Chong Wei.

ON THE ROAD FROM LANCHEO, CHINA.

Next morning, after more bread and tea, I went out and anxiously looked up the river for signs of the ferry-boat or the carts, but nothing occurred till about midday, when the carters arrived leading their animals, and now, for the first time I really grasped the meaning of the abruptly ending cart road, the steep track over the sand hills, and the ferry-boat. The carts are dragged down as far as possible by the animals, which are then unharnessed, led up the steep cliff and across the sand hills down to the village in which I had passed the night, and in the meanwhile the carts are shipped on to the ferry-boat and brought down until the road again becomes fit for wheeled traffic.

Soon after Rijnhart and Malcolm arrived with the carts in the boat, which this time came right down to the village, but, to my great sorrow, Ruby was not with them, nor had they seen her. It certainly seemed hard that, after travelling so many miles, she should be lost when comparatively near the goal. It appeared that the pony had not returned the previous morning till nearly seven, and that the carters had again struck work and insisted on stopping for the night at the village through which I had passed after my unsuccessful attempt to get bread. They had said that they could not possibly get to the ferry that night, and that, as they had no intention of sleeping in the open, they would go no further.

However, now that we were all united, our first care was to start off the men in the carts for Chong Wei, while we got a raft for ourselves to take us down the river. The whole party was in motion again by 2p.m., and about half an hour before sunset we got down to our landing place, a sort of coal wharf about two miles from the city of Chong Wei.

We had previously agreed with our carters to go to a certain inn in the east suburb, so we made our way there as quickly as possible, expecting the carts to come in before night. In this, however, we were disappointed, but it was a matter of indifference to us, as our men had plenty of money and were perfectly safe. The innkeeper made us a capital supper of mutton and rice, and while we were discussing it, a Chinaman, who turned out to be an agent for one of the wool firms, with that easy familiarity characteristic of the race, came in and gave us all the news of the place; and from him we learnt that there was another foreigner living near the west gate of the city, so we made up our minds to visit him in the morning and find out the best way of getting on to Pao T'eo.

Soon after daylight the next morning we started off to the wharf, where the wool boats lie while taking in cargo, in hopes that we might be able to get a passage in one as far as Ning-Shia-Fu or Shih-Tsui-Tsi, or, failing in that, that we might be able to hire a boat for ourselves. In this we failed, the prices asked being absolutely prohibitive, and we also learnt that another and hitherto unthought-of danger was staring us in the face, and that was that it was quite possible that the river would freeze below Shih-Tsui-Tsi in a very few days, in which case we should have to make a tedious camel journey through the Ordos country to Pao T'eo, by no means a pleasant look-out in the wintry weather that was now coming on; but as a set-off against this we heard that Messrs. Forbes & Co., the wool merchants, whose agent we had met at Tankar, had an office just opposite the inn in which we were lodging, and that very possibly they might be able to help us on our journey.

STREET IN THE TONG KUAN (E. SUBURB), CHONG WEI, YELLOW RIVER.

With this information to cheer us we rushed back to the town and into Forbes's office, where we found all the agents and principal men discussing a hearty breakfast, of whichthey invited us to partake, but we refused, contenting ourselves with tea, without which no business or pleasure can be conducted in China. As soon as breakfast was over, the two senior agents turned their attention to our wants. After examining our credentials, consisting of the two letters from our old friend Chen-Lao-Pan, they told us that they would do all they could to help us, and that, as they had a boat starting on the next day but one, they would arrange for passages for ourselves, our men, and 500 pounds of baggage. In this we were to be taken to Shui-Tsui-Tsi, where we would find another of their agents, who would doubtless do his best to help us on, either by river or by land. In return we were to pay the sum of 12,000 cash, an exorbitant sounding sum, but one which represents in English money about £1 15s.As an alternative route we might have gone by carts as far as Ning-Shia-Fu, and thence by boat, camels, or other means to Pao T'eo; but after mature consideration we came to the conclusion that the water journey would be the more convenient, and probably the more speedy, so closed with their offer at once.

This was a good morning's work, and we crossed the street to breakfast in our inn, almost as hungry as we had been in Tibet. We were followed immediately into the yard by our carts and servants, so, to save any bother, we paid the former off at once, and, such is the cheek of the Chinese carter, they grumbled at not getting wine money in addition to the full amount of Ts. 19, for which they should have landed us in Chong Wei two days sooner than they actually had. The altercation thus caused collected rather a crowd, who were far from being as civil as those we had hitherto met—in fact, Chong Wei was the only place in China where we experienced any inconvenience from the inquisitive objection to foreigners of which one hears so much; but had it not been for Rijnhart we might have got into serious trouble here, as will be seen later. One manamong the crowd demanded to see our cards, stating that he was a messenger from the Yamen, and that he had been sent down officially. Rijnhart promptly demanded the big man's card as a proof ofbona fides, knowing full well that no Chinese would ever send a messenger on an errand like this without this mark of respect. On his failure to produce it, Rijnhart refused to give up ours, and how right he was became evident when we found our friend to be nothing but a street loafer. Had we been in the hands of an ordinary interpreter, we might have acceded to this demand, and thus become an object of ridicule to all the bystanders. The crowd now saw that one at least of the party was well acquainted with Chinese customs, and mended their manners accordingly, their behaviour being still further improved on the arrival of one of Mr. Forbes's agents, who had a few remarks to make. Nevertheless, though no longer offensive, we had to place Shahzad Mir near the entrance to our apartment to prevent them crowding too close round while we were eating.

On some occasions our worthy guard was called away from his post for another purpose, when the inquisitive crowd would at once take advantage of his absence, and a mass of peering faces would obscure all the air and nearly all the light from the door of our little room. A toe over the threshold invited a rap from one of our sticks, but still we required more ventilation and adopted a plan and a surprise quite novel to the Chinaman. Seizing a tumbler full of water, either Malcolm or I would fling the contents on them, and at the same time laugh right merrily, and, although annoyed at the time we could not help doing this at the result. The crowd at once dispersed on every side; those who had been unfortunate in getting a wetting at first became enraged, but those who had escaped were only too glad to join us in our chaff against their fellow-countrymen. Had we put on a serious mien all wouldhave united in abusing us and we should never have enjoyed a moment's breathing space. The only time we really found peace was at dusk, when the innkeeper closed the big gates of the yard, and only those living at the inn were allowed inside. We wished that dusk had reigned during the whole of our stay at Chong Wei.

Breakfast over, Rijnhart and I started to find out the foreigner of whom we had heard the previous night, and also to pay a visit at the Yamen, where I thought I might be able to get some further information about our journey to the coast. In this, however, I was unsuccessful, and a very few moments sufficed to show me that any incivility shown to foreigners would certainly not incur the disapproval of the Yamen. Our reception was very different from anything we had experienced at any of the other Yamens. My visiting card, a brilliant crimson piece of paper, with my name in black Chinese characters, was the same size as that used by generals and others of equal rank,i.e., nearly a foot in length, and had hitherto always commanded respect, but was here treated with contempt, the doorkeeper refusing to take it in to the mandarin, while the crowd kept insolently jostling and shoving against us. Even my passport, elsewhere a regular "open sesame," in which I was referred to in the most flattering terms, was of little good; and even when we were finally admitted it was not into the presence of the big man himself, but only of his head clerk, who did not even offer us chairs, but adopted a tone of insolence such as only a Chinese jack-in-office can.

Rijnhart was equal to the occasion, and soon showed him that his arrogant tone did not impress us with a sense of his importance as he had doubtless hoped it would do; but seeing that nothing was to be gained by stopping there, we left as soon as we possibly could, and went in search of the foreigner. We had no difficulty in finding out his inn, and most highly surprised and delighted he appeared atseeing us. It was evident from his surroundings that he had been living a very solitary life and was practising the strictest asceticism; luxury there was none.

It soon turned out that he and Rijnhart were old acquaintances, having landed in China about the same time, and thus the ice was speedily broken, and I quickly learnt that our new friend's name was Mr. Lumberg, that he was a Swede, and belonged to that branch of the International Mission Alliance. He had been some months in Chong Wei trying to open a mission station, but so far, owing to the opposition of the Yamen, he had not been very successful. He was very anxious to hire a house, but, although many of the townspeople were willing to let, the Yamen people secretly but effectually stopped them doing so, at the same time assuring Mr. Lumberg that they were doing all they could to help him, even going so far as to put up notices in public places proclaiming his wants. The petty official of Chong Wei was thus able to gratify his personal spite against foreigners while guarding against the displeasure of his superior at Lancheo, a man well known to be favourably disposed towards them.

When we returned to our inn, Lumberg accompanied us, and eventually we persuaded him to send for his bedding and spend the night with us. It was now, for the first time, that we heard what a hornet's nest Mr. Littledale had raised by his remarks before the Royal Geographical Society, about sending unprotected Swedish girls to live in out-of-the-way parts of China. Well meant as these remarks undoubtedly were, the Swedes considered that his object was to strike a blow at their missionary enterprise, and when the matter was taken up by the Swedish Government, it roused a feeling of resentment that will not die out for some time, and which, in some cases, seemed to extend to the whole race of Englishmen. Although we were invariably treated with the greatest hospitality, one could nothelp seeing that this feeling existed. From the accounts we heard, it certainly seemed as though these remarks were a little unnecessary, and certainly not one of those ladies of whom Mr. Littledale spoke with such sympathy has ever thanked him for it. We were assured that unmarried girls were never sent to out-stations alone, but were invariably sent to live with a married couple, and every precaution taken to guard them from any danger. At the same time, there is no doubt that Mr. Littledale's intention has been misunderstood, and could this misunderstanding be cleared up, I think it would be all for the better.

OUR INN AT CHONG WEI.

That evening, while walking in the streets, accompanied by Shahzad Mir, an incident occurred, which, but for Rijnhart's shrewdness and knowledge of the Chinese, might have landed us in a row. Shahzad Mir was dressed in semi-European clothes, and being an unmistakable Mohammedan, some of the people jumped to the conclusion that he was a "Salar" in disguise. No sooner had this idea been started than it spread rapidly. A crowd collected, and began following us, shouting excitedly. We quickened our pace slightly, and told Shahzad Mir not to get separated from us. The crowd and shouting gradually increased, and things were looking awkward, when, seizing his opportunity, Rijnhart suddenly turned round and addressed the crowd, saying that he knew for certain that Shahzad Mir had been travelling for six months since he left his home, and that, as the Salars lived comparatively close by, he could not possibly be one of them. This pacified them for a bit, and while they discussed the probability or otherwise of Shahzad Mir being a Salar we quickly left the city and turned into the suburb, which was comparatively quiet; and the only result of the disturbance was that our faithful Duffadar was confined to the inn during the remainder of our stay in that place, while we ourselves never entered the city itself unless accompanied either by Lumberg or Rijnhart.

MISSIONARY YARNS—CHEAP LIVING—ON THE YELLOW RIVER AGAIN—CASH.

The room we occupied in our inn, which was the only one available, could not have been more than twelve feet by eight feet, and half this space was occupied by the indispensable k'ang. Not having, as yet, acquired the Chinese art of squatting cross-legged on the k'ang, and eating off a little stool about eight inches high, we were obliged to squash ourselves into the remaining space, which just enabled Esau to bring our dinner to the door and hand it in to one of us—there was no room for him inside till one of us went out. Nevertheless we managed to enjoy ourselves immensely, Lumberg forming a pleasant addition to our party. He and Rijnhart managed to keep us very much amused with stories of the mistakes they and others had made in talking Chinese, soon after landing in the country—mistakes that are rendered even more common by the numerous differences of dialect met with in the different districts.

On one occasion Rijnhart, when preaching in the streets, was exhorting his audience "to taste our religion, and see if it is good," saying, "If you see a pear, and want to know whether it is good or not, you bite it, and taste it, and then, if you find it good, you eat it." He had been going on in this strain for a short time, when he was suddenly interrupted by a bystander, who said, "But, teacher, you peopledon't eat dogs, do you?" Rijnhart having, unfortunately, used the Chinese for dog instead of that for pear.

There is another story of a famous missionary, who, owing to differences in dialect in a district he had not previously visited, addressed the devil, instead of the Lord, at a public prayer meeting. Similar mistakes are very common, and are bound to be so in a language where the slightest inflection of the voice gives a totally different meaning to the words.

It was quite late that night before we went to bed, but as we had nothing to do the next day, it was a good opportunity for sitting up, talking and hearing about the Chinese people, from men who knew as much about them as our two missionary friends did. We had learnt from our own short experience that living in China was not by any means expensive, but it surprised us not a little to hear that Lumberg and his servant managed on one hundred cash a day (rather under twopence each). I do not suppose there is another country in the world where this could be done.

Next morning we went early into the city to see the market—a very busy scene, as people come in every morning from the country, bringing meat and vegetables, and the streets are crowded; quite different from the previous evening, when they had presented an almost deserted appearance, until the people got suddenly suspicious about Shahzad Mir. Besides this daily market, Chong Wei has another peculiarity. Like every town of importance, it is surrounded by a high wall, but unlike any other place we saw, it has only three gates, for instead of a north gate, a temple has been built, which guards the town from evil spirits, who, as every one knows, always come from the north. We had to lay in stores for our boat journey down the river, and as Mr. Forbes's agent asked us to be sure to have everything ready in ample time, we thought that there was no doubt that we would soon be on our waydown the Yellow River. Most of our buying was done by Lumberg's servant, a Christian convert from Ning-Shia-Fu, the cleanest and nicest Chinaman we met on our travels, who saved us an enormous amount of trouble, and got everything much cheaper than we could have done.

By night we were quite ready for departure, and had been assured that we should start by midday at the very latest. Accordingly, next morning, we were on board by 11a.m., when we heard for the first time that there was no chance of leaving till the next morning, and that we should have to make an eight days' journey across the desert from Shih-Tsui-Tsi to Pao T'eo, as no boats could go so far down the river so late in the year. A pleasant prospect this, with hard frost every night, and no arrangements for camping! Altogether, we did not feel very amiably disposed towards the gentleman who had told us that we must be ready to start by midday. However, remonstrances were useless, and we had to make the best of it.

Next morning our inquiries were always met by the invariable answer that we were going to start at once, but the bill of lading had been incorrectly made out, and had to be rectified. Other delays cropped up, and it was just on 2p.m.when the skipper appeared and we pushed off into the stream. However, the delay was acceptable in one way, for it enabled Lumberg to come down and see us again, with the welcome news that he had been able to arrange to get rooms in a new inn in the east suburb, and his troubles on that score were at an end.

Once under weigh, we travelled pretty fast. The stream was strong and carried us down grandly, but, after going a couple of hours, the skipper insisted on tying up for the night, saying that there was a nasty place ahead which they could not possibly pass in the dusk; a very feeble excuse, the real reason being that some of the crew lived ina village close by. We had been in hopes of travelling all night, and had certainly been led to believe that we should do so, but nothing, apparently, was further from the intentions of the skipper and his crew. There was nothing for it but to set to work to make ourselves as comfortable as we could in the boat.

OUR WOOL BOAT ON THE YELLOW RIVER.

These wool-boats on the Yellow River are flat-bottomed, and very clumsily, though strongly built. They are from thirty to forty feet long, and ten or twelve feet wide. The ends are decked over for about nine feet, the remainder of the boat being divided off by partitions. As a rule, they trust to the stream to carry them down, the steering being done with a long sweep, but occasionally they use two other long sweeps to row. Up stream they are obliged to tow. The decked portion in the bows was left free of cargo forour accommodation, while that in the stem was allotted to the crew and to our servants, and in it all the cooking was done. Matters were a good deal simplified by our men and the boatmen all being Mohammedans, with the exception of Esau, who had no religious objection to eating with any one, believer or unbeliever. Besides ourselves, there were three or four Chinese passengers going to different places down the river, their passage-money being the skipper's perquisite. All the remaining available space was piled up with wool, piled up as high as was safe, till the gunwale was only a few inches above the water. But for the danger of sticking on mud banks—a by no means infrequent occurrence—I fancy they would have been loaded even more deeply.

In addition to our own, there were four more boats going down stream in company with us, a circumstance we had reason to regret before very long, as on the very next day, the 6th November, just as we were making most satisfactory progress, one of these boats stuck about half-past three in the afternoon, and we had to wait till she got off. As she was still ashore at sunset, we made no more progress that day, and several valuable hours were lost. Next morning six men went to the other boat and began unloading the wool—a very tedious process—but, about 10.30a.m., they got her off, and she came down towards us.

HALTING FOR THE NIGHT ON THE YELLOW RIVER.

While waiting here, we had managed to pass the time watching a ferry plying just below the spot where we were tied up. Mongols, Chinese, camels, sheep, and bullocks, all were piled in promiscuously, and taken across from one side to the other, being washed down a very considerable distance in the transit. All of a sudden a tremendous row started between the parties, apparently as to which had the right to be taken over first. They were fairly evenly divided and equally determined. Abuse was plentiful, and a free fight seemed imminent, when, somewhatto our disappointment, we were called upon to renew our journey, thus being robbed of the one possible compensation for our hours of delay.

A FERRY ACROSS THE HUANG HO.

About 4p.m.that day we had to pass the customs-house at the border of the Ning-Shia district, and here our skipper was detected smuggling ten bales of pears; the officials wanted to stop us all night, but a few words from Rijnhart pacified them, and on we went. Unfortunately the pears were not yet ripe, or we would have exacted heavy toll in return for our good offices. We had only managed another ten li, before we stopped for the night, at a small village on the right bank of the river, from which the skipper started off to walk twenty li to his own home. We were sick of the constant delays and stoppages, and as there were several boats tied up along the shore, we landedand tried to find the owners, in hopes of being able to buy or hire a boat for ourselves, to go as far down the river as possible.

After some time we were successful, for a young and enterprising Mohammedan agreed to take us all the way to Pao T'eo, without stopping day or night, for the sum of Ts.70 (somewhere about £13). The price was high, but we returned to the wool-boat with a happy feeling of independence, which was increased when we heard that we should not be able to start the next morning until the other boats came down from the customs-house. We had, at first, been asked Ts.120 for the boat, and told we should have to wait a day, but we insisted on starting the following morning, and having knocked down the price to nearly one half, felt that we had not done badly.

As with riding mules and carts, so with the boat, an agreement was necessary, and this the village schoolmaster drew up for us; but by this time our skipper had returned, and was furious at finding that such a grand opportunity of squeezing the foreigner had slipped through his fingers. He did his best to frighten our new friend into backing out of his bargain, but did not quite succeed, and eventually went off down stream in a towering rage. We still had one more difficulty to overcome, a somewhat serious one, and one we did not quite understand, but eventually it transpired that our new skipper was trying to buy an old boat, not wanting to take his own to Pao T'eo and perhaps get her frozen in there. The owner of the old boat saw his opportunity, and was not slow to take advantage of it, as he would not take less than Ts.30, about three times its value under ordinary circumstances.

At last everything was settled, and about 11a.m.we started, soon passing the wool-boats, which were tied up as usual. We found our craft pretty leaky, but by laying down a flooring of boughs and straw, and keeping upconstant baling, we kept her very comfortable, and after all our chief anxiety was to travel rapidly. Part of our agreement was that we were to stop at Shih-Tsui-Tsi to take in fresh supplies, but that for every unnecessary delay the boatmen were to be fined one tael.

Shun chih. 1644–1662K'ang hsi: 1662–1723Yungchêng. 1723–1736K'(ch)'ien lung. 1736–1796K(ch)iak'(ch)'ing 1796–1821Tao kuang 1821–1851Hsienfêng 1851–1862T'ung chih . 1862–1878ALL THE "CASH" ISSUED FROM THE FIRST OF THE EMPERORS OF THE TS'ING OR MANCHU DYNASTY.

ALL THE "CASH" ISSUED FROM THE FIRST OF THE EMPERORS OF THE TS'ING OR MANCHU DYNASTY.

The stream was very strong, and, as the weather was cold, we used to row with the long sweeps to keep ourselves warm during the day, and the boatmen, of whom there were four, including the owner, rowed at night to keep themselves awake. This boat was built exactly the same as the other, but as there was no cargo we had plenty of room, and stood on the partitions to row; another advantage of having no cargo was that we drew very little water, and scarcely ever touched the bottom. The country on either shore was very flat and uninteresting, while the river, sometimes about two miles in width, was a succession of mud banks and shallows.

At five o'clock on the 9th November we got to Shih-Tsui-Tsi, and presented the letter of credit we had received from Chen-Lao-Pan. The agent then kindly gave us a guide, who took us to various shops, where we bought provisions, mostly bread and vegetables, for the rest of the journey to Pao T'eo. We did not, however, succeed in getting any meat, as there was only one sheep available, and that was not worth buying.

Having made our purchases, we returned to the office, where we found our money ready for us; part of this was in silver and part in cash. The latter was of very inferior quality, but, as we were getting it out of civility, and not in the way of business, we could not well say anything. The Chinese cash seems to have been purposely invented to deceive and cheat the unwary; to begin with, every Emperor makes his own cash, but these are not issued from the mint until after his death, and many Emperors have thought fit to economize by issuing inferior coins, which, instead ofbeing about the size of our penny, are rather smaller than a farthing and very roughly made; in fact a very fair estimate of the various Emperors' characters can be drawn from the cash they have issued.

The accompanying diagrams show the cash of all the Emperors of the reigning Ts'ing or Manchu dynasty, but only full-sized specimens have been chosen. These inferior cash may be accepted as current coin in one place, while in the next no one will look at them. Cash are always done up in strings, either of five hundred or a thousand, and look not unlike strings of sausages, each sausage being represented by a hundred cash; and here, again, they have devised a means of fraud, for in some places eighty-five cash count as a hundred, in others ninety, ninety-two, ninety-three, and so on, as the case may be, consequently whenever one arrives at a new town, one has to enquire all about its coinage.

In Tankar they had a very peculiar way of reckoning, for prices were frequently stated in "small cash," a coin that does not exist, but whose value is half that of the current or "street cash." These differences disappeared gradually as we neared Pekin, and signs of a central government became more marked, but in and just around the capital itself we came across a very much larger cash, almost as big as the old English penny, but then, when dollars and cents became the currency, we were very little troubled with these coins. Another difficulty was that, in changing silver in different towns, the rate of exchange would vary as much as three hundred cash for an ounce, and the correct rate always had to be found out in a roundabout way before we presented our silver for exchange. These are only a few of the traps into which a novice may fall when attempting to deal in Chinese coinage. Had we been in the hands of a native interpreter, instead of those of Mr. Rijnhart, we should have been splendid prey for the swindlers.

They told us at Shui-Tsui-Tsi that the price of wool was four cents a pound, but that it was not of such good quality as that which comes from Tankar. Next to the wool business the most important occupation seemed to be iron working, in which a very large portion of the population was engaged. All the way from Chong Wei we had been passing through a district which was very rich in coal, and judging from the number of smithies in Shui-Tsui-Tsi, the district must possess very considerable mineral wealth, which may some day be developed.

By this time it was quite dark, so we hurried back to the boat, and started again after a halt which had lasted just three hours, to make up for which we offered our men an extra Ts.5 if they landed us in Pao T'eo in four days,i.e., by the 9th of the Chinese, or the 13th of the English month. No time was lost in starting, and all night we floated down the mighty stream, but how we avoided the shallows will ever be a mystery to me; a sharp look-out was always kept, and every now and then a shout, followed by violent rowing, would tell us that we had just missed a bank.

Not far below Shui-Tsui-Tsi we passed a village situated in a desolate spot on the left bank, but in spite of its dreary surroundings it was full of life, numbers of boats were lying along the banks, all being filled with saltpetre; everyone was in a hurry to get off before the river should freeze, the whole scene reminding one of coolies at Port Said coaling a ship.

On we went all night and all day floating down the broad stream, the only break in the days being meal-times. The nights and early mornings were very cold, and consequently we spent no inconsiderable part of our time between the blankets, rising late and going early to bed. At twilight numbers of water birds, of all sorts and sizes, used to assemble on the mud banks, uttering weird cries until it was time for them to go to rest.

One night we narrowly escaped a collision, but no damage was done, although we managed, somehow or other, to carry off an oar belonging to the other boat, and had to put ashore to return it. As we got near to Pao T'eo we could see mountains on the north bank gradually closing in towards the river, and about the same place I discovered one of the clearest echoes I have ever heard, which was, moreover, sufficiently distant for three or four words to come back to us across the waters, quite distinct from our own shouts; shouting and an occasional turn at the sweeps was our only form of exercise at this time.

Early on the morning of the 18th November we sighted Pao T'eo, but it was not till 1p.m.that we reached the termination of our water journey—none too soon, as sleepless nights had quite worn out the crew. Immediately on our arrival the boatmen entered into negotiations for the sale of the rickety old craft which had done us such good service, but no one seemed anxious to buy, boats being a drug in the market just before the river freezes.

PAO T'EO—THE SWEDISH MISSION-HOUSE—CHINESE SCHOOLS—CHINESE INNS—CHINESE BURIAL—KUEI HUA CHENG—FRICTION WITH CARTERS—WE LEAVE THE MONGOL COUNTRY—THE GREAT WALL.

The distance to Pao T'eo from the river bank was said to be fifteen li, so we lost no time in starting to walk there, leaving the servants and boatmen to bring our baggage to Messrs. Forbes's office. The fifteen li cannot really have been much more than nine, for, walking quickly, we got to the city gate in a little over three-quarters of an hour. Once inside, we were very much struck by the difference between this and the other cities we had seen; instead of crowded streets, with every available yard of ground within the walls occupied, we here found lanes, almost deserted except by a few children and pigs, and a large bit of waste land inside the walls, absolutely untenanted. Not only had this piece of ground been left severely alone, but two small suburbs, on the south and east sides respectively, had sprung up outside. Why so much ground had been originally enclosed no one could tell us.

While asking our way to the office of the wool firm, the Renki Yang Hong as it was called, we suddenly found ourselves opposite the entrance of the Swedish Mission-house. Needless to say, we went in at once, and were heartily welcomed. While explaining who we were and where we had come from, coffee was prepared by our hostess, and moredelicious coffee I have never tasted; but as we were anxious to make all arrangements for starting the next morning, we could not waste time, but had to rush off to the office, accompanied by the missionaries, who showed us the way. Before leaving the house, however, they took us into their school, where we found some five-and-twenty remarkably clean and happy-looking children, who were being brought up to Christianity. When we entered they were deep in study, all reading their lessons at the top of their voices in every imaginable key. This method of committing the task to memory is universal throughout China. As soon as any child has mastered it, he or she holds up a hand, and is then called up to the desk to repeat it to the master. An important difference is now observable between the practice in native and foreign schools, for in the latter they proceed just as we do at home, but the native teacher makes the child stand with his back to the desk and his hands behind him, while the master arms himself with a cane, which descends remorselessly at the slightest slip.

It was not far to the Yang Hong, and old Chen-Lao-Pan's letter was sufficient to ensure us every civility. Money was at once forthcoming, and here, for the first time, we saw and became possessed of a "shoe" of silver, a lump weighing rather more than fifty ounces; we also got some more of the ordinary lumps, weighing from three to five ounces each, for minor current expenses. We had not been long in the office, and had not drunk more than three cups of tea each, when the baggage arrived. One of the Swedes and Malcolm went off with it at once to look for an inn, while Rijnhart and I stayed to complete the arrangements and settle with the boatmen, who said that they had sold their vessel for Ts.5, a considerable loss on the cost price, but which the hire had more than covered.

ON THE ROAD IN CHINA.

Malcolm had some difficulty in finding an inn, owing to large numbers of soldiers being in the city at the time, butat last he was successful, and also arranged with several carters who were on the look-out for a job to come round to the mission-house to arrange terms. We had long ago found out from Chen-Lao-Pan—who had spent many years in this part of China—how long the cart journey to Pekin should take us and how much we should pay; and, armed with this knowledge, our new friends and Rijnhart were able to get an agreement signed for three carts to do the journey in thirteen days for Ts.19 apiece, a most admirable clause being added to the effect that, should they not arrive up to time, they would only get Ts.9½. Often and often did we have cause to congratulate ourselves on having had this inserted, and I strongly recommend any travellers in China to get some guarantee of this kind whenever possible.

It was with the satisfactory feeling of a good day's work done that we sat down to supper and enjoyed the luxury of an unlimited supply of milk, such as we had not enjoyed since leaving India. After supper we sat up late, our hosts singing in English, as well as in their native tongue and Chinese, accompanying themselves or one another on the guitar, without which no Swedish home is complete; however, we were reluctantly compelled to say good-night, but not good-bye, as our hosts promised to come and see us off on the morrow.

There was the usual hitch in starting, caused this time by the carters discovering that they could not do the distance to Pekin in less than fourteen days, their reason being that some carters who had arrived the previous evening had told them that the road was now very bad. We tried to make them stick to the original agreement, but eventually gave way, and had a fresh one drawn up. Seeing that the usual time occupied in this journey is seventeen days, their request for an extra day was not unreasonable. We also had to change some silver into cash for expenditureon the road, and this we entrusted to our landlord while we took a stroll through the streets.

Pao T'eo does not appear to have any distinctive trade or products of its own. One misses the splendid furs of Lancheo, the coal of Chong Wei, and the forges of Shih-Tsui-Tsi; but one notices very large numbers of Mongols, who bring in wool to the various firms. There were also numbers of copper Mongol kettles, of which we wanted to buy some specimens, but were told we could get them better and cheaper in Pekin. The shops were very much larger and more well-to-do-looking than anything we had hitherto seen, and in one grocer's we bought some first-rate sponge cakes and a sort of apple jam, which was excellent. Eggs were fairly dear, five cash apiece; in some places we had paid five cash for two, but near the capital we had to pay as much as ten cash each. Fancy new-laid eggs at fourpence a dozen in London!

However, the longest delays come to an end at last, and at 11a.m.on the 14th November we started on the last stage of our journey. The missionaries walked some little way with us to the outskirts of the east suburb, and before leaving they insisted on our promising to visit their countrymen in the various stations we should pass through.

That evening we stopped at a very comfortable inn in a little town called Salaki. Everywhere were signs that we were approaching the capital; the streets were better looked after, and the inn was quite the best we had yet seen.

All Chinese inns seem to be built on the same principle. One passes through a wide entrance, on one side of which is the kitchen, on the other a sort of eating-house, into the courtyard, which varies in size according to the traffic. Opposite the entrance are the best rooms, kept for distinguished guests, and all round are smaller rooms for people of less importance, carters and servants. Everyroom is furnished with a k'ang or stove bed, and the better class inns have cupboards, tables, and chairs, but only in the best rooms. As long as one can get into these one can make oneself fairly comfortable, but should they be occupied one's lot is not an enviable one. Perhaps the most noticeable sign of civilization was glass windows, which we saw for the first time in Pao T'eo, and always daily afterwards. It was no longer necessary to carry large stores of provisions—these were obtainable everywhere; but in their place we had to carry an almost equal weight of cash, fifteen thousand of which, weighing no less than ninety pounds, we brought from Pao T'eo.

ON THE ROAD FROM PAO T'EO TO PEKIN.

Next morning we started soon after sunrise. The shopkeepers were just taking down their shutters as we left the inn, and the city was waking up to its daily life; most ofthe people appeared to be engaged in the silk trade, so I suppose the worm is cultivated somewhere in the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, as we strolled on ahead of the carts we took a wrong turning, and had to retrace our steps almost to the inn before we found out where we had made the mistake. We then hurried after the carts, only to find that their road and ours joined almost at the very spot from which we had turned back. A stern chase is proverbially a long one, and this was no exception to the rule.

Just outside the walls we saw a coffin which was being conveyed to the corpse's native place for interment, and this was the means of our learning a rather interesting Chinese custom. Every Chinaman has three souls, and on death one of these returns to the city temple, one to Hades, and one goes to the grave. With the last of these three a cock is always carried, no matter how far the coffin may have to be conveyed. In Southern China it is always a white cock, but in the north there appears to be no hard-and-fast rule as to colour. When the corpse is finally buried the unfortunate rooster is slain, and his spirit goes to keep company with the soul in the coffin.

Every one has heard of the importance, in the eyes of the Chinaman, of being buried in his own home, and the ships' companies do not fail to take advantage of it, the passage-money for a dead man being many times that of a live one. Before starting on one of these journeys the greatest care is taken to ascertain an auspicious day, months often elapsing before a sufficiently favourable opportunity will occur.

On the 16th November we arrived at Kuei Hua Cheng. As we approached the town we passed a "big man." He was accompanied by three attendants, one riding in front and two behind, and we were told that anybody of importance generally rode in this fashion. Kuei Hua Cheng is a very large town, and is remarkable for theabsence of any sort of city wall, a deficiency for which we could discover no reason. Instead of the customary wall we found an extremely dirty entrance, for the road was at least a foot deep in mud. It hardly seems credible that a town of such importance—for besides being a large market it is utilised as the point of departure for numerous caravans—should be so wanting in this most essential respect. If this road were ever supplanted by a railway, Kuei Hua Cheng would become a centre of immense commercial interest. The sun was setting as we entered the town, and we had to make the most of the short time remaining before the shops shut to lay in stores for the next few days, when we should be crossing the Mongolian grass country, and unable to purchase anything. Meat, bread, and kua mien were easily procurable, although the latter was very much dearer than it had been in Kansu, so it was still early when we had finished our supper and turned in for the night. It had been our original intention to visit the missionaries of this place, where I know we should have met with that warm-hearted hospitality which they are ever ready to bestow upon travellers. But supper over, the visions of an early start the next morning and the cold outside our inn were arguments too strong to be thrown aside.

Our carters met many friends at the inn, and determined to enjoy themselves accordingly; much wine was drunk, and one of them indulged in the luxury of a fight, all of which, though perhaps pleasant at the time, tended to prevent a very early start in the morning; further delay being caused by the carters suddenly thinking that they would like to take a pickaxe with them, with which they could improve the road in bad places. This delay enabled me to take a photograph of a very curious Buddhist temple, which stands just at the main eastern entrance to the town. To do this Rijnhart had to give me a leg-up onto the wall, and it was not without some difficulty that I attained my object.

We were sorry not to be able to see more of this town, which has been made famous by Huc and Gabet, Younghusband, and others; but here, as throughout China, "absence without leave" and "reasons in writing" were our bugbears. Especially did we regret not being able to see more of this temple, which is known as "Wu Tai" Temple, and is covered from top to bottom with figures of Buddha ranged in rows, and of a very interesting Manchu city which lies about two miles north-east of Kuei Hua Cheng, and is called Sin Chen, or the "New City." This was the only Manchu city we had a chance of seeing, and its broad streets, planted with trees, and frequented alike by men and women, would have been a strong contrast to the ordinary Chinese town.

While still waiting for the pickaxe a large flock of our old friends the sand-grouse passed over our heads, bringing to our minds the days of plenty and days of hunger we had passed on the Chang. Almost immediately the pickaxe arrived, and we made a fresh start, and for the first time the road showed some signs of having had a little labour expended on it. Previously there had been nothing but rough tracks through or round the fields, or, when this became invisible, the carters would make a road for themselves. The general direction was well known to them, and sooner or later they would strike the track again; nor was it hard to tell when they had done so, as a drop into a rut some eighteen inches deep was an unmistakable sign that we were on the highroad to Pekin, which is, in the opinion of the Chinese, incomparably the finest road in the world. To-day, however, we came across some really neatly-made bridges in excellent repair, but evidently only intended for travellers on foot or on horseback, as, at one end or the other, there was invariably a gap some two feet wide,effectually stopping wheeled traffic, so that all carts had to go through the water. Ninety li was the day's journey, taking us to Shih-Rong-Wa, where we stopped the night.

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