excursion, but had been fired upon
from one of the fortresses that lie on the banks of the river, and
compelled to turn back half-way. When we approached the fortress in
question, the crew of our boat refused to proceed any further, until
we had almost employed violence to make them do so.
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