I was shown into a room with three straw-covered wooden bedsteads, a rough table, lit by a lighted taper in a saucer of oil, a rough seat, and the naked earth floor.

Hot water was brought me to wash with and tea to drink, and my man prepared me an excellent supper.

My baggage was in the corner; it consisted of two light bamboo boxes with Chinese padlocks, a bamboo hamper, and a roll of bedding covered with oilcloth.

An oilcloth is indispensable to the traveller in China, for placed next the straw on a Chinese bed it is impassable to bugs.

And during all my journey in China I was never disturbed in my sleep by this unpleasant pest.