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REV. MR. KRONE
obtains a livelihood. One of my teachers acknowledged to me, that he had written one of these themes for another person, and had received in payment a pair of new shoes.
Let us now take a glance at the Inhabitants of the district. Their present number I have been unable to learn, but from what I have seen, it must be very considerable. The densest population is in the plains. To any but an eye-witness, the great number of large towns and villages which are scattered over so small a space, would appear almost incredible.
The inhabitants are mostly agricultural, but there is also a considerable trade carried on with Tun-kung, Shek-lung, Hong-kong, and Canton. Many junks may be seen entering and issuing from the harbours, and numerous fishing-boats frequent the coast.
Wherever it is possible, the ground is converted into paddy-fields. The agricultural produce consists chiefly of rice, ground-nuts, yams, sweet potatoes, and the different kinds of garden vegetables. In the more mountainous parts of the interior of the district, large quantities of different fruits are grown, which serve not only for their own consumption, but also supply the markets of Canton and Hongkong. The principal kinds are pine-apples, pears, oranges, plums, mangoes, with the li-chee, the long-an, and the song-hin or Chinese goose-berry. Pine-apples are extensively cultivated, especially in the neighbourhood of Pukak. Whole mountains are covered with these plants, which thus give a picturesque appearance to an otherwise barren country. They are very cheap, sometimes costing only six to eight cash each.
Tea is also cultivated in several places, and is generally called "Shan-cha"✡, mountain tea. It has rather a strong astringent taste, but is much liked by the natives, and particularly by those who are of advanced age, who consider that it promotes digestion and cools the system. Many drink only this indigenous tea.
But few cattle are reared in the district. Horses are seldom seen, and those which are kept belong either to the military establishments or to private gentlemen, by whom they are often lent to geomancers to enable them to travel over the mountains to choose lucky spots for burial places, or for the erection of some building. Oxen are scarce compared with the number of buffaloes, which are preferred for tilling the ground. Often, on passing