dinner, we determined to do it in Chinese style, chop-sticks and all.
Such a dinner! We were seated at little square tables holding four
persons each, the Chinamen all dressed in their official or state
costumes. First came little dishes of sweetmeats and then bowls of
bird's-nest soup, with the jelly-like substance floating about in it in
company with little pieces of chicken. This was very nice, although we
_did_ all eat out of the same bowl, using little porcelain spoons. Then
came more sweetmeats, followed by dishes of _bêche de mer_, or
sea-slugs and fat pork; this we passed, but not until an over-polite
Chinaman took up a gristly piece of _something_ with his chop-sticks,
and, after biting off a piece, passed the rest to Charley. The
chop-sticks we could not manage; the meat would slip out of them, and
had it not been for the soups, of which there were several, and the
rice, which we could _shovel_ into our mouths, we should have had no
dinner. Tea was passed by the servants continually, as were little
bowls of "samshu"--a liquor distilled from rice. During the dinner, the
sing-song girls played on the native two-stringed fiddles, and sang in
falsetto voices a selection of music, which was undoubtedly very fine
if judged by the Chinese standard, but which we could not appreciate.

The noise soon became almost intolerable, and we slipped off to the
boat and sought our beds.

When we awoke in the morning the whole fleet of tea-boats was under
way, and with a fair wind we ran rapidly down the creek and were once
more on the broad Yang Tsze. On the third day we reached Hankow safely,
and well pleased with our trip to the tea country.