it duly from us; fo that our travelling in the retinue of the mandarin, though it was a very great kindnefs to us, was not fuch a mighty favour in him, but was, indeed, a great advantage to him, confidering there were about thirty other people travelling in the fame manner besides us, under the protection of his retinue, or, as we may call it, under his convoy. This, I fay, was a great advantage to him; for the country furnished all the provifions for nothing, and he took all our money for them.

We were five-and-twenty days travelling to Pekin, through a country infinitely populous, but miferably cultivated; the husbandry, economy, and the way of living, all very miferable, though they boaft fo much of the industry of the people: I fay miserable; and fo it is; if we, who 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 mifery. I muft needs think the naked favages of America live much more happy, because, as they have nothing, so they defire nothing; whereas these are proud and infolent, and, in the main, are mere beggars and drudges; their oftentation is inexpreffible, and is chiefly fhewed in their clothes and buildings, and in the keeping multitudes of fervants or flaves, and, which is to the laft degree ridiculous, their contempt of all the world but themselves.

I must confefs, I travelled more pleasantly afterwards, in the defarts and vaft wilderneffes of Grand Tartary, than here; and yet the roads here are well

J

paved, and well kept, and very convenient for travellers but nothing was more awkward to me, than to fee fuch an haughty, imperious, infolent people, in the midst of the groffeft fimplicity and ignorance; for all their famed ingenuity is no more. My friend, father Simon, and I, ufed to be very merry upon these occafions, to fee the beggarly pride of those people: for example, coming by the house of a country gentleman, as father Simon called him, about ten leagues off from the city of Nanquin, we had, first of all, the honour to ride with the master of the house about two miles; the ftate he rode in was a perfect Don Quixotifm, being a mixture of pomp and poverty.

The habit of this greafy Don was very proper for a fcaramouch, or merry-andrew; being a dirty ca lico, with all the tawdry trappings of a fool's coat, fuch as hanging fleeves, taffety, and cuts and flashes almost on every fide: it covered a rich taffety vest, as greafy as a butcher, and which teftified, that his honour must needs be a moft exquifite floven.

His horse was a poor, lean, starved, hobbling creature, fuch as in England might fell for about thirty or forty fhillings; and he had two flaves followed him on foot, to drive the poor creature along: he had a whip in his hand, and he belaboured the beaft as faft about the head as his flaves did about the tail; and thus he rode by us with about ten or twelve fervants; and we were told he was going from the city to his country feat, about half a league before us. We travelled on gently, but this figure of a gentleman rode away before us; and as we stopped at a village about an hour to refrefh us, when we came by the country feat of this

great

great man, we faw him in a little place before his door, eating his repaft; it was a kind of a garden, but he was easy to be feen; and we were given to understand, that the more we looked on him, the better he would be pleased.

He fat under a tree, fomething like the palmettotree, which effectually fhaded him over the head, and on the fouth fide; but under the tree alfo was placed a large umbrella, which made that part look well enough he fat lolling back in a great elbowchair, being a heavy corpulent man, and his meat being brought him by two women flaves, he had two more, whofe office, I think, few gentlemen in Europe would accept of their fervice in, viz. one fed the 'fquire with a fpoon, and the other held the dish with one hand, and fcraped off what he let fall upon his worship's beard and taffety veft, with the other; while the great fat brute thought it below him to employ his own hands in any of those familiar offices, which kings and monarchs would rather do than be troubled with the clumfy fingers of their fervants.

I took this time to think what pain men's pride puts them to, and how troublefome a haughty temper, thus ill-managed, must be to a man of common fense; and, leaving the poor wretch to please himself with our looking at him, as if we admired his pomp, whereas we really pitied and contemned him, we purfued our journey; only father Simon had the curiofity to stay to inform himself what dainties the country juftice had to feed on, in all his ftate; which he faid he had the honour to tafte of, and which was, I think, a dose that an English hound would scarce have eaten, if it had been offered him, viz. a mess

1

of

1

1

of boiled rice, with a great piece of garlick in it, and a little bag filled with green pepper, and another plant which they have there, fomething like our ginger, but smelling like mufk, and tasting like mustard; all this was put together, and a fmall lump or piece of lean mutton boiled in it; and this was his worship's repaft, four or five fervants more attending at a diftance. If he fed them meaner than he was fed himself, the fpice excepted, they muft fare very coarfely indeed.

As for our mandarin with whom we travelled, he was refpected like a king; furrounded always with his gentlemen, and attended in all his appearances with fuch pomp, that I faw little of him but at a diftance; but this I obferved, that there was not a horfe in his retinue, but that our carriers pack-horfes in England feem to me to look much better; but they were fo covered with equipage, mantles, trappings, and fuch like trumpery, that you cannot fee whether they are fat or lean. In a word, we could scarce fee any thing but their feet and their heads.

I was now light-hearted, and all my trouble and perplexity that I had given an account of being over, I had no anxious thoughts about me; which made this journey much the pleasanter to me; nor had I any ill accident attended me, only in the paffing or fording a 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 fet down the names of feveral people and places which I had occafion to re

2

member,

member, and which not taking due care of, the leaves rotted, and the words were never after to be read, to my great lofs, as to the names of fome places which I touched at in this voyage.

At length we arrived at Pekin: I had nobody with me but the youth, whom my nephew the captain had given me to attend me as a fervant, and who proved very trufty and diligent; and my partner had nobody with him but one fervant, who was a kinfman. As for the Portuguese pilot, he being defirous to fee the court, we gave him his paffage, that is to fay, bore his charges for his company; and to ufe him as an interpreter, for he understood the language of the country, and fpoke 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 came laughing: Ah, Seignior Inglefe, faid he, I have something to tell you, will make your heart glad. My heart glad! faid I: What can that be? I don't know any thing in this country can either give me joy or grief, to any great degree. Yes, yes, faid the old man, in broken English, make you glad, me forrow; forry he would have faid. This made me more inquifitive. Why, faid I, will it make you forry? Because, faid he, you have brought me here twenty-five days journey, and will leave me to go back alone; and which way fhall I get to my port afterwards, without a fhip, without a horfe, without pecune? So he called money; being his broken Latin, of which he had abundance to make us merry with.

In fhort, he told us there was a great caravan of Muscovy and Polib merchants in the city, and that they

were