of oaths and firecrackers, which nearly blew the stern away.

Strange to say, his predictions came true. Hardly had the noise and smoke of the aforesaid oaths and crackers died away than we lost sight of the derelict in the gloom, and a sudden gust of wind whistled through the ropes, threw us aback, and then died away with a mournful whine, and was soon succeeded by another longer and fiercer squall, which rudely ruffled the calm surface of the sea and then rippled away again. And before another anxious hour had passed, a fierce "north-easter" broke upon us in all its fury. Over went the tiller-and away we

scudded.

"Where are we bound to now?" I yelled out to the skipper, who, with three others, was steering the much-strained vessel, that rolled and plunged in a desperate manner.

"Back! back, if we can! The fates are against us!" he cried, And away we went, an awful sight to see.

I had experienced and heard quite enough for one night, and now sought the friendly shelter of my little niche, where, to my surprise, I found the rest of the crew, who, by the dim light of a smoking slush-lamp, were huddled together on the deck munching my biscuits, smoking, and conversing in ominous whispers. I freely forgave their unlawful appetite, and felt really glad of their company; and, to enliven things a little, I produced my case of whisky, which was received with grunts of approval. I squatted down on the deck beside an old fossil named Po-leung Chop, who was called the father of the crew, and who was grumbling about "the serpent's breath," of which I had already heard sufficient to excite my curiosity. So when we had regaled ourselves from my whisky, and had sent the "large-hearted" captain up a "peg", I proposed that old Chop should relate all he knew about this dreaded monster. This proposal was seconded and approved by unanimous grunts; and the venerable man, taking a preliminary "pull" at the whisky, and wiping his mouth on the back of his horny hand, commenced his yarn, which I will endeavour to briefly recount.

"Some twenty or more years ago I was captain of a large Foochow junk, trading between that port, Amoy, and Swatow,

and sometimes making profitable trips over to Formosa in the tea season. On my last voyage in her, we were lying in Foochow, and loading a valuable cargo for Swatow, when a party of tigercatchers came aboard as passengers, bringing with them a huge cage, in which was a monstrous snake with two large horns, which had been captured in the tiger-trap. Hoping to find a market for it further south, they carried it with them alive.

"I at first refused to take the devilish reptile aboard, but they eventually overcame my scruples, with a present of six-thousand cash, and promises that I should share the money they hoped to realise by its sale. So at last I consented, and had the cage securely fastened abaft the main hatch. This was the worst piece of work I ever did in my life, and was the cause of great misfortunes that have dogged me like wolves ever since-devouring all good luck that comes in my way. Having taken in a full cargo and a number of passengers, I consulted an astrologer, who-curses be on his head-found me a sailing day favourable to the Fengshui,* and I left at the precise time indicated by him, which fell on the 13th day of the sixth moon of the year 1867.

"All misgivings that I first entertained, through the serpent being aboard, were soon dispelled by the fine weather and fair breeze which favoured us at the commencement of the passage; and for the first four days all went well and happily. On the evening of the fifth day, however, the wind suddenly fell light; dark clouds gathered around us, and there was every appearance of an approaching storm. I called the hands and shortened sail, and, altering our course, stood in closer to the land, under the lee of which there would be good shelter in case the wind blew, as I expected it would, from the westward. I was not mistaken, for suddenly a heavy squall from that direction struck the old junk, and was accompanied by heavy rain, thunder, and lightning. Some of the half-lowered sails were blown to pieces, the vessel heeled over almost on her beam-ends, and in the midst of the confusion that ensued one of the men rushed up and told me that the serpent's cage had been rent asunder, and the monster had escaped into the hold, which was full of rice that chiefly constituted our cargo.

*Wind and water influences.

For some time I was unable to take any steps to secure it, as my junk was in imminent danger of being lost; but when the wind moderated a little, and everything had been made snug, I had the hatch opened, but could see nothing of the serpent. I was bound to deliver my cargo in good condition, as it was consigned to a high official in the Taotai's Yâmen at Swatow, and the awful monster would make irreparable havoc if allowed to remain there. As nobody would venture near the hatchway, I offered five thousand cash to whoever would go down and kill it. At length, tempted by the large reward, two of the strongest men among the crew armed themselves with swords and cautiously descended into the hold.

"They had no sooner got down than the terrible monster approached them, and, raising its head, hissed loudly, ejecting a vapour from its mouth. The two brave men fell dead. Then it raised its horned head, with great glaring eyes, above the hatch, and began to come up on deck to make an end of us all. But we did not wait to see what it would do. Launching the two sampans that were forward, we all abandoned the junk, which is still drifting about on this coast; and may the gods protect any unfortunate men who attempt to board it." *

This concluded the yarn, which had taken old Chop so long to recount that all the others except myself had fallen asleep. On creeping out on deck, I found that the junk had made such good way before the gale that we were already safely back again in the outer harbour of Amoy. The "great-hearted and very square captain" was still at the tiller-ropes, and I certainly gave him the credit of handling the old tub remarkably well, and freely forgave him his many sins, and the loss of my passage money and anticipated sport, for landing me safely at home again.

*This story is universally credited on the seaboard of Fuhkien. So great is their superstitious fear of the "serpent's breath" that no one will ever board or even go near a castaway Foochow junk, which is supposed to haunt that coast, like the "Flying Dutchman" does the Cape.

XVII. YUN LIP AND HIS FORTUNE.

AMOY

OY has been noted ever since A.D. 700 for wealthy, and enterprising traders, whose connections even then extended to the ports of the Archipelago and India, and even to Persia. One of my best and most respected friends in China is Mr. Yun Lip, an Amoy man, late chief compradore in a large tea hong, who recently acquired a blue mandarin button, and now lives the congenial life of a retired city gentleman in a comfortable residence on the outskirts of Amoy, surrounded by all the Oriental luxuries, not forgetting among them four nice little, small-footed wives and half-a-dozen promising young "Celestials," calculated to cheer, and so dear to the heart of a true Chinaman. For Yun Lip is all that, in spite of his long intercourse with foreigners; and he implicitly believes in his "joss pidgin," as all good heathens † should. I always, found him to be a thoroughly solid man of business, and an equally solid friend, from whose friendship I have derived considerable benefit and much pleasure; and I fully believe that my esteem for him is in every way reciprocated. I am glad that such is the case, for Yun Lip is a "man of parts,' sterling to the backbone, and socially and morally far above the average Chinaman; and also physically, for he stands quite 6ft. in his socks, and is built in proportion.

He is certainly a fine man to look at a great man, in fact!but as harmless as a kitten, except in business transactions-there

* For obvious reasons I have not given this gentleman's real name—Yun Lip being merely a cognomen.

† See my closing remarks in Chapter XXX.

his inherent strength predominates, and he will surely worst you in a fair financial encounter. But in feats of love or war he is a genuine unsophisticated ass, easily captivated and led astray by a nice little hand or two little wee hoofs-"golden lilies," I should say—or an almond eye: fatal charms which he cannot resist. But, should an angry lover assert himself or turn up suddenly to seek redress or revenge, Yun Lip gives him precedence at once, and if necessary "makes tracks" with commendable dispatch. He never asks embarrassing questions or disputes such sacred property: he is too chivalrous for that, and considers prudence infinitely better than a thrashing, especially since he fights very badly and runs fairly well.

He says-or, at least, used to say-that he has never been accustomed to do things by halves, and if he fought, he should like to fight thoroughly; but having the will, but not the scientific skill so essential in preserving a "clean face" in these contests, he leaves such undignified work for fitter fists than his, and trusts to the swiftness of his legs to carry him through. I always admired his philosophy and his good-natured, jocu

lar ways.

During the first few months of my intimacy with him he was very reticent concerning his past life, about which I knew comparatively nothing, nor did I make any inquiries, as it was no business of mine, and could not have made any difference in our friendship. One day, however, when we had just returned from a pleasant walk which we had wiled away in a more confidential manner than usual, dwelling chiefly upon our friendship, he said, when parting, "I want you to come round to my house after dinner, and spend a quiet evening with me: there are certain things which I should like to tell you."

After dinner I lit a cigar, and made my way through the narrow streets and lanes that had to be traversed before I could reach my friend's house, which, like himself, was thoroughly Chinese, the grotesque though artistic tracing of the stained glass windows, the curved and embellished lintel of the door, and the fantastically figured roof, being unmistakably so. The inside of the house, with its handsome though frigid-looking furniture,