at once for Shanghai. The mouth of the river was crowded with vessels, the greater part of which were native junks. The stream is about half a mile in breadth, and is protected by two batteries, the northern one having 126 guns. The shore is well wooded, and the trees, with their thin texture and the greenish-gray hue of their budding leaves, showed that we had again reached a climate where spring is known.

Mr. P. S. Forbes, U. S. Consul at Canton, and Mr. Cunningham, Vice-Consul at Shanghai, who had ridden down to Woosung in expectation of the Susquehanna's arrival, came on board shortly after we dropped anchor. At 4 P. M., the tide being again flood, we stood into the river through the fleet of junk sat its mouth. It was a delicate piece of manoeuvring, but the vessel minded her helm admirably, and threaded the mazes of the crowded anchorage without touching one of the craft. The tide carried us safely over the bar, and we kept on up the river at nearly our fall speed. The stream was covered with junks lying at anchor or sailing up and down. Our steam-whistle warned them to clear the track, and they obeyed with alacrity, the crews gathering upon the high poops to survey us as we passed. we passed. Most of the junks had inscriptions across the stern and along the sides of the hull. Some, which Dr. Parker read, denoted that the vessel was in Government service: others had fantastic names, such as "The Favorable Wind," "Happiness," &c. All the larger ones had four masts, each mast carrying a single oblong sail, made of very closely woven matting, crossed with horizontal slips of bamboo. so that it could be reefed to any extent required. The people had a lighter complexion and more regular features than the

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natives of the southern provinces, and in lieu of, the umbrella hat wore the round black cap of the Tartars.

The country on both sides of the river is a dead level of rich alluvial soil, devoted principally to the culture of rice and wheat. The cultivation was as thorough and patient as any I had seen, every square foot being turned to some useful account. Even the sides of the dykes erected to check inundations were covered with vegetables. These boundless levels are thickly studded with villages and detached houses, all of which are surrounded with fruit-trees. I noticed also occasionally groves of willow and bamboo. The country, far and wide, is dotted with little mounds of earth-the graves of former generations. They are scattered over the fields and gardens in a most remarkable manner, to the great detriment of the cultivators. In some places the coffins of the poor, who cannot afford to purchase a resting-place, are simply deposited upon the ground, and covered with canvas. The dwellings, but for their peaked roofs, bore some resemblance to the cottages of the Irish peasantry. They were mostly of wood, plastered and whitewashed, and had an appearance of tolerable comfort. The people, who came out to stare in wonder at the great steamer as she passed, were dressed uniformly in black or dark blue. Numerous creeks and canals extended from the river into the plains, but I did not notice a single highway. The landscape was rich, picturesque and animated, and fully corresponded with what I had heard of the dense population and careful agriculture of China. I was struck with the gene. ral resemblance between the Woosung and the lower Missis sippi, and the same thing was noticed by others on board.

Before sunset, we discovered in the distance the factories

and flagstaffs of Shanghai. The town had a more imposing appearance than I was prepared to find. The river makes a sharp bend to the south-west at this point, and over the tops of the trees on the southern bank, we could see a forest of masts, a mile in length, belonging to the native junks. The number of foreign vessels anchored before the factories did not exceed twenty. Rounding the point, we swept between the shipping, past the stately row of tall European residences, and a neat church (Gothic), to the reach in front of the American Consulate, one of the largest and handsomest buildings on the river. The English war-steamers Hermes and Salamander, and the brig Lily, lay anchored there, and the French war-steamer Cassini, a little further up the stream. Beyond them commenced the wilderness of junks, packed side by side in one unbroken mass. As the anchor dropped our band struck up "Hail Columbia followed by the English and French national airs.

Mr. Cunningham invited the Commissioner and his suite to take rooms at the Consulate, where that splendid hospitality which distinguishes the foreign communities in China is practised to its fullest extent. We found various and contradictory rumors afloat with regard to the Chinese rebels, but it was generally believed that Nanking had fallen into their hands. The merchants were in hourly expectation of hearing that the great city of Soo-Chow, the capital of the silk-growing district, and only seventy miles from Shanghai, had been invested.

CHAPTER XXIV.

AN ATTEMPT то VISIT NANKING

The Commissioner decides to visit Nanking-Preparations for the Voyage--Departure of four Japanese-The Susquehanna leaves-Woosung-Bush Island and TsungMing-We strike the Blonde Shoal-The Chinese Pilots-Escape of a Boat-Off the Shoal-Mr. Bennett's night cruise after the Boats-Unfavorable Reports-The Return-End of the Expedition-Successful Trip of the Susquehanna in the Summer of 1854.

THREE days after our arrival, the Commissioner decided to start for Nanking. The near approach of the rebel forces to the foreign settlement of Shanghai, the uncertainty with regard to their views towards foreigners, and the utter impossibility of obtaining reliable accounts from the seat of war through the Chinese authorities, led him to this step. The visit was projected with the sole view of obtaining information, that he might best know how to guard the interests of American citizens in China. Like the representatives of England and France in Shanghai, he determined on preserving the strictest neutrality during the civil war then raging in the North. But if, as all accounts concurred in representing, Nanking had already fallen, it was a matter of importance that the rebel leaders should be assured of this neutrality, and of the

necessity, on their part, of respecting the rights of foreign citizens. The adoption of this course was rendered still more imperative by the falsehoods which the Chinese authorities, and especially the Taou-tai (Governor) of Shanghai had pub lished and circulated concerning the enlistment of foreign aid.

Two hundred tons of coal were taken on board the Susque hanna, and application was made to the Taou-tai, for native pilots who knew the river. These he readily furnished, hoping perhaps that our appearance off Nanking would be interpreted to the advantage of the Imperialists. Hundreds of Chinese continued to visit the Susquehanna up to the hour of her departure. Several of the American residents made application to accompany us on the voyage, but, with the exception of Mr. Forbes, no other passenger was taken on board. Previous to sailing, four of the Japanese left our ship. One of their countrymen—one of those who were turned back from Japan in the Morrison, in 1837-was then residing in Shanghai, and he promised to assist them. Neither Capt. Buchanan nor the Commissioner had any authority to keep them on board. They desired their countryman, Otokitchi, to say that they thanked the officers and men of the ship from their hearts, and would never forget their kindness toward them. Two of them wept like children when they left.

We started at floodtide, on the afternoon of the 1st of April. The bund, or quay, of Shanghai was crowded with spectators of our departure. We were two hours and a half reaching Woosung. The rich plains on either hand were greener and more beautiful than they appeared on the passage up. The willow trees planted along the numerous little canals intersecting the country were rapidly bursting into leaf. In