Soon after entering the Siang liver we passed tlie I'illago of Si-



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CHAP, xviii.] BOAT JOURNEY ON TUB UPPER YANGTZ'. 231

ang-ln (hien). Prettily situatetl upon the bluffs, and abounding in
shade trees, it ivas, as seen from a distance, one of the very few
agreeable-looking villages which it ivas our lot to pass. It is
celebrated for its manufacture of rough earthenware, for which
the red ten-ace clay supplies the material. We felt half inclined
to suspect that the presence of the trees was due to their value
for making charcoal, rather than to any less utilitarian cause.
Possibly, had we closely questioned the inhabitants concerning
some of the largest and finest of these ti-ees, wo should have
found that they were being spai-ed till they wei-o large enough
to cut up into respectable coffins for some fat Chinamen,

The valley of the Siang lies between high hDls, fringed with
the same red terraces that we liave seen bordering the lake.
Two days of tracking and poling brought us iu sight of the
walls of Changsha, (fu), the capital of Hunan.
