Part 37 (1/2)

We were five-and-twenty days travelling to Pekin, through a country infinitely populous, but miserably cultivated; the husbandry, econoh they boast so much of the industry of the people: I say miserable; and so it is; if ho understand how to live, were to endure it, or to compare it with our own; but not so to these poor wretches, who know no other The pride of these people is infinitely great, and exceeded by nothing but their poverty, which adds to that which I call their es of A, so they desire nothing; whereas these are proud and insolent, and, in the es; their ostentation is inexpressible, and is chiefly shewed in their clothes and buildings, and in the keeping multitudes of servants or slaves, and, which is to the last degree ridiculous, their contempt of all the world but themselves

I must confess, I travelled more pleasantly afterwards, in the deserts and vast wildernesses of Grand Tartary, than here; and yet the roads here are well paved and well kept, and very convenient for travellers: but nothing was hty, irossest sienuity is no more My friend Father Simon, and I, used to be very arly pride of those people For exaentleues off from the city of Nanquin, we had, first of all, the honour to ride with the master of the house about twoa reasy Don was very proper for a scara a dirty calico, with all the tawdry trappings of a fool's coat, such as hanging sleeves, taffety, and cuts and slashes alreasy as a butcher, and which testified, that his honour must needs be a most exquisite sloven

His horse was a poor, lean, starved, hobbling creature, such as in England s; and he had two slaves followed hi: he had a whip in his hand, and he belaboured the beast as fast about the head as his slaves did about the tail; and thus he rode by us with about ten or twelve servants; and ere told he was going froue before us We travelled on gently, but this figure of a gentlee about an hour to refresh us, e careathis repast; it was a kind of a garden, but he was easy to be seen; and ere given to understand, that the more we looked on him, the better he would be pleased

He sat under a tree, so like the palmetto-tree, which effectually shaded him over the head, and on the south side; but under the tree also was placed a large u back in a great elbow-chair, being a heavy corpulent ht him by toentlemen in Europe would accept of their service in, viz one fed the squire with a spoon, and the other held the dish with one hand, and scraped off what he let fall upon his worshi+p's beard and taffety vest, with the other; while the great fat brute thought it below him to employ his own hands in any of those fas and ers of their servants

I took this time to think what pain hty teed,the poor wretch to please hi at him, as if we admired his pomp, whereas we really pitied and contemned him, we pursued our journey: only Father Simon had the curiosity to stay to inform himself what dainties the country justice had to feed on, in all his state; which he said he had the honour to taste of, and which was, I think, a dose that an English hound would scarce have eaten, if it had been offered hiarlick in it, and a little bag filled with green pepper, and another plant which they have there, so like ether, and a small lump or piece of lean mutton boiled in it; and this was his worshi+p's repast, four or five servantsat a distance If he fed them meaner than he was fed himself, the spice excepted, they must fare very coarsely indeed

As for our ; surrounded alith his gentlemen, and attended in all his appearances with such pomp, that I saw little of him but at a distance; but this I observed, that there was not a horse in his retinue, but that our carriers' pack-horses in England seem to e, s, and such-like trumpery, that you cannot see whether they are fat or lean In a word, we could scarce see any thing but their feet and their heads

I was now light-hearted, and allover, I had no anxious thoughts about me; which made this journey much the pleasanter to me; nor had I any ill accident attendeda small river, my horse fell, and made me free of the country, as they call it; that is to say, threw me in: the place was not deep, but it wetted me all over: I mention it, because it spoiled my pocket-book, wherein I had set down the names of several people and places which I had occasion to re due care of, the leaves rotted, and the words were never after to be read, to reat loss, as to the nae

At length we arrived at Pekin; I had nobody with iven me to attend ent; and my partner had nobody with hiuese pilot, he being desirous to see the court, we gave hies for his company; and to use hie of the country, and spoke good French and a little English; and, indeed, this old man was a most useful implement to us every where; for we had not been above a week at Pekin, when he calese,” said he, ”I have solad,” said I; ”what can that be? I don't know any thing in this country can either give ree”--”Yes, yes,” said the old lad, me sorrow;” sorry, he would have said This made me more inquisitive ”Why,” said I, ”will it ht o back alone; and which way shall I get to my port afterwards, without a shi+p, without a horse, without pecune?”

so he calledhis broken Latin, of which he had abundance to reat caravan of Muscovy and Polishto set out on their journey, by land, to Muscovy, within four or five weeks, and he was sure ould take the opportunity to go with theo back alone I confess I was surprised with this news: a secret joy spread itself over my whole soul, which I cannot describe, and never felt before or since; and I had no power, for a good while, to speak a word to the old man; but at last I turned to him: ”How do you know this?” said I: ”are you sure it is true?”--”Yes,” he said, ”Iin the street an old acquaintance oftheo to Tonquin; where I formerly knew hio back with the caravan to Moscow, and so down the river of Wolga to Astracan”--”Well, Seignior,”

said I, ”do not be uneasy about being left to go back alone; if this be a land, it shall be your fault if you go back to Macao at all” We then went to consult together as to be done, and I asked ht of the pilot's news, and whether it would suit with his affairs: he told me he would do just as I would; for he had settled all his affairs so well at Bengal, and left his effects in such good hands, that as we e here, if he could vest it in China silks, wrought and raw, such as land, and then al by the Coreed, that, if our Portuguese pilot would go with us, ould bear his charges to Moscow, or to England, if he pleased; nor, indeed, e to be esteeenerous in that part neither, if we had not rewarded him farther; for the service he had done us was really worth all that, and more; for he had not only been a pilot to us at sea, but he had been also like a broker for us on shore; and his procuring for us the japan merchant was soether about it; and, being willing to gratify hi also to have him with us besides, for he was a ive hiold, which, as I compute it, ca between us, and to bear his charges, both for hioods

Having settled this a ourselves, we called him to let him knoe had resolved: I told hio back alone, and I was now to tell hio back at all: that as we had resolved to go to Europe with the caravan, we resolved also he should go with us, and that we called hi journey, and he had no pecune to carry him thither, nor to subsist himself when he came thither We told him, we believed it was so, and therefore we had resolved to do so for him, that would let him see how sensible ere of the service he had done us; and also how agreeable he was to us; and then I told hiht lay out as ould do our own; and that as for his charges, if he would go with us, ould set him safe ashore (life and casualties excepted), either in Muscovy or in England, which he would, at our own charge, except only the carriage of his goods

He received the proposal like a o with us over the whole world; and so, in short, we all prepared ourselves for the journey However, as it ith us, so it ith the otherready in five weeks, it was four ether

It was the beginning of February, our style, e set out froone express back to the port where we had first put in, to dispose of sooods which he had left there; and I, with a Chinese e of at Nanquin, and who caht ninety pieces of fine damasks, with about two hundred pieces of other very fine silks, of several sorts, soainst e quantity of raw silk, and sooods only, to about three thousand five hundred pounds sterling, which, together with tea, and sos and cloves, loaded in all eighteen camels for our share, besides those we rode upon; which, with two or three spare horses, and two horses loaded with provisions, made us, in short, twenty-six careat, and, as near as I can remember, made between three and four hundred horses and camels, and upward of a hundred and twenty men, very well armed, and provided for all events For, as the eastern caravans are subject to be attacked by the Arabs, so are these by the Tartars; but they are not altogether so dangerous as the Arabs, nor so barbarous when they prevail

The company consisted of people of several nations, such as Muscovites chiefly; for there were about sixty of theh of them some were Livonians; and to our particular satisfaction, five of thereat experience in business, and very good substance

When we had travelled one day's journey, the guides, ere five in nuentleers, except the servants, to a great council, as they terreat council every one deposited a certain quantity offorage on the here it was not otherwise to be had, and for satisfying the guides, getting horses, and the like And here they constituted the journey, as they called it, viz they naive the coive every one their turn of co us into order any more than e found needful upon the way, as shall be observed in its place

The road all on this side of the country is very populous, and is full of potters and earth makers; that is to say, people that te, our Portuguese pilot, who had always so to reatest rarity in all the country; and that I should have this to say of China, after all the ill hu which was not to be seen in all the world beside I was very ientleman's house, built all with China ware ”Well,” said I, ”are not thethe product of their own country; and so it is all China ware, is it not?”--”No, no,” says he, ”I mean, it is a house all land; or, as it is called in our country, porcelain”--”Well,” said I, ”such a thingis it? can we carry it in a box upon a camel? If we can, ill buy it”--”Upon a ca up both his hands; ”why, there is a family of thirty people lives in it”

I was then curious, indeed, to see it; and when I ca but this: it was a tiland, with lath and plaster, but all the plastering was really China ware, that is to say, it was plastered with the earth that makes China ware

The outside, which the sun shone hot upon, was glazed, and looked very well, perfectly white, and painted with blue figures, as the large China ware in England is painted, and hard, as if it had been burnt As to the inside, all the walls, instead of wainscot, were lined with hardened and painted tiles, like the little square tiles we call gally tiles in England, allfine indeed, with extraordinary variety of colours, ure, but joined so artificially withmade of the same earth, that it was very hard to see where the tiles met The floors of the rooms were of the same composition, and as hard as the earthen floors we have in use in several parts of England, especially Lincolnshi+re, Nottinghamshi+re, Leicestershi+re, &c as hard as stone, and smooth, but not burnt and painted, except some smaller rooms, like closets, which were all, as it were, paved with the sa work in the whole house, were of the same earth; and, after all, the roof was covered with tiles of the sa black

This was a china warehouse indeed, truly and lite rally to be called so; and had I not been upon the journey, I could have staid some days to see and examine the particulars of it They told arden, all paved at the bottom and sides with the same, and fine statues set up in rows on the walks, entirely formed of the porcelain earth, and burnt whole

As this is one of the singularities of China, so they may be allowed to excel in it; but I am very sure they _excel_ in their accounts of it; for they told s of their performance in crockery-ware, for such it is, that I care not to relate, as knowing it could not be true--One told me, in particular, of a workman that made a shi+p, with all its tackle, and h to carry fifty e to japan in it, Ito it indeed; but as it was, I knew the whole story, which was, in short, asking pardon for the word, that the fellow lied; so I sht kept me two hours behind the caravan, for which the leader of it for the day fined s; and told me, if it had been three days journey without the wall, as it was three days within, he must have fined me four times as much, and made me ask pardon the next council-day: so I promised to be more orderly; for, indeed, I found afterwards the orders ether were absolutely necessary for our coreat China wall, reat work it is, going over hills and mountains in an endless track, where the rocks are impassable, and the precipices such as no enemy could possibly enter, or, indeed, climb up, or where, if they did, no wall could hinder thelish htthe windings and turnings it takes: 'tis about four fathoh, and as many thick in some places

I stood still an hour, or thereabouts, without trespassing on our orders, for so long the caravan was in passing the gate; I say, I stood still an hour to look at it, on every side, near and far off; I uide of our caravan, who had been extolling it for the wonder of the world, was er to hearto keep off the Tartars, which he happened not to understand as I meant it, and so took it for a colese,”

said he, ”you speak in colours”--”In colours!” said I; ”what do you mean by that?”--”Why, you speak what looks white this way, and black that way; gay one way, and dull another way: you tell hiood wall to keep out Tartars; you tellbut to keep out Tartars; or, will keep out none but Tartars I understand you, Seignior Inglese, I understand you,” said he, joking; ”but Seignior Chinese understand you his oay”