such errors i will endeavor to avoid in my own turn , rather trusting to the plain facts , presented without excessive ornamentation , to suffice for my more knowledgeable audience ... we can without hesitation dismiss as ridiculous the estimate , commonly put forth , that in china one may find a dragon for every ten men : a count which , if it were remotely near the truth and our understanding of the human population not entirely mistaken , should certainly result in that great nation 's being so wholly overrun by the beasts that the hapless traveler bringing us this intelligence should have had great difficulty in finding even a place to stand .