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seems, there are not a few in that land. The name of the town was Ching,

and we found that the fair or mart which was kept there would not be

held for three or four months. So we sent our ship back to the Cape, as

we meant to stay in this part of the world for some time, and go from

place to place to see what sort of a land it was, and then come back to

the fair at Ching.

We first went to a town which it was well worth our while to see, and

which must have been, as near as I can guess, quite in the heart of this

land. It was built with straight streets which ran in cross lines.

But I must own, when I came home to the place of my birth, I was much

struck to hear my friends say such fine things of the wealth and trade

of these parts of the world, for I saw and knew that the men were a mere

herd or crowd of mean slaves. What is their trade to ours, or to that of

France and Spain? What are their ports, with a few junks and barks, to

our grand fleets? One of our large ships of war would sink all their

ships, one line of French troops would beat all their horse, and the

same may be said of their ports, which would not stand for one month

such a siege as we could bring to bear on them.

In three weeks more we came to their chief town. When we had laid in a

large stock of tea, shawls, fans, raw silks, and such like goods, we set

out for the north. As we knew we should run all kinds of risks on our

way, we took with us a strong force to act as a guard, and to keep us

from the wild hordes who rove from place to place all through the land.

Some of our men were Scots, who had come out to trade here, and had

great wealth, and I was glad to join them, as it was by no means the

first time that they had been here.

We took five guides with us, and we all put our coin in one purse, to

buy food on the way, and to pay the men who took charge of us. One of us

we chose out for our chief, to take the lead in case we should have to

fight for our lives; and when the time came, we had no small need of

him. On the sides of all the roads, we saw men who made pots, cups,

pans, and such like ware, out of a kind of earth, which is, in fact, the

chief trade in this part of the world.

One thing, the guide said he would show me, that was not to be seen in

all the world else (and this, in good sooth, I could not sneer at, as

I had done at most of the things I had seen here), and this was a house

that was built of a kind of ware, such as most plates and cups are made

of. "How big is it?" said I, "can we take it on the back of a horse?"

"On a horse!" said the guide, "why, two score of men live in it." He

then took us to it, and I found that it was in truth a large house,

built with lath and the best ware that can be made out of earth. The

sun shone hot on the walls, which were quite white, hard, and smooth as

glass, with forms on them in blue paint. On the walls of the rooms were

small square tiles of the best ware, with red, blue, and green paint of

all shades and hues, in rare forms, done in good taste; and as they use

the same kind of earth to join the tiles with, you could not see where

the tiles met. The floors of the rooms were made of the same ware, and

as strong as those we have at home; and the same may be said of the

roofs, but they were of a dark shade. If we had had more time to spare,

I should have been glad to have seen more of this house, for there were

the ponds for the fish, the walks, the yards, and courts, which were

all made in the same way. This odd sight kept me from my friends for two

hours, and when I had come up to them, I had to pay a fine to our chief,

as they had to wait so long.

In two days more we came to the Great Wall, which was made as a fort

to keep the whole land safe,--and a great work it is. It goes in a long

track for miles and miles, where the rocks are so high and steep that

no foe could climb them; or, if they did, no wall could stop them. The

Great Wall is as thick as it is high, and it turns and winds in all

sorts of ways.

We now saw, for the first time, some troops of the hordes I spoke of,

who rove from place to place, to rob and kill all whom they meet with.

They know no real mode of war, or skill in fight. Each has a poor lean

horse, which is not fit to do good work. Our chief gave some of us leave

to go out and hunt as they call it, and what was it but to hunt sheep!

These sheep are wild and swift of foot, but they will not run far, and

you are sure of sport when you start in the chase. They go in flocks of

a score, or two, and like true sheep, keep close when they fly. In this

sort of chase it was our hap to meet with some two score of the wild

hordes, but what sort of prey they had come to hunt I know not. As soon

as they saw us, one of them blew some loud notes on a kind of horn, with

a sound that was quite new to me. We all thought this was to call their

friends round them, and so it was, for in a short time a fresh troop of

the same size came to join them; and they were all, as far as we could

judge, a mile off. One of the Scots was with us, and as soon as he heard

the horn, he told us that we must lose no time, but draw up in line, and

charge them at once. We told him we would, if he would take the lead.

They stood still, and cast a wild gaze at us, like a mere crowd, drawn

up in no line; but as soon as they saw us come at them, they let fly

their darts, which did not hit us, for though their aim was true, they

fell short of us. We now came to a halt to fire at them, and then went

at full speed to fall on them sword in hand, for so the bold Scot that

led us, told us to do.

As soon as we came up to them, they fled right and left. The sole stand

made was by three of them, who had a kind of short sword in their hands,

and bows on their backs, and who did all they could to call all the rest

back to them. The brave Scot rode close up to them, and with his gun

threw one off his horse, shot the next, and the third ran off, and this

was the end of our fight. All the bad lreuck we met with, was that the

sheep that we had in chase got off. We had not a man hurt, but as for

the foe, five of them were dead, and not a few had wounds, while the