CHAPTER 21 IN WHICH THE MASTER OF THE ‘TANKADERE’ RUNS GREAT RISK OF LOSING A REWARD OF TWO HUNDRED POUNDS T his voyage of eight hundred miles was a perilous venture on a craft of twenty tons, and at that season of the year. The Chinese seas are usually boisterous, subject to terrible gales of wind, and especially during the equinoxes; and it was now early November. It would clearly have been to the master’s advantage to carry his passengers to Yokohama, since he was paid a cer-tain sum per day; but he would have been rash to attempt such