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 THE JOUENEY 
 
 AUGUSTUS RAYMOND MARGARY, 
 
 FROM SHANGHAE TO BHAMO, AND 
 BACK TO MANWYNE. 
 
 FROM HIS JOURNALS AND LETTERS, WITH A BRIEF 
 BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE: 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED A CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 
 
 By sir RUTHERFORD ALCOOK, K.C.B. 
 
 WITH A PORTRAIT ENGRAVED BY JEENS, 
 AND A ROUTE MAP. 
 
 S^0nh0it : 
 MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 
 1876.
 
 JJ3 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 In January, 1875, the British mission, under Colonel 
 Browne, appointed in the previous year by Lord 
 Salisbury, at the instance of the Honourable Ashley 
 Eden, Chief Commissioner of British Burmah, reached 
 the city of Bhamo, the point of departure for the 
 great overland trade route between India and China. 
 The importance both politically and commercially 
 of the re-opening of this route had long been 
 acknowledged by the Indian Grovernment. 
 
 In 1868 a mission under Major Sladen had crossed 
 the Burmese frontier and reached the city of Momien, 
 in the Chinese province of Yunnan. It had returned 
 from that point, unable to penetrate farther in con- 
 sequence of the jealousy and opposition of both the 
 Chinese and Mahommedan authorities, then struggling 
 for mastery in Yunnan. 
 
 Early in 1874 this civil war, which had for nine- 
 teen years desolated the splendid western provinces 
 of China, came to an end by the utter overthrow of 
 the Mahommedan rebels, and the authority of the 
 emperor was restored up to the Burmese frontier. 
 Thus a fresh opportunity arose, and was promptly 
 seized on by our Indian Grovernment. Colonel 
 Browne's mission was despatched with orders to cross 
 
 1361992
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL PEEFAGE. 
 
 China, from Burmah to Shanghae, promises of safe 
 conduct, with the necessary passports, having been 
 previously obtained from the Pekin Government.* 
 
 In order to make it clear, however, to the man- 
 darins of the western provinces that the mission 
 belonged to the same nation which was so well 
 known at the capital and the Treaty-ports of the 
 Pacific Coast, the English minister at Pekin was 
 instructed to send an officer across China to meet 
 them on the western frontier. For this perilous and 
 responsible duty Mr. Margary was selected, a young 
 officer of great promise, belonging to the Consular 
 Service, who, during some six years' residence in 
 China, had thoroughly mastered the language, and 
 made himself familiar with the habits and customs 
 of the country. 
 
 He left Shanghae on the 23rd of August, and 
 Hankow on the 4th of September, 1874. So much 
 was known to the Indian Grovernment, and little 
 more. As he himself describes it, he had plunged 
 into darkness for six months. It was doubtful 
 whether, even if he succeeded, he would be able to 
 reach the frontier in time ; and, as a precaution, 
 another consular officer, Mr. Clement Allan, who 
 could take his place as interpreter to the mission, if 
 necessary, had been sent round by sea to Rangoon. 
 
 The mission had scarcely commenced the prepara- 
 
 * The question whether fair and full explanations had been given 
 to the Chinese Foreign Office as to the objects of the mission is 
 discussed in the final chapter, which Sir Eutherford Alcock has 
 kindly contributed, and need not be considered here.
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 tioiis for their final start from Bhamo, when the 
 welcome news reached them at the Residency that 
 Mr. Margary had accomplished his task, and was 
 already at Manwyne. Two days later, on the 17th 
 of January, he arrived at the Residency, and reported 
 himself to Colonel Browne. 
 
 " It may be easily imagined," writes Dr. Anderson,* 
 the eminent naturalist attached to the mission, which 
 position he had also filled in that of 1868, " with 
 what feelings we congratulated the first Englishman 
 who had succeeded in traversing the trade route of 
 the future, as he called it, and with what pleasant 
 anticipations we heard of the accounts of his arduous 
 but successful journey, and the reception accorded all 
 along the line of route, crowned by the politeness 
 shown by the dreaded Li-sich-tai," (the warrior 
 Viceroy of Yunnan, who had extinguished the 
 Mahommedan rebellion). " The astonishment and 
 admiration of the Burmese was even greater. In 
 their own minds they had never realised the existence 
 of English officials in China, and now there appeared 
 a veritable Englishman, speaking Chinese fluently, 
 and versed in the use of chopsticks, and all other 
 points of etiquette." 
 
 Accordingly, the inhabitants of Bhamo, from the 
 woon (or governor) downwards, were anxious to see 
 and welcome this Fetching Mang, or Pekin man- 
 darin, who had so unexpectedly appeared amongst 
 them. Entertainments in his honour were given, 
 
 * ' Mandalay to Momien,' p. 307. 
 
 a 2
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 and for the few remaining days before the mission 
 started, he was the centre of attraction for tlie 
 natives, while his cheerful and helpful nature 
 gained him the cordial esteem and regard of Colonel 
 Browne and his colleagues. 
 
 Looking back to that time, after the repulse of the 
 mission. Dr. Anderson writes :* — " For my own part 
 I desire to record the deep sympathy entertained for 
 those who mourn the loss of one so beloved. Our 
 brief intercourse lasted long enough to win for him 
 the esteem and cordial friendship of us all ; and 
 while we deplore the early loss to his country of the 
 services of one whose past career and talents promised 
 to raise him to high distinction, we lament his 
 untimely loss as tbat of an old and dear friend." 
 
 Early in February the mission started from Bham6, 
 and, on the morning of the 18th, arrived with their 
 escort and train at the last guard house on Burmese 
 territory, in the valley of Nampoung, a deep, narrow 
 gorge, thickly covered with forest trees festooned 
 with creepers, which separates Burmah from China. 
 Here reports met them of danger ahead. The Kakh- 
 yens, wild hill tribes, who occupy the wild frontier, 
 were said to be mustering in force to oppose their 
 progress, encouraged by the authorities at Seray, the 
 first frontier town, and of Manwyne, the chief city of 
 this part of the province of Yunnan. A council was 
 held at which Margary made light of the rumours. 
 He had come safely through the Kakhyen hills, alone, 
 
 * ' Manclalay to Momien,' p. 450.
 
 BIOGEAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 he was known to the mandarins at Seray and Man- 
 wjne. He would go on ahead, ascertain the truth, 
 and send back instructions for their guidance. This 
 offer was accepted, and he prepared to start. During 
 the afternoon gongs and cymbals were heard along 
 the hills on the Chinese side, and Kakhyens were 
 seen peering down from amongst the trees, but 
 nothing occurred to interrupt their last dinner, or 
 their sitting afterwards, prolonged late into the night, 
 at which the prospects of the mission were discussed. 
 Early on the morning of the 19th of February 
 Margary crossed the frontier, with no escort but his 
 Chinese secretary and servants, who had been with 
 him through his whole journey, and a few Burmese 
 muleteers. The next morning brought letters from 
 him, reporting all safe up to Seray. He had been 
 well received there and had passed on to Manwyne. 
 The mission followed slowly, reaching Seray on the 
 21st. No farther news from Margary ; but it was 
 remarked that the Seray chief and all his men were 
 armed, and more rumours came in of hostile prepara- 
 tions, and danger. On the 22nd, in the early morn- 
 ing, the storm broke. The mission camp was almost 
 surrounded by armed bands, while letters from the 
 Burmese agents at Manwyne to the chief in command 
 of their escort told that Margary had been brutally 
 murdered at Manwyne on the previous day. But for 
 the staunchness of their Burmese escort — who resisted 
 all offers of their assailants of heavy bribes if they 
 would draw off and allow them onlv to kill the
 
 yi BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 "foreign devils" — and the gallantry of the fifteen 
 Sikhs, who formed their body-guard, the whole mission 
 must have shared the fate of their comrade. As it 
 was, after a hard day's fighting, they were able to 
 draw ofi" in the evening and recross the frontier with 
 all their baggage, having had only three men wounded. 
 At Bhamo they eagerly sought for all particulars of 
 the murder, but without much success. The most 
 trustworthy account was that of a Burmese who had 
 seen Margary walking about Manwyne, sometimes 
 with Chinese, sometimes alone, on the morning of the 
 21st. This man reported that he had left the town 
 on his pony to visit a hot spring at the invitation of 
 some Chinese, who as soon as they were outside the 
 town had knocked him off his pony and speared him. 
 And so ended the second British mission from 
 Burmah, and with it the life and career of one of a 
 class of her sons of whom England has most reason 
 to be proud in these days. As the years roll on, her 
 special work in the world comes out more and more 
 clearly. In spite of herself — often against her will — 
 she has task after task set her in the wild neglected 
 places of the earth, amongst savage or half-civilised 
 races. Scarce a year passes that the work does not 
 become more pressing;, and widen out in all directions. 
 The call comes, now from the oldest haunts and 
 homes of men — from India, from China, from Arabia, 
 from the Malay peninsula — now from the wondrous 
 islands of the Pacific — now from the vast unexplored 
 regions of central or southern Africa. Sometimes it
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. vii 
 
 is the conscious cry of the oppressed, " Come over and 
 help us," sometimes the unconscious appeal of anarchy 
 and evildoing in regions where we have planted our 
 foot and from which w^e cannot draw it back ; for 
 whatever the cause or form of the summons it is sure 
 to have " vestigia nulla retrorsum " written over it. 
 And the call, however urgent, however exacting, has 
 rarely failed to bring out the right man, whether it 
 were for missionary, or soldier, or merchant, or tra- 
 veller, ready to spend himself for his country and his 
 country's work ; simply, cheerily, unreservedly doing 
 deeds the reading and hearing of which here in Eng- 
 land make our pulses bound and our eyes moisten, 
 without a thought that they were anything more than 
 what every Englishman is called on to do in some 
 form or another for the dear old home. How many 
 such have stepped quietly out of the ranks in the last 
 few years, and what a noble swarth they have cut in 
 the world's tangled harvest work ? Unlike in their 
 characters, their powers, the tasks that they were set 
 to do, but alike in this, that they did it, one and all, 
 with their might, and paid for it with their lives ; 
 a bright bead roll of heroes, of whom their land 
 may well be proud, the Pattisons, Mackenzies, 
 Goodenoughs, Margarys, whose record goes far to 
 redeem the sloth and selfishness of a generation 
 weighted heavily with wealth and luxury, and is 
 sounding again and again in the ears of our youth 
 the grand old lesson, " a long life hath but few years, 
 but a good name endureth for ever."
 
 BIOGEAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 It is the object of this book to set before his 
 countrymen, in his own words, the story of the 
 crowning work of the last of this band. The journals 
 and letters which tell it are not perfect. Here and 
 there gaps will be found in the narrative which can- 
 not now be filled up, as the materials necessary for 
 this purpose, with other MS. relating to China, were 
 in his luggage at Manwyne at the time of his murder, 
 and have not been recovered. But these are of small 
 account, and do not mar the vividness and charm of 
 the simple story, so pathetic when read with a know- 
 ledge of what was to be the end. But in order to 
 enable readers to appreciate the journey across China 
 from Shanghae to Bhamo, they should know some- 
 thing more of the traveller than can be gathered 
 from the history of the last six months of his life. 
 The slight sketch of his early years which follows 
 will, it is hoped, be sufficient for this purpose. 
 
 Augustus Raymond was the third son of Major- 
 General Margary, R.E., and was born at Belgaum, 
 in the Bombay Presidency, on the 26th of May, 
 1846. As a child he was remarkable for sweetness 
 of disposition, courage and intelligence ; and his 
 natural aptitude and perseverance were such, that 
 (although he had no instructor but his mother in the 
 tropical climate in which his first years were passed) 
 when sent to school in France, at the age of nine, 
 he took his place with ease among English boys 
 of his own age. While in that country he lived 
 with his grandfather and grandmother, whose loving
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 care was always gratefully acknowledged by him. 
 After some time spent under the care of his uncle, 
 the rector of Swafield, Norfolk, and in attendance 
 at the North Walsham Grammar School, he was 
 sent with three of his brothers to Brighton College, 
 where he remained for upwards of seven years. 
 
 Here, as in later life, he made the most of his time, 
 working hard and playing hard, and gaining the 
 respect and love of masters and boys. " He dis- 
 played at Brighton College," an old schoolfellow 
 testifies, " the same noble qualities which distin- 
 guished him in manhood. He was always in the front 
 in whatever he did. I remember, for instance, that 
 be was the finest swimmer in the school." The chief 
 incident in his school life was a severe attack of brain 
 fever, the consequence of a blow on the head received 
 in a fight between the college and town, the effects 
 of which he felt occasionally till the end of his life. 
 
 Alluding to this attack, Dr. Griffiths the head 
 master writes to his parents : "It was a great 
 comfort to me, when I heard of your son's sudden 
 attack, to feel that he was a boy with whom I never 
 had occasion to find fault, though doubtless he, like 
 all of us, had faults, yet they never came to the 
 surface, as in the case of so many others. His good 
 abilities, his cheerful temper, his willingness to work, 
 and his correct conduct, all combine to make him a 
 favourite pupil. I believe masters and boys have 
 joined heartily in our common prayer for his welfare, 
 and there seems now a fair hope of his recovery."
 
 BIOGEAPHICAL PEEFACE. 
 
 His letters to his parents at this period are 
 full of the most ardent expressions of affection, and 
 an anxious desire to make the most of his oppor- 
 tunities, and to reward their care and affection by- 
 yielding to his mother's influence, and following her 
 counsels in the most minute particulars. 
 
 While at Brighton his mind was greatly set on 
 a university career, but, with the thoughtfulness 
 and care for others which characterised him through 
 life, he never alluded to this wish without referring 
 to the claims of his elder and younger brothers, whose 
 interests, dear to him as his own, he continually laid 
 before his parents, with a discriminating judgment 
 and tenderness of affection not often met with in 
 schoolboys of his age. A few extracts from his 
 letters will be enough to illustrate these points^ in 
 his character : 
 
 " Brighton College, 1862. 
 " My dearest Mother, — I have two of your letters 
 before me. . . . One of the letters made me so un- 
 happy. I can't bear it, when I have done anything 
 wrong, to think it makes you unhappy, and then I 
 feel the distance between us, and the time it takes a 
 letter to reach you ! Sometimes, when I have written 
 a letter and sent it, I feel quite vexed with myself, and 
 would give anything to recall it ; that is just my feel- 
 ing with regard to my last letter, full of complaints 
 and selfishness ; then, it will reach you, and before this 
 letter reaches you to tell you how unhappy it makes 
 me to think that I have written it, your answer will
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 be coming to me, which I shall get about two months 
 from this time, I suppose, by which time I may have 
 forgotten all about it. I find I cannot half express 
 my feelings, but you will understand me, dearest 
 mamma. I feel brimful of love and affection for 
 you and dearest papa, and can't bear to displease 
 you. 
 
 " We partook of the Holy Sacrament last Sunday, 
 and everything has gone on very pleasantly lately, 
 and T am getting on very comfortably in the first 
 form now and enjoy the work. I wrote a letter 
 just before starting for Swafield to you, and one 
 while at Swafield, that] you might get letters by two 
 mails successively, and I hope Jack has written. I 
 enjoyed my visit to Swafield as much as I possibly 
 could, but had I known the extra expense it caused 
 you I should not have been quite so happy. 
 
 " I enjoyed my day in London not only pretty. well 
 
 (when Aunt C was so soon to leave England) but 
 
 very much. I hope the letter you were expecting 
 told you more than my return to Brighton only, for 
 I try to give as much news as I can. I went to Miss 
 Roberts' yesterday to see my little sisters, but found 
 
 them all out except little C . She told me they 
 
 were very happy and liked their schoolfellows, and 
 that everyone was very kind to them. 
 
 " I have been three times, but found E out 
 
 each time. Aunt C will be able perhaps to tell 
 
 you more about them than I can. As to my brothers, 
 gets on very well, better than , who is, I
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL PKEFAOE. 
 
 am afraid, rather inclined to be idle, but I will do 
 my best to keep liim up to the mark." 
 
 The Jack alluded to in this letter was his elder 
 brother, John Louis, who afterwards passed success- 
 fully through Sandhurst and was posted to the 
 105th regiment, which he joined in 1864. He died 
 at Dinapore, of typhoid fever, in January 1867. 
 
 " Eeading, 1863. 
 
 " My dearest Father, — I was so glad to see your 
 handwriting when I received a letter last mail, as it 
 is long since I had one from you. Many thanks for 
 writing so kindly. You cannot think how much 
 happier it makes me, and invigorated (sic) to do 
 better ; whereas if there had been a reproach or dis- 
 approval of anything I had done it would instantly 
 have thrown a damp over my spirits, not to be got 
 
 rid of in a hurry, and so I believe it is with ■ . I 
 
 grieve to see him complaining, but pray bear with 
 him (forgive my saying so to you) and he must soon 
 see his faults and will give up all murmuring and 
 
 be sorry for any undutifulness. worked very 
 
 hard last quarter, I think, and has evidently done 
 much better in the examinations. I think he was top 
 of the form in one or two things, and very fairly up 
 in others ; but then again in one or two subjects he 
 was nearly bottom, which of course pulled him down 
 considerably in a general average order. Both of 
 them will certainly be put into the third form, and I 
 
 have to say with the greatest pleasure that A 
 
 has won another prize for French. I was fifth, but
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 I have no chance of beating the four ahead of me. I 
 
 am spending my vacation at the R 's, at Reading", 
 
 in company with Jack, whom I had not seen since 
 Christmas. The house is crammed full of visitors, 
 
 and we are a thoroughly merry happy party, A • 
 
 and A were to have gone to Swafield for the 
 
 holidays, as they ought to have a thorough changes 
 but, to our great disappointment, they were prevented 
 going by scarlet fever, which broke out next door to 
 Uncle John's. 
 
 "When I forwarded the pieces you inclosed for 
 
 Aunt E , I took the opportunity of asking Uncle 
 
 P if they could have my brothers now, as he had 
 
 asked them before, but without fixing any time. I 
 think he will have them if he possibly can. 
 
 " I suppose the best way for me to learn good 
 composition is to read some good writer like Lord 
 Macaulay. I will devote myself to this." 
 
 « Brighton College, 1863. 
 " My DARLiiSTG Mother, — I have just been to see our 
 
 dear sisters. They are well and very happy. E 
 
 was engaged and did not appear, but they said she 
 was in high spirits. They tell me she plays very 
 
 well for a child of her age. has the sweetest 
 
 disposition imaginable. is not very well to- 
 day ; he is a good fellow, and works very well. 
 
 has such a lively nature that his attention gets drawn 
 off study very soon. I am so anxious that neither of 
 them should waste a bit of time at college."
 
 xiv BIOGEAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 This anxiety about his younger brothers is a 
 leading feature in these boyish letters, and grows 
 stronger when his elder brother is about to leave. 
 He begs his mother to write to them, urging them 
 to work, and to listen to his advice, for he shall now 
 feel himself responsible for keeping them steady. 
 But the office of mentor is one which he only accepts 
 as a duty, and with misgivings. 
 
 Thus he writes at this time, " I do not know 
 whether I am right in speaking my mind about my 
 brothers, for I have plenty of faults myself. I wish 
 Jack or somebody would tell you all about me. 
 
 "■ Please do not scold my brothers. Jack is very 
 anxious to pass his examination for Sandhurst. I 
 shall miss him very much when he does go, for he 
 has always been a kind brother to me. We have 
 scarcely ever quarrelled since we came Viere. His 
 great fault is hastiness, and many a time he has got 
 into trouble through it ; but I have noticed a great 
 change in him, and I think he has a great deal of 
 
 common sense. Uncle A has invited me for 
 
 Christmas, and I have no doubt I shall enjoy myself 
 exceedingly, except that I shall be so anxious to hear 
 if Jack passes." 
 
 After the return of his parents from India, Mr. 
 Margary resided with them in London, and attended 
 lectures at University College. His wish for an 
 academical career seemed likely to be realised, 
 when he received a nomination from his relative, 
 Mr. Austen Layard, Her Majesty's present minister
 
 BIOGKAPHICAL PEEFACE. xv 
 
 at Madrid, to compete for a student interpretership 
 in China. Of this he immediately availed himself, 
 and, after three failures, passed a successful exami- 
 nation, and was sent to China on the 20th of March, 
 1867. He was now in his twenty-first year, but 
 retaining the freshness and brightness of his 
 boyhood ; in fact, his animal spirits seem to have 
 grown stronger as his character settled. At school 
 the sense of responsibility which weighed on him, in 
 consequence of the absence of his father and mother 
 in India, made him thoughtful and serious beyond 
 his years. But now that he is fairly started in life, 
 with a clearly marked career before him, and the 
 confidence which is born of confirmed habits of hard 
 work, and a well trained intellect to enable him to 
 make the best of it, his natural joyousness seems to 
 have burst out, and coloured not only his own life, 
 but the life of all around him. Indeed, the special 
 charm of his own narrative, as given in the letters 
 and journals, consists in this joyousness, and in the 
 splendid self reliance — wholly free from self con- 
 sciousness and from self-seeking — with which he meets 
 and overcomes all dangers and difficulties. Some- 
 times, indeed, he is half ashamed of himself, and 
 inclined to make excuses for these high spirits, which, 
 as it were, force him to take the lead in fun and 
 adventure of all kinds. He doubts whether they 
 may not be a stumbling-block to his companions, 
 whether he may not be doing them harm, by letting 
 himself loose ; but concludes characteristically enough
 
 xvi BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 that he is "too deeply attached to the loving principles 
 of the Gospel to be an ascetic." And so he goes on his 
 way rejoicing, with a thorough enjoyment of nature, 
 society, adventure, good living, and hard work, which 
 carries us along with him, and makes his narrative 
 the healthiest kind of reading. Indeed, but for this 
 happy temperament he could never have got through 
 his great journey. With it, he can press steadily on 
 even when lying, scarcely able to move, in the tiny 
 cabin of his boat, struck down by " pleurisy, rheu- 
 matism, indigestion, very bad neuralgia, toothache, 
 and a lot more," with the thermometer at 96°, and no 
 European within 1000 miles, and enjpy intensely in 
 the intervals of pain the glorious scenery through 
 which he is passing. 
 
 But his high spirits never interfered with \York. 
 Soon after his arrival at Pekin he obtained a reward 
 for rapid proficiency in the Chinese language, his 
 diligent study of which, and of the habits and pre- 
 judices of the people, gave him in after years his 
 peculiar power of managing and understanding 
 mandarins and chair-bearers with equal success. 
 
 In these early days he was accustomed to cure 
 his occasional fits of home sickness by a recipe at 
 which he often used to laugh while speaking of it. 
 Retiring as far as possible out of hearing of his 
 species, he sang all his old songs at the top of his 
 voice, winding up with " God save the Queen." 
 Having thus exorcised the demon, and reminded 
 himself that he was serving his queen and coimtry.
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 he would return to his companions and his studies 
 in his usual happy temper. 
 
 It may be added here, that on two occasions in the 
 course of his career in China, he received offers of 
 employment at a salary at least double what he was 
 getting from Grovernment, which he declined, from 
 the feeling that he would rather serve his country as 
 a poor man than make a fortune in any other service. 
 For his own private interests were always last in 
 his thoughts. Indeed, the advancement and success 
 which his good conduct and ability brought surely 
 and quickly to his feet seemed only to quicken his 
 desire to use time, and means, and influence freely 
 for the help of those less able or fortunate than 
 himself; and many a struggler breaking down in 
 life's race owed new hope and courage to his aid and 
 counsel. In fact, his life has been well described as 
 " full from first to last of a devotion to duty, and 
 of delight in serving his Lord through serving the 
 brethren : a power of ready sympathy with every 
 phase of human joy or sorrow, which gained him so 
 rich a portion of what he coveted most on earth, 
 the love and approbation of good men and women." 
 
 He remained as a student and attached to the 
 legation at Pekin until 1870, when he was de- 
 spatched to take charge of the Consulate in the island 
 of Formosa, where he remained for upwards of a 
 year, residing chiefly at Tamsuy and Kelung, but 
 making expeditions to other parts of the island. 
 While here he added botany and geology to his 
 
 b
 
 xviii BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 studies, finding progress in the former much the 
 easier in Formosa. For, while the Chinese highly 
 approved of foreigners gathering flowers and plants, 
 they looked with the keenest suspicion and jealousy 
 on the collection of minerals or fossils, and the use 
 of a geologist's hammer, and would dog the steps 
 and watch narrowly the proceedings of any person 
 so equipped. 
 
 When at Kelung, he and his friend, Mr. Dodd, a 
 British merchant there, rescued forty-two lives from 
 shipwreck during a violent typhoon, on the 9th of 
 August, 1871, for which both of them received the 
 medal of the Royal Humane Society, and were 
 honoured by the Queen with the decoration of the 
 Albert medal of 1st class. In 1872, he re- visited 
 England, and took part in a discussion on Fomaosa, 
 at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, of 
 which he became a member, and returned to China, 
 via North America and Japan, arriving at Shanghae 
 in September, 1873. 
 
 Shortly after reaching Shanghae, he was sent to 
 the northern port of Chefoo ; to take charge of the 
 Consulate there. Here his genial and sociable dis- 
 position led him to promote many amusements and 
 to join heartily in all the social entertainments in 
 the small community, to promote kindly intercourse 
 amongst its various members of different nationalities, 
 and to while away the tedium of the winter months in 
 a port almost isolated during that season. But here 
 again, as all through his life, we find higher motives
 
 BIOGEAPHICAL PREFACE. six 
 
 than selfish enjoyment at work ; and his letters show 
 that his first object in all his intercourse with society 
 was to promote general harmony and goodwill, and 
 to leave no opening for the petty misunderstandings 
 which often arise in small and isolated communities. ■ 
 
 From Chefoo he was transferred to Shanghae, in 
 April 1874, and in August received instructions 
 from H.B.M.'s minister at Pekin to proceed at once 
 through the vast south-western provinces of China, 
 to await at one of the passes on the frontier of 
 Yunnan the arrival of Colonel Browne's mission, to 
 which he was to act as interpreter and guide through 
 China, as already stated. 
 
 His orders were, to start at once, and secretly, 
 and were obeyed with his usual promptness and 
 exactness, though he felt keenly having to leave on 
 such a journey without being allowed even to say 
 good-bye to his friends ; for he was under no delu- 
 sions as to its danger. No one knew better the 
 intense dislike of the Chinese to any such extension 
 of the rights of foreigners in the interior and western 
 provinces as the mission foreshadowed. And so hd 
 writes to his mother on the eve of starting : " It is 
 a long and to a certain extent a perilous journey — 
 I can't disguise that fact, and that for three months 
 I shall be beyond the reach of all news from the 
 outer world." But he will not let her dwell on this 
 side of the picture, and adds directly, " You must 
 picture me trudging on through strange cities, 
 stared at by pig-tailed mobs. At times sitting in 
 eastern etiquette with native governors and vice-
 
 XX 16I0GRAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 roys, and lastly you may look at the map, and 
 fancy you see a solitary European, standing above 
 the last pass, and anxiously gazing through his 
 binoculars for the advent of Indian helmets from the 
 west. You know, dearest, I have trust in God and 
 fear nothing. Best love to all.' — Your own loving 
 Gus." And again to the lady to whom most of his 
 letters had been addressed since his return from 
 England : — " Is it not a splendid mission ? What 
 wonderful things I shall see ! I shall hope to have 
 grand sport in the forests and mountains, which teem 
 with wild life. It is impossible to say when you may 
 hear from me. I shall try and make use of the native 
 post, which is a very efficient service, but how far it 
 may be safe for foreign correspondence remains to be 
 proved. It may be that not a word may be heai^d of 
 me for the whole time, in which case all sorts of 
 rumours may arise as to my fate. Let me beg of you 
 not to believe one ; rest assured I will make my way 
 there and back, by God's help, as safe as a trivet." 
 
 And in this temper he pressed steadily on, a 
 lonely, sorely-tried man, bent only on doing his duty 
 to the last and getting his work through. And so 
 to him — as surely to all such — came the highest 
 strength and power according to his need. " One 
 disease after another attacked me," he writes to his 
 uncle, the Rev. J. Layard, when he had been more 
 than two months on his road, " with relentless 
 rapidity ; even dysentery came to add its terrors to 
 my loneliness, and reduced me to a skeleton. All 
 my pride of flesh and muscle speedily vanished
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. 
 
 beneath its dire influence ; but, thank God, all this 
 sufiering was invaluable in curing me of a far 
 greater disease. In the midst of my suffering I was 
 drawn nearer to God, and at last, like Christian, the 
 load rolled off my back, and I was another man. I 
 hope you will not think me immediately full of 
 conceit and vanity, and that I think myself an 
 established Christian, but I hope when I get back, 
 please God, to prove the armour I have put on in 
 private, and don't yet know the strength and en- 
 durance of. You will probably smile, but it is a fact 
 that I judge distance entirely by the dear old road 
 from Swafield to North Walsham" (his uncle's rec- 
 tory, where he had spent two years of his boyhood), 
 " and every Scotch fir on the roadside takes me back 
 to the time when poor Jack and I searched for tiny 
 shoots under the old oak with as much zeal as an 
 archaeologist for coins and buried remains." 
 
 But it is time that the letters and journals were 
 left to tell their own tale, in the appreciation of 
 which it is hoped the slight and imperfect sketch 
 here given will be helpful to readers. It will 
 enable them at any rate to understand the circum- 
 stances under which they were written. The first 
 series are from the neighbourhood of Pekin, while 
 he was attached to the British Consulate there as a 
 student.
 
 ITINERARY. 
 
 Date and Hour 
 of Arrival. 
 
 Sept. 
 4 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 11 
 
 20 
 21 
 
 22 
 
 }) 
 23 
 
 » 
 
 24 
 25 
 
 27 
 28 
 
 29 
 
 30 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1 
 
 •> 
 
 3.30 P.M. 
 
 2 P.M. 
 
 Evening 
 
 12.30 
 
 Evening 
 
 Evening 
 
 Evening 
 
 Place. 
 
 Evening 
 Evening 
 
 Evening 
 
 11 A.M. 
 
 3.30 P.M. 
 
 6 P.M. 
 
 Evening 
 
 3 P.M. 
 2 P.M. 
 
 Evening 
 Evening 
 Evening 
 
 . . ■ • '^^ 
 
 Hankow : 
 
 Wu-ch'ang 
 
 Chin-k^ou 
 
 Tung-kua-nao . 
 
 P'ai Chou 
 
 Hsiao-hua-pai . 
 Hu-hsin Chou 
 
 Lu-ch^i-Vou 
 
 Hsin-t'i 
 
 Lo-shan .. .....:....:.l"., 
 
 [J_|^ Chiin-shan 
 Nan-chai 
 
 Ni-hsin-t'ang 
 
 Yin-ho Hsiang 
 
 ■||^jLung-yang Hsien. 
 
 Liao-ya-tsui 
 
 Shih-ma P^u 
 
 'ZWph'aing-ie Fu. 
 
 Ta-ch'i-k'ou 
 
 i/jN'iyuiT'ao-yuen Hsien 
 
 ffi.^SPai-ma Tu 
 
 Shui-ch^i 
 
 (Small village.) 
 (Small village.) 
 
 Distance (in li) 
 from previous place. 
 
 20 
 
 [ch'ang.) 
 105 (from Wu- 
 45 
 45 
 60 
 60 
 60 
 45 
 
 180 
 
 60 
 
 40 
 
 [Hsiang. 
 70 from Yin-ho 
 40 
 20 
 20 
 70 
 20 
 5 
 
 35
 
 ITINERARY. 
 
 xxiii 
 
 Date and Hour 
 of Arrival. 
 
 Place. 
 
 Oct. 
 
 27 
 28 
 29 
 
 J) 
 
 30 
 
 31 
 
 Nov. 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 j> 
 
 12 
 
 13 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 Evening 
 
 10 A.M. 
 
 7 P.M. 
 
 5 P.M. 
 
 7 A.M. 
 
 5 P.M. 
 
 Evening 
 
 6 P.M. 
 
 6 P.M. 
 
 J^iCh'en-cliou Fu 
 
 ^^ 
 
 /^7M jLu-cFi 
 -Pu-shih 
 
 ^^^- Ch^en-chi Hsien 
 
 WiS^Chen-yuen Fu 
 
 ji^aA 
 
 Shih-ping Hsien.. 
 
 Hsin-chou 
 Ta-feng-tung 
 
 I /El 
 
 ^\ 
 
 .Hi 
 
 
 WM |JL| 
 
 m 
 
 Ch'ing-p'ing Hsien 
 
 Kuei-ting Hsien 
 
 Lung-li Hsien 
 
 Kuei-yang Fu 
 
 Ch'ing-chen Hsien 
 Ch^ing-ch^i Hsien 
 
 An-shun Fu 
 
 Chen-ning Chou... 
 Huang-kuo-su 
 
 Lang-tai T'ing 
 
 Me-k'ou 
 
 Hua-king 
 
 Distance (in li) 
 from previous place. 
 
 70 
 
 12 
 
 30 
 
 45 
 75 
 
 69 
 
 62 
 
 80 
 
 60 
 
 25 
 
 50 
 
 60 
 
 Short stage. 
 
 35
 
 ITINERARY. 
 
 Date and Hour 
 of Arrival. 
 
 Nov. 
 17 
 18 
 19 
 20 
 21 
 22 
 
 >> 
 
 23 
 
 24 
 
 >» 
 
 25 
 26 
 27 
 
 Dec. 
 
 2 
 3 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 7 
 8 
 
 >> 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 Noon 
 
 Place. 
 
 !*« 
 
 H 
 
 fi* 
 
 
 mm 
 
 
 mm 
 WIS® 
 
 Yang-shun 
 Fu-an T'ing 
 
 P^ing-i Hsien . 
 
 Pai-shui 
 
 Hai-tzii P^u 
 
 Chan-i Chou 
 Ma-lung Chou 
 
 Pai-tzu P'u 
 
 I-lung Ssu 
 
 Yang-lin 
 
 Pan-ch^iao 
 
 Yun-nan Fu 
 
 Distance (in 11) 
 from previous place. 
 
 Four more stage 
 
 Pi-chi K^ou 
 
 An-ning Chou 
 
 Lao ya Kuan 
 Lu-feng Hsien . 
 
 She-tzii 
 
 Kuang-t^ungHsien 
 
 Yao-chan 
 
 Ch^u-hsiung Fu 
 Chen-nan Chou.. 
 
 Sha-ch'iao 
 
 Lien-p^eng 
 
 s to Ta-li Fu. 
 
 40 
 
 [Chou. 
 
 Halfway Chan-i 
 
 40 
 40 
 
 75 
 
 [lin. 
 
 105 from Yang- 
 
 35 
 
 40 
 
 70 
 75 
 90 
 
 95 
 35 
 95
 
 o 
 
 Aic.rsTiis KAYJioNi) .maii(;aiiy 
 
 // A- 
 
 / V 
 
 '<5>
 
 MAEGAEY'S JOUENBY. 
 
 To his uncle, the Kev. J. Layard. 
 
 Limg Wang Sang, June Wth, 1868. — I am now, 
 as perhaps you know, at the hills, living in a de- 
 lightful temple with two friends. ... I came out 
 early in May, and have got on well in Chinese 
 during the interval. This is a glorious place to 
 work. Although there are seven of us out here, 
 distributed in three temples, we keep apart in order 
 to work, each in our own rooms, and only meet at 
 meal times. I work, on the average, about seven 
 hours a day, and it is wonderful that one can do it 
 on one subject alone. We expect the chief and his 
 family out in a few days. What with picnics in the 
 evenings, and little soirees, we shall probably spend 
 a delightful summer. But work at Chinese will not be 
 hindered, as it is somewhat in the winter, for just now 
 the sun prevents anything else until 6 p.m., when 
 we go out for a stroll about the valley, which is very 
 pretty, full of trees and little gorges. Occasionally 
 somebody drops in from the city. One day our 
 French friends arrived, and carried us off with them 
 
 B
 
 MARGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 to a temple for which they are negotiating. It was 
 a truly wonderful spot on the side of the hills, from 
 its commanding position and the forest of trees with 
 which it was surrounded. 
 
 The temple was a sort of head monastery, or 
 school for Buddhist priests, who can he known 
 everywhere by their shaven heads. The temples are 
 everywhere mere ordinary rooms filled with innu- 
 merable hideous gods. The missionaries have a 
 fearful task in attempting to convert the Chinese. 
 The difficulty of the language is an obstacle, and the 
 simplicity of their service is less likely to attract the 
 sensuous Chinese than the magnificent cathedrals 
 and gorgeous ritual of the Roman Catholics. Some 
 of the Roman missionaries deserve success. They 
 dress in the native costume, and travel about the 
 country for years and years, putting up with Chinese 
 dirt and Chinese food in a way which, to a Euro- 
 pean, must be a sort of martyrdom. We want, as 
 missionaries, educated gentlemen, free from narrow- 
 mindedness, and possessing a bearing which will 
 command respect from foreigners. There are some 
 such amongst our missionaries. 
 
 You wish to know about our Sundays, and I will 
 tell you, though it may pain you ; but if you look 
 at it from a broad point of view, I think you will 
 agree that it is not a very dark picture. Though 
 there is a general sense of keeping the Sabbath Day 
 holy, it is more thought of as a day of rest and en- 
 joyment. No scruples prevent us from taking a
 
 LUNG WANG SANG. 
 
 ride, or making a picnic, or skating. We have a 
 chapel service every Sunday morning, and most of 
 the people in the Legation go regularly ; and, for 
 months past, Sundays have been spent very properly 
 and quietly. Fellows spend the afternoon walking 
 on the wall, or sitting about smoking, or writing 
 letters. They never give a card party or wine on 
 Sunday. 
 
 I know enough of my own wickedness to make 
 anything like a religious confession painful to me, 
 but I don't mind telling you that I try to live 
 straight, and trust in Grod for Jesus' sake ; that we 
 are as good as I could wish is too much to say, there 
 is still much to be done. 
 
 Poor old C is gone ! I remember him better 
 
 than you think, and am really awfully sorry not to 
 see him again. I could not help thinking of Horace's 
 lines : 
 
 " Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona 
 Multi ; sed omnes illacrymabiles 
 Urgentur ignotique louga 
 Nocte, carent quia vate sacro." 
 
 I read my old fa^vourite, and Homer, now and 
 then, and am glad to find I do not forget much. 
 AVe were well grounded in grammar at Brighton 
 College, for which I shall always be grateful to 
 Mr. Griffiths. 
 
 To his Parents. 
 August 18M, 1868. — We have had an immense deal 
 
 E 2
 
 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 of rain, and with it a very strange kind of tlmnder- 
 storm, or rather wind and Hghtning storm ; I never 
 saw or read of anything like them. If you can fancy 
 a wide belt of very vivid and incessantly flashing 
 lightning, driving furiously before it wind and rain, 
 I think you can form an idea of it. The lightning 
 always appears low down on the horizon, and is ac- 
 companied by scarcely any thunder at all. We were 
 sitting at dessert in our mess-room in Pekin, last 
 Tuesday, about eight o'clock, when the first of these 
 storms that I had seen burst upon us. The only 
 warning it gave was the sudden bursting open of 
 doors and windows ; then came a furious wind, 
 followed by equally furious rain ; and all this 
 whipped in l)y the extraordinary lightning, which 
 gave me the idea of a flight of huge eagles flashing 
 fire with ea;Ch sweep of their wings. We rode into 
 Pekin on Monday, and back on Wednesday morning ; 
 that one night's storm had blown down trees right 
 and left, and drenched the country ; the tall millet 
 stalks were bent down to the ground, and the roads, 
 which are merely troughs cut through fields and 
 well banked on each side, were simply converted into 
 canals ; the water actually running two feet deep. 
 The mud, in some places, was impassable, and I 
 found myself in a fix in one place. I turned off to 
 go up the pass, which is very stony, and not liking 
 to take my pony where he ran a risk of breaking his 
 knees, I determined to follow the road, and for about 
 two miles found good ground on the top of the
 
 LUNG WANG SANG. 
 
 bank ; but, as usual, within half a mile, and in sight 
 of the temple, I came to a dead lock. The road was 
 a broad sheet of deep soft mud, and two trees lay 
 across it. Once I had to jump across a ditch with 
 mud on both sides, and my noble pony jumped 
 
 after me. I found had got in a little before 
 
 me, after a difficult ride. 
 
 August l^th. — I sent in a note to ask after mail 
 letters to-day by my teacher, who has gone in on 
 Imperial business. We often have considerable 
 amusement with our three teachers. After finishing 
 a certain amount of reading, we go out into the 
 terrace and talk or j)lay at chess (Chinese), in which we 
 often hold our own. My teacher. Wen, is a very little 
 
 man, but very high-bred and very clever. . . S 's 
 
 friend is the character of the three. Being a married 
 man, and older than the other two, he invariably 
 asserts his superiority, much to our amusement. He 
 is exceedingly polite. You would be amused to see 
 how precise we all are with each other. He invariably 
 smokes our cheroots, and is altogether very indepen- 
 dent. His name is Tau. The first time I saw him 
 he asked me how old I was at once, for it is polite in 
 China to ask any number of questions about a man's 
 family, condition, etc. It is extraordinary how pug- 
 nacious the Tientsin men are. The Pekinese seldom 
 
 fight ; but -'s servant and our groom are both 
 
 natives of that place, and are constantly fighting with 
 
 some one or other, and S and I have often had 
 
 to rush out and part them, trying to look excessively
 
 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 angry, though it is difficult to refrain from laughing 
 when one sees a couple of fellows, each hauling away 
 at the other's pig-tail. We rode over to a Tavist 
 temple, yesterday, to look at a natural hot spring, 
 believing, too, though wrongly, that we should find 
 a swimming-bath. The priest met us at the door, 
 and, to my surprise, shook hands with us in a most 
 polite and gentle manner, like a polished gentleman. 
 
 Returning home, we took several jumps, until S 's 
 
 pony stopped on the brink of a ditch, put his head 
 
 down, and walked backwards, depositing poor S 
 
 in the water up to his neck. However, he soon got 
 on again, and his wet clothes helped him to stick on 
 for the rest of the ride. We laughed a bit. 
 
 August 22nd. — I must now give you an account of 
 an exciting adventure. Yesterday, about three 
 o'clock, a very bright sky was suddenly overcast, 
 and such a torrent of rain came pouring down, 
 and continued till night, as I have never seen. In 
 one hour the courtyard behind was flooded fully a 
 foot deep. In a few minutes it would have burst 
 
 into our room. S and I stripped ourselves of 
 
 everything and put on our mackintoshes and rushed 
 out. To tear up some bricks would soon relieve us of 
 a good deal of water by making a way out for it ; and 
 I went off to our teachers' quarters, where I found 
 priest, teachers, and servants in a terrible plight. 
 All their rooms were flooded below, and through the 
 ceiling. I pointed out a drain which was stopped 
 up, and made them clear it. While thus engaged we
 
 LUNG WANG SANG. 
 
 were too deafened by the storm to hear shrieks and 
 cries for help that were heing raised outside the 
 temple. An excited Chinaman rushed up, and tried 
 to make us understand something ; but he spoke so 
 fast, that it was utterly hopeless to catch his meaning, 
 until I heard the words " two foreigners," when off 
 we went like arrows, through the temple, down the 
 steps, across the road, heedless of rough stones, with 
 our naked feet, until, guided by the shouts, we went 
 about a hundred yards to what in the morning had 
 been a road, but was now a deep, rushing mountain- 
 torrent, and, on the opposite bank, stood B , 
 
 shouting, " Brandy, for Heaven's sake, Gr is 
 
 fainting." 
 
 I flew back, filled a flask, and was in the torrent 
 up to my waist before I knew its force, but was 
 
 stopped in time by B , to whom I threw the flask. 
 
 It was almost dark, and for some little time he could 
 not find it, but, when he had got hold of it, he rushed 
 
 with it into a little hut, where G was almost, 
 
 indeed, as nearly as possible, done. Meanwhile, we 
 had torn our awning ropes down, and I had been 
 trying for five minutes to throw it across, when 
 S shouted out that the torrent was more prac- 
 ticable above, where was, most fortunately, a tree, to 
 
 which our servants tied the rope. S dashed 
 
 nobly in with the other end, and, after a severe 
 struggle, gained the opposite bank. I stood up to 
 
 my waist, holding the rope next to him ; G then 
 
 seized the rope, and he and S plunged in, and in
 
 MARGAKY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 a moment were carried out in a semi-circle, G- 
 
 completely immersed for a few moments. While 
 hauling away for very life, I felt that one of them 
 must go, but they held on nobly, and we pulled them 
 
 in with a shout. S then repeated his feat, and 
 
 we brought B across in the same way, he all 
 
 the while rolling over and over like a log. Both 
 
 of them were fearfully exhausted, and G we put 
 
 to bed. Fortunately it was our dinner hour, and 
 everything was ready for them, and when they 
 were refreshed they recounted their adventures. 
 
 About four miles from this, they were overtaken 
 by the rain, and in less than half-an-hour their 
 ponies were up to their knees in water. They were 
 above three hours getting across the last bit of their 
 ride, and it was by a miracle they escaped. There was 
 not a square foot of sound ground the whole way, and 
 they had to flounder through mud up to their knees. 
 The roads, from their nature, were soon converted 
 into rushing torrents, strong enough to carry away 
 oxen like feathers. At one place they saw an ox being 
 hurled away, his head every now and then appear- 
 ing above the water. At last they reached a house, 
 and, though standing up to their knees in water, the 
 inmates would not give them shelter, thinking they 
 were robbers. A half idiot boy at last came out, and 
 boldly offered to take them to a good road and a 
 ford. But at this ford the boy and the horses were 
 simply carried away by the force of the current, and 
 they never expected to see them again. The boy
 
 LUNG WANG SANG. 
 
 was fortunately thrown on to a bank, where three 
 streams met, and there he sat holding the rein of one 
 pony which was in the water, and there B — — and 
 
 Gr were obliged to abandon him. They shouted 
 
 to him but he answered not a word. The only hope 
 was that he would sit there all night, and so he did, 
 and brought the ponies back safe in the morning. 
 
 B • and G then continued their way, and 
 
 pulled each other through three streams up to their 
 necks in water. When they reached a hut below us 
 here, they shouted for help, and were there for nearly 
 an hour, shivering, exhausted, and half frantic, before 
 
 their, cries were heard. G at one time threw off 
 
 everything, and plunged in to swim across, but was 
 
 pulled back by B in the nick of time. At last 
 
 we came to the rescue, and brought them through 
 all right. 
 
 The little hut in which they took refuge was 
 full of Chinese huddled together; one of them, a 
 
 woman, was washed away and drowned. S 
 
 had nothing on, and I only a mackintosh, so we were 
 not hindered or impeded, and were ready to help. 
 
 ably assisted from the bank, and once went 
 
 in with all his clothes on. Our servants behaved 
 well, and were rewarded. I shall not forget the 
 adventure, as it has cost me more than I can express 
 in words. My ring is lost ! the twist of the rope 
 wrenched it off my finger. But it was lost to save 
 two lives, and I must fain be proud of my loss. 
 
 Numbers of men searched for it next morning in
 
 10 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 vain. Sic transit gloria ! B was exceedingly 
 
 sorry for my loss, and expresses his intention of 
 giving me a ring to keep in memory of this event.* 
 He was carrying desj)atches to his chief, at a temple 
 about five miles from this, and we were not a little 
 amused when he produced their pulp from his boots. 
 
 Gc was also the bearer of letters to and 
 
 S , which, fortunately for them, had not been 
 
 put into his riding boots, and, therefore, were dried 
 
 and deciphered. B proceeded next morning on 
 
 a donkey. The four horses came hack in a sorry 
 plight, but soon got quite right again, and the boy 
 was well rewarded, in fact, a great many people 
 were rewarded, and our heroes did not get off too 
 
 cheaply. Next day, G wished to proceed to the 
 
 temple where our other fellow-students are staying, 
 being invited to a feast given by W , in com- 
 memoration of his birthday, but though all the 
 water had run away, the roads were too soft, the 
 
 clouds too threatening, and G and his horse too 
 
 weak to attempt the journey. We had a jolly day 
 here, for the pool was full of water, and clear, so 
 that we had a glorious bathe, and swim in it, and 
 the daily repetition of it adds much to our 
 pleasure. 
 
 Augyst 11th. — We all four rode over to the temple 
 of Ta-pei-su, yesterday morning early ; the distance 
 was about twelve miles, and I never enjoyed a ride 
 
 • 'J'hc ring promised as a memento of the event above recorded was 
 given, and was much prized and always worn by its owner.
 
 LUNG WANG SANG. 11 
 
 more. We had to go round to the other side of the 
 hills behind ns, and crossed several pretty little 
 valleys, which ran up from the plain, and contained 
 temples perched among trees. The valley we sought 
 was longer and prettier than all, with a succession 
 of temples, perched one above another, and a moun- 
 tain brook dashing down between them. This is a 
 favourite valley, and nearly all the temples were 
 taken by members of the different European com- 
 munities. Here was Sir Rutherford Alcock's, and, 
 
 close by, another, in which W. H and 0. B 
 
 were staying ; two students were their guests for a 
 week, and another was staying with Sir Rutherford, 
 so we were nearly all together at the moment, there 
 being only four left in the Legation, and they will 
 get their turn at the hills. We found them all in a 
 high state of jollity. They had had a grand dinner 
 the day before, and, upon my word, they gave us 
 one that night that would have done credit to 
 Verrey's. 0. B can afford to be a little extrava- 
 gant, for his knowledge of chemistry has gained him 
 a capital appointment, if any of us had studied that 
 noble science, we might have got it. We were hos- 
 pitably put up for the night, and called, as was our 
 duty, on the chief, and the ladies. They were much 
 interested in the history of our adventures, and we 
 had a long and pleasant visit. We rode back to our 
 own temple early this morning, having thoroughly 
 
 enjoyed our visit. S and I return to Pekin on 
 
 Saturday, having enjoyed ourselves much in this
 
 12 MAKGAEY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 place, improved greatly in health, and made a good 
 start in Chinese. The rain has filled the lakes and 
 canals in the city, which have lain dry for about five 
 years, and have been an eyesore ; so the huge city 
 will be much improved. Since yesterday every 
 cloud has vanished, and the country is just getting 
 dry again. Carts are actually passing us. 
 
 To tlie Eev. J. Layard. 
 
 Lim(/ Wang Sang, September 1st. — Everyone but 
 
 F has gone into Pekin, some for good, some for 
 
 pleasure, all to get their month's wages : as my friend 
 
 E will bring my pay for me, I preferred 
 
 remaining to work as hard as possible, as the 
 examination is very near. 
 
 In answer to my invitation to come up to. my 
 
 temple and dine with me, F writes to say 
 
 that, being a determined sportsman, he is unable to 
 pass by the 1st of September without seeking par- 
 tridges, and he is off on a day's shooting. So solus 
 ego. A short time since, as I was reading aloud, 
 a party of five Chinese passed by, '■'■ kuanging ,'' by 
 which we mean site, or sight-seeing. The former 
 is the more appropriate as applied to Chinamen. 
 On their return, I asked them in with all the 
 politeness I could muster. I saw at a glance that 
 they were above the common herd, but as Chinamen 
 never make any display in mufti, and yet are very 
 punctilious, I had great difficulty in determining 
 which was the right person to address, and, of course,
 
 FORMOSA. 13 
 
 j^itched upon the wrong one. However, we had a 
 capital conversation for about an hour, and by 
 asking close questions, which is the most polite 
 thing to do, I determined their several grades. Two 
 of them were members of the Imperial family. This 
 body is so large, that they have a yamen of their 
 own, and all the members are distinguished by a 
 yellow girdle. When the relationship gets very 
 remote, they are transferred to the class of red 
 girdles, and then they sink into oblivion. My 
 friend wore only a very narrow yellow belt like a 
 lady's. Not having seen one, and expecting to see 
 a sash, I never noticed his rank. With these two 
 was a distinguished literatus, a meuiber of the 
 Hanlin, or Forest of Pencils^ the highest literary 
 degree. 
 
 [The following extracts from Mr. Margary's 
 journals and letters were written during his first 
 official appointment to Formosa, mentioned in the 
 introductory sketch.] 
 
 Formosa^ 1871. — During the last two or three 
 years, public attention has been drawn with un- 
 wonted attraction towards China, but it seems to 
 require events of a very extraordinary or very 
 startling character to fix that attention with any 
 steady interest. It might seem that tbe enormous 
 European demand for tea and silk would be suffi- 
 cient to inspire some regard for the country of their
 
 14 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 source ; that the activity of trade in the direction of 
 China, the great prosperity of Cahfornia, the running 
 of the fine Pacific mail steamers from thence to 
 Shanghae and Hong Kong, and the activity of the 
 Russians ever hovering over China, and improving 
 their fine settlement in the Amur, would have been 
 sufiScient facts to rouse the House of Commons ; but, 
 in fact, it requires an unintelligible Chinese mission, 
 followed by a Tientsin massacre, which proved its 
 hollowness, to raise public interest. Unfortunately 
 the sad EurojDean war soon obliterated the effect, and 
 future troubles may be needed to force people to 
 think of the importance of the settlements here, 
 at Hong Kong, Shanghae, and Hankow. 
 
 Democracies have always shown a disregard for 
 distant interests, and there are visible signs, even 
 now, that British commerce will suffer sooner or later 
 from these tendencies, and the power of economical 
 ministers increased at the expense of the efficiency 
 of the public services abroad. 
 
 In casting about for objects of retrenchment, a 
 death-blow is being aimed at the mercantile ex- 
 istence of Formosa. The island is obscure and 
 little known. Its trade is small, and employs a 
 mere handful of British merchants, but a firm and 
 well-supported protest has been raised against so 
 unwise a measure, and it begins to appear that the 
 trade, specially at the north of the island, owed its 
 existence and first yearly development to a very 
 remarkable instance of British pluck and perse-
 
 FORMOSA. 15 
 
 verance. The pioneers are men who have laid aside 
 comfort and the luxuries of civilised life to rescue 
 this beautiful island from undeserved neglect, and 
 who have passed through years of unprofitable toil 
 to dawning prosperity. In one case they have 
 created the cultivation and reputation of a new and 
 highly-prized tea, and now a decree goes forth to 
 crush them. 
 
 I have a vivid recollection of the difficulty I 
 experienced long ago on leaving England in getting 
 information about China. Most people knew the 
 names of the three great cities, but it would have 
 put the good people of Shanghae very considerably 
 out of conceit with themselves, to have been told 
 that very few knew even of their existence as a 
 community. 
 
 And yet Shanghae is as wonderful a place as 
 Hong Kong or Singapore. 
 
 Now Formosa is as little known to people on the 
 mainland, at least at the more northern ports. Such 
 foreign interest as there is in Formosa is confined to 
 two ports, one at each end of the island, and com- 
 pletely isolated from each other by some two 
 hundred miles of difficult road, path, I ought 
 rather to say, for I doubt if civilisation is suffi- 
 ciently advanced along any part of the route to 
 have made anything worthy the name of a road. 
 These two harbours are the same places which the 
 unfortunate Dutch occupied two hundred and fifty 
 years ago, and where they built massive forts,
 
 16 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 which stand to this day, and one of which, viz., 
 that of Tamsuy, in the north, has been very gro- 
 tesquely adapted to the uses of H.M. consulate. 
 The story of the Dutch occupation is a sad one, and 
 well illustrates the treacherous character of Chinese 
 diplomacy. 
 
 Formosa was in those days completely in the 
 hands of the aborigines, but much coveted by the 
 Chinese. 
 
 The Dutch, following in the wake of the Por- 
 tuguese, were hindered by the jealous policy of the 
 latter from gaining any equal concessions from the 
 Chinese Government of that day, which was, by 
 the bye, far more tolerant and progressive than the 
 present Government. The renowned Koxinga, who 
 held the command of the whole Imperial fleet at 
 Amoy, and who had received many mortifying 
 repulses in Formosa, cleverly deflected the power 
 and enterprise of the Dutch in the direction of that 
 island. They succeeded in establishing themselves, 
 and even intermarrying with the natives, but the 
 wary Koxinga pounced down upon the successful 
 colonists in a moment of weakness, from the want of 
 supplies from home, and enacted a very Cawnpore 
 tragedy. Just as Koxinga had made a cat's paw of 
 the Dutch, so did the Chinese Government recom- 
 pense him after he had strutted out his days of 
 usurped sovereignty, and prepared the island for 
 easy annexation. 
 
 Since then, the aborigines have been steadily,
 
 FOEMOSA. 17 
 
 though slowly, driven to the eastward, and at the 
 present day they enjoy possession of fully half this 
 gem of the seas. The country is extremely wild and 
 picturesque, and the very few travellers who have 
 had the hardihood to visit the haunts of the 
 aborigines speak of the hard work they encountered 
 in penetrating the thick vegetation of the pathless 
 hills. 
 
 It might he interesting to a Highlander to know 
 that these adventurous pioneers have adopted and 
 recommended the kilt as the best dress for such 
 rough travelling. The Chinese have not pushed 
 their colonies with rapidity, and certainly they had 
 grave obstacles to encounter in the undying enmity 
 of the natives, and in the denseness of their 
 forests. 
 
 These thick forests of camphor trees have afforded 
 inexhaustible occupation to settlers for many years 
 past, and vast spaces have been cleared and re- 
 planted. The natives distil the camphor themselves, 
 and our merchants buy it of them at the place of 
 production. 
 
 The savages, as they are called, occasionally come 
 down from their hills, and attack the settlers with 
 varying and trivial success. This only happens 
 on the borders. All along the West Coast, and 
 for some distance inland, the Chinese have fully 
 established themselves in flourishing villages and 
 towns.
 
 18 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 To the Rev. J. Latard. 
 
 Formosa, January, 1871. — I was grieved to hear 
 in my last home-letters of your very severe illness 
 and suffering, and I was roused thereby to a con- 
 sciousness of my neglect in leaving one or two of 
 your welcome letters unanswered ; it was not 
 that I had forgotten to do so, but various things 
 conspired to prevent my writing. 
 
 It took a long time to get over here from 
 Shanghae, and still longer for my luggage to arrive 
 and enable me to set up in comfort at Kelung, and all 
 this time 1 was hanging on in a comfortless shake- 
 down-kind of existence in miserable quarters con- 
 verted out of an ancient Dutch fort, which has 
 stood for upwards of one hundred and fifty years, but 
 of which little is accurately known. 
 
 [He here speaks of the kindness of his host.] 
 
 I was not long at my solitary post at Kelung 
 before 1 had to return to Tamsuy to see the doctor, 
 who could not come to me, having hurt himself just 
 as I was in need of him. Heavy rains and storms 
 had made the mountain paths so slippery, and so 
 swelled the rapids, that I came down with some 
 difficulty, but was able to return at Christmas. 
 
 I am impatient to get back to my books ; Kelung 
 is a solitary place. Only the custom-house and one 
 merchant-house are to be seen, and occasionally 
 sailing-ships come in from Shanghae for coal. The 
 Government have never quite made up their mind
 
 FOEMOSA. 19 
 
 to encourage Formosan trade. Hence no proper 
 houses have been built for the ofiScers, and just now 
 we are in expectation of orders to close the consulate, 
 and quit the island. I shall be glad enough to go, 
 for it is a wretched existence in many ways, but it 
 will be a great injustice to those who have stuck to 
 the place, and made the trade, and we are all trying 
 our utmost to plead their cause. The tea trade here 
 is quite distinct from that at any other port. It is 
 the purest and the best, and is just getting such an 
 impetus, that it will very soon eclipse many of its 
 rivals on the mainland. Dodd has played the 
 arduous part of pioneer here for six years. His teas 
 are prepared under his own eye, and packed by him ; 
 whereas, on the mainland, this jDart of the business is 
 done by natives, and the teas brought to the market 
 complete. Unfortunately, Formosan tea is a bitter 
 kind, the Oolong, which does not suit English 
 tastes, but it is what the Yankees like, so nearly the 
 whole of it goes to America. It is curious how 
 each nation has its peculiar fancy in tea. The 
 natives make such a profit by tea that they are 
 cultivating it rapidly on the sides of the hills, and 
 even replacing indigo with tea. 
 
 The Chinese agriculture is very striking in one 
 respect, and that is, that it does not shrink from 
 invading the highest summits, and far up the hill- 
 sides you see little patches and terraces carefully 
 cultivated, and in a little hut hard by, the soHtary 
 worker is content to live.
 
 20 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 Looking upon the vast unclaimed surface of this 
 island, which teems with vegetation all over its 
 hills, it is easy to predict an unlimited increase to 
 the trade without the corroborating evidence of 
 statistics. Kelung is only a coal harbour at present, 
 but this year it will be great in tea also. The 
 customs intend to reduce the grievous duties on coal 
 soon, and when they do this, we shall have ships 
 coming down in shoals. At present, it scarcely pays 
 them. We cannot get them to allow foreign miners 
 to deal with the coal-veins, which is a very great 
 pity, as our Celestial friends make a very clumsy 
 mess of it, and are utterly ignorant of the very 
 rudiments of geology, which would enable them to 
 recover' the strata at a fault. It is curious how 
 jealous and suspicious the Chinese are of a geologist. 
 If he wanders with a hammer among the rocks he 
 is sure to be watched lest he should discover gold. 
 
 It is firmly believed that a foreigner can see three 
 feet into the ground. If, on the contrary, you gather 
 leaves and plants, you gain great respect from them, 
 for you are supposed to be in search of medicines, 
 and all foreigners are physicians in their eyes, and 
 missionary doctors are especially successful. I have 
 taken up botany and geology ; we find progress far 
 easier in the former. 
 
 The scenery inland is lovely, but unfortunately 
 for several winter months Kelung and its environs 
 is enveloped in storms and wet weather, which is 
 very depressing, unless one has some absorbing
 
 FOOCHOW. 21 
 
 occupation. This I find in the books I am reading. 
 I have also engaged a literatus to brush up my 
 Chinese, for which I have little use in these quiet 
 parts. The language certainly imposes a lasting 
 task on the student, which does seem rather hard 
 after the labour of acquiring it. I am reading- 
 through a history, in the original, of a period in the 
 third century a.d. It is merely a history of warriors, 
 and battles, and treacheries, not a word of the con- 
 dition of the people, save when they are slaughtered 
 for the sins of their betters. The favourite treachery 
 of inviting an enemy to a feast, with many protesta- 
 tions of friendship, and then chopping his head off, 
 is recorded over and over again, and it is a signifi- 
 cant fact that this custom still prevails. We have 
 had an instance of it in Formosa quite lately, when 
 a mandarin, friendly to foreigners, was the victim 
 after a sumptuous entertainment. 
 
 Lesson to foreigners — Don't trust tliem too much, 
 which some are foolishly persisting in doing. 
 
 January 21tli. — I am obliged to close hurriedly, as 
 a Siamese steamer has made its appearance at Kelung, 
 and a messenger is going over to-night, so I will not 
 miss the opportunity of sending this, as we cannot 
 tell when another steamer may appear. A gale is 
 blowing, which may delay the appearance of H.M.S. 
 Zebra, 
 
 To his Parents. 
 Foochow, 1871, — I have some stirring scenes to 
 describe to you, which have occupied our minds to
 
 22 MAKGAEY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 the exclusion of everything else. — I sold all my things 
 satisfactorily within forty-eight hours of the EWs 
 arrival, having sent round a comic circular, which had 
 a magic effect, and raised a great deal of fun at the 
 sale. The Elk was going round to Kelung for a trip, 
 and also to lovely Sau-o-bay, on the coast of Formosa, 
 where there was a probability of seeing some of the 
 savages. Hence my hot haste, for I was very anxious 
 to visit their haunts, otherwise I might have leisurely 
 awaited her return, as she had come to Tamsuy for 
 treasure. My friends gave me a farewell dinner the 
 night before, and the song of " Old King Cole" was 
 kept up to such a late hour, that I was in danger of 
 oversleeping daylight, and missing the Elk ; as it 
 was, I had to pursue her in my crumpled white clothes 
 of the previous evening and minus my baggage. 
 However, T hurriedly wrote a note to have my box 
 sent overland to Kelung, and had just time to throw 
 it into the sanpan, which was being towed nearly 
 under. As sure as the telegraph, my things were 
 over there and nearly as soon as I was, so that I had 
 not to borrow much of my very kind friends on board. 
 
 W was a delightful man, and soon proved himself 
 
 A 1 in the event I am about to describe, and in 
 the confusion and misery caused by a fearful typhoon 
 which we narrowly escaped. The centre of the 
 storm passed immediately over Kelung harbour. 
 Had it occurred a few hours earlier or later, nothing 
 could have saved us : as it was, I think I did some 
 service to H.M.S. Elk, by pointing out the safest
 
 FOOCHOW. 23 
 
 berth immediately behind a reef. The entrance to 
 Kelung harbour is very simple, and I know the 
 somidings well. They had got a duffer of a pilot, a 
 native fisherman, who was taking the ship wrong, and 
 
 W sent for me. After that, the pilot was going 
 
 to put him into a place where, as events occurred, he 
 must have been wrecked by other ships drifting down 
 on him, even if he could have steamed up against the 
 wind, which was awfully terrific. I was again referred 
 to, and advised a snug corner which was very nearly 
 occupied by another ship. I went on shore and could 
 not get back to dinner on board at seven, when the 
 blow began. However Dodd and I and another 
 gentleman sat down to dinner. Very soon the wind 
 began to be troublesome, the house rattled, and large 
 pieces of the ceiling came falling down about us in 
 every room in the most uncomfortable manner. We 
 got out our barometers, and sat regarding them for 
 about half an hour with extreme astonishment. The 
 hands moved down tenths at a time, at last they 
 reached 28, and we jumped up, and dressed in flannels 
 to sally forth, and do what we could for the unfor- 
 tunate ships, which we felt sure must be in distress. 
 After opening the door with some difficulty, we 
 struggled across the verandah and peered out into the 
 darkness. The ship's lights seemed to be strangely 
 mixed up, and soon three masts loomed out of the 
 darkness, right under our noses. Then began the 
 hurried excitement which lasted all that night. We 
 had little at hand to make a light with, until a bright
 
 24 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 thought struck Mr. C , and a heap of camphor 
 
 was thrown into a flower-pot, which made a brilliant 
 blaze, and gave a beam of hope to the drifting ships. 
 The water was now dashing all over the garden, and 
 we attached a rope to the flagstaff. Dodd began 
 frantically throwing his clothes off, and I followed 
 his example. We were soon in the water, sticking 
 together and wading out up to our necks, and then 
 we had to swim ; but fancy our mortification in 
 finding the rope short, by at least twenty feet. There 
 was such a roar, that they could not hear on shore 
 our cries for more rope, so we chucked it away, 
 and were soon hanging on to the ship's netting. 
 I tried then to swim back with a rope from 
 the ship, but was obliged to haul back. We 
 then went on deck, and tried to get volunteers, 
 but the men said they could not swim. Two days 
 afterwards they were swimming like ducks. We 
 were perfectly disgusted to find Englishmen behaving 
 so. However we got a boat lowered, which was 
 immediately swamped, but soon baled out again, and 
 we started for shore, with two men to row and a rope 
 attached. No sooner were we on land, than the men 
 skedaddled, leaving us in a pretty mess! Dodd was 
 clinging to the rope with all his strength, and I was 
 hanging on to the boat, when a tremendous sea dashed 
 the boat against our legs, laming our assistants on 
 shore, and then turning her over completely. Dodd 
 and I were underneath like any jack-in-a-box, and 
 we must have been killed, had not ihe boat turned
 
 FOOCHOW. 25 
 
 over again miraculously. I felt it was all over for a 
 moment. We could do nothing more then, and as we 
 had ascertained, while standing shivering on board, 
 that the ship was hard and fast, and so far out of 
 danger,we left them, redressed ourselves, and went to 
 look for two other ships which were ashore half a mile 
 off among the worst rocks. The rocks were fearfully 
 strewed with heaps and heaps of timber and copper 
 bolts, difficult to avoid in the pitchy darkness, and 
 blinding wind and rain. Ever and anon we heard a 
 piteous cry from the angry sea, in answer to our 
 chorus of " all right." Every one fell fifty times, and 
 broke as many lanterns, and made as many journeys 
 back to the house to get more. At last we unearthed 
 a whole heap of Malays perched up on a high bank 
 among the luxuriant brushwood, where they had been 
 thrown up. These were conducted safe home, and 
 we learnt from them that the captain was dashed to 
 pieces. They belonged to the Weshcard Ho, and 
 they told us that a French ship lay close to theirs 
 with the crew clinging to the wreck. These unfor- 
 tunate people we were enabled to get safe on shore 
 some time afterwards. 
 
 We renewed our search, and crawling down opposite 
 the dark object, we ascertained that the men were 
 still on it. Here again tlie gallant Dodd plunged in, 
 and effected a connection. I stood by him up to my 
 shoulders in water to hold the line and life-buoy, and 
 always kept close enough to speak to Dodd, who soon 
 reached a buoy, which the Frenchmen threw over.
 
 26 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 We then took the rope ashore, where the others made 
 sure of the end, while we easily got on board. A 
 strange scene then ensued. The old French captain 
 began to cry, and embrace us, and we had quite an 
 angry altercation before we could compel the crew to 
 go over the side and trust themselves to the rope. 
 We found a poor wretch with a broken leg, who be- 
 haved splendidly, and helped us with his arms and 
 other leg to hoist him over the bulwarks. I then 
 went down and lay on my back in the water, holding 
 on to the rope, and the man's legs were lowered on to 
 my shoulders, so that I formed a sort of bed for him, 
 and Dodd supported his head and shoulders. In this 
 way, half swimming, half hauling, we two, unaided, 
 carried him to shore. Excuse my egotism, but I cannot 
 help being astonished how we managed it ! After this, 
 they said, four men were cut off in the bows of the 
 ship. Her back w^as broken, and at first it seemed 
 impossible to get them off. How^ever Dodd and I 
 again got on boai'd, and crawled near enough to speak 
 to them, and to see that there really was a safe way 
 down. But they had not the courage to move, until 
 we poured abuse into their frightened ears. Just then 
 a big sea rolled us all up into dumplings ; my hand 
 fortunately found something to seize, but, to my horror, 
 old Dodd had disappeared! He turned up again, 
 though, frightfully bruised, and groaning with pain, 
 and from that time I minded no more Frenchmen. We 
 all got on shore, how^ever, with the addition of a black 
 cat, which clung to my naked shoulder with desperate
 
 FOOCHOW. 27 
 
 energy, while the waves rolled over our heads. 
 About daylight we had a snack, and fell into a 
 sound sleep, utterly exhausted, but we were glad 
 to find on waking that the gun-vessel and two ships 
 remained safe. We remained for a whole fortnight 
 in frightful confusion. Dodd's house was turned 
 into a barrack, and I am sorry to say many things 
 
 disappeared. Capt. W lent us marines, who lived 
 
 also at Dodd's, and we sallied forth night after night, 
 to make up and watch by a big fire over against 
 the wreck to keep off the natives ; every one had his 
 work cut out for the time. I had to bury the poor 
 captain, and help his mate (who was saved, and 
 proved to be a right good worker) to keep his 
 Malays in order, and victual them, and to save as 
 much property as possible. The gun-boat did her 
 best to pull off the stranded vessel. She steamed 
 away with frightful energy, until we thought she 
 Avould burst herself, instead of which she cracked the 
 strong hawsers w^ith a report that was astonishing 
 to hear. It was at night that these operations were 
 always obliged to be carried on, and the result was 
 a series of Turner's pictures. The P'renchman 
 turned out to be rather a superior sort of man, but 
 he was too fond of telling us that he was all there, 
 that we had j^lenty of intelligence, and that the 
 maritime laws were not washed out of his head. If 
 that was so, I think they must have been the only 
 things he saved, for his wits were more or less gone 
 for three or four days. There were many strange
 
 28 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 episodes during these events, which I cannot describe 
 briefly. I remember shortly before we discovered 
 the Frenchman's whereabouts, we tried to light a 
 big fire in a dead-house that happened to be there. 
 I mean a small joss-house, in which the rustics store 
 their ancestral bones. The heavy driving rain 
 prevented any such attempt outside. We picked up 
 pieces of wreck, and threw them inside, and very 
 soon a blaze was created, and a ghastly scene pre- 
 sented itself; there we stood on the wild shore, with 
 our faces screwed up in the pelting, hail-like rain, 
 and inside, an ancient skull grinned uj3on us from 
 behind the fire. 
 
 The next night, a big fire occurred in the city, 
 and Dodd, with his usual impetuosity, put it out 
 by jumping on the tops of the houses, , and 
 hacking away with the sword he carried, until he 
 fell through, and was hauled out by the coolies. 
 He then had a hand to hand fight with looters, and 
 retired amidst the cheers of the honest natives. 
 
 A few nights after this, we were all knocked 
 clean out of our beds by a smart shock of earthquake. 
 After settling the wrecks, and clearing off the 
 business, we all went round to Tamsuy, and took in 
 our treasure, and I am glad to say it put something 
 
 into poor W 's pocket. By the way, a treasure 
 
 chest, containing 1400 dollars, belonging to the British 
 ship, was fished up by clever divers, and carried off 
 
 to a village. W landed and searched for it, and 
 
 we had a good deal of bother with the mandarins.
 
 NIAGARA. • 29 
 
 I said good-bye somewhat sorrowfully to Tamsuy, 
 and we had a beautiful passage over. 
 
 Large ships are wrecked all down the coast, and 
 we found no less than forty more unfortunate 
 people, including five women, at Tamsuy, forwarded 
 
 there by mandarins. Captain W brought about 
 
 sixty over with him. Through all the scrimmage, 
 strangely enough, I was about the only one not hurt 
 in any way beyond bruises. I have made a very 
 long, and breathless yarn of this hurricane, but 
 being as it is currente calamo, I hope no hostile 
 criticism will attack my faults of grammar, and 
 absence of coherence. 
 
 [In the spring of 1872 Mr. Margary returned to 
 England for sixteen months. The following are ex- 
 tracts from letters written on his return journey to 
 China via the trans-continental railway through 
 North America.] 
 
 To F. E. R. 
 Cataract Hotel, Niagara, August 22nd, 1873. — I 
 have this afternoon stood over the mighty Falls, 
 wrapped in a delighted gaze. To-morrow morning 
 I hope to sally forth very early, and go down below 
 to the place where they dress you in oilskin, and 
 conduct you right under the arched water. The 
 Horse-shoe Fall is a mighty cataract indeed, with 
 glorious bands of colour stretching across the water, 
 fascinating the eye. . . We ordered a carriage, and 
 drove to the rapids. The first operation was to
 
 30 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 pay $1 . 50. each, and then we were let down some 
 two hundred feet of perpendicular cliff in a regular 
 hotel lift, to a standing point, from whence we 
 overlooked the magnificent rapids, still at some depth 
 below, seething into white foam its bright blue 
 waters wherever a rock intervened. . . It is a 
 stupendous gorge through which it runs, in many 
 places showing up with a rich background of trees. 
 
 Our hotel and two others in a line with it are full 
 of visitors. There seem to be more ladies than men 
 among them, and as many of them are fresh and 
 pretty, it is rather a gay sight. The coiffure of the 
 younger women is very new, and somewhat amusing 
 to look at. The hotels have an Oriental look about 
 them, through having verandahs outside, and all the 
 rooms thrown open with free ingress and egress from 
 one to the other, so that what with numbers of 
 people sitting outside, talking and smoking, and 
 ladies flitting from room to room, a very animated 
 scene is presented, and there is no need for a 
 stranger to feel ennuye, or to lounge about alone, as 
 at many English sea-side hotels. In fact the whole 
 place has an unfinished look about it, very much 
 reminding me of a settlement in the East, which of 
 itself produces a very refreshing effect. 
 
 We have, in coming here, passed through much 
 grand scenery with our eyes shut, although, I must 
 say, it took a long time to get into that blissful state 
 in the sleeping-car, of which we have had our first 
 experience. The trains are conducted by very surly
 
 NIAGARA. 31 
 
 officials, who will not give you information readily, 
 and, this being a free country, of course, treat you as 
 an inferior altogether. 
 
 The sleeping-car is rather a clever contrivance, 
 but does not produce the comfort which is expected. 
 In the first place, the rattling and heaving of the 
 carriages is as though you stood by the engine-room 
 of a steamer in a slight sea. The train regularly 
 pitches and oscillates enough to throw you off your 
 balance at times, and this, although it scarcely exceeds 
 a rate of twenty miles. The first appearance of the 
 car is that of a small restaurant, divided off into 
 recesses right and left, filled with bench-seats facing 
 in pairs, but at night the metamorphosis is magical. 
 The nigger conductor passes along, pulling down an 
 upper berth, which contains mattresses, sheets, and 
 pillows, all smelling horribly musty. However, we 
 were told that the Pullman's sleeping-cars, which we 
 do not meet with on this side of Chicago, are much 
 superior in every way. It is pleasant enough being 
 able to lie down, but it is not so easy to undress in 
 the narrow space, and you have hardly room to stow 
 away a bag, so that in a trip of six or seven days, 
 one has to put up with the misery of not being able 
 to change apparel very often, nor is the luxury of a 
 bath attainable. 
 
 The American trains are totally different to ours. 
 You can pass right through from one end to the 
 other, and as it does not matter where you get in, 
 you find nothing of that excited rushing about to find
 
 32 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 your carriage, so common in England. Another 
 rather amusing thing is to see the cool way in which 
 people jump off, or get on to the train while in motion, 
 and also the absence of gates, or other bars, across 
 the line when it passes through the highways. In 
 many places the line passes along between houses, 
 which have their front doors and verandahs facing 
 the railway, and you see whole families sitting out 
 and gazing at the monster trains passing by their 
 very doors. In America it is the custom for trains 
 as well as carriages to pass each other on the right. 
 
 To F. E. R. 
 Pacific Mail Steam-ship ' Japan,' September 2nd, 
 1873. — This is a line which offers few opportunities or 
 incidents for a sparkling correspondence, and I cannot 
 at present see much material on board to work up 
 into a thrilling history. 
 
 A magnificent ship like this, with saloons and cabins 
 and ladies' boudoirs fitted up like a house at Princes- 
 gate, is desolation itself, with only fifty passengers to 
 enliven its spacious retreats. If only the long vista 
 of this saloon could be sprinkled with the lively 
 freight of an outward P. and 0. ship, we should 
 have some fun to relate. But, as it is, the thought 
 of pounding steadily at only nine knots through this 
 wide ocean for three weeks, without touching at a 
 single island, seems to have sent all the ladies to 
 sleep. 
 
 For my part, having formed a resolution to brusli
 
 EN KOUTE TO JAPAN. 33 
 
 up my Chinese and to read through a few voknnes 
 of an intellectual type, I am not sorry that my restless 
 social natm^e has not too much to distract it. I set 
 to work most resolutely this morning, and for some 
 two or three hours stirred up the muddy depths of 
 oft trodden ground. 
 
 I shall have to hark back, and tell you more about 
 our trip across America, but it seemed so barren and 
 uncomfortable, that I did not feel as if I had anything 
 to write about when I was there. 
 
 As we rattled over that execrable railway, our 
 minds were not equal to much more than playing 
 bezique ; consequently many hours were spent over 
 that imbecile game. We used to get a table fixed 
 up, between the opposite bench-seats, and there, in 
 somewhat close packed comfort, we made ourselves 
 sardine sandwiches, instead of dining off the very 
 uninviting food supplied at the stopping places, for 
 the enormous charge of a dollar. Those weary days 
 tried our patience very much, and there was little to 
 reward one at night, when the greasy-smelling 
 black porter came along the carriage pulling down 
 the berths, making the beds (one above and one 
 below), and hanging the curtains all along, a process 
 which soon changed the apj^earance of the carriage 
 from a cafe' to a dismal, narrow passage lined with 
 mysterious hangings, which utterly bewildered one 
 as to the probable position of one's own head. 
 
 The railway followed the route originally taken 
 by the Mormons in their harassing journey to the 
 
 D
 
 34 MARGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 " promised land " of Utah, and it was interesting* to 
 mark certain points and places, made famous by the 
 history of their march. We passed close inider 
 "Pulpit Rock," in Echo Canon, where Brigham Young 
 addressed the assembled congregation before they 
 took possession of the " promised land." Although 
 we did not find time to run down to Salt Lake City, 
 we were rigrht in the middle of the fine Mormon 
 settlement at Ogden, which was the only refreshing 
 place our eyes rested on for many hundred miles. 
 Pretty little villas dotted the plain, which was spread 
 out like an accidental lake in the hollow of the 
 mountains. The liarvest had just been gathered in, 
 and the Avhole place looked happy, a charming oasis 
 after wearisome lengths of prairie and the con- 
 ventional " city," which generally consisted of the 
 railway station and a gaming shed. 
 
 To F. E. E. 
 
 Yokohama, September 29th, 1873. — We had twenty- 
 two calm, monotonous days on the passage ; and 
 then, all of a sudden, experienced a violent storm, one 
 of those veritable typhoons of this dreaded coast, 
 which delayed us twenty-four hours. The captain 
 was a calm, sagacious man, well versed in these 
 extraordinary tornadoes, and he managed to keep 
 the vessel on the outskirts of the hurricane, and so 
 let it pass by us. But we had quite enough of a gale 
 to frighten many who had not been at sea before 
 out of their presence of mind. Many felt serious
 
 YOKOHAMA. 35 
 
 misgivings on account of the popular prejudice 
 against the safety of these huge gingerbread ships in 
 roufi-h weather. I stood in the wheel-house for'ard, 
 all day long, by the side of the captain, and watched 
 with interest and admiration the quiet way in which 
 he manoeuvred the ship to meet the shifting condition 
 of wind and waves. The great ship, steadied as she 
 was by her enormous paddles, rode over the might 
 waves with dignified motion. 
 
 One very remarkable phenomenon, amongst others, 
 which in a smaller ship I should scarcely have been 
 able to observe, without being lashed to a mast, I 
 here saw beautifully displayed. It was the power of 
 heavy rain in subduing both wind and waves. I 
 heard the captain muttering "Just in time," after 
 some manoeuvring of the helm, when down came a 
 squall which lasted half-an-hour. It rained majesti- 
 cally, and down came the enormous crested waves, 
 under pressure of this new element, from tempestuous 
 surging to an almost level calm. Not a breaker 
 was to be seen ! Down, down, to oily smoothness 
 went the angry waters, and I can picture from it the 
 miracle on Gennesareth. " Two hours more of that," 
 says the captain, " and we shall find smooth water." 
 But alas ! it was but a squall, and the sulky wind 
 followed on with redoubled fury. Midnight, 
 however, brought a change, and the last day we 
 steamed through quieter seas. . . We steamed along 
 the Japan coast for some hours before reaching our 
 port, and it was extremely beautiful. The hills were 
 
 D 2
 
 86 MAKGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 mnch broken np and covered with trees, which is, to 
 my eye, the richest kind of scenery. We landed 
 with deHght, expecting to see many wonders in this 
 strange country, but civiHsation has advanced so 
 rapidly, that many of their oddest customs have been 
 swept away. 
 
 October 2nd. — We start to-day for Shanghae. . . . 
 Yedo has greatly disappointed us. We went up by 
 the railway, and spent the whole day running about 
 Yedo in a funny little hand-carriage called a " gin- 
 rick-a-sha." This is a modern invention, emanating 
 from the native brain entirely. It is like a peram- 
 bulator, only drawn in front, and the men who draw 
 them are perfect marvels in activity. They will go 
 all day with you at a fast trot, sometimes working 
 up into a gallop. Gin-rick-a-shas abound. They 
 stand in rows, like cabs in London, and the moment 
 you put your nose outside the hotel, you are besieged 
 -with them. You take one as a matter of course. 
 What need for calculation, when a dirty little slip of 
 paper worth ctsl250, or sixpence half-penny, will 
 make the funny little gin-rick-a-sha man's eyes 
 glisten, and his nimble legs scamper for half a day. 
 
 2\> Mrs. J. Layard. 
 Shanghae, 1873. — Tory far from feeling any sort 
 of impatience at your earnest letters, I have been 
 very much gratified by reading them, and you need 
 not fear to speak too strongly. I do feel the value of 
 every kind of spiritual help out liere, where it is so
 
 SHANGHAE. 37 
 
 easy to let go great truths and to sinT^ down to an 
 easy-going level of morality. My visits to your 
 quiet and much-cherished home were of incalcalahle 
 benefit to me, and I read the Bible with pleasure and 
 awakened interest. 
 
 1 was quite touched this morning to see the quantity 
 of marks and notes you have both so kindly and 
 laboriously put in the Bible you gave me. I value the 
 Book immensely, and understand it now by the light 
 
 thrown on it at S . What an age seems to have 
 
 passed since I left home ; perhaps if I had had a more 
 interesting journey it would not have seemed such a 
 wearisome blank as I feel it now. After the mar- 
 vellous Falls of Niagara there was nothing to relieve 
 the monotony of the journey. The first city we came 
 to was a pattern of all the rest, a mere handful of 
 small huts on a dusty plain, with four or five sulky- 
 looking roughs lounging about smoking. 
 
 The noble prairie was one close cropped waste of 
 dried-up turf, with the faintest approach to undulation, 
 unrelieved by any novelty. The prairie dog was a 
 miserable little animal about the size of a ferret. 
 The only Indians I saw were degraded-looking 
 ruffians begging at the stations. No buffaloes ever 
 appeared, antelopes kept at a distance. The Rocky 
 Mountains were tame, and the scenery of the Sierra 
 Nevadas was shut out from our view by snow-shed 
 tunnels, which added much to our irritation. Add to 
 all this the discomfort of the sleeping-cars, where there 
 is little privacy and much dirt, and where I was
 
 38 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 cruelly relieved of some 14/., and you will understand 
 the abhorrence with which I regard the American 
 route. San Francisco is a curious city. Some of the 
 streets are paved with long planks of wood, which 
 are generally in a rotten state, and your carriage, 
 which is fitted with marvellous springs, buoyant as 
 a balloon, has to tack about to avoid big holes. 
 Railways are laid through the centre of the streets. 
 Trains pull up like omnibuses at certain distances, and 
 people jump on and off them while in motion. 
 Altogether they show a disregard of caution quite 
 startling to a person who in his own country towns 
 seldom catches sight of a train without craning his 
 neck over a high bridge parapet. Upon all this disap- 
 pointment we had an utterly eventless voyage of 
 twenty-three days, until on the very shores of Japan 
 we encountered one of those terrible local hurricanes, 
 the much dreaded typhoon. But our ship was so 
 enormous that the dangerous waves passed harmlessly 
 away. We, that is to say, I and an American lady and 
 gentleman, with whom I got very intimate en route, 
 stayed a week at Yokohama, hoping to be able to make 
 some trips about the country, but we were foiled by 
 the weather. However, there was so much novelty 
 in the settlement itself, and in the great city Yedo, 
 which we visited by rail, that the visit was very 
 enjoyable I fell in with many old Shanghae friends, 
 and felt quite at home. This was the honne houche of 
 the whole trip, and we left Yokohama with pleasurable 
 anticipations of going through the far famed inland
 
 CHEFOO. 89 
 
 sea. This, at any rate, came up to our expectations ; 
 but we were very near paying dearly for our whistle, 
 for another typhoon, at the very doors of the land- 
 locked sea, put us in great peril for some twenty-four 
 hours. When this was safely passed, we soon found 
 ourselves at anchor before a lovely spot called Kobe', 
 or Hiogo. Having to be here a day and a half, we 
 got up a picnic to a waterfall, and enjoyed the rich 
 scenery of the tree-clad hills. In spite of all these 
 refreshing sights, I was very low spirited until we 
 fairly reached the beastly yellow waters of the 
 mighty Yangtsze. Then a feeling of being near home 
 came over me, and I got such a warm welcome on 
 shore that atra cura fled rapidly. 
 
 [In November, Mr. Margary was sent to Chefoo, 
 to take charge of that port till the consul arrived, 
 and then to remain there as acting Chinese inter- 
 preter. He describes it in his letters as a " cold 
 bracing place in winter." " A little house," he 
 writes, " on the top of a small hill is at my disposal. 
 From its windows, I overlook the town on the one 
 hand, and the curved bay on the other, where the 
 blue water rolls in with a delicious murmur. In the 
 back ground high hills close in the scene, w^ith 
 grand effect." ] 
 
 Letters to F. E. E. 
 The great institution of the place is a New Club, 
 which at present comprises more amusement than 
 instruction. The reading room is only so in name,
 
 40 MARGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 but' the theatre is used every Sunday for Presby- 
 terian services. I am told they hold a Church of 
 England service there once a month. The great 
 diversion of the club is bowling. On Wednesday 
 and Saturday nights we all meet there and bowl 
 away till midnight. 
 
 Friday, November 2S th. — I am afraid we have 
 exhausted our fair weather. Heavy clouds are being 
 blown down upon us from the north, and probably 
 they will soon discharge themselves in snow. I am 
 told in the depths of winter, the advancing tide 
 throws up for itself a barrier of ice, which has been 
 seen to grow several feet. . . . 
 
 There are some ten steamers, which continually 
 run up and down from Shanghae, to Chefoo, Tientsin, 
 and as the winter approaches, they hurry , them 
 backwards and forwards, in the hopes of getting 
 cargoes into the river, up to the last moment, before 
 the ice bars farther progress. Then Tientsin gets 
 shut out, and all these steamers are laid up, with the 
 exception of one or two, which are run up here 
 about once a fortnight. Unfortunately, we cannot 
 count upon their regularity, so as to be sure of 
 catching the mails. 
 
 I have paid two official visits to the local mandarin, 
 called the Tao-Tai, and he has returned my intro- 
 ductory call. I put on my uniform, and went off in 
 a sedan chair, borne by four men in the usual style. 
 We merely had to go about half-a-mile. This is not a 
 walled city, but only a small town, the district city
 
 CHEFOO. 41 
 
 being some twenty miles off. So that after passing 
 through the foreign settlement, and its ridiculous 
 little streets, ambitiously named " Broadway," or 
 " Consulate Road," etc., we had only to thread a 
 very short distance of the usual filthy narrow lanes 
 of a Chinese town, before we reached the magistrate's 
 abode. The streets were full of stalls, and choked 
 with buyers, carriers, coolies, and mules. Most of 
 the people stooped down to stare. Some roared with 
 laughter, some quietly said, " Oh, here are foreign 
 officials," others " Look at the foreign devils." The 
 next time I went, I kept my eyes on a Chinese book, 
 and thereby elicted many a surprised remark of 
 approval. I am in this province quite at home 
 again. Every coolie or peasant I meet, I can con- 
 verse with intelligibly. This is such a comfort, 
 after Shanghae and the South, where a horrible 
 patois debars one from a single word of intercourse 
 with the natives ; whereas, up here, wherever I 
 roam, the familiar old Pekin tongue greets my ear, 
 and the pleasure of a walk is increased fifty-fold. 
 The country people are always nice, chatty, and 
 agreeable. Somehow, the moment they herd to- 
 gether, inside walls, the demon of malice, and 
 mischief, seems to possess them. 
 
 The Tao-Tai's house was a miserable place. I 
 passed through three or four dirty little courtyards 
 before reaching the hall of audience, which was, as 
 usual, an open room, with only three sides and a 
 mud floor. The Tao-Tai is a young man for his rank.
 
 42 MAEGAKY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 He is only tliirty-six but looks twenty-one. He has 
 passed the highest examinations, and is a member of 
 the " Forest of Pencils," and as a natural con- 
 sequence, I find him very stupid, and exasperatingly 
 apathetic. He is the Chinese beau ideal of beauty. 
 First of all, very fat, especially in face ; that is a 
 great perfection. Eyes with a good upward slant, a 
 broad thick forehead and pericranium, and a large, 
 heavy, sleek, rounded, placid face ; the mouth very 
 pleasing, and showing a good set of white teeth 
 when he grins. His general contour is then well 
 supported with thick wadded clothes. He meets 
 you at the door, seats you with ceremony, ]3uts bits 
 of cake before you with his own hand, which you 
 immediately do to him with yours, and then the con- 
 versation begins by a good stupid stare, and absurd 
 questions about your honourable age. I stirred him 
 up well, and planted a joke, which has served to put 
 us on the best of terms. . . . 
 
 I am gradually getting into studious habits, and 
 as there is so little work in the office, a very large 
 portion of the day is at my disposal. I generally 
 have a couple of hours over Chinese before going to 
 office. ... I have been negotiating to-day for a 
 Chinese tutor. A young man was brought to me, 
 and highly recommended for his talents and pro- 
 ficiency in the public examinations, and so I have 
 arranged to try him, and we shall commence work 
 in a few days. I shall have his services, morning 
 and evening, for the sum of ten dollars a month, that
 
 CHEFOO. 43 
 
 is at the rate of about 27/. a year. . . . My object 
 in getting an entirely fresh hand is to avoid the 
 danger of learning doggerel Chinese, which those 
 men who constantly undergo the drudgery of teach- 
 ing foreigners unconsciously fall into. 
 
 Chef 00, January 25th, 1874. — The Chinese make 
 a great deal of their New Year ; a public holiday of 
 a week takes place, and I shall probably take a run 
 up country. . . . All shops are closed, and no busi- 
 ness done for a fortnight. They shut themselves up 
 with their families and friends, and have a regular 
 round of feasting and amusement. Heaps of 
 crackers are fired off, and hideous noises of pan-pipes, 
 gongs, and all kinds of music escape from every 
 house. From about this time up to the end of their 
 year, frantic efforts are made to sell off all their 
 available stock ; cash is wanted everywhere. It is 
 the grand settling day. Consequently purchasers 
 find their money goes a long way. Now is the time 
 to buy things cheap. As I went by the other day, I 
 noticed the road lined with rustics bringing anything 
 and everything to market, from food to firewood. 
 
 February 1st. — We have been out for about two 
 hours, and enjoyed a ramble in an old Chinese 
 family cemetery, which lies outside the town, about 
 three miles off. These ancestral burying places of 
 men of note are tended with great care. A wall 
 surrounds the inclosure, and dark cypress trees 
 overshadow the grave mounds. This one we have 
 been to see to-day was first made by a distinguished
 
 M MAEGAEY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 provincial governor, named Wang, who died in the 
 early part of the seventeenth century. His mound 
 occupies the top of the oblong, and many of his de- 
 scendants lie ranged in order, on each side, down 
 towards the entrance, and, after the manner of those 
 times, an open avenue is left up the centre, lined on 
 each side with figures of animals cut in stone. . . . 
 I deciphered the monumental inscriptions, setting 
 forth what offices and attainments each one acquired. 
 These graveyards often afford the best feature in 
 Chinese landscapes, as in them the trees are j)i'e- 
 served, and as a rule in them alone will anything 
 approaching to a grove be found. The people are 
 so poor that they cut everything down for firewood, 
 and we see them every day scraping the ground 
 with long bamboo rakes, to gather grass and sticks 
 for the same purpose. ... 
 
 I am planning a trip through the hills with a 
 young Frenchman, and we intend to visit the gold 
 mines, sulphur baths, and other places. The country 
 round is full of minerals. Garnets, jasper, jade, talc, 
 asbestos, and iron have been picked up in our 
 vicinity, and I dare say we shall stumble upon 
 interesting specimens in our tour. We shall be 
 away from eight to ten days. 
 
 Cliefoo, February, 1874. — The New Year brings 
 joy to the millions of China, from one end of the 
 empire to the other. It is the prince of holidays ! 
 I have just taken an opportunity of seeing its effects 
 upon the country people, a short disstance away from
 
 CHEFOO. 45 
 
 a port frequented by foreigners. For this once only 
 in the long wearisome year conies a season ot 
 freedom from daily toil. The iron bands of laborious 
 existence are burst with an impetuous leap, and the 
 whole nation seems to breathe a sigh of relief, and 
 snuff the breeze of a holiday. It is pleasant to see 
 these beaming faces, relieved of the stupid air of pre- 
 occupation, which usually sits on their dull features. 
 It is refreshing to meet with spontaneous greetings, 
 and humble unaffected curiosity, from the simple 
 country folk. " A touch of nature " seems to work 
 its spell, and quite a pleasant sense of arriving at a 
 common goodwill creeps over the benevolent heart 
 of the " foreign devil " — then " crash, crash," " bang, 
 bang," — on every side resound the gongs, and 
 pyrotechnic thunders, which far more justly deserve 
 an " infernal " epithet, and might point out the 
 questionable kinship, but that the stranger feels that 
 his delicate chords of sympathy are crushed in those 
 horrid sounds. He knits his brows and walks away. 
 
 In much the same way does an inquirer feel 
 checked on many points when he would like to 
 learn something of the inner life of the Chinese. 
 
 Questions are unsatisfactory, for they are met by 
 the superior classes with the lying gloss of their 
 hollow etiquette, and by the inferior with an as- 
 sumption of ignorance. Hence the most preposterous 
 blunders are conceived and perpetuated about this 
 people in writings of great authority. This soon 
 becomes so evident to our countrymen residing at
 
 46 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 the ports, and who are thereby enabled to travel 
 short distances into the interior, that not a few feel 
 urged to draw a truer picture of the Celestial 
 character to replace the conventional type known 
 at home. But easy as it may seem at first, they 
 find themselves absurdly baffled at the outset, even 
 though they feel themselves perfectly familiar with 
 many phases of the national character. And it 
 cannot be wondered at, when we reflect upon the 
 enormous size of China, and the great difficulty of 
 the language. We wonder at a different character 
 showing itself in no greater distance than London 
 to York ; yet here are eighteen teeming provinces, 
 each able to swallow up the whole of Great Britain. 
 With the exception of the missionaries, our consular 
 officers, and a few Europeans in the employ of the 
 Chinese Government, there is scarcely a resident 
 who can find time to acquire the language. And 
 the language is the only key we can use to get at 
 their thoughts, first by reading for ourselves their 
 books, and next by overhearing the common talk of 
 the people in the streets, or while engaged in their 
 daily occupations. The books throw light on 
 manners and customs which have not the same 
 significance when viewed by the uninitiated foreigner, 
 and express the underlying ideas which are often too 
 quaint for our unassisted thoughts to arrive at. 
 Again, the Chinaman in company and the same 
 man in private are totally different. He is always 
 veneered in your presence. The real article must
 
 CHEFOO. 47 
 
 be viewed in tlie rough. And there is very much to 
 reward a quiet observer, if he is quick enough to 
 pick up the conversation around him when it is 
 supposed that he cannot understand. 
 
 It was partly with a view to picking up know- 
 ledge in this way of the extraordinary people 
 among whom some of us in China have to pass a 
 large portion of our existence, that I planned a trip 
 lately with a companion into the hilly districts of 
 the great Shantung province in the north-east. By 
 Chinese custom all business is suspended for a few 
 days at the New Year, and accordingly we found 
 ourselves free from all trammels, official or otherwise, 
 for the space of seven days. The length of this 
 interval is fixed by the local mandarin, and often 
 leads to no small grumbling on the part of foreign 
 merchants who have ships lying idle on their hands. 
 My companion was a young Frenchman who had 
 not yet acquired much of the language, but whose 
 incipient knowledge of various scientific subjects 
 made his conversation very agreeable and useful. 
 
 The mode of travelling in this mountainous 
 province is by means of mule litters of the simplest 
 construction. The very sight of them would send 
 Messrs. Thrupp and Maberly, or Holland and Holland 
 into a frantic agitation to have the treaty revised, 
 with a special view to the introduction of their ad- 
 vanced improvements. Two poles with cross bars 
 and a canopy of matting, Voila tout I 
 
 " Oh, impossible," says the amiable foreign devil 
 
 ^
 
 48 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 with a smile — " really I can't go in that." But soon 
 he sees his excellent " boy " spread out a most 
 tempting mattress, which rests on his provision box 
 and portmanteau, the whole under-girded with ropes ; 
 and he is obliged to confess what an excellent 
 contrivance it is for the tossed and stone-covered 
 goat track the animals cleverly thread. The mule- 
 teer always has a spare donkey to carry his own 
 particular baggage, which includes provender for 
 the animals ; for at the inns they seem only to 
 provide chopped straw and water. The poor donkeys 
 had certainly the hardest work of all, for, in addition 
 to the load of the pack-saddles, they were never free 
 of our lazy attendants, whose ridiculous attempts to 
 mount the heap were often a source of amusement 
 to us. 
 
 My companion and I, rejoicing in the opportunity 
 of free exercise, would walk for hours at a stretch, 
 while our boys were equally energetic in sitting. 
 Nothing but the frosty air ever drove them on to 
 their feet. And perhaps it is not to be wondered 
 at, when they wear such wool-wadded garments. 
 The Chinaman's system of keeping out cold is not 
 found in exercise or fires, but in heaping on clothes, 
 though at night, they have a way in the north of 
 sleeping on a sort of oven. Our boys, after all, must 
 have got a good deal of exercise in the mere business 
 of mounting. The pack-saddle was so high that 
 they mostly took advantage of a mound to help 
 them up ; but as the donkey invariably " moved on " 
 
 i^
 
 CITEFOO. 49 
 
 (after the ruling passion of a policeman) before his 
 rider was half up, we were greatly entertained to 
 see the struggles of the boy and his half frightened 
 features as he hung like an animated clothes-bag 
 jolting away from the pack. The drivers walk long 
 distances without wanting to rest. The usual stage 
 varies from forty to fifty li, or fifteen miles from 
 halt to halt, and the regular day's journey is 
 just one hundred li. At the inns all is in bustle 
 at daylight. We invariably rose by candlelight. 
 There was little inducement to linger in such a 
 lodging. Picture it ? none Init the pen of the 
 " casual " could possibly equal the task. 'Tis a 
 " lodging for man and beast," in very truth. The 
 pretentious gates admit the caravan into a courtyard, 
 wliich is simply a stable fitted with mangers under 
 a shed. On one side, a magnificent suite of hovels 
 with ill-fitting, barn-like doors, which are dignified 
 with the name of guest chambers. In one of these, 
 on one occasion, we found it so cold that the land- 
 lord's ingenuity had to be put in requisition to 
 doctor the door. A cheerful old man he was, that 
 landlord, and most obliging. He soon got a large 
 whisp of straw and stuffed it up beautifully. 
 
 Young F was much too dainty ; he would have 
 
 the torn paper window patched up with pages from 
 his Revue des Deux Mondes. This idea was too 
 much for him. He had created a curio that tickled 
 his fancy vastly. To think of those words of wisdom 
 figuring in such a plipht ! "We actually ate in that 
 
 E
 
 50 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 room. Its ceiling was blackened witli smoke, and 
 spiders'- webs. Its walls were in mourning for mud. 
 Hunger is however a good sauce, but really laughter 
 is a panacea. We never felt such overpowering 
 mirth, which culminated at last in a roar — for 
 scarcely had we rolled ourselves up in our blankets 
 and skins, than a suspicious noise hard by made us 
 gradually conscious of the fact that a pig was actually 
 eating the door. This inn may be taken as a sample 
 of all the rest. Our mattresses were spread on the 
 khang, or oven above mentioned, only we dispensed 
 with the fire underneath. Of course, in every in- 
 stance, the dust had to be swept off it, and sometimes 
 the dirty old mat covering changed for a cleaner. 
 
 Settling up in the morning was an invariable 
 cause of delay. However briskly we might prepare 
 for a start, there was always at first this vexatious 
 question of charges to hinder us. " Dum ses 
 exigitur, dum mula ligatur, tota abit hora." After 
 the second day we paid no more than a Chinaman 
 would and got civility to boot. Firmness at first, 
 though it nearly led to l^lows, had its effect in the 
 end. The rates are really so ridiculously low, that 
 one must feel mean to dispute them ; but for the 
 sake of the missionaries, who cannot be lavish, we 
 stedfastly kept to the rule. A hundred copper cash 
 per head, or about five pence, is all the charge. To 
 meet this crushing demand, a ponderous purse, like 
 a potato sack, has to be hauled out of the litter, 
 and its copper contents reduced ; for one of the
 
 CHEFOO. 51 
 
 preliminaries of travelling is to change all one's 
 silver into strings of cash ; and, as twelve hundred 
 and sixty, just now, are equivalent to a dollar, the 
 purse is necessarily of a size which would embarrass 
 a pickpocket. 
 
 On the second day, we were taken to a more 
 pretentious inn. There were really large rooms, 
 and, to our great astonishment, a regular four-poster 
 for a bed. Here, having an hour of daylight to 
 spare, and being simply inundated with curious 
 children of ages varying from five to twenty, we 
 resolved to stroll out of the town and examine the 
 rocks and local strata. With a rabble at our heels, 
 we were not free to use our geological hammer 
 until a good mile lay between, and the crowd had 
 straggled off. But for long we heard their good- 
 humoured shouts, and as the dusk set in Ave could 
 still see a few figures perched on the walls, peering 
 at our distant forms, and I thought how their 
 superstitious minds must have shuddered to think 
 what diabolical purpose could be inducing those two 
 queer beings to wander up that uninteresting gully 
 of shale. It was dark ere we made a detour and 
 re-entered the town. A couple of scouts darted oJBF to 
 proclaim our return, but, as I thought, the majority 
 were by this time " whipped and sent to bed," so we 
 found the coast pretty clear. It was New Year 
 time, and all the schools were closed, as I learned 
 from the happy boys when I harangued them on 
 the advantages of gaining knowledge. We were not 
 
 E 2
 
 52 MAKGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 to enjoy these comparatively comfortable quarters 
 for nothing, and the next morning our " caupo 
 malignus'' calmly made a demand of 1000 cash; but 
 finding I was perfectly able to argue the question in 
 his own language, he was fain to beat a retreat to 
 his office in the gate, and sullenly refuse all assistance 
 to lift our litters on to the mules. 
 
 This might be an excellent plan with a patient 
 Chinese traveller wadded in wool, but a European 
 is unaccountably odd, and our amiable host found 
 we were quite able to do the work for ourselves. 
 As the man still refused a fair oifer, I politely asked 
 him his name, and wrote it down. Then, amidst a 
 murmur of " Ai-yahs " from the crowd, I proceeded 
 to copy the Chinese name of the inn. This made a 
 grand impression, and the landlord evidently began 
 to feel " sorry he spoke." Then, with an oratorical 
 appeal to the sense of justice of our audience, we 
 presented our friend with just half his demand, and 
 told him he would probably suffer for his incivility. 
 It appeared to be a sort of market day, and the 
 street was full of rustics, unburdening their donkeys 
 of large bundles of fuel and vegetables. Fearing 
 interruption, we brought up the rear of our pro- 
 cession on foot, but had not proceeded far before a 
 cabl^age stump was hurled at my companion. This 
 was the only piece of active insult we met with in 
 the whole of our trip. In any European town it 
 would have lighted up the spirit of mischief at 
 once, and the luckless stranger would liave found an
 
 CHEFOO. 53 
 
 uncomfortable reception. But how different here ! 
 I mention the incident to show what harmless people 
 the Chinese are in themselves. Turning sharply 
 round, I immediately demanded, " Who did that ? " 
 Those standing nearest, of course, at once pointed 
 out some one more remote. I then made a short 
 speech, taunting them with a breach of their boasted 
 " Li " (good manners) and asked them if we were to 
 note that as an example of Chinese " Li." Not a 
 word was said, and we proceeded without the 
 slightest attempt at a repetition of the insult. They 
 are simply a reasonable people, and can be talked 
 into good humour very easily. The question of 
 whether they are a cowardly people is entangled 
 with contradictions. Their soldiers have fought Avell 
 both in the nortli and south against European forces 
 in isolated instances, and a whole mob in Canton 
 has been known to gut the governor's residence, 
 regardless of a terrible storm of shot and shell from 
 our ships ; while they always submit to surgical 
 operations with a steadiness of nerve that few 
 foreigners could boast of. And yet one or two 
 Europeans may thrash a whole crowd, and their 
 sailors are useless in a storm. The real clue to a 
 Chinaman's action is his settled principle of non- 
 intervention. To move in any matter, there must 
 be some strong circumstance affecting him personally 
 to urge him. He will stand by and stare at a 
 Chinaman killing a foreigner with exactly the same 
 indifferejice as at a foreig)ier beating a Chinamnn.
 
 54 MAKGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 Their very laws and customs prevent anything 
 approaching to a disinterested act of any kind. If 
 a man fell down fainting in the streets, and a by- 
 stander gave him water, he would render himself 
 liable to all sorts of expenses for maintaining, curing, 
 and perhaps burying the sick stranger. And if a 
 wealthy man starts an enterprise he will surely be 
 mulcted by the mandarins. " Never do a thing you 
 can help, and appear to be poorer than you are," is 
 the safest course for a Celestial. It is very much 
 the fashion to talk of China as if it were a sort of 
 human bee-hive, or ant-heap, overburdened with 
 struggling humanity, but I have never yet been 
 overpowered with a sense of this multiplicity. The 
 walls of Pekin, and indeed of every city, embrace 
 as much waste land and open space as ground 
 which is fully occupied, and the open country is but 
 sparsely dotted with villages. And since 1861, the 
 unhappy central provinces which were devastated 
 by the rebels, have remained a wilderness, where 
 now, in parts, the foreigner can roam at will and 
 bag his game by thousands. Pheasants, deer, and 
 wild pigs, multiply without hindrance. No wealthy 
 sportsman at home can rival the natural preserves 
 which a Shanghae resident freely commands. Of 
 course the whole population of China makes up a 
 big figure ; but the European mind, with its con- 
 tracted notions of territory, is not prepared to conceive 
 the vastness of the country which finds room to 
 disperse this huge census. Thus in our trip we
 
 CHEFOO. 55 
 
 were frequently prone to remark what long distances 
 we traversed without meeting with habitations. 
 Every inch of country, however, was cultivated, and 
 generally denuded, not only of wood, but of grass, 
 shrubs, or anything capable of serving as fuel. The 
 people go forth and scrape everything they can find 
 into bundles for sale, to that end. We looked in 
 vain for vegetables or live-stock, in most instances, 
 among the occasional groups which passed us bound 
 to some market. It was always fuel, and sometimes 
 the donkeys were hidden by their loads. These 
 rustics would always hail us pleasantly with the 
 query : — " Where is it you are going to, elder-born ?" 
 " Oh, I'm taking a stroll," I would answer. " A 
 stroll !" they would say in surprise, and move on, 
 wondering what the foreign devil could mean. 
 
 For two days and a half we trudged on through 
 a valley and met with nothing to interest us, not 
 even a variety of stratification. All was of quartz. 
 We got sick of quartz, and longed for a change to 
 granite, or porphyry, or gneiss, or anything. But 
 all of these came to reward us in time, and once 
 we rose in a short distance from a depression of 
 igneous rocks to a plateau of blue lias. 
 
 At length we passed over into the southern 
 watershed, leaving behind us a fine series of rugged 
 peaks standing in grand bold outline against the 
 clear sky. These are called the Saw-teeth Mountains. 
 They are known to contain gold. The country 
 began to look more picturesque, and before long a
 
 56 MARGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 towering object on the plain served to quicken our 
 expectations. It looked, as we approached, the very 
 beau ideal of a feudal stronghold perched on a 
 commanding rock, and the motion of the swaying 
 litter was fast inducing a dreamy romance about 
 some fine old baron up there, who dealt splendid 
 misery all round. And so it was, forsooth ! Only 
 the baron was lazy old Buddha, and the misery he 
 shed was moral, and social. The temple was beauti- 
 fully placed on a solitary rock of green sandstone, 
 of a clear light colour when chipped, which was 
 most pleasing to the eye. We had to climb up some 
 two hundred feet to the summit. Two miserable 
 individuals occupied a hovel at the top, and the 
 temple they looked after was full of hideous, painted 
 idols. Buddhism in China is a dead, morbid super- 
 stition. The faith exists ; but all zeal or reverence in 
 the worship is entirely wanting. In India, fanaticism 
 guards the sacred idol from profane touch, but 
 in China, you may examine the figure, while the 
 worshipper is on his knees before it ; you may point 
 to its grotesque features with your stick, and joke 
 on their expression, and he will join you in the 
 laugh before he has even finished his kow tows. It 
 was a dirty place up there, and sadly in want of 
 repair, like everything Chinese ; but a small bridge 
 thrown over a deep cleft at the top, and a very steep 
 flight of steps, leading from it up to the topmost 
 shrine, gave the place an interesting and picturesque 
 appearance. The two incumbents were very civil,
 
 CilEFOO. 57 
 
 and communicative, and after showing a decided 
 liking for my cigarettes, obliged us by pointing out 
 a short cut down, by which we could descend and 
 catch up our litters, which were by this time quite 
 out of sight. We looked back with admiration at 
 this commanding site, and dubbed it " Belle Yue " 
 Temple, which, indeed, is a literal translation of the 
 Chinese name, written over the temple door, and 
 justly commemorates its magnificent view. 
 
 We had pushed on this day without a halt for 
 tiffin, as the whole stage was shorter than usual, and 
 we hoped to save time for rambling in the vicinity 
 of a walled city of much interest which we were 
 approaching. It was the last day of the Chinese 
 year (falling this time on our 16th of February), 
 and we were soon made uncomfortably aware of the 
 great importance of the day. Walled towns are 
 built square, with a gate in the centre of each side, 
 facing the four quarters of the compass. Travellers 
 put up at the inns in the suburbs, in order not to be 
 trammelled in their early movements by having to 
 wait for the opening of the city gates. So, we too, 
 sought a like advantage, but moved from one quarter 
 to another in vain. The streets were crowded, and 
 people were bustling about to buy last requisites 
 for several days of idle barricade. A crowd stood 
 round us as we waited at the inn door, and silently 
 stared with evident wonder at our travelling at such 
 a time. Indeed, I was more than once asked en 
 route, in a tone of compassion, " whether we too had
 
 58 MAKGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 not a New Year to keep." Strange to say, our boys 
 began to get angry at their want of success in 
 trying to induce the innkeepers to take us in. They 
 were evidently getting hungry, and the day was 
 waning without a prospect of finding shelter. Our 
 spirits, on the contrary, began to rise. We could 
 not help laughing at our plight. I joked with the 
 bystanders, and they joined in the laugh. We were 
 evidently in a fix. I told the muleteers if they did 
 not find us quarters, we should make them push on 
 all night. Some one in the crowd then suggested 
 we might find quarters at an inn within the walls, 
 and accordingly this last hope was reluctantly 
 adopted, but proved like the others a will-o'-the- 
 wisp. Matters began to look serious, and as we 
 were no great distance from the place where last 
 December a mob nearly roasted a missionary, I 
 thought it possible that this determined opposition 
 was a result of hostility, and immediately determined 
 to visit the magistrate, whose yamen happily proved 
 to be close by. Proceeding thither on foot, with an 
 attendant rabble, of course, we waited at the door, 
 while my servant went in with cards and passport, 
 to demand an interview. The rabble was very 
 friendly, and showed a great admiration for the 
 cloth of which my large overcoat was made. We 
 chatted and joked in the most amicable manner, 
 until at length a messenger returned to apologize for 
 the mandarin's inability to see us as he was with his 
 barber ! — but that, as all we required was a lodging.
 
 CHEFOO. 59 
 
 he would immediately send a constable to procure 
 one for us. He kept his word, and three men 
 accompanied us to the inn, where we waited outside, 
 while a stormy altercation raged within. The inn- 
 keeper appeared to be independent enough to oppose 
 the dangerous myrmidons of the law, and the fight 
 was long and loud ; overhearing their words, I soon 
 became aware that there was no hostility, but that 
 we were actually inconveniencing the man very 
 seriously by our presence on this great night of the 
 year. So, taking advantage of a lull, I stepped in, 
 and politely told the man that what the constable 
 said was quite true, and that we were really intending 
 to depart early, and that we should spare him all the 
 trouble in our power. Immediately the man's face 
 changed, like sunshine after rain, and he acquiesced 
 at once. I was greatly struck by tbe effect a few 
 polite words bad on this man, and the confidence he 
 at once gathered, from the fact of having to deal 
 with a quiet foreigner who spoke his own language. 
 Being New Year time, all the employees of the inn 
 were gone for their holiday, and not a scrap of 
 provisions remained for man or beast. But as we 
 had our own food with us, in those paragons of 
 invention, the hermetically sealed tins, this dearth 
 could affect us in no way whatever. Having wasted 
 so much time we could only stroll through the town 
 till dusk, and indeed were well repaid for our pains. 
 I should not omit to mention here a very charac- 
 tedstic phase of Chinese cupidity. As soon as we
 
 60 MAKGARYS JOURNEY. 
 
 were ensconced in our miserable quarters, the inevit- 
 able cumsliaw was demanded, and our three stalwart 
 protectors responded to the profuse liberality of the 
 foreign devil by actually kneeling before him, though 
 the sum only amounted to 500 cash, or say 25. 
 A special messenger arrived shortly after from the 
 mandarin with his cards, to return our visit and 
 kind inquiries. We begged him to take no more 
 trouble about us, as we had what we wanted, thanks 
 to his aid, and that an early start precluded the 
 possibility of our calling again to thank him. The 
 accident which thus brought us within the walls of 
 " Lai Yang" to spend a night, and that the great night 
 of the year, in the very midst of a city population 
 which was not often favoured by a sight of foreigners, 
 was after all a fortunate occurrence for us. For 
 taking advantage of a couple of hours of daylight, we 
 strolled through the streets, which here presented a 
 richer appearance than most district cities can boast 
 of, and at the same time we gained some experience 
 of the temper of a walled jDopulation, which, as a 
 rule, one prefers to avoid altogether. Most of the 
 houses were by this time closed, and the streets 
 looked as dismal as an English town on Sunday ; 
 but a group of men, standing under an evergreen 
 porch (one of many put up at New Year by way of 
 decoration), gave us an opportunity of conversing, 
 by their cheerful and civil greetings. They were 
 particularly anxious to understand how many days 
 there were in our year, and why our New Year did
 
 CHEFOO. 61 
 
 not coincide with theirs. An extremely pleasant 
 conversation ensued, with the utmost cordiality on 
 both sides, and a thorough appreciation of my 
 cigarettes. The streets were spanned at close in- 
 tervals with commemorative arches of stone — some 
 recent, spic and span, some old and almost past 
 identification. A fine handsome man who accom- 
 panied us stated there were seventy-two of them, 
 and indeed we could easily have guessed there were 
 more. It was quite an epidemic of arches. Every 
 street had broken out with the complaint, and as 
 each one chronicled a virtuous act, we were fain to 
 believe Lai Yang must have reached a point of 
 enviable moral excellence. Our very civil cicerone 
 walked some distance with us, and politely pointed 
 out the chief public places. There was certainly 
 little to admire in them. A large inclosure inside a 
 temple, where our friend told us fairs were held, 
 looked bare and dismal enough. A group of idlers 
 strolled in with us, and indulged themselves with a 
 good stare, passing at tbe same time several compli- 
 ments on our knowledge of their language. It is 
 often amusing to hear the remarks of bystanders 
 upon ourselves. They are usually struck with the 
 fact of a foreign devil speaking their own tongue, 
 and commonly exclaim, " Why he can speak our 
 language ! What a capital joke ; just hear him, he 
 speaks quite well !" 
 
 We returned to our inn, and ate a scratch sort of 
 meal, and got into our comfortless couches, shuddering
 
 62 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 with dread for crawling demons. Up and ready- 
 before daylight, not to lose time, we came upon a 
 domestic scene which was worth witnessing. It was 
 New Year's Day (February 17th, 1874), and the first 
 great duty of every householder was going forward. 
 Master and man were busily engaged in the worship 
 and propitiation of their household gods. I stepped 
 across the yard and looked on. Daylight had not 
 yet illumined the scene, and the weird, fitful glimmer 
 of a few sorry candles threw a mystic influence over 
 the rites, which no doubt influenced their super- 
 stitious minds. Both were dressed in the same 
 uniform. I must call it so, for the same form of 
 dress marks an office or a ceremony from top to 
 bottom of the social scale ; rank being distinguishable 
 by decorations or quality of clothes. The ceremony 
 consisted in lighting some joss-sticks, and kneeling 
 down before them, frequent kow-tows and posturing. 
 A table beside them was neatly laid out, with a cold 
 banquet, and plates and chopsticks were placed round 
 in order for the spirits to sit, and enjoy. While this 
 silent feast proceeded, our host and his man stood 
 by, like reverend waiters, to attend to the wants of 
 their invisible guests. One almost expected some- 
 thing to appear, so cabaHstic did the whole scene 
 look. Having given the spirits a reasonable time to 
 devour these solids, our friends proceeded to fire a 
 feu de joie, with fearfully noisy crackers, outside the 
 front door, which must have frightened the spirits, if 
 they had any ears. I pitied the poor ghosts hovering
 
 CHEFOO. 63 
 
 over such, to them, indigestible food, and could 
 imagine their pitiable looks and distressing chorus 
 of, " Oh that this too, too solid flesh would melt," — 
 in the Chinese version, of course. Every house in 
 China was at that moment doing the same, and the 
 reverberation of crackers here, there, and everywhere, 
 made such an infernal din that the foreign devils 
 belied their origin by the speediest possible exit. 
 Such being the state of affairs, we could not but feel 
 rather adrift where to look for our next lodging. New 
 Year was not the time to travel in China, evidently, 
 and no sympathy could be kindled in the face of such 
 innovation. Reluctantly driven thus to change our 
 plans, there was nothing for it but to return by a 
 different route. The direction was here decided for 
 us by the cheerful muleteer, who promised a certain 
 lodging at a particular inn, and though it was a long 
 day's journey, we thoroughly enjoyed the trudge, 
 and were rewarded in the evening by putting up at 
 the hostelry of a very remarkable man. Several 
 villages we passed through were decked out in 
 holiday gala — children freed from school gambolled 
 before their laughing parents, and collected to gaze 
 as we passed. I exchanged kind words and most 
 civil greetings everywhere. It was a pleasure to 
 pass through the village groups. Smiles and natural 
 affability were sure to meet us always. Whatever 
 vices these people have, or however depreciatingly 
 this surface civility may be attributed to fear, or any 
 other ignoble cause, still, it is a fact, that a foreign
 
 64 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 traveller gains pleasure and comfort from its exis- 
 tence, and that is more than he might find in fifty 
 villao-es in his own land. 
 
 The mid-day halt at a little isolated village on the 
 
 crest of a hill, gave ns a picture of the simplest rustic 
 
 life, such as delights my memory to dwell upon. 
 
 There may have heen two hundred inhabitants in 
 
 all, counting women and children, and probably none 
 
 of them had ever moved out of that dreary little 
 
 circle. They lived twenty miles from anywhere, 
 
 and that was a poor place. The excitement produced 
 
 by the arrival of two such superior beings from the 
 
 outside world was evidently something transcendent. 
 
 Imagine what a blow it would be to our enlightened 
 
 intellects, bursting with modern knowledge, to have 
 
 a sudden interview with the twenty-second century, 
 
 vide " The Coming Race " for example. However, 
 
 I hope we should put pithier questions to our 
 
 mortifying guests than these poor fossils had for us. 
 
 One of them, pointing with pride to a miserable 
 
 willow, asked if we had anything like that in our 
 
 country, and for the matter of that, indeed, we may 
 
 have been botanically incompetent to answer. While 
 
 preparing for our lunch in the best room of the inn, 
 
 which, by the way, was no better than a dirty old 
 
 barn, we had to undergo a close inspection from the 
 
 whole village. Old and young all crowded into the 
 
 room, and stood and stared, and wanted to touch 
 
 everything. The operation of washing our heads 
 
 and faces with sponge and soap seemed to delight
 
 CHEFOO. 65 
 
 them immensely, as being a capital idea. And on 
 my proceeding to take my nails out of mourning 
 with a penknife, a burst of surprise and laughter 
 broke out. The next thing was to get rid of our very 
 dirty and unsavoury guests, but repeated, mild 
 requests proved quite useless : so addressing two or 
 three of the elders with feigned respect, we begged 
 them to teach their juniors better manners, and make 
 them withdraw, while we ate. The stratagem was 
 successful. Quite taken by our complimentary 
 politeness, they immediately cleared out their neigh- 
 bours, and left us alone for a time. Such a novel 
 sight as two foreign devils feeding after their own 
 fashion was however too good to be lost, and we 
 were soon conscious of innumerable perforations 
 being neatly executed in the paper windows, and of 
 staring eyeballs framed in every hole. Their curiosity 
 was soon better satisfied by our giving away the 
 pickings, and distributing cigarettes and empty 
 bottles. We chatted and joked in the most cheerful 
 manner, and, indeed, received quite an ovation on 
 leaving. Numbers of willing hands assisted in 
 lifting the litters on the mules, and while passing 
 down the street, we gave an opportunity to the 
 smiling womenkind, who had been peeping from 
 every door, with their usual curiosity, to have a 
 good view of us. I should like to visit that village 
 again. It was extremely pleasant ; we looked back 
 at its feeble wall inclosure, as we wound down the 
 valley, and wondered when the light of civilisation
 
 66 MAEGAKY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 would break it down, and set this sliut-up people 
 free. 
 
 It was dark ere we reached our resting-place, 
 outside the walls of another little city called Chi-hsia 
 Hsien. The latter words being attached to districts 
 of similar size, viz., the third order, we knew at once 
 that Chi-hsia was as large as Lai Yang, but it was 
 very evident from its dilapidated condition that it 
 was neither so rich, nor important. A large summer 
 torrent must have annually swept round two sides 
 of the city, judging from its wide dry bed, full of 
 rounded pebbles, and a bold steep bank, on one side, 
 of waterworn porphyry. 
 
 Arrived at the inn door, our doubts of the 
 muleteer's ability to find us a lodging received some 
 strength from the futile result of a great deal of 
 knocking. Tired and hungry, we felt impatient to 
 get in somewhere, and the unpleasant looks of the 
 few loiterers in the street did not favour a prospect 
 of easy admission to any house. The muleteer 
 however disappeared at the back of the premises, 
 and very shortly after the door flew wide, to our 
 intense relief, and a smiling, civil host invited us in. 
 The best room appeared to be occupied by a corn 
 factor, judging by his samples of grain. But our 
 energetic host soon bundled him out, most un- 
 ceremoniously, and had the mud floor and brick 
 " khang " w^ell swept to humour our whimsical 
 objections to dirt. Our servants speedily spread 
 the mattresses and ])lankets on the " khang," and
 
 CHEFOO. 67 
 
 we threw ourselves down upon them with a book 
 to while away the impatient interval till prepara- 
 tions for dinner were completed. The khangs are 
 always fitted with a little square table, on dwarfish 
 legs, and thus, with one of these between us, we sat 
 and regaled ourselves — a really comfortable position. 
 I recommend it to invalids and sybarites. They 
 can fill the pauses by reclining back on the couch. 
 Just as we were thoroughly appeased, and began to 
 regale ourselves with a glass of wine and a smoke, 
 in that calm frame of mind which is sure to follow 
 a bivouac under difficulties, our host knocked at the 
 door, and cheerfully sat down to join us. This was 
 such an astonishing piece of affability for a China- 
 man that we roused every effort to be agreeable, and 
 soon plunged into a long conversation. He alluded 
 to the existing relations between foreigners and his 
 countrymen, and expressed his conviction that they 
 would be the best of friends, if the natives only knew 
 them better. He, himself, had been much with 
 Europeans, and took every opportunity of talking to 
 them ; but the country people had only the means 
 of judging from individuals who passed through the 
 villages of the nature of foreigners. Unfortunately, 
 a hasty man had produced a bad impression in one 
 district by striking a native. The result of which 
 was an obstinate determination to give the cold 
 shoulder to any future visitant of his hated race. 
 
 This particular place contained a remarkable 
 sulphur spring, and we were bound thither ourselves, 
 
 F 2
 
 68 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 SO that his information was not calculated to increase 
 our anticipations of pleasure from the next day's trip. 
 Our host's vigorous and enlightened remarks led 
 me to suspect that he was a Christian, which he 
 immediately acknowledged. He had been round 
 with the missionaries, and taken an active part 
 in preaching. In contrast to his allusion to the 
 pugnacious foreigner, I discussed with him the late 
 outrage at Chi-Ini, where the populace set upon the 
 harmless missionary, and burnt out his house. He 
 deplored the circumstance, and explained it by a 
 local irritation, not against the missionary, but a sect 
 which had long existed among them, and which had 
 apparently, to them, sought the missionary's pro- 
 tection against persecution. It is a curious dis- 
 covery, which the evangelists made when^ they 
 reached that district, that a sect has existed there 
 for ages, with a peculiar form of faith and worship, 
 untainted with idolatry, and to all appearances based 
 on a Christian origin. They go by the name of the 
 " Undefined Persuasion," reminding one strongly of 
 the Athenians when St. Paul found them worship- 
 ping an unknown god. Our host, as I said, was a 
 remarkable man, and the very energy with which he 
 did everything, even to carrying out his own brisk 
 orders in the yard, where he would rebuke the 
 sluggishness of his man in tethering a mule, or 
 lifting a litter, by showing them how, made me 
 much interested in him, and on my return to our 
 port I learned his history from a missionary who
 
 CHEFOO. 69 
 
 knew him well. In the time of the rebellion, when 
 the mandarins and their feeble troops were repulsed 
 and confined to their walls, this innkeeper, Lin, had 
 filled the whole country side with his fame. He 
 raised volunteers from among the rustics, and led 
 them to victory, until, after things were quiet again 
 and the valiant mandarins began to breathe afresh, 
 he was rewarded by arrest and imprisonment ! 
 Although they owed their safety to this over-zealous 
 commoner, yet, as his success would prove but too 
 fatal a comment on their own pusillanimity, they 
 wrested his loyalty into an act of rebellion, under 
 a law which forbids such independent action as his. 
 Poor Lin went near to lose his head, but the rustics 
 loved their hero, and came to his timely rescue. The 
 mandarins then released him, after a series of threats, 
 upon a promise, the only one they could extort from 
 the brave fellow, that he would forgive them, and 
 hold his tongue about the whole affair. Such a man 
 must have a grand influence in furthering the spread 
 of Christianity and enlightenment among his fellow 
 provincials, who are, like most rustic populations in 
 China, well disposed, good hearted, hospitable people, 
 but so superstitious, as to be a ready-made com- 
 bustible for the use of political schemers, and the 
 arrogant literati class, whose hatred of foreigners is 
 at the bottom of every emeute, and who know so 
 well how to launch a mob with a specious placard. 
 Lin has two daughters, whom he takes great pains 
 to educate, l)oth in Chinese literature, and in the
 
 70 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 knowledge of the Bible, and is generally bringing 
 them up in a careful training which no true China- 
 man dreams of ever throwing away on so insig- 
 nificant a thing as a girl. Some weeks after my 
 visit I renewed this man's acquaintance, when he 
 came to call upon me at my house, and I was much 
 struck with his enthusiastic admiration of the view 
 from my verandah, which he said was a sight which 
 few of his countrymen knew how to appreciate. 
 
 Letters to F. E. R. 
 Chef 00, March 26th. — I have just been looking at 
 a wonderful stone, which lies half way down the cliff, 
 poised on a mere point of rock. Some convulsion 
 severed it from the upright strata and carved it into 
 a fanciful resemblance of a junk, which has procured 
 for it the name of " ship stone " among the Chinese. 
 It is a spot much visited by the literati, and various 
 inscriptions adorn the huge stone. Unlike the 
 hideous scrawls of Tom, Dick, and Harry, Chinese 
 characters look so well in themselves, that they invite 
 praise rather than execration for the nameless 
 tourist who put his mark there. Four magnificent 
 characters, deep cut and bearing date some one 
 hundred and twenty years back, proclaim it a " Freak 
 of Nature," while in small, modest type at the side 
 the name and birthplace of the man who composed 
 and wrote the phrase are commemorated. On 
 another portion an impromptu verse hits oif a few 
 epigrammatic ideas on the " stone ship poised in mid
 
 CHEFOO. 71 
 
 air, fearless of storms and winds, oiitrivalling man's 
 handiwork." 
 
 The Chinese pride themselves most on writing 
 characters prettily, and composing pithy stanzas. I 
 have seen a couple of old idiots smacking their lips, 
 and clicking their simple tongues, over a pair of slips 
 hung up like pictures, and bearing only four or five 
 " characters written by some swell or scholar. . . . 
 
 They have started a series of soirees, for the 
 benefit of the Temperance Society, at which various 
 people give readings. They have booked me for 
 something next time. The plan of the society is 
 certainly good. A room is provided with papers 
 and periodicals for loafers and seamen of the better 
 class to spend their time in profitably, instead of 
 getting intoxicated for want of somewhere to go to 
 and something to do. . . . 
 
 People are apt to scoff at modern missionaries with 
 their comforts of house and home, but I have an 
 opportunity here of seeing that they really do a vast 
 deal of work. If they do not succeed in making 
 many real converts, they certainly diffuse a great 
 deal of knowledge. Their little schools are full of 
 children, and their chapels crowded with devout 
 worshippers. I hope to be able to form a better 
 opinion on the missionary question here than people 
 are able to do at other places. I have made the 
 acquaintance of some of those in this neighbourhood, 
 who are very charming men, of great culture, 
 education, and socia1)ility. One of them gave up a
 
 72 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 popular pulpit to come out, and study the Chinese 
 philosophically ; he is a man of great reading and a 
 very pleasant companion. They are constantly away 
 in the interior, but they hark back now and then to 
 head-quarters at Tung Shing. There they have a 
 grand mansion, over which Mrs. W presides. 
 
 The other day, Mr. W took his wife into the 
 
 interior, as far as the capital, and to Confucius' tomb, 
 to see how the people would take the intrusion, and 
 the result proved most gratifying, as everywhere 
 they received the utmost politeness, and met with no 
 
 molestation. Mr. L is a most entertaining man. 
 
 He has had a number of adventures, which prove 
 him to be a man of courage and determination, and 
 he tells his stories with such humour that we were in 
 roars of laughter all last evening when I was dining 
 with him at the B 's. 
 
 An account of some Chinese troops that he met on 
 the war path was true to absurdity, and illustrates 
 the rottenness of their system. 
 
 They were going along at the rate of about a mile 
 and a half an hour, to march to some place one 
 hundred miles off, in order to put down a rising 
 which had taken place months before ! 
 
 Their direction moreover was due east, while the 
 enemy lay far to the west. He told us he was 
 travelling in Mantchooria once, when the whole 
 country was infested with brigands, and how the 
 robbers could find nothing in his effects but copies 
 of the Bible, which he begged them to take, promising
 
 SHANGHAE. 73 
 
 that it would teach them a thing or two, how it 
 condemned all crimes, robbery in particular, and 
 how he puzzled them and then preached to them. 
 We spent a very pleasant evening, sitting round the 
 fire, discussing, besides these adventures, books and 
 the Chinese language. 
 
 Often and often, when my high spirits make me 
 prominent among my companions, in fun, frolic, or 
 adventure, I deeply upbraid myself for levity, and 
 feel the danger I incur of encouraging some bad 
 propensity in others, although my innermost heart 
 may be free from any wicked desire. I am often in 
 peril of doing or saying things which may be a 
 stumbling-block to others and a scourge of remorse 
 to myself; but I am too devotedly attached to the 
 love-difiPusing precepts of our Saviour to be an ascetic, 
 and so lose the chance of doing real good to any- 
 body in need of it, by withdrawing altogether from 
 general society. 
 
 Mr. Margary returned to Shanghae early in 1874. 
 The following letters are dated from that port. 
 
 Shanghae, April 1874. — You must not take a 
 sailor's view of Shanghae for anything, for such 
 time as they spend in such places as this must be 
 wearisome to the last degree. There being no public 
 institutions for the benefit of strangers, they must 
 pass their time in wretched solitude on board their 
 ships, knowing nobody, seeing nothing, and working 
 in the sun. But, for a resident, it is generally 
 found to be a very delightful place. We have all
 
 74 MARGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 the best improvements of civilisation, good wide 
 roads, handsome houses, gas-lamps, policemen, a fine 
 theatre, cricket-ground, race-course, racket-court, 
 drives and rides, a large man-of-war in harbour, 
 heaps of shipping, a little volunteer army, an ex- 
 cellent philharmonic society, an Asiatic society, with 
 lectures, a club, a library, a magnificent church, a 
 perfect jail, rates and taxes, fire brigades, police-court, 
 judge, jury, mosquitoes, and dinner-parties. And if 
 all that does not make Shanghae deserve its name 
 of a model settlement, we can still point to docks, 
 river steamers on the American palatial type (a 
 mountain of glass), brigades, bands, telegraph, post- 
 offices, and even the little red post-cart, carriages 
 for hire, and gin-rick-a-shas, which some individual 
 has managed to introduce from Japan. Six of us 
 rattled down in these funny little vehicles, along the 
 bimd to the theatre, last night. 
 
 Shanghae, May 5th, 1874. — I have to relate a won- 
 derful piece of excitement through which we have 
 passed, and which will, no doubt, have been flashed 
 home by the wires as a startling piece of intelligence. 
 The French have had a scrimmage with the Chinese — 
 a purely local dispute. With their usual pride, they 
 reserved the boundaries of their own concession 
 district distinct from that of the English and other 
 nations ; and we have known, for some time, that 
 they were engaged in a dispute with a native guild 
 of Ningpo merchants about a road which interfered 
 with their graveyards, and that tlie dispute had led
 
 SHANGHAI. 75 
 
 to a demonstration of the members of the guild. On 
 Sunday afternoon, while walking in the recreation 
 gardens, we were startled by the alarm of the fire-bell, 
 and in a few minutes, as usual, our prompt firemen 
 turned out with their engines, but, to our surprise, 
 were ordered back very quickly, and disbanded. We 
 then learned that a fight was going on in the 
 French settlement. 
 
 I betook myself to the spot with all alacrity. I 
 found the French police at their magnificent muni- 
 cipal hall, fuming and fretting with bayonets fixed, 
 and, on inquiry, learned that they had had a scrim- 
 mage with the mob, and had been forced to retire 
 after firing and killing a Chinaman. The mob, they 
 said, had attacked and gutted a foreign house, so I 
 immediately went to see the fun. I found that our 
 excellent English police had quietly effected, unarmed, 
 what the hated Frenchmen could not do with shot 
 and bayonet. They were in possession of the house, 
 -and quietly removing all the saveable furniture. I 
 mounted the stairs of the gutted house, and stood on 
 a balcony, looking down on a marvellous scene. 
 
 Inspector stood there giving his orders, and the 
 
 mandarin stood by him. Below us, on an open green, 
 were the upturned faces of from two to three thou- 
 sand rioters, and in their midst the body of the 
 victim to French precipitancy. " They mean mis- 
 chief to-night," quoth Inspector . I spoke to 
 
 Chill Hsien, the mandarin, and remarked that, as 
 he had arrived with a few soldiers, I presumed his
 
 76 MARGAETS JOURNEY. 
 
 presence would prevent any further outbreak, but he 
 rephed that he was going to call on the French 
 consul first, of course, to " Strang leang," which, 
 being interpreted, means to " waste time in consult- 
 ing." Thinking there would be little more to do, I 
 returned home to dinner at our settlement a mile 
 away. But we had not begun before a big lurid 
 glare in the south set all the fire-bells and gongs 
 going like mad, and everyone rushed out to do his 
 duty, after a hasty meal, the boys muddling the 
 dinner most frightfully. Hastening over to the 
 French side, I met several foreigners returning ; each 
 one had some absurd tale about the danger of crossing 
 the creek which divides our settlement from the 
 French. By this time an order had been sent out to 
 call in the volunteers, and they were then forrning 
 at head-quarters, in my rear, and most of the com- 
 munity were there, so that as I approached the scene 
 of action, I met scarcely half-a-dozen Europeans. I 
 went up right through the crowd, with three other 
 men, and saw the whole fire. The rioters had set 
 a large block ablaze ; the house where I had stood 
 that afternoon was a perfect ruin. The mob had 
 been dispelled somewhere, and, at each corner, stood 
 an excited band of Frenchmen with all sorts of 
 weapons. Passing them, we went beyond, to where 
 we found the crowd, some of whom were breaking a 
 lamp. I stepped up to them and told them it was 
 dangerous to meddle with gas. They laughed at me 
 but did not attempt to assault us. Just then, we saw
 
 SHANGHAE. 77 
 
 the French deliberately fire into the mob down a 
 cross street ; we were indignant ; but, as the 
 proximity was getting a little too hot, we made our- 
 selves scarce. We then went back to our settlement, 
 and found three or four hundred volunteers falling 
 in, the most exaggerated reports of an attack, and I 
 don't know what not ! I told them I had just been 
 in the very thick of the mob, and walked all round 
 the spot, unharmed. Meanwhile the consul, who was 
 only waiting for a request from the French for aid, 
 and got it, marched down the volunteers, and 
 restored order in no time. Next day all was quiet. 
 For fear, however, of a repetition of the incendiarism 
 at night, it was agreed that a signal of four guns 
 from the man-of-war should call out the volunteers ; 
 and the private signal to the ship was to be the 
 hoisting of two lanterns at the French Consulate. 
 Well, about 9.30 p.m. I was in the theatre looking on 
 at a dress rehearsal of a performance which, by the 
 way, takes place to-night. All of a sudden we were 
 hushed by a gun. The scene was grand. Imagine 
 the excitement ; the actors pause, another gun ! 
 Blood tingles ! In eager discussion, whether it 
 might not be the American mail after all, we are 
 hushed by a third gun. A listening attitude, flash- 
 ing eyes, and then a simultaneous shout of "Four!'' 
 and pell-mell, out we tore, dresses, wigs, and proper- 
 ties flung to the winds ; the poor female characters 
 fearfully entangled in skirts and pins, and clawing off 
 their clothes. In less than twentv minutes some
 
 78 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 four or five hundred men were in line, all equipped 
 in uniform and properly armed. 1 never saw such 
 magnificent promptitude ; a little army raised in 
 twenty minutes, or less. I felt proud, and eager for 
 the fray, but, would you believe it, all this grand ex- 
 citement, all this life-stirring ardour, was the result 
 of a miserable false alarm ! This afternoon, a meet- 
 ing of the foreign consuls with one of the highest 
 mandarins of the province took place at the consu- 
 late, and I interpreted for them. We talked over 
 the riot, and insisted on a proclamation. The Chinese 
 authorities have all thanked us for assisting them 
 to restore order. 
 
 The mandarin proved to be a very sensible, jolly 
 fellow ; one of the best we have ever had to do with 
 here, and all went as smooth as oil. It is most diffi- 
 cult work to interpret concisely the ideas of another 
 person, when they are put in verbose language. . . . 
 We sat round in a semicircle, as usual, and cham- 
 pagne, tea, and biscuits were handed round. When 
 an interview takes place at the mandarin's " yamen " 
 (or office), we follow their custom, and sit in a 
 rectangular arrangement. The two chiefs of 
 each side occupy a divan with cushions, and their 
 respective staffs range themselves in very square 
 chairs, at right angles to the great men, in due order 
 of precedence, their proximity to the august chiefs 
 diminishing with their nothingness. A square table 
 fits in between each set of two chairs, whereon tea 
 and refreshments are served. . . .
 
 SHANGHAE. 79 
 
 I had nearly forgotten to tell you that I dined a la 
 Chmois, on the night of the alarm, with a mandarin 
 who sits in tlie mixed court of this settlement. He 
 gave a capital spread, and invited every one of us 
 from the consulate, but only three of us went. 
 
 Ma7/ dt/i, 1874. — I am going on a little pleasure 
 trip on Monday. We shall run down to a port 
 called Ningpo, close by, and go up the creeks in the 
 consular house-boats al! among the lovely hills. . . . 
 
 Ningpo, Tuesday, May I2tli.-^lt is just a night's 
 trip down here. We went on board yesterday at 
 4 P.M., and dined at six, as we went up the mighty 
 Yangtsze, and turned in, to wake up at the mouth of 
 this lovely part of the world. . . . 
 
 Shangliae, May 21st. — We had two boats of the 
 class called house-boats. The ladies occupied one, 
 and the gentlemen the other. These boats are 
 cleverly fitted up with two berths, and a small space 
 for ablutions ; and all this is separated by a door 
 from the front compartment, which is arranged for 
 eating purposes. The boatmen filled the rear, where 
 they would pack themselves like herrings in a 
 barrel, with marvellous discomfort. Our programme 
 was to move from place to place during the nighty 
 and ramble out among the hills and valleys during 
 the day. We first visited a famous monastery, 
 perched up in a wild mountain, covered with large 
 trees and ferns, azaleas blooming in dazzling pro- 
 fusion. The monks assembled in their great hall, 
 and chanted a weird service through, in a quick
 
 80 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 monotone. They were all dressed in yellow, like the 
 Lamas of Thibet. Some were very earnest and 
 devotional ; others chatted and laughed freely with 
 us, while on their knees, and seemed highly delighted 
 at my reading off some characters which one pointed 
 to in his missal, by way of examining me. We 
 lounged about and sat at the bottom of a gorge, in 
 the middle of a running brook, on some big stones. 
 The road itself to this place was very picturesque. 
 A long avenue filled one part ; we had to go seven 
 miles from the boats, and the ladies were carried in 
 mountain-chairs. At one point, we were at the 
 summit of a peak, from which the river flowed down 
 on each side, with a fearful declivity. The Chinese 
 have no simple locks, and^ in passing from the river 
 into the canals, the boats are bodily pulled over an 
 embankment, and slid down the other side. It is a 
 curious process. I recollect very well the first time 
 I passed over one was in the dead of night, and I 
 was waked up to a consciousness of standing on my 
 head ; my legs appeared to be playing a practical 
 joke on me while I slept ; but, being utterly bewil- 
 dered, it took me some time to find out what on earth 
 was happening to the boat. After visitiug this 
 lovely spot, we spent a long wet day in miserable 
 progress to another favourite resort, and, when we 
 arrived there, the weather held up beautifully, per- 
 mitting us to make daily excursions from our boat 
 for four days. We visited several lovely gorges, and 
 each evening managed to come floating down the
 
 SHANGHAE. 81 
 
 rapids in the cool sunset, for several miles, nntil we 
 reached our boat and enjoyed a good dinner. The 
 night, I must say, I looked upon with horror, for the 
 dreadful mosquitoes never let me close my eyes. . . . 
 There was one particular spot which is perfectly en- 
 chanting. After ascending a narrowing gorge for 
 two hours, almost hidden in fragrant verdure and 
 water leaping down alongside, we reached a heavenly 
 spot. A most beautiful wavy, sloping waterfall 
 dropped into a glorious deep pool of clear cool water 
 fringed by a lip of smooth rock, made to sit 
 upon. 
 
 Shanghae, June Itli. — I went, yesterday, with our 
 consul, to pay a visit to a large Chinese theatre, 
 where a very clever European conjuror is giving a 
 series of performances. Professor Van Eyk (or a 
 name somewhat similar to that) came here some 
 weeks ago, and amused large audiences in our own 
 theatre. I went and enjoyed his legerdemain very 
 much. He was then offered about 5000 dollars by the 
 proprietor of the large native theatre we have in the 
 settlement, to give about thirty performances ; and 
 our object in going was to watch the effect of his 
 tricks upon a Chinese " house," and we were well 
 repaid, and immensely amused by the sight. The 
 proprietor was most civil, and, recognising our 
 consul, at once conducted us with every mark of 
 respect through the seated multitude, and gave us 
 excellent seats in a front gallery, such as would 
 
 G
 
 82 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 correspond to the position of dress-circle at home ; nor 
 would he receive any payment from us. There were 
 two prices, all the best seats being a dollar, and the 
 next, half a dollar. These being very high prices 
 for a Chinese audience, the company before us was 
 very select. I was pleased to see so many well- 
 dressed, well-behaved, and, in many instances, 
 elderly and aged gentlemen patronising the foreign 
 conjuror. The house was crowded, and being 
 arranged in regular rows of seats, I should say there 
 were not far short of a thousand present. Ordinarily 
 at their own theatrical performances little square 
 tables are dotted about the hall, whereon tea is served, 
 and the playgoers sit at these much as English 
 rustics at pleasure gardens. The price is very low, 
 and the poorest coolies flock in to while away the time 
 with their tea and pipes while listening to the horrid 
 din of their characteristic orchestra and the falsetto 
 screeching of their boy songstresses. I have been 
 sometimes to these performances. I dare say you 
 have heard how they go on for hours. Sometimes, 
 in a village, where periodical visits are paid by 
 strolling players, the performance is literally carried 
 on for two or three days and nights. As soon as one 
 play is done, another commences without delay ; no 
 scenery or preparation being required, except the 
 actors' dressing. The orchestra of gongs and horrid 
 discordant lutes sifs on the stage behind the actors, 
 and attendants run in and out with tea to refresh the
 
 SHANGHAE. 83 
 
 actors themselves. It is rather amusing to see the 
 way they take it. An apology for an observance of 
 the proprieties of the stage is attempted by the actor 
 liolding up his arm on the side next the andience 
 and imbibing his tea under cover of his hanging 
 sleeve. But the act, though covered, is perfectly 
 patent to all ; it makes one laugh. In the present 
 instance, as I said, the price being heavy, we had no 
 coolies in the house, but row upon row of well-to-do 
 Chinamen in clean white silk robes. Their pig-tails 
 presented - rather a comical view, shown up, as they 
 were, by the white ground. Chinese never take 
 their women kind to theatres, and I dare say it 
 astonislied them to see a couple of foreign women 
 walk in and take their seats among the rest. We 
 recognised them as members of our very limited 
 bourgeoiserie. . . . 
 
 We immediately entered into conversation with the 
 men about us. My immediate neighbour was a 
 Tientsin man, and a bit of a philosopher. He gave 
 me his views on the comparison of foreigners with 
 his own countrymen. He was very melancholy over 
 the poverty of his nation. I pointed below, and said, 
 " Just look at that ciowd of moneyed men," He shook 
 his head, and said, " They have not much, and if a 
 man has a fortune," added he, " how soon it gets 
 dissipated by the multiplication of relations." I was 
 pleased to get some frank, original ideas from a 
 native. It is very true that Chinese families do not 
 
 G 2
 
 84 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 separate. The daughters alone go out of the house. 
 All the sons, with their additional famihes, continue 
 to live under the paternal roof. Well, the professor 
 was a great success. His pantomimic explanations 
 were intensely amusing to us, and more so his occa- 
 sional utterances, gibberish incantations, and, above 
 all, his polite appeals to " Ladies and Gentlemen." 
 The spectators showed great appreciation, and often 
 clapped their hands, which is a species of applause 
 quite new to Chinese, but one which they appear to 
 be learning from us and taking kindly to. 
 
 June 15th. — I have often mentioned the Recreation 
 Grounds, but never described them sufficiently. Be- 
 tween our beautiful grounds* and the river on the 
 other side of the bund road, which separates it from 
 us, is a plot of land which was once a muddy bank 
 of the river, but which the energy and public spirit 
 of the community converted into lawns and flower- 
 beds, which are now kept up to a high state of per- 
 fection, and numbers take advantage of its open 
 position to sit out there on the hot summer nights. 
 An amateur band will soon resume their long- 
 established custom of playing there once a week. 
 All the community stroll about, or sit out on their 
 own, or public chairs, during the performance ; and, 
 in the dim glimmer of gas-light, one finds a great 
 deal of amusement watching one's neighbours, and 
 finding out those one knows. 
 
 * The gai"(lens of the consulate.
 
 SHANGIIAE. 85 
 
 June 30th. — I have just returned from a very plea- 
 sant evening spent on the water. It was hot, and 
 we quite enjoyed the cool breeze of the river fanning 
 us as we dined ; and afterwards we were charmed by 
 the music of our Wednesday band, which came float- 
 ing over the water to us as we lay anchored close by. 
 Many boats were round us, and we could see the 
 promenade kept up on shore. The musicians played 
 very well. Their winding-up galop made us long 
 for more space to dance on our little deck. 
 
 Jiili/ 3rd. — The night before last there was a 
 night parade of the volunteers at 9 p.m. I turned 
 out with my old corps, called the " Mihiloongs," in 
 whose ranks I have not stood for three years nearly. 
 It was hot, but we enjoyed the exercise greatly, 
 rhey marched us out about two miles into the 
 country, and we skirmished by moonlight, and fired 
 blank cartridges to our hearts' content, and rather to 
 the astonishment of the villagers. I could not help 
 laughing at the puzzled looks of a whole village 
 when we dashed through its streets at that late hour 
 and roused all the inmates out of their beds. They 
 came trembling out to look at us, with very little on 
 to bless themselves with. 
 
 I have had my time very fully occupied, and 
 have stayed at home beyond office hours to study 
 questions connected with the trade of the port, as I 
 have been deputed to write a branch of the Trade 
 Report. I like responsible work, and this writing a
 
 86 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 report on the whole trade of a year is exceedingly 
 interesting to me. I have also undertaken to translate 
 Pekin Gazettes for the Evening Coioner. 
 
 July 10th. — Last night, a whole party of ns went 
 to the circus together, tearing along in a line of 
 gin-rick-a-shas. It is most absurd to see grown-up 
 people getting into magnified perambulators, and 
 being whirled off at full speed by two half-naked 
 coolies. In Japan, they run away witli you any- 
 where, without stopping to ask whither, and a 
 stranger gets rather flabbergasted to find himself 
 W'hizzed away from the rest of his party, and utterly 
 unable to stop or to guide his runaways. And we 
 are fast getting into that way here ; for the usual 
 practice is to turn down the streets you w^ant by just 
 touching your coolie on his right or left arm with 
 the end of your stick. So accustomed are they to 
 your driving them the way you wish, that one or 
 two have lately trundled about for hours with the 
 blissful unconsciousness of their " fare " having fallen 
 fast asleep. . . . The circus was certainly a great 
 novelty, and although we all pointed to the children 
 and enjoyed their amazement, methought that was 
 all very fine, but that we elders fiequently stared 
 with all our eyes too. A large sprinkling of Cliinese 
 betrayed a considerable amount of astonishment at 
 the feats. 
 
 Jidi/ loth. — I walked out to the cricket ground to 
 get some exercise, but finding some friends at a
 
 SHANGHAE. 87 
 
 wicket, I bowled for a while, and got a bit of an 
 innings to boot, A fine breeze was playing across 
 the ground, and a couple of ladies with some atten- 
 dant gentlemen were attracted by it to come over 
 and sit by the pavilion in easy cane chairs, of which 
 we have an abundant supply for visitors. Our 
 cricket ground is as perfect as anything of the kind 
 at home, and it is in the middle of a wide open space 
 which was bought by a large public fund, called the 
 Recreation Fund, and intended for purposes of re- 
 creation only ; so that however much they may build 
 all round, this fine space will always remain free and 
 open. Shanghae is growing so fast that this boon 
 will soon begin to be felt. Another safeguard against 
 encroachment is, that the race-course completely 
 surrounds it. It is in an oval shape and measures 
 just a mile and a quarter. People often walk round 
 this and ride too. The drive in from this open space, 
 which lies between the settlement proper and a row 
 of bungalows stretching out for three miles along 
 the Bubbling Well Road, is (ordinarily) a very pic- 
 turesque street called the Maloo. Fortunately, it 
 was made as wide as Oxford Street, at least, or we 
 should have felt the inconvenience of passing through 
 a Chinese population on our main drive. Chinese 
 shops line both sides of this wide maloo, and customers 
 swarm as busy as bees among them. We are content 
 to relinquish the pavements to the elbowing crowd, 
 and walk along the middle of the road in spite
 
 88 MAEGARY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 of furious driving to and fro. But in this hot 
 weather I must say this Hvely street is anything but 
 picturesque, for our Celestial friends have a supreme 
 contempt for false modesty, and prefer comfort to 
 appearances. 
 
 July 31.9^. — I have just, by luck, got in for the most 
 delightful expedition imaginable, and I have only an 
 hour to pack up in and appear on board the steamer. 
 A party is just starting to cruise among the Chusan 
 Islands, to find one suited for a sanatorium, and I go 
 to rej^resent the consul. The American Consul- 
 general and others form the expedition, so T hope to 
 have good fun. We shall only Ije away till Tuesday 
 morning (the 3rd). 
 
 August (Jth. — I rushed off to the Ningpo steamer 
 on Saturday, which, of course, delayed a whole hour 
 in starting, and made me hurry to no particular 
 purpose. I met the American Consul-general, who 
 was the promoter and organiser of the expedition, 
 and after shaking hands with him, proceeded with 
 much curiosity to find out who were members of our 
 party. ... I observed the Yankees were in great 
 force. . . . All these American steamers are arranged 
 with a view to personal comfort. Unlike ours, the 
 saloon is placed in the bows, a most grateful arrange- 
 ment in this hot weather, by which the fresh wind 
 blows directly into your cabin, and all the smells and 
 sailors are put aft. . . . Our party to Ningpo by the 
 steamer Shaiisi at first appeared likely to j^i'ove
 
 SHANGHAE. 89 
 
 dull and staid. But this grave heaviness naturally 
 rubbed off after a bit, and though we never rose to 
 any supreme effort of jollity, there was much quiet 
 enjoyment in store for the party. 
 
 AVe could not go direct to the islands, as the 
 steamer had cargo to deliver at Ningpo ; but as she 
 arrived there very early, everything in the way of 
 business was disposed of by half-past six, and then 
 with an accession to our party, the good ship's nose 
 was turned down the river again, and we steamed away 
 for the open sea. The Ningpo river itself is full of 
 interest. First of all, on each side, the eye is refreshed 
 with the rich green and yellow of the trees and fields, 
 and this is backed up by the sombre tints of the 
 mountains. The country lay mapped out before us, 
 and I could easily distinguish the whereabouts of the 
 peaks which overlooked those lovely spots we visited 
 in the spring. Then, as we approached the mouth 
 of the river (it is only a run of five miles from settle- 
 ment down), we looked down on tlie forts and the 
 heights, which our soldiers stormed in 1842—52 or 
 thereabouts. A small walled city lies at the entrance 
 of the river, overlooked by a remarkable eminence 
 like the Acropolis at Athens. This commanding 
 mound lias a large temple on its summit, and it was 
 up here that we left a small garrison to hold the 
 conquered district. It was so curious to look on the 
 now quiet scene and be told how red coats lined 
 those heights, or swarmed up this hill, in all the
 
 90 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 excitement of battle. The people round soon learned 
 to pick up a few words, and invented an odd, mixed- 
 iip sort of lingo, with which they held some sort of 
 communication with the soldiers. These latter went 
 by the name of "I says." They would say, " Oh! 
 here comes an ' I say,' " which shows how quickly 
 they noted the commonest expressions in soldiers' 
 mouths. 
 
 Hea23s of big junks lay at anchor. Some carried 
 large quantities of timber, which was piled up on 
 deck, and overflowed the sides in such a way that 
 the boat looked like a huge timber raft, nothing being- 
 left to view of the actual hull but her head and stern. 
 There is something exceedingly comical about the 
 look of these timber junks, and one watches them 
 with great interest on every possible occasion. They 
 are very clever in arranging the poles to follow the 
 sweeping lines of the junks, and these are brought 
 up to a poiut at the head, so as to present no obstacle 
 to the sea. 
 
 Islands commence at the very mouth of the river, 
 so that we had the pleasure of moving in and out, 
 for a short space, before laying our course for the 
 open, for a certain Napier Island, which was our 
 destination. The sky was lovely, and the sea as calm 
 as a pond, and of a lovely pea-soup consistency, 
 yellow as mud could make it. These Chinese rivers 
 roll down such volumes of mud and clay in solution, 
 that the sea is discoloured for miles away. We
 
 SHANGHAE. 91 
 
 steamed away till 2 p.m., lounging on deck in long 
 easy chairs, talking, or reading. Napier Island was 
 close at hand, and heaps of little islands lay all about. 
 There were no trees on them, only grass covered the 
 high slopes. Teeming villages of fishermen peeped 
 out of sheltered nooks, and one might have envied 
 their calm seclusion, hut for the knowledge of their 
 crimes, for it was but a narrow border that lay be- 
 tween fishing and piracy, whenever they got the 
 chance. We pulled up first in a choice bay and 
 landed. The whole party then proceeded to walk 
 up to the top, which was rather hot work. We could 
 not see enough beach to make a good bathing-place 
 for ladies, and there was nothing particular to re- 
 commend that place, so back we went on board, 
 racing the two boats which the Chinamen pulled re- 
 markably well ; got up anchor and proceeded to 
 Napier Island. 
 
 The sea was full of red gelatinous-looking crea- 
 tures, which looked half worm half sea- weed, and 
 wherever they lay on shore most tempting they 
 looked, with a brilliant ruby hue and barley-sugar- 
 like aj)pearance. We rambled all over the island, and 
 examined it with a view to its fitness for a sanatorium. 
 Many little beaches lay below us on both sides, which 
 we looked at with eager desire, for as soon as the 
 sun went down we intended having a jolly good 
 bathe. Quite a large village appeared all of a sudden 
 in one bend, and the whole population stared with
 
 92 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 great astonisliment at the strange figures in white 
 stalking along on the brow of the hill above them. 
 After strolling all round we returned to our beach 
 and proceeded with feelings of inexpressible delight 
 to prepare for the water. If ever that spot is en- 
 livened hereafter with graceful figures drying their 
 hair, and children digging sand pies with wooden 
 spades, I shall recall with keen amusement the open- 
 ing scene of the budding sanatorium, a dozen big men 
 scrambling into the water at different points, happy 
 as children. When it got dark we started back for 
 Ningpo and arrived early in the morning, left the 
 same day at four, and got back to Shanghae on 
 Tuesday at 6 a.m.
 
 NOTES 
 
 A JOURNEY 
 
 HANKOW TO TA-LI F U, 
 
 COMPILED FROM THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL AND PRIVATE LETTERS 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 AUGUSTUS RAYMOND MARGARY, 
 
 CHINA CONSULAR SERVICE.
 
 On the 9th of August while at Shaughae Mr. 
 Margary received notice of his appointment to 
 cross China, and meet Colonel Browne's Mission. 
 In compliance with his instructions, he kept a 
 journal on the route, and the portion of it which 
 records his experiences as far as Ta-li Fu has been 
 saved, and is now published with the sanction of 
 the Government. There are various gaps in it, 
 which have been filled up as far as possible by 
 extracts from his private letters. The remainder 
 was probably with him when he was murdered. 
 
 For completeness' sake, an itinerary has been 
 appended to the journal.
 
 SHANGHAE. 97 
 
 Shanghae, August 9t/i. — A magnificent opportunity 
 of distinguishing myself has just been opened to me, 
 and I am sure it will please you very much to know 
 how great an honour has heen lately conferred upon 
 me in connection with it. I am appointed to the 
 very duty I was longing for and wrote ahout in my 
 last letter to you, namely, that of accompanying the 
 Indian expedition which is to enter China through 
 Burmah and survey a new route for commerce. 
 Direct orders have not yet arrived. Mr. Medhurst 
 received orders to breathe a word of it to no one, and 
 I have instructions to make every preparation with 
 all secresy, and to hold myself in readiness to go to 
 Hankow (five hundred miles up the Yangtsze) and 
 to start from there on or ahout the 1st of Septeml)er, 
 so that I have but a short notice to prepare for a 
 three months' trip ; for I am afraid it will be as long- 
 as that, at the very shortest computation ; but I shall 
 be able to send a letter from the interior now and 
 then, as I proceed, for the Chinese have an excellent 
 postal system all over the empire, so that, I am happy 
 to say, you will not be deprived of all news of me. 
 
 And now let me tell you that this order is not 
 final. Its carrying out depends upon the arrival of 
 a telegram from the Viceroy of India to say whether 
 I am to start or not. However, T firmly believe we 
 
 H
 
 98 MAEGAKY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 shall have the telegram in a day or two to say " go 
 ahead," and I shall go with joy and alacrit}^ 
 
 Friday, 14:th — A telegram from Calcutta did arrive 
 on Wednesday night, directed, contrary to onr 
 expectation, to Mr. Wade, so that Mr. Medhurst had 
 to send it up to Pekin uno|3ened, and we shall not 
 know for ten days what is decided. I am inclined 
 to think the expedition has been abandoned, or the 
 telegram would have come to Mr. Medhurst. Won't 
 it be a horrible sell for me ! We have suggested to 
 the minister that it would save time and money to 
 send me by sea to Mandalay, to join the expedition 
 at its starting-point, instead of toiling overland some 
 seven or eight hundred miles through a new country 
 untrodden by foreigners. 
 
 To his Parents. 
 Saturday, 15^A.— My instructions arrived this 
 morning with warm and flattering letters from Mr. 
 Wade and his secretaries, together with passports 
 and Chinese despatches from the Imperial Foreign 
 officials. The plan adopted is to send me overland 
 from this side to the Western borders of the province 
 of Yunnan, there to wait at one of the passes for four 
 Indian officers who are to come over from a place 
 called Bhamo near the upper sources of the Irrawaddy 
 or Irawady. I am provided with huge Chinese 
 despatches from the Tsungli yam en at Pekin to 
 three governor-generals who rule the vast territories 
 through which I shall pass. These letters direct
 
 SHANGHAE. 99 
 
 them to take every care of me, and to issue orders to 
 all their magistrates and officers along my route to 
 protect and help me on. I shall pass over about nine 
 hundred miles of country, of which some five hundred 
 will be new ground. I have to keep an official 
 journal and an itinerary, and everything will be 
 published. The trip is calculated to last six months. 
 At any rate I shall be completely buried out of sight 
 till the end of November, and shall probably hear no 
 news of you or the world in general till next year. 
 Only think what a glorious opportunity T shall liave 
 of seeing this wonderful country, and of bringing to 
 light numerous facts as yet unknown, from regions 
 untrodden by foreigners. It is really splendid ; you 
 cannot think how elated I am. I am provided with 
 a cook, an official messenger, and a writer. Every 
 thing is to be kept an entire secret, and I find this 
 the hardest part of the J0I3. I have to buy all my 
 provisions for the journey, and slip away without a 
 soul knowing it outside. Mr. Wade dreads any in- 
 caution on the part of the papers, which would 
 seriously hamper my movements by getting wrong 
 notions into the head of the Chinese. I have only a 
 week to prepare in, but that is amply sufficient, and 
 prol)ably next Saturday not one of my friends will 
 suspect that I have gone on board the river steamer 
 to start on my long, long journey. I go up to 
 Hankow first, which is five hundred miles up the 
 Yangtsze. These American river palaces do the 
 trip in three days. Two ports are open between, 
 
 H 2
 
 100 MAKGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 Chinkiang, where I have been before, and Kinkiang, 
 where I have not yet been. At the latter place I 
 " stop two turns " to consult the vice-consul, Mr. 
 King, about my route, and then proceed in the fol- 
 lowing steamer to Hankow. There, my final pre- 
 parations will be made to start as early in September 
 as possible. You had better get a good map of China. 
 Dr. Williams' is the best, I think, and you will be 
 able to follow my movements very well. The course 
 of the Yangtsze will indicate some six hundred miles 
 of it, probably, so that I shall have ascended some 
 one thousand miles of this mighty river. The return 
 trip through China will be pleasant enough in com- 
 pany with the Indian officers I shall meet. They 
 may however elect to return to Burmah, in which 
 case I shall visit that wonderful country also. ^ I am 
 having some rare old missionary charts of the 
 provinces I pass through photographed. They will 
 be of invaluable use to me. It will be intensely in- 
 teresting to me to see and speak to some of those 
 great viceroys, who rule their provinces like petty 
 kings ; but I doubt if I shall be so honoured ; they 
 will probably refer me to lesser lights. In any case, 
 it will be very instructive to carry on correspondence 
 with them. I have only to pray for health and 
 strength to carry me through, and there is no doubt 
 I shall have had the privilege of doing some service 
 to the world at large. I must be off now to see to 
 my equipment. I spend all the day at the stores, 
 making out lists and estimates, and adding this, that.
 
 SHANGHAE. 101 
 
 and the other necessary as it occurs to me. To-day 
 I am after medicines. I must also see to a good pair 
 of field-glasses. You must picture me standing alone 
 on the heights of the Momein pass, far away on the 
 Burmese frontier, and anxiously scanning the country 
 beyond for the first glimpse of Indian helmets ap- 
 proaching from the West. Then you can picture 
 the meeting, China and India grasping hands, and 
 awakening those primeval echoes with a British 
 hurrah over the fait accompli. As it happens, 
 the telegrams have failed in the most important 
 particular, and we cannot make out which pass they 
 intend to traverse ; but I shall find them out some- 
 how, or else I will worry the Viceroy of Yunnan out 
 of all peace and quiet. 
 
 Friday^ August 2ist. — I am going to start off to- 
 morrow night for Hankow, if possible. My orders 
 appear now to be very complete. 1 have had further 
 despatches to-day from Mr. Wade telling me the 
 names of the Indian officers and the pass they intend 
 to come over. A Colonel Browne is at the head of 
 it, and Dr. Anderson, whose name is familiar in 
 connection with previous expeditions, is one of the 
 party, and Mr. Ney Elias. A guard of thirty 
 soldiers accompanies them to the frontiers of China, 
 after which I am to take charge of them and bring 
 them back by the way I go to meet them. The 
 soldiers are not to enter China. 
 
 Shanghae, August 2 2nd, 1874. — My darling Mother, 
 — I am so sorry not to be able to write more this
 
 102 MAEGAEY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 mail. Everything has to be done in such a tearing 
 hurry, and I have to rush about from one place to 
 another buying things. I am going to write leisurely 
 on board the steamer going up the river. I start to 
 night, and it takes nearly four days to get up to 
 Hankow. It is so hot I am hardly able to write, and 
 my boy is packing my books, and I have to keep an 
 eye on him to see that he puts the right things at 
 
 the top. The M 's are so kind to me. He has 
 
 lent me his invaluable servant, a man who knows 
 every inch of the country and is full of expedients. 
 It is a long, and, to a certain extent, a perilous 
 journey. I can't disguise that fact, and that for 
 three months I shall be beyond the reach of all news 
 of the outer world. You must picture me trudging on 
 through strange cities, stared at by pig-tailed mobs. 
 At times sitting in Eastern etiquette with native 
 governors and viceroys, and lastly, you may look at 
 the map and fancy you see a solitary European 
 standing above the last pass on the borders of China, 
 and anxiously gazing through his binoculars for the 
 advent of Indian helmets from the West. You 
 know, dearest, I have trust in God, and fear nothing. 
 Best love to all. Your own loving Gus. 
 
 On hoard the S.S. 'Hirado ' up the Yangtsze, Sunday^ 
 August 2Zrd. — I started on my trip yesterday, 
 and am now on board one of those wonderful struc- 
 tures which ' the Americans first adopted for the 
 navigation of their mighty rivers. The last thing 
 this vessel reseml)les is a ship. You see no masts.
 
 ON THE YANGTSZE. 103 
 
 but only two gigantic funnels, which are often placed 
 one in front of each paddle box. Tier upon tier of 
 cabins appear to be built upon the smallest possible 
 hull, and the general appearance of the vessel is that 
 of a gaudy palace of pleasure, full of windows and 
 terraces floating on the water. In the centre you 
 see the great lever of the beam engine oscillating 
 backwards and forwards like a gigantic see-saw. 
 This is what is called the " Walking Beam." The 
 cabins are large and roomy. I see one on the 
 opposite side to mine containing a large four-post 
 bedstead. This mighty river, steeped in yellow mud, 
 is not particularly interesting just here. The banks 
 are low, and almost out of sight, so that I have 
 nothing to attract me up on deck. We shall reach 
 the first river port, called Chinkiang in the middle 
 of the night, but, as I have been there before, it 
 will make no difference to me whether 1 see it ag-ain 
 or not. A wide desolation marks the spot which is 
 very depressing to look at. The Taiping rebels had 
 possession of the place, and their heavy hand is 
 witnessed to by the many acres of brickbats which 
 mark the site of a once busy city. I shall feel no 
 small degree of interest in having a sight of the 
 great and famous old city of Nankin which we shall 
 pass to-morrow. There the rebels established their 
 power, and marked it by knocking down the far- 
 renowned porcelain tower, which we used to read 
 of with wonder at school. By-and-by^ as we pass 
 farther up, and the huge river narrows, I am told
 
 104 MARGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 some beautiful scenery opens out, and I shall perhaps 
 be attracted to the deck the greater part of the time. 
 We shall reach the second Treaty-port called Kin- 
 kiaug on Tuesday. How wonderful it is that we 
 have now a daily service of large, powerful, com- 
 fortable steamers ploughing up and down this great 
 river, for seven hundred miles, which, shortly before 
 I came to China, was hermetically sealed to foreign 
 vessels. Our fleet of mighty men of war first forced 
 its way up in 1842, and nothing could be done till 
 1862 in the way of fairly opening up the river. 
 They say the Yangtsze carries in its bosom enough 
 mud to give a coating of yellow to the whole of 
 Euroj)e. Islands of no mean size are formed in an 
 incredibly short space of time, and the very passage 
 through which our 74-gunships passed at Chinkiang 
 in 1842 is now highland, connecting a certain Silver 
 Island with the mainland. I think I had better tell 
 you about my departure from Shanghae now, before 
 plunging into history and geograpliy, but I must 
 first find a quieter portion of the ship, as the vibration 
 is too much to allow of my writing. 
 
 August 24:th. — I have now found a steadier table, 
 and am feeling better myself. I have had a long spell 
 of l:)ad health in Shanghae, without any positive 
 sign of sickness. The fact is, as I know now for 
 certain, that I have been under the wearing 
 influence of Shanghae fever, which is very subtle. 
 It is an intermittent fever, and if one's constitution 
 is strong enough, like mine, to resist it, the silent
 
 ON THE YANGTSZE. 105 
 
 enemy continues its creeping attacks, until the 
 mischief is detected by loss of flesh, and emaciation. 
 I have been working too hard, and sitting out too 
 much in evening breezes, the result of which was 
 a loss of fourteen or fifteen pounds, which I was 
 startled to discover the other day. It is not pleasant 
 to have to start on my stupendous journey after 
 such a pull down, but every mile away from 
 Shanghae has been adding strength and vigour to 
 my spirits and frame, and I have no doubt, under 
 the quiet, regular regime of a traveller's life, I shall 
 feel as blithe as a lark. 
 
 I shall be, perhaps, three months reaching the 
 frontier town of Seng-Yuen-Fu, which you will no 
 doubt find marked on the atlas, as the most westerly 
 town in China. Its other name is Momein. From 
 Hankow, which is in the very centre of China, and 
 which place this steamer will reach to-morrow, I 
 start in a native boat, and follow up the course 
 of the mighty Yangtsze, through the province of 
 Sz'chuen, past the wonderful gorges and rapids of 
 Ichang, on through Chung-khing, lat 29° 30', long. 
 107° E., and then bending down to Yunnan-Fu, in 
 lat. 25° 30' long, 102° E., and from thence almost 
 due west to a Chinese border town, called Yung- 
 Chang-Fu. At this place, where the roads through 
 two different passes converge, I am to pause and 
 determine whether the party has had time to reach 
 Momein, and, if possible, I am to push on there to 
 meet tliem. I suppose by the time I return, 1 shall
 
 106 MARGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 have passed over some five thousand miles of country. 
 The letters and passes furnished me hy the Imperial 
 Cabinet will command respect from all the officials, 
 high and low, throughout my route ; so that, though 
 no doubt innumerable schemes may be devised to 
 hinder my progress, I shall be hedged around with 
 protection. Is it not a splendid mission ? What 
 wonderful things I shall see ! Some of the mountain 
 scenery in that marvellously rich province of Yun- 
 nan is very beautiful. I cannot cease to regret that 
 my talents for sketching are so very poor. 
 
 I have had but little time to prepare for a trip of 
 six months. It may last as long as that, for they 
 hint at the possibility of my waiting for the expedi- 
 tion, perhaps for a whole month, in which case 
 I shall hope to have grand sport in the forests and 
 mountains, which teem with wild life. In spite of 
 the short notice, I think I am pretty well provided 
 with clothes, and tinned provisions, weapons and 
 instruments. 
 
 It is impossible to say when you may hear from 
 me. I shall try and make use of the native post, 
 which is a very efficient service, but how far it may 
 be safe for foreign correspondence remains to be 
 proved. It may be that not a word will be heard 
 of me the whole time, in which case, all sorts of 
 rumours may arise as to my fate. Let me beg of 
 you not to believe one ; rest assured I will make 
 my way there and back, by God's help, as safe 
 as a trivet.
 
 ON THE YANGTSZE. 107 
 
 In spite of all my elation, and the fact of my 
 preparations having been completed, and of my 
 having actually started up the Yangtsze, there is 
 yet a possibility of an order following me to stop. 
 For a very suspicious-looking telegram in cypher 
 came from the viceroy last week, to which we 
 could only get a reply from Pekin about now, and 
 the very next steamer behind me may be bringing 
 up instructions to go no farther. 
 
 It was troublesome having to keep all my prepara- 
 tions so secret. I have not been able to say good- 
 bye to heaps of my friends, and on Saturday night, 
 after a quiet dinner at the Consulate, I sneaked down 
 the bund at midnight in a gin-rick-a-sha, holding a 
 new dog in a leash, and followed by Bombazine, my 
 old boy, whom 1 have picked up again, and employed 
 for this trip. 
 
 Mr. Medhurst has kindly lent me an invaluable 
 person, who has been in his employ for many years ; 
 a sort of confidential rascal, who will do anything, 
 go anywhere, and is never at a loss for an expedieijt. 
 He knows the greater part of the country through 
 which I am to pass, having been repeatedly sent out 
 in search of golden pheasants and other rare 
 curiosities. If I should happen to be ill anywhere, 
 or come to grief in any way, this man will be back 
 to Hankow in a twinkling and bring the news. He 
 rejoices in the nickname of Leila, which the children 
 gave him years ago, by mistake for the common call 
 with which servants are summoned in China. Much
 
 108 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 as if in India one were to call a man Zui-hi. But 
 the name lias stuck to him. 
 
 After a warm farewell from Mr. Medhurst, I 
 started off with a heavy heart. Leila, in his zeal, 
 had carried off every one of my hats with the 
 luggage, and I had to tie my handkerchief round 
 my head, as the night was damp and miasmatic. 
 Passing by the club, which was flaring with gas at 
 every windo^v^, I saw the white-coated figures of the 
 late birds, some poring over the mail papers in their 
 luxurious library, others finishing up their billiards 
 in a higher storey. I hurried on like a fugitive, and 
 hid my face from one or two friends strolling home 
 from a dinner somewhere, for I did not want to 
 waste time in explanations, or to be hindered by post- 
 prandial larks. It was quite painful to feel I was 
 going away on a great journey, and yet could not 
 take a warm farewell of my friends. Arrived at the 
 end of the magnificent bund, which stretches for a 
 mile and a half in front of lordly houses, I had only 
 to step across a pontoon on to one of those American 
 river palaces which plough up and down the huge 
 river, and which I have described to you before. My 
 cabin was big enough to do on shore in England. I 
 was met with marked respect from the officer on watch. 
 
 " Are you Mr. Margary, sir ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "All right, sir." 
 
 " Here, steward, show Mr. Margary No. 1 cabin." 
 
 " I'll look after your dog, sir."
 
 ON THE YANGTSZE. 109 
 
 " All right, good night ; " and before I awoke, 
 Shanghae was out of sight. And now we have been 
 " coughing " up the muddy sea for the best part of 
 three daj^s. Mark Twain uses the above expression 
 to describe the peculiar soughing noise which these 
 " Walking Beam " engines emit at every revolution. 
 One almost pities the monster, and feels irresistibly 
 impelled to clear one's throat to help the poor 
 asthmatic creature. 
 
 We stopped at Chinkiang on Sunday night to 
 discharge cargo and passengers, and a most disagree- 
 able interruption to one's sleep it proved. 
 
 The scenery has been flat the whole way up. 
 This afternoon, however, mountains begin to appear, 
 and there will be much to look at from this point. 
 
 I was very much interested yesterday, in gazing 
 on the wonderful old city of Nankin. It was here 
 that the last great struggle took place to eradicate 
 the Taiping rebels. Its mighty, grim, dirty old 
 walls were built into the sides of the hills which 
 skirted the northern front of the city for some 
 miles. Nothing could be seen but these grim 
 battlements ; but I could picture Colonel Gordon 
 occupying those heights around, and the fearful and 
 atrocious massacre which the Imperialists subse- 
 quently perpetrated around those walls, was enough 
 to sicken one to contemplate. The captain had 
 some stories to tell of fearful sights he had seen 
 going up and down the river at that time in the 
 Chinese service. He pointed to the low lying banks
 
 110 MARG ART'S JOURNEY. 
 
 on the opposite side of the river, which was not so 
 very wide at that point, and told iis how he had 
 seen thousands stampeding across those plains, and 
 striving to escape in crowded boats from their 
 pursuers, and hacking each other down unmercifully 
 in their selfishness and frenzy to escape. 
 
 We have a great man on board, no less a person 
 than the Governor of the Province of Canton. We 
 have had him to dinner, and the captain was very 
 glad I was here to talk to him. The manager of 
 the company had given orders to the captain to 
 show every attention to H. E., but as the latter, 
 with the usual piggishness of his country, rejected 
 the best cabins, and chose to ensconce himself in the 
 after hold ! it was not so easy to please him. How- 
 ever he accepted the invitation to dinner, and made 
 himself very agreeable, specially after dinner, when 
 we sat out in the bows, and enjoyed the fresh air. 
 His spirits seemed to rise, and he remarked to his 
 attendant amanuensis, that the foreigners' way of 
 sitting out after dinner, and chatting and laugh- 
 ing was very sociable and friendly. Like most 
 successful well-to-do Chinamen, our friend bas an 
 enormous figure and paunch. I wonder they don't 
 expire of heat and apoplexy. Wandering round the 
 ship the other day, 1 saw him fast asleep in a long 
 chair, and an attendant shampooing his fat legs for 
 him all the time. 
 
 I wonder what you will all think, when you hear 
 of my hurrying myself ont of sight for all these
 
 HANKOW. Ill 
 
 months in the heart of China. The journey as far 
 as Chung-khing has been repeatedly performed ; 
 it will be after that point that my difficulties will 
 commence, and I shall pass through many places in 
 Yunnan where a foreigner has never been seen ; at 
 such towns, it will require my utmost tact and 
 caution to prevent trouble and excitement. Do not 
 be apprehensive about me. If I only have liealth, 
 by Grod's blessing, I shall not dread anything else. 
 
 To F. E. R. 
 
 British Consulate, Hankow, Sept. 2nd, 1874. — I have 
 not been able to write during the past few days, for, 
 as you may well imagine, the preparations for such a 
 trip as I am about to undertake requires my constant 
 attention and thought. Talking especially takes up 
 a lot of time, and bargaining with Chinamen wears 
 out one's patience. 
 
 I sent a letter from Kinkiang on the 26th. I 
 spent a couple of very pleasant days there. The 
 first afternoon I went out to the bungalow in the 
 hills some nine miles off. Mr. King lent me a chair, 
 and I was carried off by three coolies, who took up 
 about three hours in the transit. After going for 
 about an hour, they set me down in a village, and 
 proceeded after their fashion to imbibe tea and eat 
 some horrid looking compound. Meanwhile, I be- 
 came a gazing stock to the urchins, as well as men 
 and women, which was odd, considering they see 
 foreigners every day. However, instead of allowing
 
 112 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 them to take peeps at me through the Venetians of 
 the chair, I got out and had a chat. My bearers 
 repeated this operation at the end of another hour, 
 and at length, when I reached the foot of the mountain, 
 and found I had to walk up it for about an hour, 
 darkness was setting in. I could hardly steer clear 
 of the stones in the narrow path which wound up a 
 wild gorge. It seemed interminable, but at last I 
 reached the bungalow, and found four gentlemen, 
 three of whom I did not know, taking a plunge into 
 a fine clear deep pool. A mountain torrent rushes 
 down past the door of the bungalow, and forms this 
 fine pool within ten paces of the house. 
 
 I came away again next morning at daylight, 
 before the sun should get too hot, first taking a 
 farewell swim, and the mountain torrent was bracingly 
 cold at that early hour. 
 
 To-morrow morning I shall be launched in my 
 boat, and perhaps not emerge into the world again 
 till next year. I am going by boat — the same one 
 — for the first thirty to forty days. This part of the 
 travelling will be comfortable enough. I shall have 
 all my books and luxuries round me, and just recline 
 on an easy chair as I float past strange places. The 
 first big place I make for is Yo-chow, at the point 
 in Hunan where the Yangtsze touches the Tungting 
 Lake. Then I traverse the lake and leave it at the 
 south-west coi'ner by a river which carries me past 
 Changteh, Shenchow, to the borders of the province 
 of Kwei-chou, where I shall bid good-bye to my
 
 ON THE YANGTSZE. 113 
 
 boat and send it l)aek witli letters, I shall then 
 liave to travel overland in chairs across the moun- 
 tainous province of Kwei-chou, and reach the distant 
 Yunnan-Fu, which is just above the 25th parallel 
 of lat. N., in some twenty-five days more, and after 
 that I shall do as circumstances require. 
 
 The weather was boiling hot during- the first few 
 days of my arrival, but now fortunately it has turned 
 a little cooler. 
 
 I am fearfully busy and distracted. The Chinese 
 are making war preparations everywhere. We expect 
 the Japanese will give "them a sound thrasliing at 
 first, and then, perhaps, afterwards, the tables may 
 be turned, for the average Chinaman is double the 
 size of a Japanese. You will hear from me again in a 
 fortnight, I hope. I feel as if I were going into 
 darkness for six months. 
 
 To F. E. R. 
 
 Yaufftsze, ninety miles from Hankow^ Wednesday^ 
 September ^th. — I have been five days coming thus 
 far, and do not at all relish the misery of such slow 
 travelling, with the thermometer over 90°. But I 
 am slowing down on purpose, in consequence of an 
 Indian telegram which caught me up on the second 
 night out, which proposes my joining the expedition 
 at Rangoon by sea. Mr. Wade, however, has to 
 decide ; and so, in order to give time for his answer 
 to arrive, I have written back to say that I will 
 move slowly on up the Yangtsze, and stop at a place 
 
 I
 
 114 MAEGARY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 near its contiguity with the Tungting Lake. There 
 I shall be at a point from which I can hurry on or 
 drop down the swift stream of the Yangtsze to 
 Plankow in a quarter of the time it takes to go up. 
 accor Jing as Mr. Wade's orders may direct. 
 
 So far, I find it extremely monotonous. I cannot 
 get out all day on account of the sun, and in the 
 evening at the halting-place I am obliged to undergo 
 a crowd. However, they are seldom troublesome. 
 My writer is a Christian, and therefore possesses 
 moral courage enough to be free from most Chinese 
 prejudices. He will walk with me through any 
 frequented place, and rebuke the crowed with great 
 energy if their curiosity overcomes their politeness. 
 
 We were fortunate in having a thunderstorm the 
 first night out, which cooled tlie air for two days. 
 Saturday and Sunday were consequently delicious, 
 and I did a great deal of walking along the towing 
 path, accompanied by my writer and servant. There 
 was nothing very attractive in the country. Very 
 rough cultivation of cotton, millet, and sesamum 
 showed how little they could count on the rise or 
 fall of the river. This year they have had no 
 inundation, but it is of almost annual occurrence. 
 Even at Hankow the foreign settlement is frequently 
 submerged. The river rises six feet above the level 
 of the fine stone bund they have made there, and 
 quietly takes possession of all the lower rooms in the 
 noble-looking mansions which the merchants occupy. 
 All their dinino:-room furniture has to be removed
 
 ON THE YANGTSZE. 115 
 
 above. Boats become the only means of locomotion, 
 and ladies can be seen canoeing in and out of their 
 houses, and over the bund where they are wont to 
 promenade at other times. It is now 3*30 p.m., and 
 having arrived at a convenient anchorage, we are 
 going to stop here for the rest of the day. Mean- 
 time, I have found every occupation distressing. 
 With the thermometer at 90°, in this narrow boat, 
 which I can almost stretch across with my arms, and 
 frequently try to imroof with my head, you may 
 imagine what an exercise it is to my patience. 
 Hitherto I had been too weak to sit up and wrjte, 
 but a course of " tonic " has set me up, and I find 
 this the most agreeable way to spend the next few 
 hours till the fierce sun shall have gone down. I 
 read Chinese till that nauseated me, then I alternated 
 between my bed and my open iron chair, now with 
 a novel of Bulwer Lytton's, and now with a French- 
 man's account of the regions I am bound to. Oh, 
 why is the weather so hot ? It ought to be breaking 
 up now. Indeed it did for two days. The very 
 first night we were out a thunderstorm came up, and 
 we hurried up a creek amid a swarm of boats of 
 all sizes seeking similar shelter. They raised such 
 a Babel of tongues as I never heard. Every boat 
 had several men, and they all shouted at once. The 
 storm did not take the ugly proportions my boatmen 
 seemed to expect. The result was harmless, but 
 intensely refreshing, and for two days sent the 
 thermometer down to 84°. I had a long walk the 
 
 I 2
 
 116 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 last of these two days, and cut across a wooded 
 village,wliich looked very pretty for anything Chinese. 
 My writer and boy always accompany me. We 
 entered a cottage and rested, talking very amiably 
 all the while to the host, an old man, and his various 
 progeny of many generations who surrounded him. 
 These people had never seen a foreigner before, but 
 curbed their curiosity under politeness No sooner 
 had I resumed my \\ alk, however, than I heard quite 
 a loud cackling, like geese, and turning round saw 
 the girls and boys running after me. They were 
 speedily dispersed by a weighty rebuke from my 
 amanuensis. The village proved a very large one. 
 A schoolmaster stepped down and made some polite 
 inquiries, and I thought we were getting on beauti- 
 fully ; but, alas! for our vanity, no sooner liad.we 
 turned the corner, and reached the shipping frontage 
 in search of our boat, than all the gamins in the 
 suburb rose up, and escorted me some half a mile 
 along the wharves before that blessed boat turned 
 up. I was not in a good humour, so did not attempt 
 to play with them, but walked like a Roman with 
 majestic step, feeling all the time an utter fool. It 
 is rather trying to be followed by a dirty, ignorant 
 crowd, which has the audacity to laugh spontaneously 
 at your superior excellence. Upon my word I never 
 felt more out of place.
 
 ( 117 ) 
 
 JOURNAL. 
 
 Having received orders, while at Shanghae, to hold 
 myself in readiness to proceed to Yunnan at a short 
 notice, I set myself without delay to make such 
 preparations as Avould enable me to start with 
 despatch, 3^et, at the same time, without definitely 
 incurring an outlay in case of a countermand. The 
 above intimation was received through Mr. Medhurst, 
 on the 9th of August, and on 15th and the 21st, I had 
 the honour to receive full and confidential instructions 
 from H.B.M. Minister, which directed me to start at 
 once, and accordingly 1 left Shanghae on the night of 
 Saturday, the 2 2nd, for Hankow. Arrived atKinkiang 
 on the 25th, I remained at that port two days to 
 consult with Mr.Yice-Consul King about the route, 
 as directed in my instructions. This officer had 
 recently ascended the Yangtsze to Chung-khiug, 
 and very readily gave me the benefit of his valuable 
 observations, besides furnishing me with books 
 and papers on the subject, including his own private 
 diary of the trip. 
 
 August 2Stfi, 1874. — Reached Hankow in ex- 
 ception;illy Imt whethei'. ;i)id unfortunately in a verv
 
 118 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 bad state of health, which continued for several days 
 and retarded my final preparations. Mr. Consul 
 Hughes had called upon the viceroy with the letter 
 from the Tsungli yamen, and found H. E. had 
 already received despatches from Pekin on the 
 subject of my trip. The viceroy in conversation 
 strongly recommended the Hu Nan and Kwei-chou 
 route as that which was usually followed by officials, 
 and was just now selected by the Govenor of Yun- 
 nan, who was on his way thither. Acting on this 
 advice, and moreover finding that time and expense 
 were likely to be saved by adopting this road, I 
 decided to do so, with Mr. Hughes's full concurrence. 
 The viceroy was informed on the 31st of this decision, 
 and wrote to say that he had forthwith directed all 
 the officials along the route to aid and protect my 
 progress. 
 
 The 31st, 1st, and 2nd were taken up in bargaining 
 for and procuring a boat, hiring servants, and 
 concluding financial arrangements, which at first 
 threatened to become exceedingly troublesome. But 
 an order was at length obtained on a Shen Si branch 
 bank which had been set up in Yunnan very 
 recently, and which was indeed an encouraging sign 
 of returning order and prosperity in that long- 
 disturbed province. The banker who supplied me 
 with this order had the civility to call, and proved 
 to be a man of great consequence and ability. He 
 informed me that the Government of Yunnan was 
 also supplied with funds through his bank. Along
 
 HANKOW. 119 
 
 with the other a tally weight ol" Lrass was given to 
 me, which was to he presented at the bank in Yun- 
 nan Fu to serve as the standard of payment. And 
 four per cent, discount was the rate charged for the 
 accommodation. 
 
 My preparations were completed for starting on 
 the 3rd, but unfortunately an attack of illness obliged 
 me to jjut off the departure till next day. The boat 
 was one of those commonly called a mandarin boat, 
 long and narrow, and divided into five or six com- 
 partments which ran the whole length of the craft, 
 the centre being occupied with a somewhat wdder 
 and neater space, fitted wdth chairs and tables, and 
 suited for the recej^tion of guests. Each compart- 
 ment contained a couple of low berths, one on each 
 side of the passage running down the middle. But 
 as a Chinaman's average stature falls far short of 
 an Englishman's proportions, I found it necessary to 
 lengthen the bedside of my comjDartment by removing 
 the dividing panel. A similar precaution had to be 
 taken with regard to the floor, whereof the boards 
 were lowered fully six inches, to save my head from 
 the pains and penalties of trying to unroof the not 
 too substantial top. A regular Chinese form of agree- 
 ment w^as drawn up by the boat-owner and handed 
 over to me. The main conditions were that he should 
 convey me to Ch'en-yuan Fu in Kwei-chou for the 
 sum of 110,000 cash, which was to be paid in several 
 instalments at different places on the way, starting 
 with a prepayment of 60,000 cash at Hankow. This
 
 120 MARGAKY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 sum was to include everything, and to free me from 
 all those incidental appeals on behalf of the crew 
 which so frequently spring up en route to delay and 
 annoy the traveller. My party consisted of five, 
 comprising a writer, an official messenger, a cook, 
 and my body servant. With regard to the necessary 
 supplies for daily expenses between Hankow and 
 Yunnan Fu, where alone I had credit for funds, I 
 should mention that I adopted the following plan, 
 which appeared to be the best that any one could 
 suggest. It was to take with me in the boat a 
 quantity of cash sufficient to cover everything as far 
 as Ch'en-yuan Fu, and to leave a margin wherewith 
 to pay the first instalment for chairs in the land 
 journey, which would commence at that place. In 
 addition to this, I procured a hundred taels' worth of 
 small silver ingots, weighing five taels each, which 
 formed a very convenient parcel, and one easily 
 concealed in a box of winter clothes reserved for 
 Yunnan. These small ingots are called at Hankow 
 chin slia yin. The cash was intrusted to my official 
 messenger, whose receipt for the amount relieved my 
 mind of the monstrous anxiety of having to watch 
 over the safety of what seemed a vast hoard when 
 converted into the bulky proportions of copper 
 currency. The whole mass was deposited loosely in 
 strings of a 1,000 cash (called a tiac>) on the floor of 
 the boat, beneath the servant's couch, and there it 
 might remain without the smallest fear of theft, 
 although within easy reach of a pilfering arm. The
 
 WU-CH'ANG. 121 
 
 Chinese are no tbieves. Their purloinings take a 
 different form, which I might charitably term "com- 
 mission," but prefer to stigmatise a " squeeze." 
 
 September 4:th. — Left Hanlvow at 11 a.m., crossed 
 tlie river and tracked along under the walls of 
 \\'u-ch"ang. Made little progress against the strong 
 current, without the aid of a breath of wind. At 
 3.30 brought up in a creek facing the southern 
 suburb of the capital, having progressed but 20 li. 
 Boatmen expected a storm from the north-west, and 
 declined to proceed. Numbers of juiiks, large and 
 small, were running in for shelter. I landed and 
 took a short stroll with my writer, without exciting 
 any incivihty, though a good deal of curiosity. 
 Finding my boat jambed in among a myriad of small 
 craft, and deprived of every avenue by which a 
 breeze might be wafted in to cool an atmosphere 
 heated up to 92° throughout the day, I compelled 
 the boatman to retrace our course to the mouth of 
 the creek, where shortly after we found ourselves in 
 a perfect Babel of tongues aroused by the fast 
 approaching wind and thunderstorm. The men 
 began to rejDroach me for bringing our small boat 
 into such dangerous proximity to larger craft, and for 
 some time, as the wind freshened and the vast flotilla 
 began to swing about in constant collision, the uproar 
 of voices surpassed all description. No harm was 
 done, however, for the storm passed off as suddenly as 
 it came, and left us refreshed by a cooler temperature. 
 
 Septemhei' oih. — Started with a fair wind, and
 
 122 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 completed 105 li. Passed Ching-k'ou at 2 p.m. I 
 was down with fever during the morning, but 
 succeeded in walking along the towing path for 
 some distance during the afternoon. The tempera- 
 ture had been reduced ten degrees by the storm. 
 Country appeared to be low and subject to inundation. 
 A few fields of cotton in the very poorest condition, 
 and large quantities of sesamum which seemed 
 healthy, were the only products of cultivation. A 
 pretty view of hills to the north opened out from 
 time to time. On the north bank of the river, 
 kaoliang or sorghum was cultivated, as well as small 
 quantities of indigo. Reached Tung-kua-nao [a 
 Lekin Station, and anchorage for junks], in the 
 evening, and remained there for the night. A 
 messenger from Hankow arrived at 9 p.m. with a 
 telegram from Calcutta, forwarded by Mr. Medhurst, 
 to the following effect . — 
 
 " Calcutta, '6\st August, 1874. — To Consul Med- 
 hurst, Shanghae. — Interpreter had better join party 
 at Rangoon by sea. I am telegraphing to Mr. Wade. 
 Interpreter had better postpone departure, pending 
 further orders from Pekin." — " Foreign." 
 
 In the absence of further instructions, and not 
 being pressed for time by this route, I wrote back to 
 say that I should proceed leisurely on, to a place 
 called Lo-shan, and there wait for further orders. 
 My reasons for taking this course were strengthened 
 "by a desire to save time. In the first place the 
 current of the Yangtsze being exceedingly strong, it
 
 PAI-CHOU. 123 
 
 was better to halt as near the Tungting Lake as 
 possible, so that in case of receiving orders to proceed, 
 I could push on faster. In the next place, I calculated 
 that the time required for an answer to arrive would 
 only necessitate a delay of four or five days at 
 Lo-shan. Yao-chou Fu, at the entrance of the lake, 
 had so often evinced an active hostility to foreigners 
 that I preferred a more comfortable halting place, 
 and selected Lo-shan, which was eighty li short of 
 the former city. 
 
 September 6th. — Tracked against a south wind all 
 day. Country flat and dry, cultivated with cotton 
 and sesamum. Only made forty-five li, and anchored 
 at P'ai-chou in company with numbers of river junks. 
 Left the boat and walked across a bend to the 
 village of P'ai-chou, which looked exceedingly pretty, 
 embowered in masses of trees. On a nearer view 
 the village ex2:)anded into a large straggling town, 
 full of wel] built substantial houses, which spoke of 
 considerable prosperity. My writer and messenger 
 were with me. We met with civility at first, and 
 sat down at one house chatting with the host. But 
 as we passed the quarter by the junks the wildest 
 excitement broke out. A mob collected and followed 
 me for fully half-a-mile along the bund until I found 
 my boat. It was not very exhilarating, and I confess 
 I failed to enjoy the fun as much as the rest, for they 
 shouted and screamed with laughter, dancing round 
 me as if they were intensely amused. P'ai-chou lies 
 on the right bank of the river.
 
 124 MAUGARYS JOURNEY. 
 
 September ItJi. — Only moved on forty-five li to a 
 place called Hsiao-liua-pai, where we arrived at 
 12.30, and found it intolerably hot. This place was 
 merely a convenient anchorage for junks, owing to 
 the existence of a creek. The few shops which 
 formed a village were only there for i\\Q, benefit of 
 the junks ; like the Lekin barrier, which was there 
 no doubt with the same benevolent object. 
 
 September Hth. — Grot over sixty li to Hu-hsin 
 Chou, an island in the big river, separated from the 
 mainland by a narrow channel, which afforded a good 
 anchorage to boats passing up. The district city of 
 Chia-yii Hsien was only removed a few li from this 
 spot, and appeared to be well placed among low hills 
 and a quantity of trees. The island itself was 
 thickly covered with sand, hidden by the luxuriant 
 growth of a grassy weed, Avhich deceived the eye at 
 a short distance with the appearance of a meadow. 
 The heat was very great all day. 
 
 September Qth. — Tracked all day against wind and 
 stream. Arriving among the hills. Stopped at 
 Lu-ch"i-k'ou, sixty li from the last stage. Here a 
 clear mountain river flowed down from the Tea hills 
 and went to pollute itself in the muddy bosom of the 
 Yangtsze. 1 was enabled to have a plunge and 
 swim, morning and evening, in this comparatively 
 clear stream. Lu-ch'i-k'ou, which by the way took 
 its name from the river, was a gunboat station. A 
 large man-of-war junk moored close to shore was 
 used as a depot hulk and dwelling for the otficei' in
 
 HSIN T'l. 135 
 
 command. Several river gimboats lay alongside. 
 The commander of the station, who held the rank of 
 yu-chi (a blue buttoned officer), had a residence on 
 shore. Twenty-one gunboats scattered up and down 
 the river received their orders from his hands. 
 
 Septemhtr IQth. — Remained all day at Lu-ch'i-k'ou, 
 wind bound. Met with occasional rudeness while 
 taking walks on shore, not from any grown-up per- 
 sons, but from boys, who repeatedly shouted out 
 " Foreign Devil," from a safe distance. The night 
 watches were struck on board the naval hulk with 
 the usual measured strokes of a drum, and these 
 again were subdivided into periods of twenty minutes 
 by similar strokes of a triangle. Each new watch 
 was ushered in by a prolonged flourish on the drum, 
 which broke my slumbers unpleasantly. 
 
 September Wth. — A strong favouring breeze 
 having set in from the north, we sprang along under 
 sail in company with a large fleet of river traders, 
 and reached Hsin T'i, a distance of sixty li, in fairly 
 quick time. Hsin T'i appeared to be a flourishing 
 place, and a great number of river craft was massed 
 in the open imsheltered anchorage which faced the 
 long straight frontage of the town. After stopping 
 but a short time at this place, the boatman, feeling 
 insecure in such an exposed position, again set sail 
 and ran on forty-five li, to Lo-shan, the place I had 
 fixed for awaiting further orders at. Hsin T'i was 
 governed by a chou-fnng. A Tao-Taiwd.^ also estab- 
 lished on the bank of the rivei- whose sole dutv it
 
 126 MARGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 was to collect the timber dues from the rafts, which 
 float down in large numbers. The.'^e rafts present a 
 very curious appearance. Seen from a short distance 
 they look like a floating village with a brisk popu- 
 lation, and on a nearer view one cannot help admiring 
 the ingenious construction. The larger lengths of 
 timber are closely massed together, forming a com- 
 pact raft of no mean dimensions, down the centre of 
 which are constructed a series of neat huts for the 
 crew to live in. The head of the raft is shaped off 
 to somewhat of a sharp prow, and at the stern a 
 gallery runs out fitted with steering apparatus. 
 The fast stream of the Yangtsze carries them down 
 with sufficient speed, but they are also furnished 
 with enormous sweeps requiring the strength of ten 
 or twelve men to manipulate. The raftsmen appear 
 to possess a magnificent form. I have nowhere seen 
 sucli fine athletic frames in China, and could not 
 help stopping to admire the splendid development of 
 muscle, which was so well displayed as they swayed 
 to and fro with the enormo.us sweeps. Three or four 
 of these rafts generally came down in company, one 
 behind the other, in a long string, and for means 
 of communication a diminutive raft, rowed by five 
 men, answered every purpose of a boat. It had all 
 the appearance of a long-legged fly shooting across 
 the water in spasmodic spurts. It may be worthy 
 of remark that I noticed, first at P'ai-chou, and 
 repeatedly afterwards at other places farther up the 
 river, the use of a cart in agriculture. It is not
 
 ON THE YANGTSZE. 127 
 
 often that one sees a Chinese farmer make use of 
 anything so handy. But in this instance the form 
 of the vehicle was so novel, and so different to that 
 which is sometimes used in the province of Chih Li, 
 that it deserves to be described. The diversity of 
 shape is itself a striking fact in a country where 
 similar operations are carried on in precisely the 
 same way and with the same implements in provinces 
 far apart and disconnected by dialect. The main 
 difterence lay in the fact that, whereas the northern 
 carts, like others all the world over, are built with 
 their wheels outside the body of the vehicle, the 
 centre of gravity of which is placed low down, these 
 Hu Pei carts enclose their wheels, and are con- 
 sequently raised high above them, like a railway 
 carriage. The cart simply amounts to a wide plat- 
 form poised above two wheels upon the stout axles 
 which protrude. Dragged along by the water buffalo, 
 of all beasts the most ungainly _, its appearance is 
 more quaint than elegant. 
 
 The following are extracts from private letters : — 
 
 To his Parents. 
 
 \_0n the Yangtsze, 130 7niles beyond Hankorv, Sep- 
 tember Wtli, 1874. — I have been a whole week away 
 from my fellow kind, for I cannot look upon the 
 Chinese always in the light of brothers, yet my 
 journey is not fairly commenced. For on the second 
 night of my sojourn in this boat, a messenger from
 
 128 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 the Consulate overtook me witli important covers 
 enclosing- a telegram from Calcutta which stops my 
 farther progress. As there are neither railways nor 
 telegraph to Pekin, at least a fortnight must elapse 
 before Mr. Wade's decision can reach me. 
 
 I cannot describe the discomfort and annoyance 
 this delay causes me. My boat is not large, and the 
 thermometer has frequently been over 90°. I have 
 as few comforts as possible, and the plainest fare. 
 Movement alone can make up for my miseries, and I 
 am obliged to " slow down." I had no direct orders, 
 so the strong current decided me to push on to the 
 Tungting Lake and there await instructions. If I 
 am to go back, the rapid current will carry me down 
 in a brace of shakes ; and if I am to go on, T shall 
 have saved time by surmounting so much of. the 
 Yangtsze as forms part of my course. In order to 
 eke out the time, we have gone very short stages, and 
 hope to have as few days of actual halt as possible. 
 Our last stage afforded me the delicious surprise of a 
 clear stream running down from the hills, so I re- 
 mained there all yesterday and bathed morning and 
 evening. The sensation of a free swim after being 
 pent up in the boat was something transcendent. 
 The people in this part of the country have seen 
 very little of foreigners, and I have frequently to 
 bear the annoyance of mobbing and the impertinent 
 cries of children, when at a safe distance. 
 
 The clouds bave been gracious to-day and staved 
 off the power of the sun. and tlie tliermometer only
 
 ox THE YANdTSZE 129 
 
 reached 85°. I catch cold now at 83°. The other 
 day a sudden thunderstorm sent the temperature 
 down from 92° to 82° in a quarter of an hour. I 
 was delighted, hut caught cold of course on the spot ; 
 but in spite of this and a grand mass of clouds 
 which seemed to cover the ends of the earth, I 
 was won being broiled again at 98°. It is an incom- 
 prehensible sky. 
 
 To-day there has been as thick a covering of clouds 
 as I ever saw all day long, and now at five o'clock 
 the sky is very nearly blue, and the thermometer will 
 still have a chance of gratifying its sneaking desire 
 of touching 90° once in the day at least. My " use- 
 ful rascal " has been quite alive to every windfall. 
 It is wonderful how eager he is to be useful ; his 
 memory is inexhaustible to suggest necessaries, and 
 his activity never flags in marketing. But my 
 cunning " invaluable " is quietly pocketing all the 
 while above ten per cent, in "commission." I found 
 the rogue had got the boatmen to ask a sufficient 
 price to enable him to receive 12 dollars from them 
 as commiBsion. T shall be down on him when 
 we get back. 
 
 18/f/?.— Here I have been six day??, this is the 
 seventh, waiting orders. I wish I had scattered the 
 telegram to the winds and gone on ; they could not 
 have stopped me. 
 
 However, I can easily make up my six or seven 
 days, as I have chosen a shorter route than we were 
 aware of, and saved both time and expense. Stopping 
 
 K
 
 130 MARGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 here all tliis time would have been intoleraLle hut 
 for two or three circumstances. First of all there is 
 a most delicious stretch of scrubby downs extending 
 some distance, and as I have my boat anchored right 
 under them I am able to go out very often and have a 
 shot at the pheasants and grouse which I occasionally 
 find in this excellent cover. Secondl}^ a thunderstorm 
 and rain, which confined me to the boat for three 
 days out of the six, although I managed to shoot 
 twice between showers, reduced the temperature from 
 97° to 85°, which was a boon in spite of its severity. 
 Thirdly, I am jolly strong and regaining health 
 rapidly. I think I told you how much I had been 
 pulled down by the Shanghae summer. I lost six- 
 teen pounds in a montli, and I believe if I had not 
 been moved I should have drifted into a typhoid. 
 When I left Hankow I was scarcely well enough to 
 undertake such a journey, but a course of tonic has 
 rapidly restored me. The people here are new to 
 the sight of a foreigner, and my first experiences wei'e 
 uncomfortable, to say the least. It so happened that 
 a convoy of recruits for the war with Japaai were on 
 leave ashore, and these young braves with the rollick- 
 ing devilry that characterises Chinese soldiers stirred 
 up a hubbub which became mighty annoying to me. 
 Along the whole route of about half-a-mile from my 
 boat to the mandarin's wretched abode, my chair was 
 preceded, surrounded, and followed by a screaming, 
 shouting, demoniacal rnol), crying, "Ha ! ha ! here's a 
 foreign devil ; beat the foreign devil." I began t(j
 
 ON THE YANGTSZE. 131 
 
 feel sorry I had left my thick stick behind. They 
 got more trouhlesome, and seized the poles of my 
 chair, the rudest vehicle of the kind I ever saw, to 
 have a better look, thereby causing it to oscillate on 
 the shoulders of the two bearers. I was meditating 
 with a smile on my face whether or not I should 
 spoil the countenances of one or two of them, when 
 a kick delivered by my attendant, the invaluable 
 Leila, right in a fellow's chest, sent him reeling 
 among the crowd and made me laugh outright ; the 
 rest soon cleared off. 
 
 We reached the official house, and the rabble, as 
 usual with Chinese, burst in, and were spectators of 
 my interview with the mandarin, who proved to be 
 a quiet, agreeable man. We got on very well. He 
 sent two of his lictors to conduct me back safely, and 
 they certainly fulfilled their office well in licking the 
 common herd. On arriving at the boat I harangued 
 them on their want of politeness. They listened in 
 silence, and most of them went quietly away. I have 
 not been insulted since, but walk about and shoot and 
 chat with all I meet in the most amicable spirit, and 
 they are as civil to me as possible. It is the nature 
 of Chinamen to give in to anything which asserts its 
 superiority. A kick and a few words in his own 
 tongue telling him he is an ignorant boor will make 
 a common Chinaman worship you. Singly or in 
 small groups they are the pink of civility, but a 
 mob is rather dangerous. I shall probably have to 
 pass through many similar scenes on my long journey, 
 
 K 2
 
 182 MARGAKY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 September l^th. — I have waited here now seven 
 da3's and have made up my mind to wait no longer. 
 I have paid away large sums to boatmen, and bought 
 native orders on distant banks. The spirit of the 
 traveller is on me and I long to go on. Such a plum 
 does not often fall into our parched-up mouths in 
 these days of inaction in our service. 
 
 My writer is a capital good man. We get on 
 famously, and I shall improve in Chinese, for I have 
 nothing else to talk all day long. In about a month 
 hence I shall hope to have another opportunity of 
 sending a letter by this boat, which will return to 
 Hankow after completing the contract oi conveyance. 
 I shall then have a land journey of a month more to 
 reach my destination. All is well and promising. 
 I think of you all individually, and many a time the 
 thought of hardship in being so perpetually banished 
 from you all comes over me like a cloud. With 
 affectionate love, a long adieu.] 
 
 To F. E. R. 
 
 \_Lo-shan, a small naval station, on tlie Yangtsze. 
 Saturday, September 12?/?, 1874. — I think my 
 friends at home could scarcely refrain from laughing 
 at me in my present ridiculous position, could they 
 only get one peep into my boat. I have the honour 
 of writing to you under the eyes of any number 
 of eager natives, who never had a sig'ht of a 
 " foreign devil " before in all their born days. They 
 have been quite frantic with excitement in this
 
 LO-SHAN. ] 33 
 
 little town. I thought it best to pay a visit to the 
 local mandarin, and claim his protection. He 
 happens to be a military mandarin, and in China 
 the army is held in very low estimation as compared 
 with the civil authority. I was afraid, therefore, 
 that this man could prove of little use to me. How- 
 ever, I found him such a nice straightforward man, 
 that I quite enjoyed my visit (although it was not a 
 comfortable one, as I will explain directly), and told 
 my new friend that I hoped he would come and have 
 some champagne in my boat to-morrow, to which 
 he readily consented. The weather had been so hot 
 that mere existence in the boat was a misery, so 
 long as that cruel sun shone. I waited impatiently 
 for four o'clock to come, which was the time fixed 
 for my visit, longing for the diversion it would 
 cause. I was little prepared for the hubbub my 
 presence was going to stir up. It so happened 
 that there was quite a fleet of junks and small craft, 
 freighted with troops for the war in Formosa, 
 waiting at anchor for a fair wind to [iroceed on their 
 way ; and most of the lawless young braves had 
 leave to amuse themselves on shore, chiefly, I 
 imagine, on account of its being somewhat of a 
 merry-making day in the town, and strolling 
 players had set up their stage in the open air. In 
 the country, the advent of a theatrical troop creates 
 frantic excitement. It is the event of the year, and 
 the whole country round flocks in, and stands from 
 morning till night in gratified amazement, watching
 
 134 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 the marvellous plays. In these representations, 
 noise is the principal feature. The gestures and 
 movements of the actors are bombastic to an absurd 
 degree, and the dialogue is chanted in their favourite 
 falsetto squeak. In large towns, they go on giving 
 a series of plays which last without interruption for 
 days and nights, but here in the country, darkness 
 stays proceedings, and they begin again in the 
 morning. Strings of people file away when it is 
 over toward their village homes. 
 
 We met some last night in the course of our walk. 
 My teacher or writer is quite a companion to me 
 now, and more so as he is a very eager Christian ; 
 and in talking to them about the play, we told them 
 what a vast difference there was between the large 
 city theatre companies, and these wretched strplling 
 bands that they so much admired. 
 
 Kevenons a nos moutons. I got into a most miser- 
 able chair, and proceeded to the mandarin's house, 
 attended by my useful rascal Lin, or Leila, as I 
 shall call him, for that is his nickname. A rabble 
 of youths, and these young recruits, immediately 
 surrounded my chair, and danced frantically along, 
 laughing, shouting, screaming, and calling me all 
 sorts of names, including " foreign devil." I hap- 
 pened to be in a good humour, otherwise some of 
 them would have felt my fists ; liut rather amused 
 than otherwise, I left it to my servant to vent his 
 spleen on them, which he did very eftiectively, 
 especially in the case of one young wag, who seized
 
 LO-SHAN. 135 
 
 the cliair-pole, and seemed inclined to upset the 
 whole concern. For just as I was debating with 
 myself whether I should spoil his countenance for 
 him or not, I was intensely amused to see " Leila " 
 deliver a kick from the other side, which came fair 
 and square and straight, just like an Engh'shman's 
 hit from the shoulder, and sent the young joker 
 reeling among the crowd. Arrived at the miserable 
 abode of the petty mandarin, the crowd, selon les 
 Chinois, burst in with us, and flattened their noses 
 against the windows, while I talked to my host. He 
 was a fine soldierlike man, and treated me very 
 civilly. We talked for twenty minutes, and then 
 I left. I found him much occupied with a book 
 written by one of his countrymen, who was sent over 
 to record his impressions of foreign countries, and 
 referring to it several times, he said to me, " Ah, 
 your country must be a fine place !" I asked him to 
 lend it to me yesterday, when he came to return my 
 visit, and he was good enough to send it the moment 
 he got home. What do you think was the sight of 
 all others which most struck our celestial author and 
 critic ? Well, it was the appearance of Piccadilly at 
 night, with its double row of gas lamps rising and 
 falling with the inequalities of that noble thorough- 
 fare. It reminded him of a gigantic golden dragon ! 
 And this was the finest sight in all Europe ! Just 
 imagine how difficult it is to negotiate with people 
 who look at things in a totally different plane to 
 ourselves. My military friend lent me a couple of
 
 136 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 men with whips, to conduct me back, and they 
 managed to repress the demoniacal mob, which 
 nevertheless followed us to the boat, leaping and 
 screaming like maniacs, shouting to others, " I say, 
 come along, here's a foreigner, what a lark, ha ! 
 ha ! ha !" And when I alighted from my chair, a dense 
 triple row of cheeky faces stood by to have a good 
 stare. I thought if I did not speak there would be 
 annoyance in store for me. So 1 stood for a moment 
 closely surveying all their faces, and they shrank 
 from my gaze like animals. Then raising my arm, 
 I harangued the crowd. 
 
 " Why do you crowd round me in this rude 
 manner ? You do not mean to say you have not 
 seen a foreigner before ? Is this your courtesy to 
 strangers ? I have heard it often said, that China 
 was of all things distinguished for civility and 
 courtesy. But am I to take this as a specimen of 
 it ? Shall I go back and tell my countrymen that 
 your boasted (li) civility only amounts to ignorant 
 rudeness ? " I was perfectly astonished at the effect 
 this speech produced. They listened with silence, 
 and, when 1 had done, walked quietly back quite 
 abashed. Only a few remained ; and over and over 
 again, after this, man^^ an irrepressible youngster 
 was severely rebuked, for any sign of disrespect, by 
 his elders. 
 
 Yesterday, I had a return visit from the man- 
 darin. He came on horseback, and remained a 
 whole hour. I gave him champagne and soda-
 
 LO-SHAN. 137 
 
 water, which he seemed to like immensely, and also 
 cigarettes. These neat Russian manufactures take 
 with the Chinese tremendously. I was very much 
 amused to see the mandarin hand over to his servant 
 the remains of his cigarette. There was barely 
 two puffs left, yet the servant eagerly put it to his 
 mouth, and took the prize outside to go the round of 
 the remaining attendants. I begged him to take a 
 fresh one, and we gave two among the servants ; 
 since they were piggish enough to pass them from 
 mouth to mouth, I did not think it worth while 
 to jvaste more on them. I am supplied with a 
 certain number of things to give away to mandarins 
 as presents, such as scented-soap, liqueurs and cigars, 
 and a case of champagne for interviews. My ex- 
 perience having told me of the value of cig'arettes, 1 
 brought a large quantity. They are as valuable as 
 that Russian's children, who, when pursued by 
 wolves in Siberia, threw them out one by one to stop 
 the ravenous crowd. So I have only to scatter 
 cigarettes, and slip through a mob unmolested. 
 
 I was out yesterday very early, and took a stroll 
 over a line of low grass hills, which surround this 
 rather pretty spot. The view was very refreshing ; 
 trees abound, and water too. Looking across the 
 Yangtsze, a fine row of dark mountains filled 
 the background, and a richness of colour blended 
 with the view down to the water's edge, where 
 some rather high cliffs of red sand, topped by a 
 military encampment, added picluresqueness to the
 
 138 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 scene. T started several small coveys of partridges 
 during my walk, and much delighted at the discovery, 
 made arrangements to start after them with my 
 gun this morning, but I have been disappointed by 
 a thunderstorm and heavy rain. . . . The heat has 
 been dreadful. To have to pass a whole day in this 
 narrow and confined space, with the thermometer at 
 97°, as it was yesterday, is no joke. . . . We get 
 beautiful cool well-water from a temple hard by. It 
 is a boon in itself to get good water. All along I 
 have had first to put alum in, then boil, and after- 
 wards filter the wretched fluid, and even then I dare 
 not trust it without the powerful safeguard of 
 brandy. There is but one drawback to this 
 nice place, which I am getting quite fond of, and 
 that is the mosquitoes. ... I amuse myself some- 
 times after dinner with the Ijoatmen on the junks 
 lying alongside us. They regularly form a cluster 
 and watch my evening meal with running comments 
 which are very entertaining to me. We are good 
 friends and very civil to each other, so I afford 
 them every opportunity of wondering at our 
 superior civilisation. . . I never saw such miserable 
 feeders as these Chinese; beyond fish, eggs, and 
 occasionally some skeleton fowls and ducks, it is 
 impossible to buy anything. I am obliged to fall 
 back on my tinned reserves, which were meant for 
 the provinces of Kwei-chou and Yunnan, which 
 are more or less depopulated and poor in provisions.] 
 Septcnther \)lth. — Jn view of having to pass several
 
 LO-SHAN. 139 
 
 days at Lo-shan, I deemed it prudent to call on the 
 local official, although he had neither position nor 
 authority of any consequence whatever. Of military 
 grade, which is looked down upon in China, and of 
 no higher rank than a pa-tsu7ig, or ensign, his position 
 in the place at the head of only eighteen men was 
 nothing more than that of a head policeman. Lo- 
 shan contains something over a thousand families, 
 and its civil government, like that of many similar 
 growing places in the district, lies in the jurisdiction 
 of the magistrate who presides over the head city, 
 ten miles away. Having announced my intention 
 of calling at 4 p.m., I waited through a very hot 
 day for the welcome diversion. But I was little 
 prepared for the hubbub my presence was going to 
 create. Lo-shan had never been feasted with even 
 the sight of a foreigner, and their very ignorance of 
 his conformation put a boldness to the curiosity of 
 the mob, which surrounded me with shouts and 
 abusive language as I proceeded in a hired chair, 
 the meanest of its kind, to the poor abode of the 
 local official. As is usually the case in China, the 
 rabble burst into the courtyard of the 3^amen, and 
 were with difficulty repressed from filling even 
 the audience room by the whips of the lictors at 
 the door, who plied their arms with a will. An 
 interview is never private in China, any more than 
 correspondence. It is not considered indecorous to 
 take up any written document, whether intended to 
 be confidential or not, and to read it calmly through.
 
 140 MARGARY'S JOUKNEY. 
 
 I have seen a mandarin, while making a call (ni the 
 consul, step up to the writer's table, and, coolly 
 putting on his spectacles, read a letter which had 
 just been prepared for another official on an im- 
 portant subject. So, too, every interview I have had 
 the honour to assist at,, has been swelled by the 
 presence of a number of idle spectators, from yamen 
 runners down to the household servants of the man- 
 darin. I found the official in question to be a very 
 civil and obliging man, well informed and well dis- 
 posed towards foreigners. He Avas reading a book 
 written by a Chinaman of rank, named Pin, who 
 some years ago had been sent to Europe to record 
 his impressions of foreign countries, and subsequently 
 published the volume referred to. Calling my atten- 
 tion to the book^ he frequently remarked that England 
 must be a fine country. On taking leave I com- 
 plained of the conduct of the people, and the officer 
 immediately ordered a couple of his men to escort 
 me back, but their effi^rts were barely equal to re- 
 pressing the excited crowd, M^hich followed us to the 
 boat and stood in a dense mass round my chair. 
 The best way of pacif3dng a Chinese mob is by 
 talking to them, and showing them at once that 
 you are familiar with their language and literature. 
 Accordingly I addressed a few words to my aggres- 
 sive audience, which had the almost immediate effect 
 of quieting and dispersing it. The disturbance was 
 mainly owing to the presence of a large number of 
 young soldiers who were on their way to the seat of
 
 LO-SHAN. 141 
 
 impending war in Formosa, and also to the fact of 
 its being a sort of pviblic holiday, for strolling 
 players had arrived and set up a simj-sony which 
 attracted spectators from all the country round. 
 
 September 13th to 19rA. — All this time was un- 
 fortunately lost in waiting for further orders with 
 respect to the last telegram from Calcutta. But as 
 no messenger had yet made his appearance, and 
 ample time had passed for letters to have reached 
 me, I resolved to proceed on the 20th. No other 
 course was open to me. Further delay would have 
 made it too late to follow the overland route, and it 
 could only have been abandoned at a considerable 
 cost. Lo-shan proved to be an exceedingly pleasant 
 place to stop at. A stretch of downs surrounded 
 the town and afforded me both exercise and sport. 
 I was able to take many a walk free from intruders, 
 and by permission of the mandarin, I shot over some 
 excellent cover. Immediately behind these downs 
 extended a flat plain, as far as the eye could reach, 
 cultivated with rice, and the lotus. This is a great 
 lotus district, and a very curious special industry 
 has grown out of it for the people of Lo-shan. It 
 appears that the art or knack of extracting the 
 kernel of the lotus nut from its hard shell is only 
 properly understood at this place, and the produce of 
 the whole district is sent to Lo-shan, whence it is 
 distributed in its edible form up and down the river. 
 The vieAv across the river, which was here fully a 
 mile and a half wide, ....
 
 142 MARGARY'S JOURNEY, 
 
 September 20th. — Still no messenger. Started at 
 11 A.M. with a strong breeze from the north-east, 
 which accelerated our progress, but struck me down 
 with fever. Splendid views of green country and 
 mountains in the background extended the whole 
 way along the right bank to Yao-chou Fu. We 
 were stopped by a Leking barrier, which was 
 stationed at a distance of twenty to thirty li from 
 Yao-chou Fu. I immediately sent my card to the 
 official in charge, but in the meanwhile, much to my 
 annoyance, I found a soldier poking about among 
 my boxes with a long javelin. A few words made 
 him desist at once and leave the boat. We then 
 sailed for the celebrated island of Chiin-shan, which 
 lies at the entrance of the lake opposite the city of 
 Yao-chou, and some thirty li away from the latter. 
 Here we took leave of the muddy Yangtsze, and 
 entered into cleaner waters of a pale green hue. 
 The panorama of Yao-chou Fu and the surrounding 
 hills, as seen from the island of Chiin-shan, is cer- 
 tainly very striking, and the city is placed on a 
 beautiful site. The red sandstone, which seems to 
 be the prevailing formation, crops out in various 
 places, adding richness and colour to the scene. 
 Yao-chou Fu used to be the place of transhipment 
 for the grain tribiate of Hu Nan, and in those days of 
 prosperity, the business of the place was very large 
 and the wharves crowded with junks, but since the 
 tax has been levied in coin, all this activity has 
 vanished from the place.
 
 NAN-CHAI. 143 
 
 September list. — The island of Chiin-slian is cele- 
 brated for producing the finest tea in China. A 
 yearly suj^ply of forty catties is required for the 
 Emperor's use, and about one hundred and sixty 
 catties more are annually appropriated by all the high 
 officials of the province, from the viceroy downwards. 
 The Taiping rebels deliberately destroyed a great 
 number of the shrubs, so that the proprietors have 
 but a small crop to dispose of. The price in former 
 days was as high as 5 dollars a catty. The wind con- 
 tinuing favourable and strong, my boatman took 
 ihe unusual course of sailing straight across the lake 
 instead of creeping along the shore. We actually ac- 
 complished one hundred and eighty li at one stretch, 
 and entered the river at 9 p.m. The lake is extremely 
 shallow, and seems to be very little used, for I only 
 saw one or two junks during the day. Unfortunately 
 I was feeling very ill all day with fever. A perfect 
 plague of flies infested us the whole way from Chiin- 
 shan to the other end of the lake. These flies were 
 armed with a strong proboscis, with which they could 
 inflict a sting quite as acute as that of a mosquito, 
 tliough free from venom. Neither pain nor mark 
 remained on brushing away the insect. The Chinese 
 have a legend that they are the soldiers of the Lake 
 Spirit, who sends them to attack all intruders of his 
 domain. We anchored at a place called Nan-chai. 
 
 September 22nd. — Started at 6 a.m. and sailed up 
 the Yuan river with a good breeze until we arrived at 
 a considerable town stretching along the face of the
 
 144 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 river, called Ni Hsin T'ang, sixty li from the mouth. 
 After remaining half-an-honr to procure provisions 
 we proceeded on our way. The army of the Lake 
 Spirit here left us as suddenly as it had come. The 
 scenery of the river is exceedingly pretty. In lieu 
 of bare towing paths and muddy deposits, which 
 invariably meet the eye in many parts of China, here 
 I was delighted to find grassy banks covered thickly 
 with willow trees. I landed and walked as far as 
 my weak state permitted. Everywhere the signs of 
 prosperity abounded. There was neat and careful 
 cultivation of cotton. The homesteads adjoining the 
 little farms were well built and well provided, and 
 men, women and children seemed to be happy and 
 thriving. I met with civility from all. Stopped for 
 the night at Yin Ho Hsiang, having run over a 
 hundred li from our last halt. 
 
 September 2'^rd. — Started at 5 a.m. and progressed 
 slowly. The weather began to change and fall in 
 temperature. Passed Lung-yang Hsien, at a distance, 
 by 11 A.M. I felt very unwell. At 3.30 p.m. rain 
 prevented further progress, and we stopped at Liao 
 Ya Tsui, only seventy li in advance. 
 
 September 24.f/i. — Continued to rain all the morn- 
 ing, and the most miserable weather lasted all day. 
 In the afternoon, however, a slight improvement 
 induced the boatman to track on till 6 p.m., when 
 we stopped at Shih-ma P'u, twenty li from Ch'ang- 
 te. We had only progressed forty li. About 
 midway we came across a small tributarv river.
 
 CH'AXG-TE. 145 
 
 which does not appear in three several maps which 
 [ possess. I am told, however, by the boatmen 
 that this river communicates with Sha-shih, on the 
 "^'ungtsze, and also with Tseng-shih and Li-chou. 
 I had remarked on my way up that there were 
 very few boats on the river, but this tributary 
 fully accounted for it, according to the statements 
 of my informants. They say that half the trade 
 of Ch'ang-te passes up northwards to the great 
 marts I have mentioned, through this connecting 
 stream. 
 
 September 26th. — Reached Ch'ang-te, and had a 
 fine view of the city as we passed along its face on 
 the opposite side of the river. The wall of the city, 
 as I observed after we had crossed over, was built 
 very close to the river side, leaving no room what- 
 ever for an open suburb to spring up outside, which 
 was absolutely necessary for the carrying on of 
 trade. The difficulty, here, has Iteen got over by 
 building wooden tenements on long piles, embedded 
 in the very mud of the sloping bank. The result 
 is an exceedingly odd appearance of houses walking 
 on long crooked legs and leaning at all angles. 
 
 They continue only where the wall exists, or lor 
 about a distance of three li, but the line of houses 
 more substantially built extends along ten li of river 
 frontage, and from first to last are to be seen a 
 host of small junks anchored below, awaiting their 
 cargo. We crossed over to the city, and I sent 
 my card to the prefect. I had scarcely dismissed 
 
 L
 
 146 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 the messenger before a boat came alongside, and 
 a mandarin wearing a red button stepped into my 
 boat. Not being prepared to receive him I hastily 
 retired to rearrange my dress, but my visitor in- 
 sisted on my making no change, shook hands with 
 me, and said that the prefect had especially deputed 
 him to attend upon me, and that he should ac- 
 company me to the next prefecture. He stayed 
 upwards of an hour and talked incessantly. After 
 he left, I was somewhat annoyed by people coming 
 down to stare. In some cases they would step on 
 the side of the boat to look in through the windows. 
 It was the great full moon holiday, and a number 
 of idle characters were about. No direct rudeness 
 was offered, however, although tlie crowd showed 
 itself inclined to be " larky." 
 
 September 27th. — Left Ch'ang-te, accompanied by 
 Li Pi-sheng, at 11 a.m. The weather was cloudy 
 and the atmosphere damp. At 3 p.m. the boat was 
 brought up at a place called Ta-ch'i-k'ou, only twenty 
 li from Ch'ang-te. I imagined that the weather 
 was the cause of stopping further progress, but I 
 was informed later, much to my dissatisfaction, that 
 the newly hired men had to feast and drink before 
 commencing the voyage ; else they would not work 
 happily. So that I had to submit to the delay 
 on account of their devotion to all the customs of 
 their class. 
 
 September 2Sth. — Started at daylight and by two 
 o'clock reached T'ao-yuen Hsien, which is a large
 
 PAI-MA TU. 14.7 
 
 and flourishing city. Strange to say it possesses 
 no walls, and, I am told, never had any. It is the 
 only instance I know of a magisterial city without 
 walls, though my writer says there are a few more. 
 I exchanged cards with the magistrate and pro- 
 ceeded as fast as we could on my way. The whole 
 frontage of the town was stored up with earthen- 
 ware water-jars and glazed flower-pots. The place 
 was a depot for the pottery trade, and large quantities 
 of the above ware was passed on from T'ao-yuen 
 Hsien to Ch'en-chou Fu, and even on to Ch'en-yuan 
 Fu in Kwei-chou. It is said that the magistrate 
 who rules over T'ao-yuen Hsien has no easy task 
 to perform. It is the most lawless, independent 
 district in the whole province. The people if roused 
 Ijy a sense of injustice or misrule won't hesitate 
 to carry off their chief magistrate bodily to the 
 governor's capital and demand a change. Pro- 
 ceeded on our way twenty li to a place called Pai- 
 ma Tu, where there is a ferry across to the right 
 bank of the river. From that point a high road 
 runs up to Kwei-chou, and continues on to Yun- 
 nan. A very large trade is carried on with those 
 provinces by this road. It is a considerably shorter 
 route than the river, which bends about in all 
 directions. Since this morning we have been 
 entering mountain scenery of a very beautiful and 
 attractive kind. Everywhere vegetation seemed to 
 spring up in abundance. Trees multiplied, but I 
 could not distinguish many varieties. Pines covered 
 
 L 2
 
 148 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 all the hill tops, and several stout trees of the ash 
 kind seemed to exist below. I even came across 
 two palms. We stopped for the night five li further 
 on, at Shui-ch'i, ninety-five li. 
 
 September 29th. — Started 5 a.m. Li Pi-sheng, the 
 mandarin who has accompanied me from Ch'ang-te, 
 often pays me a visit and talks on any subject. I 
 have found him an exceedingly agreeable companion. 
 This afternoon, being anxious to take a short stroll, 
 1 went on shore, and Mr. Li readily accompanied 
 me. The boatmen, however, tracked on in hot 
 haste to a point much farther than I was quite able 
 to accomplish after my long continued weakness and 
 indisposition. We followed a beautiful path high 
 up the green cliff, which often wound inland for a 
 short distance, and thus added to the length of my 
 harassing walk. Li, with great consideration, in- 
 sisted on my resting often, and in many ways showed 
 a kindness unusual in a Chinaman and an official. 
 In the course of repeated conversations with this 
 man, I had learnt the history of his career, and he 
 was at no pains to conceal from me the discontent 
 he felt at his present lot. One of Li Hung-ch'ang's 
 right-hand men in the wars of the rebellion, he 
 had been successively rewarded with a number of 
 lucrative posts by that powerful chief, whose con- 
 fidence he still boasts of possessing. In 18(54 he 
 had an appointment at Shanghae, where he acquired 
 a liking for Europeans, which appears to have 
 remained unimpaired. Li Hung-eh'ang continued
 
 SHUI-CH'I. 149 
 
 to promote his favourite until, with a red button 
 of the second degree, and the rank of Tsungping or 
 general, he sent him to an important post in Kwei- 
 chou. Here, however, the little man fell ill, and 
 was obliged to obtain leave of absence to his native 
 city Ch'ang-te. Since then his woes commenced. 
 Whether it was that the government were jealous 
 of Li Hung-ch'ang's power, and noticing with dread 
 the caution with which that able commander was 
 filling important posts all over the country with 
 his own men, had set to work to thwart him ; or 
 whether it was a boni fide compliment to Li Pi-sheng's 
 abilities, as they would have him believe, certain it 
 is that, so soon as he became convalescent, my friend 
 received orders from the viceroy of Hu Kwang at Wu- 
 ch'ang Fu to remain at Ch'ang-te under the orders 
 of the chih-fu (prefect), as his energy and influence 
 were required in his native district. Thus it came 
 about that I was honoured with the company of a man 
 of distinction, whose actual services and decoration of 
 the red button put him somewhat above the position 
 of the local prefect whose orders he had to obey. 
 Of course he was intriguing to get free, and trusted 
 very much in my Ijeing able to give him a helping 
 hand by reporting his diligent attention and civility 
 to me, in my letter to H.B.M. Minister at Pekin, 
 who he hoped would incidentally mention him in 
 terms of praise to his patron Li Hung-ch'ang. Since 
 this morning we entered upon a complete change of 
 scenerv. The river, with its beautifully clear water.
 
 150 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 was considerably narrowed, and began to wind in 
 and out between fine rocky gorges. The hills 
 were tossed about in strange profusion, yet in some- 
 thing like symmetry of form. Tbey were all 
 conical and of moderate size, not exceeding two 
 hundred feet in height. But the general effect was 
 very grand. It gave me the idea of an encampment 
 of hills. Further on, where the gorge became 
 wilder and the hills approached the river, I was 
 enabled to determine the nature of the composing 
 rock, although, without the possibility of approach- 
 ing near enough to examine closely the towering 
 cliff, I must speak with hesitation as to the correct- 
 ness of my conclusions. Isolated here and there 
 along the banks, the very heart and centre of these 
 conical hills was laid bare to view. Cut completely 
 in half from apex to base, as though by some mighty 
 convulsion of nature, the hill still preserved its 
 rounded form on the land side, covered with verdure, 
 while to the river it presented a denuded face of grey 
 sandstone cliff. The rocks rose perpendicularly 
 in a triangular shape out of the shallow waters at 
 their base, with a grandeur which was most im- 
 pressive. The whole of Hu Nan is an exceedingly 
 good field for geological examination. Nature seems 
 to have run riot in this region at some period in the 
 mysterious past. 
 
 Lieutenant Garnier, in his excellent pamphlet 
 describing his trip from Hankow down part of this 
 river and up to the Yangtsze at Fuchou, describes
 
 ESCORT OF SCULLIONS. 151 
 
 the rivers which disappear and reappear after a 
 subterranean course, and the many evidences of 
 mighty convulsions of nature which met his view. 
 The bed of this river itself and the adjoining banks 
 offer a rich harvest to a scientific explorer. Almost 
 every variety of strata crops out at different points. 
 On arriving at our resting place for the night, I was 
 very much surprised to see a small boat of the very 
 commonest class come alongside, and a couple of 
 disreputable looking rascals emerge from it with the 
 card of the T'ao-yuen magistrate in their hands. He 
 had sent them to escort and protect ! ! me as far as 
 the next magisterial city. The viceroy's orders 
 were imperative, but the worthy magistrate evaded 
 them as far as he dared. Nothing is done thoroughly 
 in China; the mandarins look to their tenure of 
 office as the golden opportunity for feathering their 
 nests. So our worthy friend carried out his instruc- 
 tions as cheaply and nastily as he was able on this 
 occasion. He despatched a couple of dirty scullions, 
 or some other such menials, out of the needy crowd 
 that infests all yamens, hoping no doubt that fine 
 words and the foreigner's ignorance would hide his 
 mean devices. The village we stopped at for the night 
 had a special industry which occupied every family 
 of its inhabitants. Above this point the rapids com- 
 menced, and the bamboo ropes (of the thickness of a 
 man's forefinger) required for tracking boats through 
 them were manufactured and procured at this place. 
 Extracts from letters.
 
 152 MAKGAKY'S JOUKNEY. 
 
 To F. E. K. 
 
 [^Fou7' days from Cliang-te. September ^Oth, 1874. — 
 I have now an opportunity of sending a letter by a 
 mandarin (a very jolly fellow) who has accompanied 
 me for my protection from Chang Fu thus far, and 
 now returns. I have been passiug through lovely 
 scenery. The whole of this province must once 
 have been the theatre of an awful convulsion. There 
 are many cases of rivers disappearing and emerging 
 again. But the country round me is more tossed 
 than anything I ever saw. Clusters of conical hills 
 extend as far as the eye can see. In some places they 
 climb on one another, and all are covered with bright 
 green underwood and tali trees. Nearer the ri\ er 
 one or two stand out with remarkable boldness, split 
 in two, and showing the bare face of the denuded 
 sandstone. You may imagine what wonderful shapes 
 are continually occurring. The eye is astonished at 
 every bend. Now and then, perched high up on an 
 almost inaccessible height, you see a little temple. 
 Marvellous beauty everywhere. We went through 
 some rapids yesterday. They were very small and 
 did not delay us much. Ch'ang-te is a wonderful 
 city. The people would have been troublesome, but 
 the mandarins prevented any annoyance beyond 
 staring. In order to enjoy a walk and be free of the 
 crowd, I oi'dered the boat over to the other side of 
 the river, which was there fully half-a-mile wide, 
 and the water was beautifully clear. We had to
 
 LI PI-SHfiNG'S DEPAETURE. 153 
 
 remain there the next day for procuring extra 
 trackers for the rapids, also to complete ceremonies 
 with the local prefect. He declined my presents 
 with good reasons, and gave my messenger 1000 
 cash, after which I had to follow suit with his 
 messengers when he sent me fowls, ducks, and fruit. 
 He has been attentive enough to send a very superior 
 and intelligent mandarin with me. E\'ery da\' the 
 jolly old fellow pays me a visit and has a long talk. 
 I shall be escorted from station to station thus. . . . 
 You would laugh if you could see how the people 
 try to catch a glimpse of me. Sometimes I am lying 
 on my air bed with my back to the two small 
 windows, and suddenly turning round see six or 
 seven noses flattened against them, and many pairs 
 of eyes examining me. Of course, I drive them 
 away at once. It happened to be a holiday v.hen I 
 was at Ch'ang-te, and several respectable people 
 hired boats and came across to have a look at me. 
 All day long I had the annoyance of all these boat- 
 loads lying off and staring at me.] 
 
 September 30^A.— Li Pi-sheng left me to-day at 2.30 
 p. jr. and returned on his homeward voyage, no doubt 
 with a happy sense of relief from the monotonous 
 duty of escorting a foreigner. He must have felt the 
 ennui of toiling after my boat very keenly, for in the 
 first place he did little else all the day but smoke 
 opium ; and, secondly, it was his duty to accompany 
 me to the next prefectural city, instead of which he 
 bid me good-bye at the Ijoundary of the district,
 
 154 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 which oddly enough coincided with the first set of 
 rapids we had to encounter. I was now left for 
 " safe conduct and protection " to the care of the two 
 miserable menials in their ridiculous boat, whose 
 frantic efforts to keep pace with us afforded me much 
 amusement. The sail was a marvel. Every square 
 foot of it had a hole big enough to pass the head 
 through, and whatever cloth remained to catch the 
 wind had no more consistency than very old 
 muslin. 
 
 At about o P.M. we passed through several rapids 
 in succession. There was nothing formidable about 
 them. Five men tracked along the shore, and the 
 remainder staved the boat off sunken rocks with 
 their bamboo poles. The scenery was wildly beauti- 
 ful, and more compact than that we passed thi;;ough 
 yesterday ; a continuation of perpendicular cliffs now 
 and then lined the river side. A mountain path, 
 which was the highway for foot passengers, passed 
 in some places along the very face of the upright 
 cliff. But I noticed a heavy iron chain cable hung 
 in festoons, from niches cut in the rock, along the 
 face of this dangerous path. It was the gift of a 
 philanthropic widow, whose charity may have been 
 evoked by the loss of a relative on the fatal spot. 
 
 October \st. — The weather during the last ten 
 days has been most unfavourable and unhealthy, 
 fully bearing out part of the statement which Li Pi- 
 sheng made at Ch'ang-te Fu, in the course of our 
 conversation, that the two dangerous months in Hu
 
 PASSING THE RAPIDS. 155 
 
 Nan were the second and the eighth. I have not had 
 a chance of recovering health and strength, and the 
 frequent attacks of fever and diarrhoea have reduced 
 me to a state of emaciation almost and extreme weak- 
 ness. My boatmen too are attacked with simulta- 
 neous vomiting and diarrhoea, accompanied with 
 violent pains in the stomach. I cured the head 
 boatman, who suffered most, with an opium pill, the 
 others fortunately recovering quick, or my slender 
 store of drugs might have been exhausted in one 
 night. 
 
 To-day we passed through the most dangerous set 
 of rapids on the river. They extended over thirty li, 
 and are divided into three portions of ten li eacli by 
 the boatmen, who name them the upper, the middle, 
 and the lower. In these rapids, solitary rocks and 
 rugged ledges appeared everywhere in such profusion 
 that it seemed impossible for a boat to be guided 
 through in safety. The labour was great, but they 
 accomplished it with great skill and success, until 
 we had reached half-way across the middle set of 
 rapids, when a violent collision with a rock produced 
 a leak which compelled them to pull up at a timber 
 station that happened to be near and spend half-an- 
 hour over repairs. 
 
 I remarked that in one part the bed of the rapid 
 was composed of slate, which, judging by the height 
 to which it extended on the banks, had suftered a 
 tremendous amount of denudation. The rocks which 
 showed above the stream weie of a harder slaty shale.
 
 156 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 Farther on, at another point in the rapids, the base- 
 ment rock was undoubtedly trap. All that was seen 
 was rough, pointed, and jagged. Nowhere had it 
 yielded to the force of the running stream and be- 
 come smooth. Dykes of it rose out of the water, 
 bold and naked to the air, evidently denuded on both 
 sides of the softer rock which formed its bed once, 
 but had long since succumbed to the torrent. The 
 small village we stopped at to make repairs was a 
 very flourishing timber station. The hills at the 
 back were well covered with fine fir-trees, and a 
 mountain stream flowed down from their inmost 
 recesses, facilitating the transfer of the timber from 
 these backwoods to the main stream. 
 
 October 2nd. — This morning I had the misfortune 
 to be completely prostrated with, a severe attack of 
 dysentery accompanied by acute pain, which lasted 
 for some hours. I was obliged to stop the boat for 
 four or five hours, in order to ascertain the course 
 which the malady was likely to take, harassed all 
 the time with the thought of being compelled to re- 
 linquish my mission and return to Hankow crest- 
 fallen. However, to my great relief, the disease was 
 quickly and completely driven away by opium and 
 ipecac pills, the efficacy of which in the early stage 
 of this malady I can thankfully vouch for. Having 
 lost so much time, we only progressed thirty-five li 
 for this day's journey. Although the disease was 
 cured, I was left so utterly weak as to be unable to 
 rise without assistance. The events consequently of
 
 CHEN-CH'I HSIEN. 157 
 
 this day and the following week are written up from 
 pencil notes jotted in my private diary, and from the 
 journal kept by my writer. 
 
 October Zrd. — Started at 5 a.m., and reached Ch'en- 
 chou Fu, locally pronounced Shen-chou Fu, a distance 
 of seventy li, by 7 p.m. I could not rise without 
 assistance. From glimpses of the scenery I noted 
 that high continuous hills on both banks hemmed in 
 the river, and that they were well covered with tall 
 straight fir-trees and thick underwood. 
 
 October 6th. — Started early and passed a dilapidated 
 city called Lou-ch'i Hsien, which had not yet re- 
 covered from the heavy hand of the " Longhaired 
 Rebels," i.e. the Taipings. At 5 p.m. arrived at Pu- 
 shih, formerly the flourishing centre of the timber 
 trade, but now reduced to insignificance by its treat- 
 ment under the rebel raid. The people, however, 
 seemed to lack nothing in spirit, for they took all 
 the trouble to make their way over fully a mile to 
 where we were anchored off a stony flat, and upon 
 our moving away they followed us along this most 
 uncomfortable ground, shouting and using unpleasant 
 expressions. Even the efforts of the sub-prefect 
 who accompanied me in a gun-boat were fruitless in 
 (juieting them, and as for the soldiers they positively 
 feared the mob. 
 
 October Qth. — Started at daylight and reached 
 Chen-ch'i Hsien at 7 a.m. Just stopped long enough 
 to exchange cards with the mandarin, and l>uy what 
 provisions were procurable. The extreme difficulty
 
 158 MAKGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 of buying food has been a continual trouble to me 
 the whole way. Fowl and duck are the only things 
 to be had, and in many places even these are not to 
 be bought. More than this, such as can be bought 
 are meagre and fleshless, containing no nourishment 
 whatever. Any European, therefore, who attempts 
 this route should provide himself with foreign pro- 
 visions. At Chen-ch'i Hsien the river takes a most 
 remarkabfe and provoking bend to the south of over 
 two hundred li, and then flows north, until reaching 
 the line of its original course, it bends to the west 
 again. This deviation forms a complete sack in 
 appearance on the map, and adds greatly to the 
 tediousness of tracking through innumerable small 
 rapids. 
 
 Hiatus in official journal. 
 The following notes to October 25th are from a 
 private journal written in pencil, and hardly legible : 
 
 October 5th. — At 6 p.m. reached Lou-ch'i Hsien, a 
 miserable place. I was still feehiig very weak ; 
 boatmen somewhat troublesome. Passed the town 
 and anchored off a stony sandy strip of island not 
 far from the town. People flocked over and became 
 noisy; soldiers proved of no use whatever in keeping 
 them quiet. The boatman wanted to buy things, 
 and hence delay occurred. Having started at length, 
 quite a rabble of young men followed along the
 
 CHIANG KOU. 159 
 
 stony shore for fully a mile in the vain hope of see- 
 ing me. But their noise was disagreeable. Stopped 
 at Ta Wan. 
 
 Tuesday, Gth. — Here the mandarin who accom- Max. 78°. 
 panied me from Ch'en-chou Fu returned. I gave Dist. 68 ii. 
 him presents of cigars and soap, which highly 
 pleased him. He returned the compliment with 
 Chinese confectionery. Exchanged cards with Chih 
 Hsien. He sends two official messengers to escort 
 me to the next Hsien. At some five or six li from 
 Chen-ch'i Hsien I saw a number of coal-mines being 
 worked on the hill-side, on left bank of river, in 
 usual Chinese wasteful method. Only one of the 
 two messengers turn up, and he is a most dis- 
 reputable looking thin youth of twenty.* Place 
 called Sa-tui ; no village or houses at all. 
 
 Wednesday, 1th. — Started at daylight. High Max. 75°. 
 
 Mill 74° 
 
 rocky land on right bank ; one bold denuded Dist. 55 ii. 
 cliff looked quite calcined. At 9 a.m., reached 
 Chiang Kou ; small river runs in here. Chiang 
 Kou compact little town ; cottages by river side. 
 Pretty little pagoda in middle ; three substantial 
 buildings towering over all. One Kiang Si guild, 
 one Hukwang guild. Quartz everywhere. Gold 
 washers. Chips off bits of gneiss and quartz and 
 granite from weather-worn and blackened cliff. 
 Difficult rapid ; seven or eight hundred feet of rope 
 out to top of cliff ; there men descend to level and 
 drag on all fours to stony bank. Men worked hard 
 * A mere street-runner.
 
 160 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 all day ; anchored at Hsias Lon Tsai, in middle of 
 river, 5.50 p.m. Feel myself getting stronger. 
 Scenery very changing ; now bold cliffs, now tame 
 quiet downs, now liigh hills covered with trees. 
 Witness a curious mode of fishing — stream dammed, 
 naked men in water striking at fish with sickles ! 
 
 Thursday ^ %fh. — Felt very much better. Boatmen 
 very much done up after their hard work yesterday ; 
 often take long rests. With temperature at 89° I 
 don't blame them ; but they allege a strong south 
 wind as the main cause of obstruction. Country 
 tame and low ; few hills. After stopping at Tung- 
 wan^ a small town governed by a Ssu-yeh.* At 
 6 A.M. I tried to take a stroll, but my strength was 
 scarcely equal to a hundred yards. I went along 
 the cliff path and found composition of hills all quartz. 
 Tung-wan had a lot of houses on poles, whicli seems 
 their favourite style of architecture here ; a number 
 of empty pens showed where the market was held in 
 the day. Attack of rheumatism in right side. 
 
 Friday, dth. — High land covered with underwood, 
 rather bare on right bank. Ravines leading to fine 
 trees. Wood-cutter's cottage at entrance. Bed of 
 rapids, slate and laminated shell ; bank, ditto. High 
 land everywhere replanted with yonng trees. Here 
 still remain some fine trees, which show the damage 
 that must have been done by the rebels, who burnt 
 down acres of forest on the hills. Passed throuo^h 
 several rapids. Progress slow ; men stopped twenty 
 
 * Sic.
 
 HUNG CHIANG SSU. 161 
 
 minutes lor food about 3 p.m. Snn behind the hill.s. 
 Took a short strolL Bank all sand and shelL Two 
 mandarin boats in company with us. Saw a raft 
 stuck in a rajjid. Rheumatism alleviated l)y fomen- 
 tation. 
 
 Saturday, iOth.- — Pass throuarh tame scenery ; hills Max. 80^. 
 
 1 1 , P 1 ^ 1 . . Mill. 66=. 
 
 recede, and a great deal or plain, cultivated, appears. Dist. 70 li. 
 Now and then cliffs occur, and we cross two or three 
 
 rapids, stop at , where there is a gun-boat station. 
 
 We are only five li from Hung Chiang Ssu, a 
 flourishing place of trade ; feel much stronger. 
 
 Sunday, lUh. — Reach Hung Chiang Ssu. Boat- 
 man borrows 10,000 cash ; has to hire men and buy 
 provisions. Remain all day. Flourishing place. 
 A Ti-tu and Ssu-yeh ; latter sends four men to look 
 after me. A boat with messengers from Chien Yang 
 Hsien arrives, sent to meet me with civil messages. 
 Large crowd collects opposite boat. I open doors and 
 let them see me reading with teacher. Dense mass 
 of heads. Grradually they become noisy. Boat 
 moved to quieter spot. Send letter to Ti-tu remind- 
 ing him of his duty to quiet the mob. He does so, 
 and beats the ringleaders. Ni-Ssu-yeh calls and 
 ko-tows, much to my astonishment ; brings his son 
 Tuin Qun. Ssu-yeh wants to send four men with 
 me to Chiang Yang Hsien ; I decline, having already 
 four protectors. Hung Chiang Ssu has a big trade 
 in wood. Rebels destroyed Pu Ssu, where the great 
 timber depot was, and drove trade down to Hung 
 Chiang Ssu. Rice was grown, though I don't know 
 
 M
 
 162 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 where. Hill surrounding town. Confluence of river 
 which carried its trade to Chiang Hsi. 
 
 Max. 72°. Monday, 1 2M. — Scenery very poor from this point ; 
 
 i3ist". 60 ii. the river takes a very provoking bend. 111. Reach 
 Chiang Yang Hsien. 
 
 Max. 88°. Tuesday, ISt/i. — Wretched scenery all the way; 
 
 Dist. 40 li. long stretch of stony flats. 111. 
 
 Di»t. noli. Wednesday, \4:th, — Scenery flat and poor. 111. 
 
 Max. 60°. Thursday, 1 6ih. — 
 
 Min. 59°. . 
 
 Dist. 50 li. Friday, 16th. — Started early in the same cold, 
 
 Max. 61°. T ^ r- 1 '^ 
 
 Min. 56°. muggy damp, one spread oi white vapoury canopy, 
 ^ ■ which we have enjoyed for some days past. Scenery 
 has become very tame ; low grass-covered lands, and 
 in the river-bed long stretches of stony acres. 
 Rounded stones of no mean size among them. 
 Reached Yuen Chow Fu before dark. Fine bridge. 
 Send cards and letters to mandarin. He sends four 
 soldiers, and Hsien sends three of his own men to 
 look after me ! 
 Max. 60°. Saturday, 17th. — A day of misery at Yuen Chow 
 
 DiTt. 55 li! Fu ; wasted a whole day. Crowd collected, and got 
 very noisy. No. 2 boatman got into a row with 
 them. A rush on the boat ; crowd driven back. 
 Two men, however, remain on board boat. Shoved 
 off into mid-stream. Two men prisoners. Crowd 
 furious. One man escaped, and waded ashore. I 
 sent my card to Chili Hsien. Meanwhile, boat full 
 of citizens comes alongside, and make a great noise. 
 I go out and protest that being ill, I could not stand 
 that noise. They beg me to be at ease, as their
 
 YUEN CHOW FU. 163 
 
 quarrel is with the boatmen. Just then Chih Hsien's 
 messengers arrive, in answer to my card, and the 
 boatful make off. No. 2 prisoner escapes and 
 wades to other shore. — N.B. River very shallow. 
 The Tao-Tai of Yunnan Fu and his son, Hsien Niao, 
 are travelling in my company. To-day the son 
 called with his father's compliments, and said he 
 hoped we were to be fellow-passengers to Yunnan 
 Fu, and that in that case, he suggested we should 
 keep our boats together ; I agreed at once. Young 
 Niao is a nice young fellow my age. We have 
 becbme great friends. 
 
 The Chih Hsien called, having previously sent 
 presents, which I had reciprocated. He had gone 
 some distance out of his way to see me, for we had 
 moved on. He was a Pekinese, and had a brisk, 
 jolly manner, and a very pleasant face. He thought 
 he had met me before, but he is mistaken. He paid 
 me a long visit, quite exhausting my strength. 
 
 Sunday, 18^/z. — Difficult rapids. River very shal- Max. 67°. 
 low, and not so clear. Tao-Tai's boat lying below Night 6o°. 
 the last. His son borrows my revolver, and sends 
 it to the Tao-Tai for defence if wanted. Son and 
 uncle visit me, and stop an hour chatting, 
 
 Mondaij, 19ith. — Heavy rain half the night, and Max. 67°. 
 through great portion of the morning. Could not Night 60°. 
 move during some hours. Shrubs on hills looking ^^^' 
 beautifully green and fresh after the rain. Received 
 a note from Niao returning my revolver, and beg- 
 ging me to keep my boat near theirs, as there were 
 
 M 2
 
 164 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 large bands of robbers giving trouble ahead, but 
 that his father, the Tao-Tai, had sent a letter ahead 
 to the gun-boat commander, to send one down to 
 protect us. Attempts at murder by the second boat- 
 man, who came in drunk, and seizing a chopper, 
 hacked away at one of the poor old boatmen ; Lin 
 collared him. 
 
 Tuesday, 20th. — Sun shone out and lighted up the 
 hills — beautiful sight. Weather warmer and more 
 genial. Passed through a great many rapids. One 
 large one requiring all the boats to aid each other. 
 Fifteen men tracked us through ; they had hard 
 work all day. Stopped at San Men Tan. 
 
 Wednesday, list. — Started early. River very 
 shallow, and full of small rapids. Reach Hwang 
 Chow at about 8 a.m. Wretched place, without even 
 a wall, and apparently only the size of a small town. 
 Exchange cards with Chow, who sends a couple of 
 messengers to accompany me. Scenery diversified. 
 11 A.M. : Hills recede far off. Pretty dark isolated 
 rocks in the foreground. The Tao-Tai delayed a 
 good deal trying to procure gun-boats and a guard. 
 We moved on three li to Lung-chi-kou. People 
 very well disposed ; a camp of soldiers here. At 
 2 P.M. the Tao-Tai arrives, and after some delay we 
 eventually start with one gun-boat (which fires 
 ostentatiously) and aljout twenty soldiers on foot. 
 Hwang Chow is full of officialdom and soldiery. 
 No shops. Have to get all their provisions from 
 Lung-chi-kou.
 
 YU-PING HSIEN. 165 
 
 Thursday^ 22nd. — At 9 a.m. crossed border of Max. 68"". 
 Hu Nan and Kwei-cliou at a place called Hsin Tsai N?ght 62^. 
 Tang. Early this morning Tao-Tai's boat came to '''*" ^ 
 grief in a rapid ; so be had to go back to Lung-chi- 
 kou, and his son of course waited for him. We went 
 on in company with another boat carrying a man- 
 darin's family. Expect to fall in by night, so that 
 gun-boat and soldiers, and flags and fuss, are got rid 
 of for a time High rocks, much weather-worn, this 
 morning. Some looking twisted and gnarled like 
 old timber. 
 
 F'rida//, 23rd. — Reach Yii-ping Hsien. Have a Max. 76°. 
 salute of three guns. Meet old Ching at Hsien. N^ght. 
 Takes me to his yamen. We have a long talk, and ^'^*' ^*^ '*■ 
 I dine with him. Fine sunny day. Feel strong and 
 well. Arrive at 1 p.m., so only lose half a day, 
 and give Mao Ta-jin a chance of coming up. This 
 Hsien was a fine place, but in third year of Tung- 
 chi tlie Miaotze swept down from the mountains 
 to the north, and put thousands to the sword. 
 The Hsien can now scarce vie with a village. 
 Chinese goverrnnent had only kept about 180 soldiers 
 to guard so fine a city. The family who have ac- 
 companied us, and who had lost their mother, Man- 
 yang-hsien, received a letter to-day from Yunnan 
 announcing their father's death. The three poor 
 orphan girls cried bitterly all day. They return at 
 once, and have entrusted us with a letter to their 
 brother, who is awaiting them at Ch'en-yuan Fu, 
 He smokes opium, and is a good for nothing.
 
 16G MARGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 Saturday, l-ith. — Start about seven. Received a 
 salute of three guns ; bad proceeded some tbree or 
 four li when I beard three more guns, and very soon 
 after three more ; evidently Mao Tao-Tai had arrived 
 and started ; we shall meet to-night. Country flatter. 
 Innumerable water-wheels, size of those of a good 
 large steamer. By-and-by wilder bold rocks ; some- 
 times laminated as regular as brickwork. Anchored 
 in middle of river. 
 
 Extracts from letters. 
 
 To F. E. R. 
 
 \_Tliree days from end of boat journey, October 25t/t, 
 1874. — We should have been at Ch'cn-yuan Fu, my 
 destination in this boat, five days ago, but various 
 delays and contrete7nps have occurred to prplong 
 our voyage; and when expectation gets so rudely 
 disappointed travelling becomes painfully tedious. 
 However, I trust three days will see us commence 
 our land journey, and I shall hail the change with 
 great relief. 
 
 Although this marvellous river, full of rapids, 
 passes between beautiful mountain gorges, I have 
 not half enjoyed its wonders, for I have been ill the 
 whole time. . . . Unfortunately Hu Nan is a most 
 unhealthy province in October, and as it proved, we 
 scarcely saw the sun once in a fortnight. The low 
 cloudy atmosphere was charged with damp, and the 
 thermometer marked tremendous changes. . . . 
 
 It is sickening to ring the changes on fowl, duck,
 
 A DESOLATE CITY. 167 
 
 and tinned beef (which is horrid). Yon cannot buy 
 anything. The country seems quite destitute of 
 meat and vegetables. During the last few days, 
 however, a delightful change has come over the 
 meagre routine. We have actually procured some 
 very nice goat mutton, and some pommelos, and 
 oranges (of course quite unripe). The latter I have 
 either squeezed into lemonade or keep to ripen. 
 
 The day before yesterday a most delightful sur- 
 jDrise awaited me. I found in the chief magistrate 
 of the city an old friend : a man who used to be head 
 writer in the legation all the time I was at Pekin. 
 He gave me a salute of three guns, and came down 
 in full fig to my boat. After a long talk he asked 
 me to come up and spend the rest of the day with 
 him in his yamen. I accepted, and he then took his 
 departure, and in a short time sent down his chair 
 to fetch me. I put on full uniform and went. The 
 sad sight of a desolate city met my view. About 
 ten years ago, certain rebels, half wild men who 
 inhabit these hills to the north, made a descent on 
 the unfortunate city and massacred over twenty 
 thousand peoj^le. Since then it has remained like a 
 city of the dead. Only in one small corner a few 
 shops had got together, and the city had barely the 
 dimensions of a village. I sat with my friend for 
 hours talking over old times, and we walked on the 
 grass plot in front enjoying the sun, which favoured 
 us that day. A Cliinese reception hall is open in 
 front to the day, and there congregate a rabble of
 
 168 MARGAKY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 curious spectators watching the foreigner. It is a 
 curious custom. Even in transacting business you 
 cannot get rid of that annoying crowd of starers and 
 listeners. I always wonder why the mandarin him- 
 self does not turn them out. But he seems on the 
 contrary to regard them with complacency. A divan 
 is placed f\icing the open end of the chamber, and a 
 number of chairs with red cushions face each other, 
 with small teapoys in between each, arranged in prim 
 ceremony at right angles to the divan. The big 
 man is conveyed to the divan seat, and his suite occupy 
 the chairs on his side in order of seniority, while they 
 are faced in like order by the lesser mandarins on 
 the opposite row of seats. That is the order of an 
 ofiticlal interview. But in my case of course the 
 chairs stared at each other in empty dignity, and I 
 should think they never had occasion to do otherwise. 
 By-and-b}^, about 4 p.m., a square table was placed in 
 the centre of the hall and dinner was served. It was 
 a very nice little dinner, and being hungry I set to 
 work with my chopsticks with all diligence. Every- 
 thing is served in bowls. Four small and four large 
 bowls of different kinds of food is the correct thing" 
 for a guest, and that is just what we had. First came 
 mushrooms very nicely cooked in a sort of gravy. 
 Then mutton in two forms, then fowl in two forms, 
 then a strange dish of some part of a fish, which was 
 like eating so much lace. Tliis and the last, pork, I 
 left alone. The wind-up is always a large bowl of 
 div boiled rice, which is shovelled down the throat
 
 OKPHANS, - 169 
 
 witli marvellous rapidity, with a pause in the middle 
 to add titbits from your favourite dish. I took my 
 rice, and being accustomed to that method enjoyed it. 
 
 October 2Q)th. — We are moving along in spite of 
 a continual drizzle. It is a melanchol}^ day. I do 
 pity the poor trackers. There are eight of them 
 toiling along ([uite indifferent to the wet, and I don't 
 believe they have a change of clothes. However, 
 they are accustomed to it, lilce the eels to skinning. 
 
 It is not easy to w^ite in the motion caused by 
 tracking. Three boats like my own (they are called 
 mandarin boats) have been in company with us for 
 upwards of a month, threading this tortuous stream. 
 Two of them belonged to mandarins going to Yunnan. 
 Of the third boat I have to tell you a sad romantic 
 story. It contained the family of a mandarin, who 
 had gone on ahead to take up his post in Yunuan. 
 The family consisted of wife and three daughters be- 
 tween twelve and eighteen, and they were travelling 
 under charge of an uncle. Somewhere al)0ut the 
 23rd of September, on the other side of Ch'ang-te or 
 Chang-Teh, the mother died, and the poor girls be- 
 wailed her loss with loud and bitter cries. Often I 
 have heard their sad moan long, long after the event. 
 Well, on arrival the other day at the city ruled over 
 by my old friend, a letter met them from Yunnan 
 saying the father was dead too. You may imagine 
 the bitter grief of the poor orphans. TlK)se pitifid 
 wails fell on my ears for hours, and I felt for them 
 very keenly. Things being so, there was no object
 
 170 MARGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 in their going on, and having entrusted us with a 
 letter to the brother who is awaiting them at the 
 end of this water journey, they turned hack to go to 
 their own home in Shantung. Fancy what a long 
 journey before them. They must have been three 
 months in that boat coming down, and now all in 
 vain they have to plod back in grief. 
 
 The mandarins have been very civil to me, and 
 handed me on from one city to another with an 
 escort. So much for their etiquette, but I am sorry 
 to say their messengers were of no use either in the 
 way of protection or show. You would have laughed 
 to see one set sent by a parsimonious magistrate. 
 They had hired the cheapest boat they could get. 
 It had a marvellous sail. Every square foot of it 
 had a hole big enough to put my head through, and 
 the remainder was thin as muslin. Their frantic 
 efforts to keep up with us were truly ridiculous. 
 Such scandals as this only occurred in a few instances, 
 for I often had a fairly respectable escort. The mobs 
 in some places were very troublesome, collecting in 
 large masses near the boat, and trying to peer in at 
 me as I lay on my couch unwell. Frequently I had 
 the annoyance of seeing faces staring in at me 
 through the narrow windows, and as often drove 
 them away with strong abuse, which rather aston- 
 ished them, not expecting me to know Chinese. The 
 mandarins in the other boats called upon me and we 
 have arranged to travel together overland. We 
 shall have twenty-five stages in chairs to Yunnan
 
 SEVEEE DYSENTERY. 171 
 
 Fii, tlie position of which I have described to you in 
 a previous letter. I cannot write again till I get 
 there. ... I have excellent servants with me. My 
 own boy Bombazine I trained myself, and he is very 
 faithful.] 
 
 To his Parents. 
 
 \_October 2Qth, 1874. — One day from the end of my 
 boat journey. 
 
 You are no doubt getting very anxious to hear 
 some news of me, and I am equally distressed not to 
 be able to supply it oftener. It is ouly in large 
 cities that any facilities exist for posting. I have 
 not been able to write before simply because I had 
 not strength to do so. For a month or more I have 
 been ill with fifty different maladies. Fever, diar- 
 rhoea, and at last dysentery on October 2nd utterly 
 routed me. It is the first time this dire disease has 
 ever approached, and as I lay for half a day in vio- 
 lent pain, I wondered how it was to end. Ipecacu- 
 anha and opium checked the disease at once, but my 
 strength was gone. For a week I could not raise 
 myself. My boy pulled me up when I wanted to 
 see the scenery and make notes. I was reduced to a 
 skeleton, and have remained a pitiable object till 
 within a day or two ago, when the effect of a vora- 
 cious appetite began to tell, and my bones are clothed 
 with flesh again ; but, alas for my muscles, I don't 
 know where they are. After I had almost recovered 
 from this, and began to think I was going to be
 
 172 MAEGAEY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 better than ever, down I went again with some com- 
 plaint of which I could not form a diagnosis. After 
 this I fell an easy victim to half a dozen diseases : 
 pleurisy, rheumatism, indigestion, very bad neu- 
 ralgia, toothache, together with a lot more. Of 
 course in between Vv'ere days when I felt better, and 
 was able to enjoy the glorious scenery. The river 
 winds through marvellous gorges, and is crammed 
 full of rapids. We have, up to the present time, 
 ascended over two hundred large ones, and innumer- 
 able small ones. Sheer cliffs of weather beaten 
 rocks hemmed in the stream in many places, but, 
 although the convulsions of nature have played 
 strange pranks with the surrounding hills, yet every- 
 where the most profuse vegetation has sprung up to 
 hide the roughnesses. Forests of fir trees covered 
 the higher peaks, and for miles of its course the 
 stream passes only woodcutters' stations. Rafts are 
 formed of the timber and floated down to Hankow, 
 cottages for the crew being neatly constructed of 
 wood in the centre. Wheneve-r we reached a large 
 city, I sent my card to the magistrate, which he 
 reciprocated, and sent a coujile of men to escort me 
 to the next city. Sometimes the mandarins would 
 come and visit me, which did me, in my weak state, 
 no good ; and sometimes they sent presents of fowls, 
 ducks, biscuits, cakes, candles, and ham, which was a 
 greater nuisance, as I had to give their messengers 
 a big " cumshaw " out of my slender purse, and I 
 scarcely brought enough cash in hand ; then T had
 
 THE TAO-TAl OF YUNNAN FU. 173 
 
 to return the gift with .<.onie soap, liqueurs, or cigars. 
 A few days ago I had a pleasant surprise in meeting 
 with an old friend in the magistrate of the city. He 
 gave me a salute of three guns on my arrival and 
 departure, and carried me off to his yamen, saying 
 that after so many days in a boat I should be more 
 comfortable on shore, and that I must come and 
 stretch my legs, and have a. long talk with him. I 
 spent the whole afternoon with him, talking over 
 Pekin. He was the head writer in the legation, 
 
 and Miss L 's teacher. 
 
 There are two other boats in company with mine, 
 conveying the Tao-Tai of Yunnan Fu and his son the 
 Chih Hsien, or magistrate. The latter is a very nice 
 young fellow, just my age, and we are great friends. 
 It has been of great advantage to me being in their 
 company, except that they have delayed me some 
 time. We hoped to travel overland together, but in 
 discussing our arrangements last night, young Mr- 
 Bird, for that is their name, said they wanted to 
 spend five days in Ch'en-yuan Fu, which does not 
 suit my book at all I shall not waste more than 
 one if I can help it. He protested that I could not 
 possibly get off under three, but we shall see. I am 
 dreadfully behind time as it is, and can scarcely now 
 reach the borders by November 30th, but I shall 
 make frantic efforts to do so if I can. How glad I 
 shall be when I meet Colonel Browne's party, and 
 get some European news, it will be seven weeks 
 later than anything I have heard. I hope we shall
 
 174 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 all return to Yunnan Fii, and spend five or six days 
 in that fine city, buying curiosities, and making trips 
 on the lake, and then will come the return by the 
 big river. How glad I shall be to get back ! My 
 servants are all busy packing up everything for re- 
 moval, so that I am writing under many difficulties, 
 continual shaking inside, and the boat continually 
 heeling over from too great a strain on the track 
 rope ; besides it is so cold that I am obliged to put 
 on a kid glove, or I could not hold the pen, con- 
 ditions somewhat harassing to write under. I often 
 think of you all, and long to be with you. Perhaps 
 I shall demand leave home to recruit.] 
 
 October 21th. — Eeached Ch'en-yuan Fu at 5 p.m. 
 kX the entrance of the city a good bridge of five or 
 six arches, which would not disgrace a railway in 
 England, spans the river. Rocky heights completely 
 surround the town and lend a grandeur to its position. 
 The gorge of the river for the last mile of our approach 
 was very picturesque. On one side the rocks ex- 
 tended with such even regularity that they looked 
 like the ancient walls of some Titan city, and the 
 boatmen pointing upwards laughingly called them 
 the city walls. On arrival, I immediately proceeded 
 on foot, with my attendants and four men sent by 
 the magistrate at my request to protect me a very 
 short distance, to inspect an establishment in which 
 I was intended to pass the night. It was not an 
 inn, but a sort of forwarding house, of which several 
 existed in the city, where travellers are not only
 
 CH'EN-YUAN FU. 175 
 
 lodged, but provided with chairs, bearers, and ponies, 
 for the overland journey. These rival establishments 
 even take the trouble to send touts down the river 
 in light swift boats to meet and secure probable 
 customers. We were thus accosted the day before 
 reaching Ch' en-yuan Fu, but the person who 
 presented the card disappeared as quickly as he 
 came, instead of remaining with our boat. A circum- 
 stance which excited the comments of my attendants 
 at the time, and somewhat puzzled me, though 
 I thought nothing more of it. Although I had 
 but a short distance to walk from the boat, a crowd 
 quickly formed round me, principally consisting of 
 soldiers, the fruitful source of trouble everywhere, 
 and attempted to follow me into the house. But the 
 very unsubstantial door was closed upon them, and 
 it severely taxed the energies of the four yamen 
 men to keep it so. I examined the place, and found 
 a number of clean compartments made of new wood 
 and divided off like horse boxes. Knowing the 
 filthiness of Chinese inns, I thought the place a 
 paradise, and immediately gave orders for the 
 luggage to be brought in. But, to my utter 
 astonishment, I was told that the mob in the rear 
 would not permit a single box to be moved ; at the 
 same time excited shopmen rushed in by some back 
 entrance, and protested that the mob in front had 
 completely blocked in their shops and put a stop to all 
 business. Under the circumstances I resolved at 
 once to go to the Hsien (magistrate) and demand
 
 1715 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 protection. Accordingly the door was opened, and 
 the press fell Ijack on seeing me advance. I walked 
 through the mob unmolested, and entered the yamen, 
 which was not a hundred yards away from the scene 
 of disturbance, yet no effort had been made to 
 repress the mob ! I was shown into a small room, 
 and had not to wait long before the magistrate came 
 in. His manner was rude, and a glance at his face 
 told me that he was a type of the worst class of 
 mandarins. He sat with face averted, and directly 
 I began my complaint in quiet civil tones, burst 
 out into a hoarse laugh and began to make excuses 
 for the people. I immediately assumed an angry 
 tone, and told him it was no laughing matter, that he 
 was magistrate, and I expected him to disperse the 
 mob and find me a quiet lodging. I then showed 
 him my passport and the yamen's letter to the 
 governor-general. His manner instantly changed, 
 and he gave orders to his men to go down and 
 guard the house in question. He then prepared a 
 chair for me, in which I made an attempt to return. 
 The crowd, however, was too great and aggressive 
 for all the. magistrate's men, and we had to beat a 
 retreat to the yamen again, in which ignominious 
 flight I had to be carried backwards through the 
 mob. I was put under the necessity of breaking one 
 man's nose who had the temerity to put his head 
 inside the curtain of the chair to insult me. 
 Attempts were made to upset the chair, but these 
 were frustrated by my escort. As an example of
 
 CH'fiN-YUAN FU. 177 
 
 Chinese official apathy, I may as well mention that 
 at the very spot where I was being insulted by the 
 mob, a military mandarin of high rank was passing 
 l)y, under whose very command were half the rioters 
 around, and yet he made no more effort to repress 
 them than a private individual. The result was 
 that I had to sleep in the magistrate's yamen. 
 Under cover of night, bedding and food were 
 brought up from the boat, and my cook soon 
 j)rovided me with a scratch dinner. "It is an ill 
 wind," &c. But for the disturbance, I should have 
 had two days to waste in the city making prepara- 
 tions for departure, and striking ruinous bargains 
 for men and conveyances. All this trouble was 
 taken off my hands, for the Hsien was so anxious to 
 get rid of me that he hired the men and ponies that 
 very night so that I might start early. In fact, he 
 wanted me to go on ahead and leave them to forward 
 my luggage. But I would not hear of such a plan, 
 and arranged instead to move up beyond the city 
 in the boat to a safe point where the carriers could 
 meet us, and the luggage be removed without 
 hindrance. 
 
 October 2Sth. — Rose at daylight and went on 
 board the boat before the city was astir. Moved up 
 to the rendezvous, and had everything safely trans- 
 ferred to the carriers by nine o'clock. It rained the 
 whole day, and the high road, which was a narrow 
 ill paved path, became dangerously slippery. In 
 many places the highway to the capital was in a
 
 178 MARGARY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 most disgraceful state of neglect. We met a great 
 number of carriers and several strings of ponies 
 returning from the capital, mostly empty-handed and 
 "unladen, whose presence, nevertheless, and the well 
 worn path, indicated a brisk trade along this route. 
 Indeed, I was told by more than one mandarin that 
 large quantities of opium, and the mineral products 
 of Kwei-chou and Yunnan were conveyed by this 
 road into Hu Nan. But the expenses of carriage 
 are very heavy, and neither road nor river, above 
 Ch'ang-te Fu, can ever be of any use for foreign com- 
 merce. The whole country showed signs of having 
 been recently devastated by the wild Miaotze. All 
 the villages had a new appearance. The cottages and 
 shops were faced with clean fresh looking woodwork, 
 and in the more prosperous houses, which were 
 principally inns, carpenters were busily employed 
 adding rooms and accommodation. The latter was of 
 the rudest description, for I could see the sky at 
 dawn, as I lay on my couch, through fifty gaps 
 between the roof and the sides of the tenement, 
 which added to the bitterness of turning out at 
 daybreak with the thermometer at about 50°, and 
 discomfort all around. 
 
 October 29th. — After proceeding about twelve li, we 
 arrived at Shihping Hsien, where I went straight to 
 the magistrate's yamen, and was well rewarded for 
 my visit. An exceedingly agreeable and gentlemanly 
 man the magistrate proved, and in the course of half 
 an hour we became great friends. He begged me
 
 HSIN CHOW. 179 
 
 to stay and spend the day with him, but I was 
 oLHged to excuse myself on the plea of extreme 
 urgency to continue my journey. He regaled me 
 with some delicious sweetmeats, made by his women- 
 kind, and was good enough to present me with some 
 on leaving, in return for which I gave him cigars. 
 The city was like the rest, reduced by devastation 
 to a straggling hamlet. The yamen itself was 
 newly built, and stood alone as it were out in the 
 country, on a site once surrounded by a busy 
 population. 
 
 October 30M. — The road was fortunately dry to- 
 day, for it wound through many dangerous places. 
 The surefootedness and endurance of the chairbearers, 
 who had frequently to carry my weight up long 
 steep inclines and down precipitous paths, in which 
 the stones were so irregular that I could not have 
 walked down myself with their speed, often fairly 
 astonished me, although I had been frequently 
 carried over far worse places in Formosa in a similar 
 manner. Two men bore the front shafts of the 
 sedan, and one alone with a long leverage of poles 
 sustained the weight behind. At a distance of 
 thirty li, I reached Hsin Chow and stopped at an 
 inn to have my lunch, intending to call on the man- 
 darin afterwards. But just as I had finished, a 
 messenger arrived from the yamen to say that a 
 room was ready for me, and with a request that I 
 would go up, which I immediately complied with. 
 There being no resting-place ahead which could be 
 
 N 2
 
 180 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 reached to-day, I readily accepted the hospitality of 
 the very civil mandarin, with whom I had a most 
 amicable conversation. He was a Canton man, and 
 had both seen something of foreigners, and travelled 
 by steamers. I omitted to mention an important 
 incident which occurred yesterday. About mid-day 
 two of my late boatmen appeared on the scene with 
 a story that the mob at Ch'en-yuan Fu, finding their 
 bird flown on the morrow, wreaked their vengeance 
 on the boat which had assisted in my escape. They 
 had, according to their account, burnt all the cover- 
 ing and panelling of the boat, and besides this 
 had destroyed three boxes belonging to me, which I 
 had intrusted to the head boatman to take back to 
 Hankow in order to lighten myself for the land 
 journey, which was expensive in direct ratio to the 
 weight of one's luggage. They also had a story to 
 the effect that one of the rioters had let out that they 
 intended to attack us down the river, but were pre- 
 vented by the sight of the Tao-Tai's gunboat. The 
 man who gave us the hotel card, and made off so 
 suddenly, had an armed boat's crew in ambush to 
 attack us at night. The head boatman came up 
 with us in the evening, and gave a truer version of 
 the story, by which I learned that my boxes were 
 safe. I wrote a letter to the magistrate at Ch'en-yuan 
 Fu, inclosing the boatman's deposition, and re- 
 questing him to examine into the matter, punish the 
 offenders, and send me an answer at Kuei-yang. 
 This outrage would not have occurred a few days
 
 CH'ING-P'ING HSIEN. 181 
 
 earlier, before the late prefect left, on promotion to 
 the rank of Tao-Tai. His successor had only been in 
 office two days, and was as yet unknown to the 
 citizens of Ch'en-yuan Fu. This turbulent place 
 appears to have given trouble to many successive 
 prefects, until the above mentioned officer, whose 
 name is Wu, proved himself to be the only man able 
 to rule the place, and this with so much popularity 
 that the people would scarcely let him leave the 
 city when he was promoted. I had heard of him at 
 Chang-te Fu, and obtained an introduction to him 
 from a friend of his, but unfortunately I arrived 
 just too late to benefit by his magnanimity. 
 
 October ^Ist. — The road passed at a very high 
 level for nearly the whole of to-day's stage. The 
 valley below seemed to be sparsely cultivated with 
 rice, and large tracts of land remained in a wild 
 state of nature. Slept at a place called Ta-feng 
 T'ung. 
 
 November 1st. — Shortly after leaving Ta-feng 
 T'ung, or the Cave of the Winds, we came upon the 
 cave, which gives its name to the village. It had 
 a very wide entrance, and I penetrated fully a hun- 
 dred yards before it began to narrow. Water 
 flowed down an artificial course from its inmost re- 
 cesses to irrigate the fields outside. I had neither 
 the time nor the means to penetrate farther. The 
 Chinese said it extended several li, and it was full of 
 water. In the course of two or three hours we 
 reached Ch'ing-p'ing Hsien, which like the other was
 
 182 MARGAEY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 also a city of the dead, but had recovered itself in a 
 much greater degree. Double the number of houses 
 had risen up in comparison with the previous cities 
 I passed through. I went to call on the magistrate, 
 but he was away. His servants, how^ever, pressed 
 me to go in and rest, an offer I readily accepted, as 
 the chair-bearers were about to have their breakfast, 
 an operation which generally took up more than half 
 an hour. They brought me tea, and three or four 
 bowls of food, which I hungrily devoured with the 
 help of chopsticks. On leaving the town I noticed 
 a large heap of good coal exposed for sale, which 
 clearly indicated the existence of mines in the neigh- 
 bourhood. Every village I passed through showed 
 sad signs of the savage havoc caused by the raid of 
 the Miaotze. Everywhere extensive remains of 
 good substantial stone houses pointed out the pros- 
 perity that must have been, and in their stead 
 twenty years of peace and quiet had only produced 
 a huddled group of poor straw-thatched huts, in- 
 habited by emigrants from Ssu Ch'uan and Kiang Si. 
 Curiously enough there are signs of a sudden impulse 
 of prosperity now taking place, for in every village, 
 town, and city, new houses were either just finished 
 or in course of construction. Of trade there is 
 nothing to speak of in any of these places, and every 
 house is an inn with a small shop facing the street. 
 I certainly benefited by the building mania, for I 
 was sure of clean fresh quarters at night, although 
 the mud floor could not, to use a simile employed by
 
 RAVAGES OF THE MIAOTZE. 183 
 
 a mandarin who was eulogising Shangbae to mo, be 
 compared in cleanliness to the very streets of our 
 model settlement. 
 
 November 2nd. — The road passed through a very 
 fertile and beautiful, but wholly deserted, region. 
 Large tracts of good arable land were given up to 
 grass and wild weeds. This fact alone speaks very 
 plainly of the wide-spread desolation, when we 
 consider how accustomed the Chinese are to cultivate 
 their very mountains up to almost inaccessible 
 heights, and if the desolation is so great on the main 
 road, what must it be in the less frequented interior. 
 The Miaotze have been taught many severe lessons 
 by the imperial troops since their day of triumph, 
 and indeed many of them now live in the cities I 
 have passed through, mixed up with the Chiuese 
 population. I saw several of their women about the 
 streets. A wild fearless look was in their faces, and 
 withal a very attractive expression, such as I have 
 seen in the countenance of the Pepohwan tribe in 
 North Formosa. But whether thoroughly subdued 
 or not, the settlers in the rising villages have little 
 to fear from their lawless neighbours, for a chain of 
 forts has been erected at distances of five li apart, 
 each containing five soldiers, which serve as watch 
 towers, while the whole route is chock full of soldiery. 
 This system is entirely owing to the energy and 
 vigorous administration of the late Prefect Wu, of 
 whom I have spoken above. 
 
 November 3rd. — Just as the cities grow in size, and
 
 184 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 start into more active life as we approacli the capital, 
 so the country becomes less neglected, villages appear 
 in secluded hollows off the main road, and every level 
 plot is cultivated with rice. One crop had just been 
 gathered in, and the patient peasant was everywhere 
 engaged in ploughing up, with aid of the lumbering 
 buffalo, the diminutive basins into which their paddy 
 fields are divided, and preparing the ground for a 
 second or third crop. I noticed a few men thrashing 
 out the in-gathered grain with the very identical old 
 flail which our farmers had to use before machinery 
 drove it out of use. The only other object of culti- 
 vation which I could see anywhere was tbe tobacco 
 plant. It was in blossom with a pink bell-like flower. 
 I must not omit to remark that we met several 
 hucksters on the road, carrying live stock, and among 
 them were not a few baskets full of nice fat young 
 puppies. On remarking to my head servant that 
 they were evidently for market, and that I was not 
 aware his countrymen ever indulged in dog flesh, 
 he replied with considerable scorn, " I should think 
 not indeed ; these young pups are for the Miaotze, 
 who do eat them." At the end of forty-five li, or 
 say fifteen miles, we reached a city called Kwe-ting 
 Hsien, which was, as usual, somewhat in advance of 
 its neighbour in resuscitation. I went straight to 
 the yamen and was very civilly received by the 
 mandarin, who had been at Shanghae and Tientsin, 
 and could not refrain from praising up everything 
 that was foreign. We were to go on to-day a long
 
 KWEI-CHOU. 185 
 
 stag-e of sixty-five li, so, in order to save time, I 
 hurried away, thinking my baggage was well on its 
 way. But what was my astonishment on descending 
 to the main street to find the whole crowd of bearers 
 in a regular mutiny. I had to get out and expos- 
 tulate with them, surrounded all the time by fifty or 
 sixty of the town's-people, who rather took my part 
 and were exceedingly civil. I am surprised to find 
 that here, as elsewhere, all along the route, the Pekin 
 dialect was thoroughly intelligible, and that I could 
 understand the people far better than I did in Hu 
 Nan. The populace so far has proved itself quiet 
 and harmless, always excepting Ch'en-yuan Fu, which 
 is a very pandemonium. My expostulations resulted 
 in the headman writing out a guarantee that they 
 should carry me to the capital in exactly the same 
 time under penalty of a heavy mulct. With this 
 security I was content to remain, and having found 
 comfortable quarters, revelled in my spare time to 
 write up my correspondence. 
 
 To F. E. E. 
 [Province of Kivei-choii, November 4:th, 1874. — It is 
 half-past five, and rather cold, so I cannot write very 
 steadily. I have got up early in order to begin a 
 letter to you at any rate, for to-morrow we enter the 
 capital of the province, and I shall be full of business 
 the whole time. . . . This travelling by road utterly 
 prevents one from writing letters. I am hurried 
 along all day in a sedan chair carried by four men,
 
 186 MARGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 and when we arrive late in the evening at an inn, I 
 just have time to write up my official journal, dine, 
 and go to bed. Any spare time is in general 
 provokingly wasted by visits from literati or fellow- 
 travellers of mandarin rank, all of whom are ex- 
 cessively polite and " conducive." My mid-day meal 
 is a very scratch sort of affair. The cook hurriedly 
 turns out an omelet, and fries a bit of fowl, and I 
 have to eat at a rickety table seated on a very 
 narrow bench exposed to the full view of many staring 
 eyes. As for starers and gazers, it is a daily work to 
 clear out a crowd from one's very room. There is 
 so much to attract them that I make full allowance for 
 their curiosity, and treat them like small children. 
 First of all there is my air bed which completely flab- 
 bergasts them, and then there are fifty other wonders, 
 from my marvellous tin-box to the knives and forks, 
 to meet their magic gaze. The road is a miserable 
 affair, and although it is the highway to the capital 
 and a principal trade route, yet such a ragged, rough 
 path is it, that it would not be tolerated in the 
 poorest English village. But the scenery is splendid. 
 We were nearly always at a high level, and could 
 overlook the valleys far beneath. Glorious pine-clad 
 hills rose up on the opposite side, surmounted by 
 dark rugged rocks, peeping out where the profuse 
 vegetation ceased to climb. 
 
 12.15 P.M. — Having just arrived at our mid-day 
 stage, I propose to fill uj) the half hour during which 
 the cook is preparing my breakfast by adding all I
 
 KWEI-CHOU. 187 
 
 can in the time to my letter. I bought a kid last 
 night, and am about to have a great treat in change 
 of diet after many days of fowl and duck. This 
 province is certainly an improvement on the last in 
 its vegetable products. Besides the universal rice, I 
 rejoice in the enjoyment of tomatoes, brinjals, and a 
 sort of artichoke. Of fruit, too, there is any quantity 
 of persimmons to be had. This is a fruit you are 
 probably ignorant of, I never heard of it before I 
 came to China. But although it is held in very 
 cheap estimation by foreigners, I have often enjoyed 
 its cool luscious pulp. It has a brick-red colour, and 
 a smooth bright skin which peels oif very easily, 
 and then the whole of the inside like the prickly 
 pear is edible, only the pulp, though sweet and palat- 
 able, is certainly somewhat coarse. This province of 
 Kwei-chou is sadly devastated, all the cities are 
 reduced to mere villages, and the villages to a mere 
 collection of straw huts. Everywhere ruins of good 
 substantial stone houses aboimd, and show what a 
 prosperous region this once was, before the wild men 
 of the hills came down en masse and butchered the 
 whole population. This occurred twenty years ago, 
 and still the devoted cities remain as cities of the 
 dead, with extensive walls surrounding acres of ruins. 
 These wild tribes, called Miaotze, have since been 
 severely punished by the imperial troops. They are 
 to be seen, as I saw them, dwelling peaceably in the 
 very cities whose ruin they compassed, and sprinkled 
 among the very foes they cruelly invaded.]
 
 188 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 November Ath. — In order to keep their promise, my 
 troublesome carriers would have me rise unusually 
 early, as they intended to "do " seventy-five li this 
 day ; of their accomplishing which I certainly felt 
 very sceptical. However, they did complete the long 
 stage by 6 p.m., and I soon found myself in the 
 yamen of the magistrate of Lung-li Hsien. 
 
 This gentleman seemed to dread a meeting with 
 the foreigner, and coolly sent a message of " Not at 
 home," going into his back garden meanwhile with 
 mistaken conscientiousness. However, a note ex- 
 plaining my mission speedily brought him to his 
 senses, and he not only sent a couple of men to escort 
 me, but came himself in mufti, late at night, after I 
 had finished my dinner, and smoked a few cigars 
 with me, besides imbibing a little wine and some 
 cofiee, which he tasted for the first time in his life 
 and seemed to enjoy. The road, for the greater part 
 of the way to-day, passed through narrow ravines 
 where the grass-clad hills approached very close and 
 no room for cultivation intervened. Thick hedge- 
 rows lined the highway, composed of what in other 
 countries are forest trees, but here meanly doing 
 duty as stunted shrubs. There were the oak and 
 the horse-chestnut, of which I could not see even 
 a moderately grown tree anywhere. Fine young 
 Scotch firs were springing up everywhere, and 
 crowning the hills with a fine deep green. Willows 
 and ashes, sycamores and poplars (not the English 
 kind) filled the lower slopes, and now and then I
 
 KWEI-CHOU. 189 
 
 came across a magnificent Spanish chestnut. But 
 the glory of the plain was the persimmon tree, all 
 ablaze with the brightest yellow autumn tint. Wild 
 flowers abounded everywhere, including the camellia, 
 bluebells, marguerites, in splendid variety and 
 profusion, and the violet. The whole road was a 
 perfect paradise of ferns, and grasses flourished in 
 marvellous variety. 
 
 To F. E. R. 
 
 [_Noveinher 5th. — I have ringing in my ears the old 
 old (beautiful ?) refrain of " Remember, remember 
 the fifth of November ; gunpowder, treason, and plot," 
 which, much as it used to annoy me as a student, I 
 would give worlds to be at home now to hear once 
 more. The delights of home, and the pleasures and 
 comforts of dear old England are always rising up 
 before me, and my heart yearns too often for the 
 fleshpots of Egypt. I am again snatching a tiffin 
 half hour, and I am seated in a queer barn-like sort 
 of eating-house at the half-way village to the capital. 
 The place is open to the street, and a stray starer or 
 two is gazing at my marvellous proceeding with 
 wide-open eyes and mouth.] 
 
 November 5th. — To-day we have completed our 
 last stage and entered the capital of Kwei-chou. I 
 am delighted with the place. The people are most 
 civil and not in the slightest degree troublesome. 
 Although the streets were crowded, none attempted 
 to follow or stare. A look of astonishment passed
 
 190 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 over their faces, and that was all, while I more than 
 once heard the civil expression used, " Oh, here's a 
 guest arrived." The main street, through which I 
 had to pass on my way to the inn where my servant 
 had secured lodgings for me, was exceedingly pictur- 
 esque with its sign-boards, and dyed cloths exposed 
 for sale, and coloured umbrellas spread out to tempt 
 the rain with glittering red or blue or green. The 
 first view of the city from the top of the last pass is 
 very beautiful. It rests on an uneven plain well 
 supplied with trees and completely surrounded by 
 high hills, many of which stand solitary on the plain 
 in remarkable forms. There w^ere natural fortresses 
 faced with smooth black rock at the top, otherwise 
 clothed in rich vegetation, and which had been 
 cleverly seized upon by bonzes to build imposing 
 temples up in the air. Then again there was a 
 perfect plum pudding and several pyramids with 
 remarkably pointed apexes. The inequalities of the 
 ground raised all the imposing buildings above the 
 veil of the walls, which everywhere in China pro- 
 vokingly hide every vestige of a city from the 
 traveller's approaching view. The last mile of the 
 road was literally overloaded with memorial arches 
 of white marble, or other substitute, in perpetual 
 honour of maidens distinguished for piety, and widows 
 constant to the memory of the deceased. Their 
 distant effect certainly added to the liveliness of the 
 scene.
 
 KWEI-YANG FU. 191 
 
 To F. E. E. 
 
 \_Novemher Gth, 6 a.m. — Well, I only had ten minutes 
 after all to write the above in. I am now lodged all 
 of a heap with luggage and all sorts of articles 
 surrounding me in a small room at a crowded inn of 
 Kwei-jang Fii. A number of Chinese swells are 
 occupying the best rooms, and last night we hob- 
 nobbed till midnight over my cigarettes and wine. 
 The former they think marvellously good. The city 
 magistrate sent me a polite message last night to say 
 that he would have the official travelling quarters 
 got ready for me to-morrow. . . . To-morrow, or 
 rather to-day, I have a busy programme before me. 
 A s soon as I have had my bath and breakfast, I shall 
 pay coolies off, etc. I then proceed in my pretty 
 little sedan chair to visit the magistrate and arrange 
 about moving over to the more commodious quarters, 
 for I fear I must stay two days. Not that I should 
 object to remaining a week, for there is much to see, 
 and the townspeople are very civil, but I am in a 
 hurry. I was so astonished to find on entering so 
 large a city and passing along its main thoroughfare 
 crowded with purchasers, and gay with every imagi- 
 nable kind of shop, that no excitement whatever 
 prevailed, and as I passed quietly along, only an 
 astonished look settled on a few faces at the sight of 
 me. At eleven o'clock I go by appointment to visit 
 the governor, which is a great undertaking. These 
 magnates are seldom accessible to small fry, but I
 
 192 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 have got an open Sesame in the shape of an Imperial 
 passport and letters from the Chinese foreign office at 
 Pekin. I shall somewhat astonish the governor by 
 requesting a loan of taels 120 or about 40/., for I have 
 run dry to my last cash and have not the means to 
 proceed, I have also a grand bone to pick with him 
 about my treatment at Ch'en-yuan Fu, of which I will 
 tell you shortly. My Chinese volubility has been much 
 benefited by two months' complete isolation from 
 every other tongue save and excepting the horribly 
 mongrel pidgeon English whereby Bombazine and I 
 interchange our thoughts. But an interview with a 
 high official requires many varied forms of etiquette 
 language with which one is not quite so familiar, as 
 though viceroys and governors were served up with 
 breakfast every morning ; and in using these forms 
 of speech, which are fulsome and exceedingly ol)- 
 noxious to English straight-forwardness and blnnt- 
 ness, one requires a good deal of cool nerve. This I 
 have been preparing myself for, and indeed I have 
 been preparing my lesson like a good boy, committing 
 to memory dialogues composed by my writer under 
 my directions, which have supplied me with a good 
 stock of grand phrases. I wonder when I open my 
 mouth to discharge them if I shall find myself in the 
 position of Punclis cabby with the four drunken 
 men inside mixed up beyond all recognition,] 
 
 To the Rev. J. Layard, 
 [^Kwei-yang Fu, November 6th, 1874. — I have no
 
 KWEI-YANG FU. 103 
 
 doubt you have long since lieard of my mission to 
 the extreme west of China, to the great province of 
 Yunnan, on the confines of Burmah, in order to meet 
 and conduct safely back to Shaiighae three Indian 
 officers sent by Lord Northbrook to investigate trade 
 routes between the two countries. I have been now 
 two months en route^ and have experienced all sorts 
 of vicissitudes. The first part of my journey was by 
 boat, which mode of travelling, at first delightful, 
 became at last very tedious, lasting in all about fifty 
 days. We were perpetually ascending rapids and 
 threading marvellous gorges, and my sight was at 
 last completely satiated with the perpetual view of 
 the most glorious scenery that ever made the human 
 heart leap with wonder and delight. The province 
 of Yunnan must Be the region in all the world that 
 was selected as the special play-ground for stupendous 
 terrestrial convulsions. Perhaps my e?i?iM/ was mainly 
 owing to the fact that I was ill for many weeks. 
 One disease after another attacked me with relentless 
 rapidity ; even dysentery came to add its terrors to 
 my loneliness, and reduced me to a skeleton. All my 
 pride of flesh and muscle speedily vanished beneath 
 its dire influences ; but, thank God, all this suffering 
 was invaluable in curing me of a far greater disease. 
 I told you that when I felt more deeply the glorious 
 truths of salvation and the love of our Saviour, I 
 would tell you ; so now, in the midst of business and 
 great pre-occupation, I gladly seize a few odd mo- 
 ments here and there to write and tell you of my 
 
 o
 
 194 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 happiness, for which you are justly entitled to my 
 heartfelt thanks and deep love for the faithfulness 
 with which you ])oth explained and instilled into me 
 the deep hidden truths of the gospel. Ever since 
 Ave parted I have not been happy. I suppose the 
 process of cleansing the Augean stables was going 
 on, and required time, but certainly a very l»lack dog 
 sat on my back. America was insipid ; friends were 
 tedious ; work was welcome, V)ut proved heavy 
 labour, and made me ill ; yet, in the midst of my 
 suifering in the boat, I was drawn nearer to God, 
 and, at last, like Christian, the load rolled off, 
 and I was another man. I hope you will not think 
 me immediately full of conceit and vanity, and that I 
 think myself fin established Christian, but I hope when 
 I get back, please Grod, to prove the armour which I 
 have but put on in private, and don't yet know the 
 strength and endurance of. The parable of the 
 sower is ever before my eyes, and I have a horrid 
 dread of the tares of society, but I think I am pretty 
 safe this time. I often think of you both, and the 
 thought comes involuntarily very often, for early 
 associations are deeply engraven on my mind, and 
 you have no idea how they crop up. You will pro- 
 bably smile, but it is a fact that T judge distance 
 entirely by the dear old road from Swafield to North 
 Walsham, and every Scotch fir on the roadside 
 takes me back to the time when poor Jack and I 
 searched for tiny shoots under the old oak with as 
 much zeal as an archaeologist for coins and buried
 
 KWEI-YANG FU. 195 
 
 remains. T long to tell you my adventures, but time 
 forbids.] 
 
 November Gt/i. — Having on hand a great many 
 things to do to-day, I have been much hampered by 
 a number of visitors coming in one after the other to 
 ask the same questions, and examine everything 1 
 have with me that is strange to them. However 
 much it may have benefited my knowledge and 
 study of the Chinese, and of their intricate language, 
 it certainly taxed my patience to keep up a conver- 
 sation so long, and my palate to have to promiscu- 
 ously drink tea and wine, and smoke cigarettes with 
 perpetual relays of visitors. But at any rate I feel 
 some satisfaction in having enlightened their gross 
 ignorance (although they were all of the literati 
 class and expectant mandarins) with regard to our 
 position in China, the rank of our representative at 
 Pekin, and the goodwill which prevailed at the 
 capital between the two nations. I called on the 
 Governor of the Province at noon, by appointment, 
 and was most civilly treated by him. A brisk old 
 man, full of energy and intelligence, entered the re- 
 ception hall after I had waited about a quarter of an 
 hour for him. It was a large room, and two sides of 
 it were panelled with glass windows through which 
 I should think there were fully fifty faces peering in 
 during my interview with the great man. There 
 were lesser mandarins in full fig, and a crowd of 
 household servants. We sat midway up the hall on 
 opposite sides more than twenty feet apart. A 
 
 o 2
 
 196 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 visitor of high or equal rank, he would have con- 
 ducted to the divan at the upper end of the room. 
 My iBrst object was to borrow money, which was 
 readily granted, and the next morning a parcel of 
 silver ingots amounting to Tls. 130, or about 40/., 
 duly came to hand. I laid the case of the Ch'en- 
 yuan Fu outrage before him, begging for redress on 
 behalf of the boatmen, and requesting him to have 
 issued a proclamation forbidding the people to 
 molest Eno;lish officials and travellers in future. He 
 promised to give directions to Wu Tao-Tai, the late 
 prefect of Ch'en-yuan, to settle the matter, and 
 plunged into an animated explanation of the proba- 
 ble cause of the disturbance. He said that Roman 
 missionaries were the only foreigners the people ever 
 saw or came in contact with, and that as there had 
 been a collision with them rather more than a year 
 ago, when the mob destroyed a dispensary which the 
 mission had established in the city, he thought it 
 very probable that they mistook me for one of the 
 same party returned to make another essay. On 
 taking my leave, the great man, for such he is in 
 very truth among his host of lesser officials, of whom 
 there are several hundred in the capital, did me the 
 honour of conducting me to my chair, which was 
 twice as far as most mandarins of far lower rank 
 would have condescended to move. I also called on 
 the celebrated Tao-Ta Wu, to press the Ch'en-yuan 
 Fu matter, thinking it very necessary for the sake of 
 future travellers or pioneers of commerce coming that
 
 KVVEl-YANG FU. 197 
 
 way that the juobhizig propeiasity of the people should 
 be thoroughly checked. The Tap-Tai had a fine intel- 
 lectual face and a benevolent eye. He said very little 
 on the subject then, but on returning* my call, some 
 hours later, told me he had seen the Futai, and promised 
 freely to carry out my wishes, and to have the boatman 
 indemnified. My time was completely occupied all the 
 rest of the day in making arrangements to lighten 
 my baggage and to travel more quickly. Being 
 behind time several days, I was anxious to get on as 
 fast as possible, but I found it quite impossible to cut 
 short my stay at the capital under two days, and I 
 was further interrupted by incessant visitors, whose 
 continual " coming " did not cease till midnight. My 
 expenses from Chen-yuan Fu were far greater than 
 they would have been had I been able to arrange 
 through my servants. But under the circumstance!?., 
 I was completely in the hands of the magistrate, who 
 hired carriers for me. I now determined to have 
 nothing to do with carriers, but to put everything on 
 horse-back, so that no delay might occur from short 
 fatigue stages. My servant called my attention to 
 certain strong baskets which were used here to carry 
 loose packages, and we Ibuud that by discarding 
 boxes, and separately packing their contents into 
 these creels, the load of three ponies was reduced to 
 two. By this lucky discovery I was able to effect n 
 considerable saving. The hire of a pony carrying 
 one hundred and sixty 2)ounds was from '6 to 4 mace 
 a day, or say Is. iOd. to 26'. Gc/. per day. That of a
 
 198 MAKGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 carrier, 2 mace, or Is. 3d. per day. Two men carried 
 the load of one pony. 
 
 To F. E. R. 
 \_Novemher 1th. — I have been fearfully busy, what 
 with calHng on mandarins, hiring ponies, and seeing 
 to the proper packing and lading of boxes. I was 
 most successful with the governor, a jolly old fellow, 
 who leceived me with great civility and kindness. 
 We sat on each side of a large hall, fully thirty or 
 forty feet wide, and I should think there must have 
 been fully fifty men, from lesser mandarins down to 
 household servants, looking on through the glass 
 which surrounded two sides of the apartment. These 
 lookers on used to vex and disconcert me terribly, 
 but practice has taught me to diregard them as much 
 as the chairs and tables. I was in fine fettle and 
 never faltered for a single word. The old gentleman 
 lent meTls. 130 and promised me to settle the Ch'en- 
 yuan business which I must now tell you of. Well, 
 on arrival at that horrid place, I was mobbed — 
 completely prevented from entering an inn or re- 
 moving my luggage from the boat. I went straight 
 to the magistrate's yamen, walking through the mob 
 over which I was elevated head and shoulders higher. 
 The mandarin, on hearing my complaint, began to 
 laugh, and make light excuses for the mob, where- 
 upon I rowed him well and showed him my creden- 
 tials. This brought him to his senses, and he sent 
 me in a chair with a strong escort to the inn. But
 
 KWEI-YANG FU. 199 
 
 the mob was determined and drove us back. I had 
 to hit one fellow, and must have nearly broken his 
 nose, for he skedaddled holding it in his hand most 
 ruefully. I had to sleep in the yamen, and smuggled 
 myself out of the city at daylight. The people on 
 discovery of my departure actually had the ferocity 
 to wreak their vengeance on the boatmen who 
 brought me from Hankow, and destroyed all the 
 upper part of their boat. I told the governor of all 
 this, and have obtained a promise of compensation 
 to the })Oor boatmen. I start on my eighteen days' 
 journey to Yunnan Fu to-morrow morning. I am 
 going to have the relief of riding, in lieu of being 
 cramped up in a chair. I have had an incessant 
 relay of inquisitive visitors pouring in, till I was 
 quite tired of showing and explaining things, and 
 my palate completely upset by promiscuously drinking 
 tea and wine with fresh new-comers. They were all 
 expectant mandarins of various rank, and dropped in 
 quietly without regularly calling.] 
 
 November 7/A.— The whole day was taken up in 
 packing and fixing the baskets and boxes to the pack- 
 saddles, which on the morrow would be lifted on to 
 the ponies when they were ready to start. I should 
 have mentioned that, at the instance of the governor, 
 the magistrate, or Chih Hsien, had invited me to re- 
 move from the inn to an official dwelling, but the 
 place was unfit to live in, and so I declined the 
 honour. As he was in duty bound, this officer also 
 sent me a fine haunch of mutton (goat) and a fowl.
 
 200 MxiRGARY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 He returned my call and was most inquisitive. I 
 had to take out everything I possessed of foreign 
 make to satisfy his wondering gaze ; but in spite of 
 opera-glasses, breech-loading gun, revolvers, flasks, 
 and intricate despatch box, the palm was carried oft' 
 by Sheftield cutlery, and the magistrate amused him- 
 self like a child in cutting a sponge cake into pieces_, 
 which were speedily devoured by a half a dozen 
 visitors in mufti. The table-knife had taken such a 
 hold on his fancy, that this youthful official (he was 
 only about thirty), disgraced himself by actually 
 bending a messenger to ask for one of me, besides 
 dropping many hints to my writer to the same effect. 
 I refused his request on principle, veiled under the 
 good plea of not being able to spare what I daily had 
 in use. Much time was taken up in squaring 
 accounts, for the exchanges in China are always 
 intricate and varying at different places. Large cash 
 were used in the country, but here in the city small 
 cash of much less value were in vogue. I had also to 
 do with lumps of silver, which required weighing and 
 chopping into pieces. The f'utai did me the honour 
 to accept the present I sent him of cigarettes, liqueur, 
 candles, and soap, sending in i-eturn a ham and some 
 excellent tea called Pu-erh-ch'a, a celebrated product 
 of Yunnan. He had also the politeness to send me 
 a letter of introduction to his son, who is a mandarin 
 in Yunnan Fu. Almost everything sold in the 
 shops was brought from Ssu-ch'uan, particularly salt, 
 silk, umbrellas, and earthenware, but I could not
 
 CHING-CHEN HSIEN. 201 
 
 ascertain what was exported in return. The in- 
 variable answer was that Kwei-chou produced 
 nothing ; and depopulated as it is I can well believe 
 there is no special industry in the province. 
 
 November Sth, — Started rather late, owing to diffi- 
 culties connected with the baggage ; and con- 
 sequently did not arrive at our stage till after dark. 
 Henceforth, we are to reach a city at the end of each 
 stage, whether the distance be as short as fifty li, or 
 as long as ninety li. We were now at Ching-cheu 
 Hsien, and the lateness of the hour deterred nie from 
 calling on the magistrate. We exchanged cards, 
 however, and he sent me a present of a fowl and a 
 duck. Two official messengers were also detached 
 to escort me to the next city, as the Futai had 
 directed. The military commandant had the civility 
 to send a couple of soldiers to escort me as well ; an 
 act of great respect, for, as my writer informed me, 
 " the Emperor's troops might not be lightly moved." 
 I should have mentioned that the same compliment 
 was paid me at Kwei-yang, where two soldiers were 
 sent to accompany me wherever I went. 
 
 November dth.- — Travelled sixty-two li to Ching- 
 ch'i Hsien, and called on the magistrate, who proved 
 to be a somewhat jovial old man of sixty-two. He 
 had a very pleasant face, a very husky voice, and a 
 chronic laugh tacked on to his words. I had the 
 pleasure of receiving him later, after dinner, when 
 he showed a liking for sherry, and tried to smoke a 
 long pipe of to})acco, after trying both cigar and
 
 202 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 cigarette. The road was very wet and slippery after 
 a shower, and it was by no means easy to have faith 
 in the invariable sure-footedness of one's pony in the 
 rough places and frequent inclines. In fact, mine 
 did fall, without hurting his rider, however, which 
 is fortunately the usual case with these small 
 animals. The country was rather more colonised 
 and cultivated than on the east side of the capital, 
 but still vast tracts of level arable land, bearing 
 distinct signs of former tillage, were completely 
 deserted and covered with long grass. The villages 
 on the main road are of a most miserable description, 
 composed of huts built of thick straw of the sorghum, 
 and plastered with mud or piled up with the stones 
 and debris of former prosperity. They were far 
 apart and contained very few inhabitants, who were 
 mostly innnigrants from Ssii-ch'uan. In these 
 villages, as on the previous route to the capital, food 
 was spread on small tables at every door to attract 
 passing coolies. But it was of a very inferior kind 
 to that which was displayed to view on the eastern 
 side of the capital. I could not find a decent room 
 wherein to breakfast, and sat in the open air under 
 the wondering gaze of the whole population. But 
 everywhere the people were amenable and well 
 behaved. It has been my haJ^it to get out my 
 writing materials whilst waiting for food, and the 
 process always creates extreme astonishment. About 
 midway of this day's route we crossed a very re- 
 markable avenue of hills, extending in a straight
 
 CHING-CH'I HSIEN. 203 
 
 line north and south for several miles, with a perfectly 
 flat and narrow strip of fertile land between. Farther 
 on, the general direction of the valleys was east and 
 west. Wild flowers filled the roadsides, and the 
 tea-plant, in full l)loom like a camelia, grew wild all 
 about the hedge rows, developed, untended, into a 
 strong shrub eight or ten feet high. 
 
 November lOth. — On leaving Ching-ch'i Hsien next 
 morning rather earlier than usual on account of the 
 longer stage of eighty li, or twenty-six miles, lying 
 before us, the chief military officer, who was only of 
 the rank of a C/t^len-tsung, or say a Ueutenant, not 
 only had the civility to send a couple of soldiers to 
 escort me, but gave me the usual salute of three 
 detonating crackers as I passed the city gates ; and 
 more than this he paid me all the honours of a Ta- 
 jen, or a superior mandarin, by awaiting my arrival 
 in full dress on the road, some two li beyond the 
 gates. The ceremony took me by surprise, more 
 especially as I was first made aware of his purpose 
 by his card-bearer shouting out in loud tones (as he 
 dropped on one knee in the road and held up his 
 master's official card), that the CliHen-tsung had come 
 out to pay his lespects to his Excellency Mr. Ma. I 
 dismounted and thanked the officer for his civility, 
 but the brave soldier appeared to be so frightened 
 by my condescension, that 1 remounted and passed 
 on without more words. The whole route to-day 
 passed through a fertile valley, perfectly level and 
 some six to eight miles wide. It was only partially
 
 204 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 cultivated, for the country has not yet had time to 
 recover from its twenty years of desolation. It was 
 only last year that this main road became free from 
 dangers and obstructions, and immigrants could 
 come with safety to occupy the deserted wastes. 
 The most remarkable feature of the province is its 
 hills. I have above noticed the singular detached 
 cones and pyramids, which dot the plain of Kwei- 
 yang Fu (which by the way extends north and 
 south), but on leaving Ching-ch'i Hsien a regular 
 conclave of these huge tumuli meets the view of the 
 traveller. I cannot call them mighty, as the highest 
 does not appear to exceed three hundred feet. After 
 passing through them we entered the fine valley 
 above mentioned. It was bounded in its whole 
 length along the eighty li we travelled to-day, by 
 these same detached hills. They were not con- 
 tiguous, nor in any way barred progress in between 
 or round them in almost any direction ; indeed long 
 arms of the broad valley were seen to penetrate like 
 estuaries through their midst, Far away in the 
 southern boundary of the valley, . where the hills 
 seemed to be massed almost into a mountain range, 
 the eye could still see similar separated peaks, which 
 strengthened the presumption, that a very large belt 
 of country was here both easily penetrable, and 
 abounding in a comjjlete network of small arable 
 valleys. We reached the Prefectural city of An-hsun 
 by six o'clock. The undulating downy ground to 
 the east of the city, i.e., from the side we approached,
 
 AN-HS(JK FU. 205 
 
 was one vast graveyard extending over two or three 
 thousand acres. I never saw such a large collection 
 of funeral mounds. Either this must have been a 
 favourite cemetery, or the population of An-hsiin Fu 
 must have been enormous. The city is certainly 
 very full of houses, and presents an animated 
 appearance on entering the gate. It is built in a 
 deep hollow, so that the gates overlook its entire 
 area. I was too tired to visit the local officials, and 
 w-e merely exchanged cards and civilities. The in- 
 habitants were as well behaved as those of the 
 capital. This city was strong enough to resist the 
 inroad of the Miaotze, who carried their ravages up 
 to its very walls. 
 
 November Wth. — Left An-hslin at about 9 a.m. 
 and passed through the same scenery surrounding 
 the rich valley above-mentioned. Cultivation in- 
 creased as we proceeded westward, and large tracts 
 of fine rich soil were turned up to view by the 
 plough. Villages were certainly more scarce, for 
 we passed over fifteen li without seeing any, but 
 small groups of two or three huts, far away off the 
 main road, sheltered the new colonists. As we 
 approached the city of Chen-ning Chow, sixty li 
 from An-hsiin, the .hills north and south began to 
 approach nearer, and to close in upon the valley. 
 For one hundred and forty li we had followed a 
 level track, and indeed from Kwei-yang to this 
 point, a distance of nearly ninety miles, the con- 
 struction of a railway, should commerce one day
 
 206 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 require it, would be as simple and inexpensive as^ 
 in any other part of the empire. One thinks of 
 Kwei-chou as an impenetrable mass of mountains, 
 but it was most agreeable to find it possessed of 
 many fine plains lying in the right direction. A 
 nearer view of the conical hills brought to sight 
 their rocky construction. Although vegetation 
 climbed over their summits, yet the black craggy 
 rock showed itself through the cloak. In most cases 
 til is weather-beaten sandstone broke out in even 
 concentric circles from base to summit, giving the 
 hill a fortified appearance, or at a distance a rich 
 fiuted look. But in a few instances a complete 
 eruption of knotty crumpled l.)oulders covered the 
 whole surface like a disease. We passed several 
 Miaotze women toiling along the road with very 
 heavy loads for market, and shortly after came upon 
 their picturesque retreats. These people perch their 
 villages up on hills at a considerable height, and 
 mostly choose out inviting spots where trees and 
 shelter afford the best sites. 
 
 November \1th. — About fifteen li from Chen-ning 
 Chow, we came to the end of the fine valley, but 
 entered another smaller one after crossing an easy 
 pass. The hills now began to unite, but while their 
 bases were welded together, the summits still pre- 
 served their individuality in conical peaks rising 
 out of the mass below. In ten li more the valleys 
 came to an end, and the road wound in and out 
 among low grass-covered hills ; the rocky mountainous
 
 HWANG-KWO-SU. 207 
 
 peaks having disappeared for the time being. We 
 entered tlie village of Hwang-kwo-sn, once a large 
 town, over an old bridge of several arches, nnder 
 which flowed a considerable l)ody of water, after 
 dashing down a series of small sloping falls. The 
 village was half way, and I had my tiffin there. 
 On leaving the place a grand sight met my view. 
 There was the river, a couple of hundred j^ards 
 below the bridge, leaping down a precipice of one 
 hundred and forty feet in one of the prettiest falls 
 I ever saw. The bank was wide, and the waters 
 descended in two separate torrents, each of which 
 would excite admiration by itself. The brown 
 muddy look of the rock, over which the river 
 flowed, added to the striking effect of the whole. 
 From this point the road entered a mountainous 
 pass, full of ups and downs. Far below was a deep 
 ravine through which a stream flowed, but I could 
 not see whether it was the same river I have just 
 spoken of. Right out of the depths rose up a mighty 
 wall of rock, topped as before by the comb-like row 
 of peaks ; while on our side a huge denuded rock, 
 weather beaten and scored with streaks, leant over 
 as if to peer into the canyon down below. It was 
 a fine picture, and caused a refreshing thrill to pass 
 over me as I looked on. Ten li farther, and we 
 gradually descended into another plain and entered 
 
 the town of ,* where we took up our lodging 
 
 at a new inn, which consisted of a wooden frame 
 
 * The name of tins town is omitted in the MS.
 
 208 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 work, thatched roof, and bamboo laths neatly plaited 
 together forming divisions to the rooms. The walls 
 were not yet built, nor plaster and ceiling added inside. 
 Thick mats spread around and above served every 
 purpose for temporary accommodation, and I must 
 say I felt as warm as I wished with the thermometer 
 at 55°. This is their way. They first build just 
 the skeleton of a house, and then add on one 
 necessary portion after another, according, as in 
 course of time, they earn enough money to aiford 
 it. This inn will no doubt become complete in the 
 course of some months, but by that time it will 
 have lost all the charm of cleanliness derived from 
 its fresh bamboo laths, new woodwork and inviting 
 mats, which combined to make me feel very com- 
 fortable. The climate of Kwei-chou is very 
 temperate in November, else I should have been 
 miserable enough in these new tenements half open 
 to the sky. 
 
 November l^th. — The damp white mist, which has 
 surrounded us for a day and a half, was to-day 
 condensed into the still more uncomfortable form of 
 fine rain, and the thick vapour floated low above 
 the ground. It made travelling both difficult and 
 dangerous, for the stone-paved or rather stone- 
 strewn track, was provokingly rough in itself, but 
 to-day, for fully ten miles, we passed a mountainous 
 barrier over which the road ascended and descended 
 somewhat steep inclines. But even in the midst 
 of this mountain mass, where the rocky cones were
 
 LANG-TAI. 209 
 
 tossed and tumbled like a stormy sea, there was a 
 succession of quiet valleys down below lying fiat 
 at the base of these abrupt boundaries. To this 
 region there succeeded a milder track of undulating, 
 grass-covered wastes, inclosed by moderate hills fit 
 for pasture, which led down into another broad 
 valley, through which we travelled on level ground 
 for thirty li, to the city of Lang-tai, which is 
 denominated a T'ing, an order of jurisdiction 
 ranking a little higher than a Hsien or magisterial 
 government. There are but few of them in the 
 empire, compared with the regular departments of 
 Fu, Chow, and Hsien. If a direct road were possible 
 to Yunnan Fu, four or five days may be saved in 
 the transit, but our route to-day proved how 
 tortuous it will continue to be for the next five 
 days, until we reach the plains of Yunnan. The 
 road is almost deserted by commerce. For miles 
 we have met no goods passing or repassing. Of 
 travellers there are a few. Evidently little trade 
 has risen as yet by this route between the two 
 provinces. There is some, however, for on the 
 w/iole way from the capital, I have noticed three or 
 four consignments en route ; native cloth and straw 
 hats going west, and lead and tea to the capital, 
 were distinguishable amongst them at a glance. 
 
 November I4:th. — We left Lang-tai this morning 
 with the promise of a short stage before us, which 
 was a gratifying prospect, as it was raining still and 
 a leaden sky gave no hope of change. The road 
 
 P
 
 210 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 was extremely slippery, and in many parts almost 
 dangerous either for riding, chairing, or walking. 
 A fresh escort of two soldiers came in exchange for 
 those from the last stage ; I was thus forwarded on 
 from place to place ; but in every case I had to 
 deliver the last passport and to make a request for 
 the men. Everywhere, however, I have met with 
 the greatest civility, deference, and even something- 
 approaching to obsequiousness. Lang-tai was full 
 of houses, and struggling hard to recover from its 
 long depression. At this place I first began to 
 discover that there was a Kwei-chou dialect, which 
 sufficiently diverged from the Pekin tongue to 
 puzzle both me and those I addressed to entirely 
 understand each other. From this I inferred that 
 there must be a smaller admixture of Ssu-ch'uan men 
 in these parts ; an inference I might almost have 
 drawn from an absence of the brisk geniality and 
 readiness which marks the people of the latter 
 province. For the Kwei-chou provincial is a dull 
 heavy featured being, and hopelessly addicted to 
 smoking Yunnan opium. Although our stage was 
 short, it proved to be doubly tedious, as we entered 
 a really mountainous region at last, and the road 
 was full of steep inclines. After crossing a ]ow 
 ridge we skirted a fine valley for about two miles, 
 at a great height above it, looking over a rich scene 
 of cultivation and agricultural revival. After this 
 we suddenly got locked in among the hills and rose 
 higher and higher until we stopped to breathe at the
 
 MOUNTAIN TRAVELLING. 211 
 
 very summit of a, sliort rocky range, running N.W. 
 and S.E., which fairly barred the way. My aneroid 
 marked three thousand four hundred feet above the 
 sea, or rather Shanghae (which is much the same 
 thing), but I cannot trust its accuracy. A glorious 
 sight was seen on the other side. We were on a 
 level witli the majority of peaks massed together 
 right and left, and far before lay a small plain to 
 which we had to descend by a very steep path, 
 Masses of white mist floated below and for a time 
 obscured the fine panorama. But we were up in 
 clearer air, and it no longer rained. The descent 
 was difficult and slow. At the half-way-down house, 
 where the steepest parts came to an end, I again 
 looked at my barometer and found we were one 
 thousand four hundred feet below the splendid point 
 of view we had just left, which seemed incredible. 
 While scanning the mountains from above I esti- 
 mated that the average height of the highest ranges 
 was about four thousand feet. From the half-way 
 village (of two huts) where we had to breakfast, the 
 road wound down over a length of some two miles 
 till we reached another plain little cultivated, but 
 strangely enough, full of large villages ; and shortly 
 reached our halting place, which did not boast of a 
 proper inn. I have to sleep in a mat shed with a 
 pigsty alongside. But the barn-like structure is 
 roomy and airy, and the temperature is high, or I 
 should perish with cold. Being well guarded 
 against pet Chinese " luxuries," by insect powder, 
 
 p 2
 
 212 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 clean mat, india-rubber sheet and air bed, T can lie 
 down as calmly as a sybarite at home. The aneroid 
 has fallen further to one thousand five hundred feet. 
 To-morrow we are led to expect the hardest day's 
 march of the road, and I anticipate a second ascent 
 to the skies. I must not omit to state that within 
 the first fifteen li from Lang-tai, we crossed a coal 
 bed which cropped out abundantly on the surface. 
 There were large blocks of solid coal bare to view, 
 and the bank of the highway was a mass of coal 
 dust, which the settlers simply scraped into their 
 baskets and carried down to town for sale. We met 
 several women bent on this errand with light loads, 
 before reaching the source of their wealth. It may 
 be worth mentioning that the rocky ranges which 
 were grouped about the high ridge we crossed, one 
 and all presented a grass-clad mild appearance to- 
 wards the north and east, but on looking back at 
 the towering summits from the valley, I noticed that 
 vegetation stopped short within about a hundred 
 feet of the top, facing south and west, and that a 
 precipice of bare, black rock gave a sharply defined 
 outline to the crest. White streaks also marked 
 this rugged face, as though it had been irregularly 
 whitewashed. 
 
 November Ibth. — Me-k'ou, our resting place last 
 night, was only a village, and to-day's stage of thirty- 
 five li has brought us to another village named 
 H'ua-king. These places have not yet recovered 
 their former size and importance on the main road.
 
 POVERTY OF THE CHINESE. 213 
 
 A river flows past Me-k'oii beside a dark pebble 
 strand where the people of the place pick up bits of 
 sandstone prettily streaked with quartz (for the 
 latter has re-appeared in this region), which they 
 cut and polish to sell to travellers. I gave 50 cash, 
 or about 2c?., for a piece which would have cost a 
 shilling at Brighton, and incurred the moral censure 
 of one of my chair- bearers, who could not get over 
 such a show of extravagance for a long way, as I 
 gathered from his remarks to the other men. This 
 will serve to show how poor the Chinese are, and 
 how far a few copper cash will go with them. A 
 respectable gentleman only pays 100 cash for 
 board and lodging per night at an inn ; that is 
 about Ad. I bought half a sheep at Ching-di'i Hsien 
 for a tael and a half, or 9^., which was at 
 the rate of ohd. per pound. It is sufiScient to cum- 
 shaw an ofiBcial messenger who has walked twenty 
 miles in the rain for you with the handsome sum 
 of Ad., which will make him K'o-fou with joy ; 
 a Chinaman would give him 2d. Coolies and 
 bearers can eat and drink their fill for 3d. Many 
 a gentleman is well off with Tls. 25 a year. 
 Imagine an income of £8 65. sufficing. My literatus 
 will wrangle for 2 cash with the poor roadside 
 purveyors. He will also go for any given time 
 without a bath, sleep in the same room with filthy 
 coolies, smoke their dirty pipes, and do an infinity 
 of other unnecessary acts of condescension, which 
 mark China as the true home of Democracy, and
 
 214 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 the place where Fraternity and Equality have taken 
 r(jot with advantage to the lower orders, but at the 
 expense of a good deal to the more respectable 
 classes. Yet, in ceremonious etiquette, this dirty 
 pauper will claim equality with any one, and seem 
 the polished gentleman. 
 
 As I anticipated, our road was full of rises to-day, 
 and the aneroid marks three thousand two hundred 
 and fifty feet. The temperature has consequently 
 fallen several degrees, and I am lodged in a worse 
 barn than the last miserable place. Not to speak of 
 dirt and odours and the damp muddy floor, I have 
 the cooking place on my left hand, sending its 
 smoke from the centre of the floor throughout the 
 barn, and the pack-horses stabled on my right, a 
 little further removed by the blessing of an inter- 
 vening compartment in which my servants sleep. 
 We are boxed off by low partitions under a common 
 roof. To return to the road. How the chair- 
 bearers managed to pass over the most impossible 
 quagmires strewed with jagged stones (displaced 
 from the original pavement), and at an incline of 
 over 40°, without even jerking me, was a marvel. 
 I could only sit rigid and await a collapse which it 
 seemed impossible to avoid. The viceroy of Yun- 
 nan and Kwei-chou is on his way back from 
 Pekin, and will have to pass over this wretched 
 track. It is to be hoped, as 1 overheard a bearer 
 remark, that his experience of sufl'erings will lead to 
 a mending of matters. I underrated the size of
 
 COTTON CULTIVATION. 215 
 
 yesterday's valley. On rounding a hill I saw that 
 it extended a long way, and could afford ample 
 occupation to the villagers. The whole plain was 
 yellow with the rice stalks, and patterned out with 
 good effect by the numerous meandering boundaries 
 which banked up the paddy plots. A few acres 
 were planted with the sugar-cane which had reached 
 six or eight feet in height, and small attempts were 
 made to cultivate cotton, which I likewise noticed in 
 other places along our route to-day, but it was poor, 
 and growing short. Two high ranges running east 
 and west bounded our horizon, while the inter- 
 mediate space was valley to the south, and a grass- 
 covered uneven plateau to the north fit for pasturage. 
 Cattle are scarce, but carefully bred. The local 
 authorities forbid their slaughter yet. There were 
 trees over the hills. Deep red, yellow, and orange 
 tints of autumn showed up with beautiful effect 
 amid the mass of green. The sun had appeared at 
 last and dispelled the mists. So that altogether the 
 scene was very refreshing, and the journey far less 
 tedious. 
 
 November YQth. — The road to-day passed over a 
 long stretch of wearisome hills covered with tall 
 grass, without trees, without valleys, with only their 
 endless rise and fall always hiding a view of the bold 
 majestic peaks beyond. The river at Me-k'ou, I 
 should have stated, is the boundary of the wild-tribe 
 settlements. They do not perch upon the hills this 
 side of the stream, although their ravages were
 
 216 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 carried far beyond. Happily not a single bridge 
 was destroyed in their sweeping rage, which spared 
 neither monuments nor temples. Many fine stone 
 structures span the frequent ravines and rivers 
 which must obstruct a mountain road. By inquiries 
 made through my writer, who required some work, 
 I learned something of these Miao-tzu, and other 
 wild tribes in the hills, together with the causes of 
 their insurrection. There are two sets of social 
 outcasts, the Miao-tzu, and the Chung-chia. The 
 former, although they assimilate both in dress and 
 general features to the Chinese, just as the Shans 
 beyond Yunnan, described by Dr. Anderson, never 
 belonged to the celestial race. They were the 
 aborigines of this region at the time when the Han 
 dynasty (b.c. 202 to a.T). 200) extended the empire 
 westward, and colonised this province from Hu Nan. 
 The Chung-chia are the descendants of those 
 colonists, Both "nations" have several subdivisions 
 distinguished by little peculiarities of dress, and are 
 mostly called by names describing the same. I saw 
 representatives of three or four sects, and could 
 easily see the difference. For instance, there are 
 the White Miao ; the embroidered Red Miao ; the 
 Black Miao (who by the way wear earrings as well 
 as black clothes ; the men but one, the women 
 both) ; the Light-blue Miao ; the Flowered Miao 
 (who wear sleeves ^ only of coloured stuffs like 
 chintzes or brocades) ; and oddest of all, the Duck's- 
 beak Miao (who wear a thing like a duck's beak on
 
 THE MIAO-TZtT AND CHUNG-CHIA. 217 
 
 the back). The women are the badge bearers, the 
 men doing as they like in the matter. But the 
 latter mostly dress like Chinamen in the universal 
 blue. The Chung-chia have three classes. The 
 Pu-la-tzii, among whom the women wear pigtails as 
 well as the men ; the Pu-i-tzu, whose women wear 
 silver plates on the head for caps — ahsit omen — I 
 hope the thirst for novelty elsewhere may not adopt 
 the hint ; and the Pu-lung-tzu, distinguished by the 
 coiffure resembling a raven. They all wear the 
 Chinese garments, but add a border of some other 
 colour. These people exist in great numbers between 
 An-hsim Fu and Me-k'ou^ along the route we have 
 followed. The Miao-tzu inhabit more generally the 
 region between Ch'en-yuan Fu and the capital. 
 Judging by the state of the cities and the universal 
 ruin, on that side and on this, I should say that the 
 aborigines excelled the colonists in the fierceness of 
 their onslaught. It was a combined movement, 
 and the opportunity arose when the Mahommedans 
 held Yunnan, and the Taiping rebellion overflowed 
 Kiang Si and Hu Nan. The reason of this rising- 
 was not an idle one. The Chinese had oppressed 
 both classes, socially as, well as officially, and while 
 the one said, " we are Chinese as well as you, and 
 yet all honours, riches, and advantages are debarred 
 us," the poor wretched Miao-tzil had to complain of 
 scorn, contempt, and legal robbery in rents and 
 taxes. 
 
 November \1tk. — The night was cold in our barn-,
 
 218 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 or rather shed. On rising I found the temperature 
 to be 48° ; in the afternoon, however, it rose to 60°. 
 I was told by villagers that they have snow now in 
 winter. Their houses, built so open to the air, 
 would lead one to an opposite conviction. But then 
 these people never change their clothes night and 
 day, and make up for the rest with cotton-quilts. 
 The beds in the best inns are merely loose planks 
 placed on log-wood tripods, and covered with dirty 
 straw. Apparently the accumulated dust has never 
 been disturbed, except where I happened to lie. 
 Coal dust is in general use at the villages we pass 
 through now, and to-day we crossed another bed of 
 it, less distinctly marked on the surface. By com- 
 pensation for yesterday's tameness, we were refreshed 
 to-day along the whole route by the sight of smiling 
 valleys full of life, and colour, and cultivation. They 
 did not lie so flat as those seen above, but seemed to 
 grasp the undulating hills of red sandy soil, and 
 cultivation was carried up the familiar terraces to 
 every available spot. Trees were plentifully scattered 
 about, and added to the beauty of the scene. There 
 were the sycamore, the plane tree, the poplar and the 
 Spanish chestnut, a pretty smooth-leaved holly 
 covered with red berries, and the universal pine. 
 The further we go west the more we find of cultiva- 
 tion and population. The villages increase on the 
 road and there is more small traffic ; oranges from 
 Yunnan and straw shoes come along ; while drovers 
 are met with flocks of sheep, flying eastward, some
 
 A DOMESTIC SCENE. 219 
 
 say, from the cold weather in Yunnan ; others to 
 feed their flocks on the grassy hills of which I have 
 spoken, pasture being scarce in Yunnan. I cannot 
 tell yet which is the true explanation. Baron Rich- 
 thofen, in his able report to the Shanghae Chamber 
 of Commerce, states that from the information he 
 was able to obtain, Yunnan must be bitterly cold 
 in winter. But I was repeatedly assured by natives 
 of the province, who came to visit me at the capital, 
 that the temperature was mild and warm. Kwei- 
 chou must have a temperate climate, for the houses 
 are not built to guard against cold, and among other 
 signs I notice that the horse-chestnut has not yet 
 dropped its faded blossoms. So far the average 
 temperature we have experienced has been about 
 55°. The droves of sheep have been recently shorn, 
 and numbers of young lambs accompany the flock. 
 The very young and tender ones are carried in felt 
 blankets on the backs of the drovers. 
 
 I came in time to witness a curious domestic scene 
 in a village. A small child was being flogged by 
 his father. Both parents were engaged in the 
 operation ; the one to ply the besom, and the other 
 to meekly protect the little victim who dodged round 
 her from one side to the other, catching a stroke at 
 each move. The mother stood with her back to the 
 executioner, and bore off the child as soon as she 
 dared, pushing it forward gently with both hands ; 
 for the Chinese never drag young children along by 
 the arm. The group was decidedly interesting, more
 
 220 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 especially as the scene was enacted in the street. 
 Some people do these things in private. 
 
 November ISth. — We stopped last night at the 
 town of Yang-shun, in clean but rather cramped 
 lodgings. The traveller has to look out sharp for 
 mandarins and others in company, for if they should 
 arrive first and occupy the only good inn, his plight 
 is rather hopeless. This was somewhat our case at 
 Yang-shun, for a mandarin in charge of the repairs 
 to the official resting house had already established 
 himself in the best inn. The inhabitants appeared 
 to be extremely poor, for I saw scarcely an individual 
 whose clothes were not patched with native " buff," 
 and their hovels are fearfully filthy. But they have 
 a habit of spending their money on opium and even 
 costly ornaments, such as jade for mouth-pieces to 
 pipes. The barber of the town had given Tls. 2 for 
 a piece of green jade for this purpose, a monstrous 
 extravagance, in his condition. But he was decidedly 
 better off" than the rest, probably owing to the fact 
 that shaving the head is a recurrent necessity to all. 
 A similar example of childish extravagance occurred 
 in the early part of my journey. One of my boat- 
 men had spent Tls. 3 on a singing bird which 
 appeared to be the sole object of his affections. 
 After hours of trackings perhaps in the rain, he 
 would rush to the cage as eagerly as the rest to their 
 meals. Yet the price was more than he could earn 
 in a month in his hard calling. 
 
 The road jiassed through a number of valleys full
 
 PU-AN. 221 
 
 of rice, and watered by small streams running in a 
 north-easterly direction. The distance to the Choir 
 city of Pu-an was only forty li, which had to be accom- 
 plished in one stretch, as it was impossible to find a 
 place fit to prepare breakfast in at the villages on 
 the road. This was owing to the fact of our having 
 quitted the main road in order to give the bearers 
 and animals a day's rest in the city. This, however, 
 was not granted after all, as I discovered that the 
 men had deceived me in losing a day by making one 
 short march. Another reason, which would have 
 sufficed, was the absence of any accommodation in 
 the city, and being lodged in the yamen I was 
 anxious to put the inmates to as little inconvenience 
 as possible. The mandarin was away, and at first 
 there was no admittance ; a strong disposition being- 
 shown by the servants to treat me with contempt. 
 I was closely surrounded by a large crowd, which 
 behaved well, but pressed uncomfortably. I was talk- 
 ing to an old man through the window of my chair, 
 and on remonstrating against the rudeness of the 
 people, he remarked that the}^ had never seen such a 
 thing as a glove before, and must be excused. I 
 found my gloves everywhere the object of intense 
 excitement. Under these circumstances there was 
 no alternative but to enter the precincts of the 
 yamen in my chair and request to see the Shih-yeh, 
 a gentleman who fills the post oijidus Achates to the 
 magistrate in every city, and is often tutor to his 
 sons. In the present instance the Shih-yeh proved
 
 222 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 to be a very sensible man. So soon as be bad re- 
 covered from tbe trepidation caused by my bold 
 intrusion, be was ^ood enougb to find quarters for 
 me and all my incumbrances in the yamen. Tbe 
 main road would have taken us to a place called 
 
 — ,* seven li to tbe northward of Pu-an 
 
 Chow. 
 
 November 19^A. — On leaving early this morning 
 we met hundreds of men and ponies carrying coal 
 into the city. It was mostly in dust, but a small 
 quantity was in lumps of a useful size. Further on 
 we saw the mine or narrow shaft from whence it 
 was all procured. The shaft was driven at a down- 
 ward incline, contrary to the usual practice in China. 
 I don't know how they get rid of the water. About 
 a mile from Pu-an, we began to ascend the last 
 great barrier on our road. It was called the Yun- 
 nan pass, and exceeded all the others in length. 
 But the incline was easy, and the summit moderately 
 high (three thousand three hundred feet). There 
 was no steep descent on the other side, the road 
 passing over a high plateau of very poor land. 
 Before reaching the crest of the pass I looked back 
 on a lovely scene. The fine valley was decked out 
 with autumn tints and harvest gold. The high hills 
 all round were strewn with large patches of red soil 
 in among the trees, and the city with its crowded 
 roofs and triumphal arches lay in a cradle below. 
 The last half of the stage was barren ground ; rocky, 
 * Name omitted in the MS.
 
 YUNNAN PASS. 228 
 
 rough low hills on both sides, and coarse grass 
 growing among boulders in the middle. Towards 
 the end, however, we came across a beautiful valley 
 in which all the harvest operations were over, and 
 instead of yellow the sombre colour of rich earth 
 relieved the eye. It had a comfortable look, as 
 though the land had put on its winter clothing. 
 The stage had been a long one, the bearers, 
 thoroughly tired out, dropped the chair with a well- 
 feigned slip, and so compelled me to walk a long- 
 way in the closing darkness over an atrocious path. 
 When at length I reached the inn, it was full of 
 smoke, and could not be cleared until the cooking 
 was over. 
 
 November 20th. — We were now fifteen li from the 
 boundary line of Yunnan and Kwei-chou. The 
 excitement of crossing the border and entering the 
 famous province which filled us at starting was 
 rather damped by the morning rain, but by noon 
 the sun shone out almost uncomfortably and dis- 
 pelled the mists. The road sloped down easily over 
 a red sand waste towards the frontier town, which 
 was distinguished by an arch at each end of its 
 single street. The first thing that attracted my 
 attention was a cart. Here was the very baggage 
 cart of Pekin employed in agriculture, and drawn 
 by oxen or buffaloes. The view towards Yunnan 
 was disappointing. There did not seem to be any 
 termination of the undulating rock-covered hills, 
 which extended as far as the eye could see. But
 
 224 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 the road was level, and the hardened red sand made 
 it firm, and easy to travel on. Large pits and 
 gullies exposed the red sand to a depth of fully 
 forty feet. ^Ve met quantities of salt on its way to 
 Kwei-chou, in symmetrical blocks of a spherico- 
 triangular shape, and covered with mandarin 
 " chops." * There were also a good many men 
 employed in carrying gypsum to the same destina- 
 tion. It is used in the preparation of bean curd, a 
 favourite article of food. A short stage brought us 
 to the first city of Yunnan, lying in our way, the 
 magisterial city of P'ing-i Hsien, where I was 
 received with marked incivility by the mandarin (a 
 Kiang Su man named Hsia). It was a kind of 
 rudeness which a Chinaman can so easily show 
 without going far out of the way, and consists in 
 using expressions applicable to an inferior,' and 
 omitting forms of etiquette which are held indispen- 
 sable. He seemed to be suspicious of the local pass- 
 port, and examined the seal critically. I was able to 
 cut all this short by reference to the Tsung-li Yamen 
 despatches, and the letter of the Kwei-yang Fu-tai, 
 which he owned to having received. He carried out 
 his instructions, however, and sent two men as escort. 
 November 21st. — Our road to-day w^as beautifully 
 level over the broad battened red sand. Still, barren 
 wastes continued on all sides, well peppered with 
 rocks and stones. One or two dry gullies abounded 
 
 * [Written characters indicating the places between which the 
 salt was travelling or the barriers it had passed.]
 
 PAI-SHUI. 225 
 
 in quartz. The rocks were all rotten and disinte- 
 grated, just as they appeared in many places on the 
 way, and more especially round about Pu-an Chow. 
 At eight li from P'ing-i Hsien there is a remarkable 
 cave on the left of the road. Its mouth had been 
 filled up with a temple, which the Mahommedans 
 destroyed, but the huge space of the cavern is still 
 full of hideous figures of demons and deities perched 
 up on ledges, or bound to the bristling roof. There 
 were small stalactites hanging from the vault. The 
 decrepit priest said the cave had been penetrated to 
 the distance of three or four li, but no gigantic 
 bones or such-like deposits had been found. The 
 upper part of the cavern was grey sandstone ; below 
 this I tested limestone, and red sandstone lay at the 
 base. Before reaching our resting-place, a town 
 called Pai-shui, there intervened one fine plain at 
 last through which a narrow stream flowed in a 
 general northerly direction. The harvest was just 
 over, and beans were shooting up between the 
 stubble. In every village a lively scene met our 
 view. One and all were engaged in either stacking 
 the straw or wielding the flail. In Hu Nan and 
 Kwei-chou they have a curious habit of hanging the 
 straw on trees instead of stacking it on the ground. 
 Tbey select a tall young fir, or any tree which is free 
 of leaves for fifteen or twenty feet, and suspend the 
 bunch from a point in its trunk. The tree looks as 
 if it wore a crinoline drawn up rather high. The 
 plain was full of flocks of storks. 
 
 Q
 
 226 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 November 12nd. — The road to-day for half the 
 stage passed over another plateau of waste uncul- 
 tivable land on which there was little grass even, 
 but a great quantity of rocks and stones. We 
 noticed lumps of iron lying about in an almost pure 
 quality. My writer ferreted out a story about some 
 one having discovered lead incorporated with it ; 
 and that a number of his associates found it suffi- 
 ciently remunerative for a short time to extract it on 
 the spot in a rough way, but that they soon had 
 reason to abandon so incomplete and rude a project. 
 The soil everywhere on this plateau was very rich in 
 variety. Underneath the all-pervading red there 
 were calcareous deposits. Numbers of large boulders 
 of pure chalk (?) lay about. There were several 
 banks of clay of various colours, especially green and 
 purple. The whole field was painted. But the 
 region was nothing but a rough desert of undulating 
 ground surrounded with hills. The latter half of 
 the stage, however, beyond the half-way village of 
 Hai-tzu P'u, improved in scenery and verdure. 
 Wherever the rice harvest was being gathered in, 
 the road was full of buffalo carts conveying the 
 grain to the village. The people are not particular 
 about choosing a clean threshing-floor, and as often 
 as not scatter the very street with grain and straw ; 
 and the street of a Chinese village is better left un- 
 described. But certainly the mud and dirt were dry, 
 and the buffaloes slued at my chair, and the pack- 
 horses shied at the carts, causing a stampede, which
 
 CHAN-I CHOW. 227 
 
 excruciated my feelings over the possible fate of my 
 filter and my wine. Each day I received the report 
 of my servant with an inward groan. Glass and 
 crockery went their way long ago, and yesterday, 
 two precious bottles of brandy closed the list. On 
 Rearing the end of our journey, the plateau suddenly 
 came to an end, and a very fine plain burst on our 
 view. It stretched away to the south and widened 
 as it went. The city of Chan-i Chow lay opposite us 
 on the other side of the valley, about two miles off. 
 The bearers, with the goal in view, redoubled their 
 speed and almost ran me into the city. I sent my 
 card to the mandarin ; but here again the same sort 
 of incivility was offered. No card was returned, and 
 no answer could be obtained to a civil request that 
 the escort might be sent early, since we had to start 
 at daylight. As the mandarin probably knew little 
 or nothing about all this, I sent my wiiter with the 
 treaty to enlighten this all powerful janitor and 
 factotum on my position. The result was that he 
 rated them soundly (for the writer had been very 
 prone to clothe himself with a little official pride on 
 account of being attached to a small mission), and 
 his lecture had the desired effect, for the magistrate's 
 card arrived by-and-by with an answer to my 
 request. 
 
 November 23?^c/. — After waiting in vain for an 
 escort I started without it, and had proceeded a long 
 way before anyone came from the yamen. At 
 length a stupid old man turned up, who proved very 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 MABGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 useless. He was dressed in the garb of a common 
 coolie, and I strongly suspect had been hired out of 
 the street for the purpose. His warrant only con- 
 tained one name. So that instead of sending two or 
 more men, as all previous officials had readily done, 
 they had taken the liberty at the yamen to change 
 the number stated in the warrant, and so reduced 
 me to the certainty of having only one man sent for 
 the rest of the route; for they copy one another 
 faithfully. But we are near the capital, the road is 
 good and the people are civil, so I do not pay much 
 attention to this want of courtesy. On starting from 
 Chan-i we at first followed its splendid valley due 
 south for a mije or two, and then abruptly broke out 
 of it at right angles, to ascend a series of small but 
 uncomfortable passes which led up to another dreary 
 plateau, like those we have already passed. The 
 valley was well cidtivated with rice, and the harvest 
 being over, the numerous flooded fields gave the 
 appearance of a vast lake to the plain as seen from 
 above. Numerous flocks of storks found a good 
 feeding ground thereon. But a good deal of this 
 space was really a swamp, and not yet put to use. 
 There were high causeways running in all di- 
 rections, but many had fallen to pieces in different 
 places. Their existence seemed to indicate the oc- 
 currence of floods. We reached the city of Ma-lung 
 Chow in good time, and found a very fair lodging at 
 the kung-kuan. I sent a civil note to the mandarin 
 announcing my arrival and errand, and regretting
 
 PAI-TZC PU. 229 
 
 my inability to call, on account of having injured 
 my foot. To this a verbal answer was sent, and as 
 to the matter of an escort, the example set by the 
 previous magistrate was of course followed, except 
 that a youth was sent to take care of me ; but he 
 was a decided improvement on the old man. 
 
 November 24dh. — Left Ma-lung Chow before sunrise 
 in order to complete eighty li in good time. The 
 country improved in appearance by the addition of 
 trees, which, though stunted, grew abundantly on 
 the hills and plain, relieving the desertlike monotony 
 of the red soil which still continued. At the halfway 
 village of Pai-tzii Pu, a Roman priest came up to me 
 suddenly as I was seated at one of the public tables, 
 having tiffin, and commencing in Chinese, continued 
 in French, that he was also travelling to the capital, 
 and was delighted to meet a foreigner. We sat 
 down together. But my reverend friend had so poor 
 a larder that I was obliged to supplement his bit of 
 cold fowl with half my beefsteak, and he was so 
 delighted to see bread, that before he had finished 
 his repast I had no more to offer him. However, I 
 made the cook serve up an omelet for him, and a cup 
 of cocoa, which was welcomed. As is very common 
 among missionaries, there was a rumour in his com- 
 munity of hostile feelings having been exhibited 
 against foreigners in the north lately, and the 
 rumour was tinged with a halo of imaginary mas- 
 sacre. The cry of wolf is so often raised that foreign 
 residents will speedily become indifferent to the
 
 230 MAEGAEY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 reality some day. I also learned from this gentle- 
 man that there had been a disturbance at Yung- 
 ch'ang Fu, which, if true, would cause me serious 
 difficulty in passing through, but further inquiry 
 proved that something much less imposing had 
 occurred somewhere else, and that the matter had 
 been long since settled. 
 
 November 2bth. — We slept last night at the town 
 of I-lung Ssu, and having another long stage of 
 sefventy-five li before us, left at daylight. Our fresh 
 escort again consisted of a dirty-looking lad, who 
 could be of no use whatever. The country was full 
 of trees aad underwood. Our road, always wide and 
 level, passed through many lanes and hedge-rows. 
 The wind, as usual every day, blew uncomfortably 
 from the south-west, parching the skin of our faces 
 and producing disorders of the throat. I noticed 
 that it sprang up about 9 a.m., the earlier hours being 
 still and undisturbed. Houses everywhere wore a 
 neat and comfortable look. They were detached and 
 roomy, built of sun-dried mud bricks and well tiled. 
 But we no longer saw the open exposure to the air 
 which distinguished those of Kwei-chou. Wind and 
 cold were carefully shut out. On nearing Yang-lin, 
 which was a town now, but must have been a city 
 once, the road skirted a large lake covered in many 
 parts by tall reeds. It was an immense expanse of 
 water, and is said to afford quantities of fish. Soon 
 after this a magnificent plain burst on our view, well 
 studded with new villages, but swarming with ruins
 
 PAN-CH'IAO. 231 
 
 of old ones. We struck across the valley at right 
 angles and entered the town of Yang-lin, where there 
 were inns enough to accommodate several parties 
 arriving in company with us. 
 
 November 2Q>th, — On leaving Yang-lin the ruins 
 caused by the war were sadly prominent. The area 
 covered by houses was evidently very large, and 
 from its splendid site, and quick revival, I should 
 think this must have been an important city. The 
 distance to the capital was one hundred and five li, 
 on a very level road, so that it might be accomplished 
 in one day ; but as I wished to be well lodged in 
 order to be able to complete my arrangements easily, 
 I preferred to stop short of the capital, and sent my 
 messenger on ahead to secure a good house. He 
 was also charged with letters to the bank and the 
 yamen, reporting my arrival. We stopped at the 
 town of Pan-ch'iao. It has several inns, but they 
 are exceedingly bad. My room was choked up with 
 smoke, but the excessive annoyance of this nuisance 
 was no novelty by this time, for my eyes and throat 
 have suffered not a little from its almost nightly re- 
 petition. Along the whole route I have had to 
 struggle against wrong information. Distances and 
 routes vary, apparently according to the ideas of dif- 
 ferent persons, and the result is that I have been 
 misled to the extent of losing ten days. Instead of 
 twenty-five days being sufficient to accomplish the 
 journey from Ch'en-yuan Fu to Yunnan Fu, I have 
 only managed to reach the threshold of the latter
 
 232 MAKGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 city in thirty days ; and this after every effort to 
 hurry my conductors. One more vexatious " fact " 
 was accidentally learnt to-day in conversation, at 
 the tiffin stage, with a very polite military mandarin 
 who was travelling in the opposite direction. He 
 had been to Yung-ch'ang Fu, and showed me stage 
 by stage on the map that it took twenty stages to 
 reach that city. Now I had been assured at Kwei- 
 yang Fu, by men of the official class who had also 
 been over the road, that there were only eleven 
 stages. This discrepancy fills me with much anxiety 
 as to the possibility of arriving at the rendezvous in 
 good time. 
 
 November 2*1 th. — Started early and reached the 
 city before noon. My servant met me at the gates 
 and conducted me to a very good official inn. The 
 road was crowded with people passing to and fro. 
 Carts conveying firewood, mingled with ponies carry- 
 ing charcoal, jostled coolies coming out with loads of 
 salt slung at the ends of their useful bamboo. The 
 short suburb was full of saddlery shops, and the stalls 
 displayed nicknacks, opium, lamps, and ornaments. 
 One solitary clock was the only representative of 
 foreign ware which met my gaze. The people were 
 not curious or troublesome, and I entered the city 
 unescorted, without the slightest difficulty. There 
 was nothing showy in the approach. Ruins sur- 
 rounded the wa.ls and dotted the magnificent plain 
 stretching far away. The city is on level ground, 
 and therefore not picturesque. A few very neat and
 
 YUNG-CH'ANG FU. 233 
 
 original examples of roofing near the gates showed 
 the best points of Chinese architecture. 
 
 November 2Sth. — Yesterday I had just had time to 
 establish myself at the inn and unpack all my bag- 
 gage in order to rearrange it, when a couple of 
 messengers came from the Chih Hsien, inviting me 
 to remove into the oflicial quarters, which had been 
 prepared, and by way of stopping all objection on 
 my part, they urged that the acting viceroy had 
 directed these arrangements, and that the magistrate 
 had sent a couple of men to meet me in the suburbs, 
 but that they had missed me altogether. We moved 
 accordingly into the temple where quarters were 
 assigned to us, and found everything very clean and 
 convenient ; comfort, however, was marred by the 
 absence of a paper covering to the windows and door. 
 Thirty feet of open woodwork letting in the night 
 air at a temperature below 50°, made us feel ex- 
 tremely chilly ; and the only means of warming the 
 room was a small brazier of glowing charcoal. This 
 deficiency, however, was corrected by the paper- 
 hangers in the morning. A splendid double repast 
 of choicest Chinese dishes was also sent down by the 
 magistrate for rae and my servants. Eight large 
 wooden trays containing fifty-six bowls of different 
 dishes and sweetmeats, all ready for the cook's hands, 
 met my view on entering the room, and four cooks 
 from the yamen were ready to operate. But as I had 
 already dined, I requested them to come on the morrow 
 and prepare the banquet at eleven. Accoidingly
 
 234 MAEGAEY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 this morning I invited my writer to help me to 
 do justice to the rich viands, and we set to work 
 with chopsticks and a keen relish. I never enjoyed 
 a better dinner. A crowd of harpies in the kitchen 
 fell upon the abundant remainder, and soon reduced 
 it to nothing. After this I proceeded in my chair 
 to call on the magistrate, who received me very well, 
 and pleased me so thoroughly in his appearance, 
 bearing, and straightforward manner, that I no 
 longer cared to see the governor, and entrusted all I 
 wanted to him. He said if I particularly wished it, 
 the governor would appoint a place to meet me, but 
 that he was very busy, and the revenue commissioner 
 was engaged in handiug over his charge to a suc- 
 cessor ; so that if I had no objection he, the Hsien, 
 would attend to my wants, and convey messages to 
 and from these high officials. I readily assented, 
 and delivered the yamen letter into his hands. My 
 first object was to communicate with Colonel Browne 
 in case his party should arrive first, and to request 
 the acting viceroy to send instructions post haste to 
 the Yung-ch'ang Fu officials, to give him every assis- 
 tance. And secondly, I asked for an escort for 
 myself and a letter to all the mandarins eyi route, ex- 
 plaining my position and object. The magistrate, 
 whose name is Pien, readily promised to convey my 
 requests to the viceroy, and so with warm thanks for 
 his civility I concluded a very agreeable visit. I 
 then went to the bank and drew out as much as I 
 immediately required. Chinese money matters are
 
 YUNNAN FU. 235 
 
 hedged about with complications; not only do the 
 intrinsic and artificial values of the sycee silver vary 
 at every new place you arrive at, but the weights in 
 vogue are as different as possible. 
 
 To his Parents. 
 \_Yunnan Fuy November 2dth, 1874. — Once more I 
 am able to put my head out of the bag and tell you 
 how I prosper. I have had a long trudge over 
 the hills of Kwei-chou, and am stopping for a 
 couple of days at this renowned city. The whole 
 party required rest, but, independently of that, I had 
 a great deal to do. Having yet to travel eighteen 
 stages to the border city of Yung Chang, four, 
 and perhaps five more, to Momien, and then to return 
 to this city, I naturally wish to carry only enough 
 for the trip, and lighten expense as much as possible 
 by leaving behind the rest. Everything has been 
 opened and the contents distributed. I had nine 
 pack-horses, and four saddled in my train coming 
 here, and a chair with four bearers for myself. The 
 chair was indispensable, for three reasons : first, 
 because of dignity, being a mandarin, I could not 
 travel without one ; secondly, from the necessity of 
 visiting the local officials whenever I reached a city ; 
 thirdly, for occupation, as I can read comfortably 
 when seated in a chair. The idleness of j^assing a 
 whole day in the saddle, for a number of days on 
 march, is very oppressive. I ride for recreation or 
 change of position now and then. The road was
 
 236 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 rough for many stages, and, over the mountains, we 
 had to mount to the skies and dive to the valleys. 
 Many a vexatious time a traveller has to be patient 
 in China, but it is harrowing to be carried over a 
 towering, rocky range, when a detour would ensure 
 an easy opening. However, I quite enjoyed the 
 journey ; everywhere the people were charming, and 
 the mandarins extremely civil, so that I had quite a 
 triumphal progress. Small exceptions to the rule 
 only served as a sauce piquante for the general banquet 
 of novelty. I have often longed for a pea-shooter, 
 and imagined what fun it would be to pepper those 
 peering faces. It is annoying to have to eat your 
 dinner under the silent gaze of eyes, fixed to innu- 
 merable holes and crannies in the rickety walls and 
 windows. Sometimes I hurl a slipper suddenly, 
 and create a panic, followed by a patter of hurrying 
 footsteps, but a calm succeeds after the storm, and, 
 one by one, the eyes steal back to the holes, until, 
 perfectly worried under such a satanic gaze, I cause 
 another stampede. I had thought I possessed a quiet 
 retreat for once, in an upper room, when all of a 
 sudden, a whispering filled the air ; I hurried on my 
 pyj amahs to search round the room, and found that 
 the whole family next door had been enjoying re- 
 served seats for a private view, until the excitement 
 of some female member had loosened her tongue and 
 revealed the cunning ambuscade to me. The greatest 
 trial was to undergo a continual course of " curing." 
 I was well smoked more than once ; you can imagine
 
 YUNNAN FIT. 237 
 
 the misery of every day, for three weeks, sleeping in 
 a dirty room smothered with smoke, and the disap- 
 pointment, at tlie end of a day's journey, to have no 
 place to rest or write comfortably in. The very last 
 stage was the worst of all, owing to passengers in 
 and out of the capital arriving in shoals and filling 
 the inns. On the road, I used to look out for fellow- 
 travellers, and prestall them by sending my servant 
 on ahead to bespeak the best place he could find. 
 The misery of the last stage was, however, a good 
 foil to the luxury we have enjoyed yesterday and to- 
 day. The magistrate, under orders from the viceroy, 
 prepared our lodging for us, and sent down a mag- 
 nificent Chinese repast, which I did full justice to. 
 They found me quarters in an official temple, and had 
 arranged everything very nicely, except that the 
 open trellis of woodwork of the window had not 
 been papered up, and with the thermometer below 
 40°, this was a disturbing element in my comfort. 
 The magistrate sent me two relays of presents ; meal, 
 poultry, rice, fruit, sugar-cane, firewood, and oil, in 
 addition to the magnificent dinner presented to me 
 and my servants. I start to-morrow for Sa-li-ju, 
 thirteen days north-west ; thence, almost due south, 
 five days over mountains to Yung Chang. It is 
 wearisome work, day by day rising at daylight and 
 dressing in tlie cold, on a damp mud floor ; jogging 
 all day, and not much to look forward to at night, 
 except my glorious bed, which is thoroughly good. 
 I have an air mattress, lots of blankets, and india-
 
 238 MAEGARY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 rubber sheet, and insect powder, to guard against 
 pet Chinese kixnries. I have been wonderfully well, 
 thank God, though just now I am lame. There is so 
 much to do that it is difficult to keep my mind to one 
 thing. I have to calculate ; send messages ; engage 
 men and horses ; draw money from the bank ; and 
 each thing has to be done at the right time. The 
 whole day is mapped out and arranged, one part 
 depends on another, and if I neglect a thing at the 
 right moment, something else will be deranged by- 
 and-by. I have Bombazine with me again, and he 
 is an excellent boy. All my glass, and the cups, 
 were smashed a few days before getting here, and 
 five precious bottles of wine ; however, I hug my 
 filter with anxious care, and brandy goes a long way 
 to guard against the effects of bad water. I found 
 a letter awaiting me at the bank from Mr. Hughes, 
 saying that fresh orders had arrived for me to go 
 back and proceed to Rangoon by sea ; but, though 
 he sent messengers post haste to catch me, I was 
 already beyond their reach. They pursued me for 
 fifty miles above Ch'ang-te without success. It was 
 a pity I did not know earlier, for I should have en- 
 joyed the journey the other way round. However, 
 this trip has been invaluable to me in fifty ways, and, 
 while I lay ill in the boat, my eyes were ojDened to 
 many things in the gospel which I did not under- 
 stand, and my faith as a Christian was confirmed, or 
 rather, made into a real thing instead of a desire. 
 I wonder what has been the sequel of all these
 
 YUNNAN FU. 239 
 
 telegrams, and whether I shall be delayed longer in 
 this ultima Thule in consequence. It is a fine pro- 
 vince, and I am very happy. At any rate, I could 
 not be back here until the end of January, and I very 
 much doubt if my mission will end before May. At 
 the capital of Kwei-chou, whence I am sorry to say 
 I had no time to write to you, having been disturbed 
 by a crowd of visitors who wasted a whole day for 
 me, I visited the governor, and altogether made a 
 good impression. I also called privately in the 
 evening on the French bishop. He received me 
 with two of his priests. They were all dressed as 
 Chinese, and we conversed in the same tongue ; in 
 fact, I really believe the old bishop had forgotten his 
 own tongue. It was odd for four Europeans to be 
 conversing in Chinese. The bishop lives in a yamen, 
 has a green chair, and is called a Ta-jin, or great 
 man, all attributes of a first-class mandarin. The 
 assumption of this lofty character also disgusts many 
 Celestials. I am now seated on the divan in the 
 centre compartment of my room, with a brazier of 
 glowing charcoal at my feet. On each side hang 
 curtains of some parti-coloured canvas like huge flags, 
 dividing off my bed in one compartment, and my 
 waiter and boy in the other. They papered up the 
 windows yesterday and all is snug. A message from 
 the governor, requesting me to wait one day more, 
 has just arrived ; this is to give time for my escort 
 to prepare. I am to be accompanied by two mihtary 
 officers ; letters have been sent on to every place to
 
 240 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 prepare. The magistrate even wanted to provide 
 horses and carriers, but this I evaded. Tliey have 
 shown me all sorts of kindness and honours, which 
 rather takes me aback. T am always ready for a 
 brush, if they want it, and eager to meet a hostile 
 policy, but I never knew how to thank gracefully or 
 liked receiving ; such overwhelming courtesies abash 
 me. Even birthday presents annoyed me sometimes, 
 because it was one of the troubles of my life how to 
 say " Thank you," when I felt it. I expect to find it 
 bitterly cold by-and-by, but I am well provided ; 
 unfortunately, my throat is a very weak point, and 
 always inviting some complaint. One invaluable 
 possession I daily bring into requisition is a white 
 knitted comforter with purple ends, which a kind 
 mother's care sent in my last box, and which has 
 saved me from much. ... I have seen some beauti- 
 ful views, but nothing extraordinary, except two 
 large caves and a really grand waterfall. The country 
 has been in rebellion so long that nothing but ruins 
 and rank grass is to be met with for miles. The 
 high road is often a horrible goat-path, not so good 
 as an English village lane in the best parts. The 
 people are immigrants, and everything dates from 
 last year. The aborigines are still to be met with on 
 the road, and don't look the brutes to have created all 
 that havoc around ; but they were goaded to it by 
 many years of oppression. Dinner is coming, and I 
 have yet letters to write. I think of you all often, 
 and hope to meet again some day. I like to be well
 
 YUNNAN FIT. 241 
 
 occupied, and this is a grand mission ; besides, I ex- 
 pect to have accumulated pay by the time I get back. 
 Often a sigh of separation comes and fills me with 
 sadness when I think of you all. How I long for an- 
 embrace ! What a heap of news I shall have to 
 learn when I emerge. I may be able to write from 
 Talifu, the famous city of the west, which the 
 Mahommedans so lately held as their capital.] 
 
 Noimnber 29th.- — ^The magistrate returned my call 
 this morning and said that the governor was ex- 
 tremely busy just now, but would be ready to see 
 me when I came back from Yung-ch'ang Fu. He 
 bad deputed a couple of mandarins to escort me the 
 whole way, and was about to send a flying despatch 
 to Yung-ch'ang Fu, which would arrive in four days 
 at that city, and my letter to Colonel Browne would 
 be forwarded by the same opportunity. The magis- 
 trate further undertook to supply me with the 
 necessary horses and carriers for my journey, and I 
 had more than once to decline putting him to any 
 such charges. After a long amicable visit he left, 
 begging me to rest assured that all would be well. 
 In the course of the afternoon I received a message 
 from the governor requesting me to wait another 
 day to allow time for the escort to get ready. I was 
 obliged to acquiesce, although time was very precious. 
 It is impossible to get things done promptly in China. 
 I have not been able to go about yet, but by report 
 I find everything is exceedingly dear in this city. 
 Considering how lately it has been reoccupied, and 
 
 R
 
 242 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 the expense which has been incurred by every shop- 
 keeper in opening his business, it cannot be wondered 
 at that prices range high. Food also is dear, and 
 porterage adds greatly to expenses. The fine plain 
 which stretches away into the far distance lies fallow 
 for want of hands to cultivate it, and numberless 
 ruins of villages mark the devastation of the late 
 war. 
 
 November SOth. — I was led to expect a visit from 
 the escorting mandarins to-day, in order that we 
 might become acquainted, but as no one came, and 
 nothing further was heard of arrangements for start- 
 ing to-morrow, I called on the magistrate late in the 
 day to take my conge and impress it upon him that 
 I was to start next morning. The fact seemed to 
 wake him up as if he had not realised it, for he had 
 neglected to inform the deputed officials of my haste. 
 His mind was full of the coming magnate, and he 
 had to leave the city the next morning to meet and 
 escort him into the city. The revenue commissioner 
 ranks next to the governor, and all the mandarins 
 have to go out to welcome him. The result of my 
 reminder was a hurried visit very late in the evening 
 from one of the officers who was to accompany us. 
 He had not been told to get ready, and consequently 
 was the bearer of a second message requesting me to 
 wait yet another day. After some argument I was 
 obliged again to submit, more especially as an oppo- 
 site course would put my visitor to great incon- 
 venience, and, as he was a vigorous and intelligent
 
 YUNNAN FU. 243 
 
 man, it was important to secure his goodwill for the 
 journey. Another person came to see me about the 
 same time, who had been to Bhamo, and was able to 
 say a good deal about the road to Yung-ch'ang Fu, 
 which will be of use to me. He had some official 
 capacity in his expedition to Bhamo, and was well 
 acquainted with Mr. Cooper, our political agent at 
 the town, whose card he produced. A lithograph 
 portrait of the King of Burmah (after a sketch by 
 Colonel Yule) was in his possession, and he seemed 
 extremely delighted to have such a treasure. Thf, 
 viceroy was to see it when he had an audience. He 
 told me that the tribes inhabiting the country 
 between Bhamo and Yunnan were dreadful robbers, 
 and that travellers incurred heavy mulcts at every 
 town on the road. 
 
 December 1st. — This morning I had a visit from 
 the other official who was to accompany us. He was 
 a middle-aged man with a very dark visage, well 
 tanned by military service and exposure. This grim 
 warrior has an agreeable manner and a kindly dis- 
 position, and I felt well satisfied with both my con- 
 ductors. They are named Chow and Yang, re- 
 spectively. Both of them, civilian and soldier, were 
 engaged in the campaigns against the Mahommedans, 
 and the taking of Ta-li Fu, and they described the 
 rebels as fighting with great ferocity ; even the 
 wounded lying on the field being actuated with a 
 hatred that fought to the last without seeking 
 quarter. 
 
 R 2
 
 244 MAKGAKY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 December 2nd. — After the usual delay of a start, 
 when at length everything was ready, and the pack- 
 horses had received their loads, down came a message 
 from Mr. Chow, begging me to wait a little for him ; 
 accordingly I despatched my baggage and servants 
 ahead, and waited behind a full hour until it was so 
 late that I was obliged to start, leaving a message 
 to indicate our rendezvous for tiffin. The road 
 passed across the valley towards the hills. Peasants 
 were hard at work irrigating the fields with water- 
 troughs and paddles worked by the hands. The 
 framework was from eight to ten feet long, and 
 portable from place to place, while one man's 
 exertions kept the paddles revolving with rapidity, 
 by means of bars fitted to two cranks, and held one 
 in each hand. Several strings of animals came 
 along the road, loaded with salt for the capital, and 
 irritated the chair-bearers greatly by their erratic 
 motion, which continually threatened a collision 
 with the chair. " Chao-hu shSng-k" ou" "look to your 
 animals," was the frequent cry of the bearers, 
 followed by thwacks, which raised the ire of the 
 apathetic muleteers and drew on a storm of choice 
 abuse. Mules, donkeys, and ponies were mixed up 
 together in each gang, and a couple of mules in- 
 variably led the way, decorated in the most fantastic 
 manner about the head with red rosettes and tassels 
 surmounted with a bunch of long feathers like a Red 
 Indian chief. I was suiprised to see in one instance 
 that the leading animals were adorned with pendants
 
 PI-CHI K'OU. 245 
 
 of rich brown fur, fit for a lady's boa. At twenty li we 
 stopped for tiffin, and Chow ta-loa-yeh came up with 
 us, Yang lao-yeh having already arrived. Chinese 
 officials have certain progressive designations in 
 common parlance, such as Lao-yeh, " Honourable ; " 
 Ta-loa-yeh, " Right Honourable ; " and Ta-jin, " Ex- 
 cellency," which fitly mark their rank, and afford a 
 graceful mode of address, which has no equivalent in 
 translation. I have been promoted nolens volens to 
 the highest of these grades, and treated with extra- 
 ordinary respect, both by my servants and chair- 
 bearers, and by the accompanying mandarins. I 
 presume the former act on the principle that the 
 higher they lift me the more honour they reflect on 
 themselves. After all these delays it was hopeless to 
 think of going seventy li, more especially as the 
 bearers cannot fall into their stride for a day or two, 
 and require more rest at the beginning of a journey. 
 We consequently came to a full stop comparatively 
 early in the afternoon at the top of a small pass 
 between thirty and forty li from the capital, called 
 Pi-chi K'ou, where there was scarcely room for so 
 lai'ge a party. 
 
 There was only one decent inn to be found, which 
 consisted of a single large chamber, a small corner 
 of which was boxed off" with clean woodwork for 
 superior guests. Two gaunt buff'aloes were stabled 
 in close proximity on a floor of slush ; the kitchen 
 filled a third corner, and Messrs. Chow, Yang, and 
 three or four of our servants found their roosts along
 
 246 MARGAKY'S JOUKNEY. 
 
 the other sides. Chow filled up the time by smoking 
 opium. There is something attractive in the pro- 
 cess of taking opium, which must compensate a 
 Chinaman for a great deal of discomfort. His 
 bedding, which merely consists of a couple of quilts, 
 is neatly arranged by his servant, part as couch and 
 part as pillow, and he throws himself down to play 
 with his pipe, and tray full of inviting nicknacks 
 (treasures in themselves), careless of surrounding- 
 circumstances. And each whiff costs him some 
 pleasant exertion, for fully ten minutes elapse before 
 the pinch of opium is reduced to the proper con- 
 sistency by being twisted and twirled about at the 
 end of a short spit in the opium lamp. I had a long 
 conversation at night with the two officers on the 
 subject of railways, and modern inventions. They 
 praised up the English with a flattery that 1 was 
 obliged to rebuke. But their appreciation of our 
 moderation in war was genuine, and the name of 
 Queen Victoria was mentioned in terms of respect 
 and admiration. They knew the history of Her 
 Majesty's accession and reign, and the exalted 
 character of our sovereign reflected most favourably 
 on the estimation in which they held the nation, and 
 its representatives in China. 
 
 December 3trL — ^We only accomplished forty li to- 
 day, stopping at An-ning Chow. Since the war 
 brought ruin on every town, there has not been 
 sufficient time for resuscitation, and consequently 
 travellers cannot move beyond stated distances
 
 AN-NING CHOW. 247 
 
 where inns are to be found. To-morrow we shall 
 have to go seventy li before a resting place can be 
 met with, a distance which was beyond our reach 
 to-day, and we have to remain content with the 
 short stage. The country to-day showed signs of 
 past cultivation, but now lies utterly deserted. A 
 large quantity of young trees grew on the hill sides, 
 and we were not far from a range of mountains. 
 The hedgerows and surrounding ground abounded 
 with brambles, and the cactus appeared in thick 
 bushes. The road was still full of carriers occupied 
 with nothing else but salt. Even oxen were in 
 requisition, saddled with packs like the ponies, and 
 they lumbered along over the roughly-paved track 
 with great difficulty. The coolies here do not use 
 the bamboo much. They carry a truck on the back, 
 which is hooked over the shoulders and curves for- 
 ward above the head. Upon this they fix their 
 load, and a very heavy one it often appears to be. 
 Numbers of women with stout bare legs carried 
 tremendous bundles of fuel in baskets fastened in 
 a similar way over their shoulders. Many instances 
 of the goitre complaint have now begun to appear 
 among the peasants. The Chinese attribute the 
 existence of this malady, so common among moun- 
 taineers, to some deleterious quality of the salt in 
 general use, and I was amused one day by my 
 servant seriously warning me not to eat it. At 
 An-ning Chow, I was paid extraordinary honours 
 by the local authorities. The viceroy has most
 
 248 MAKGARY'S JOURNF.Y. 
 
 certainly kept his word with regard to notifying the 
 mandarins en route of my approach, for the sub- 
 prefect and deputy went out to meet me in full 
 dress, and actually knelt when I left my chair to 
 acknowledge the compliment. Few words passed, as. 
 they begged me to be seated and shouted out " to the 
 yamen." I arrived before my hosts, and seemed 
 to be installed, as though I were a Chinese superior, 
 master of the establishment, for the mandarins sent 
 in their cards, and in their own yamen humbly 
 asked if I would see them. Throughout the inter- 
 view they observed the rigid etiquette of inferiors, 
 while I was forced to play the part of a real 
 mandarin of authority, much to my inward amuse- 
 ment. It was a poor house, for a new official 
 residence had not yet been built ; I was put into the 
 best room, one which the viceroy himself had 
 occupied. It was just eight feet by six. Our host 
 further honoured us by having a big dinner pre- 
 pared, to which I sat down in company with my 
 two good protectors and the writer. I saw no more 
 of the sub-prefect till next morning, when he came 
 out to pay his respects before we departed. The 
 city walls were completely destroyed, and nothing 
 had been done yet to rebuild them. A couple of 
 liundred houses constitute the city at present. 
 
 December 4M.— Having a long stage before us, we 
 started early. The thermometer marked 46'^, and a 
 thick white mist filled the air, until the sun rose 
 high enough to dispel it ; and the rest of the day
 
 SEMI-CIVILISED BORDER TRIBES. 249 
 
 was almost uncomfortably hot. The road was rough 
 and deeply indented by mule tracks. Hundreds of 
 animals met us, employed in carrying salt. The 
 narrowness of the track, and the undulating nature 
 of the ground, made it extremely difficult to pass 
 them without a collii^ion. The chair-bearers did not 
 hesitate to strike the muleteers as well as their beasts, 
 and I was surprised at the meekness with which the 
 blows were received. The Chinese lower orders are 
 apt to be high-handed when they serve officials, but 
 r forbade my men to touch the drivers again, how- 
 ever provoking their stupidity, lest they should lay 
 at the door of the foreigner the cause of such rough 
 treatment. The greater part of the way was waste, 
 uncultivated land covered with hardy shrubs and 
 stunted trees. But now and then a valley appeared 
 which was pai'tially retilled, and one or two villages, 
 re-established among ruins, stood prettily embowered 
 among trees. The semi-civilised border tribes seem 
 to trade occasionally in the province, for we passed 
 a group to day with their ponies carrying salt. 
 They seldom come below Ta-li Fu. But these, pro- 
 bably finding employment for their animals, thought 
 it worth while to go further. They wore coloured, 
 embroidered garments, and presented other pecu- 
 liarities which I had not time to notice in passing. 
 While halting to rest at a tea-shop, my men began 
 to discuss the manners and customs of these 
 "barbarians." They do not pass the night in the 
 villages, but camp out on the hills, and the chief
 
 250 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 accomplishment they possess, according to my inter- 
 locutors, is to bring down birds on the wing with 
 their arrows in such a manner as to make them fall 
 close beside them. On arriving at the town of Lao- 
 ya Kuan, we had to put up at a wonderful specimen 
 of an inn. There was plenty of accommodation for 
 animals and drivers, but only one or two small 
 rooms for guests. I found one good room, however, 
 and took possession thereof. We met at this place 
 a messenger sent from the next city by the magis- 
 trate to attend to our wants and provide anything 
 that was required. It appears that the orders of the 
 viceroy have been stringent and liberal. Each 
 official along the road has been instructed to supply 
 horses and bearers if necessary. It so happens that 
 my writer sustained some injury to-day by a severe 
 fall from his pony, and my conductors have ordered 
 the magistrate's messenger to procure a mountain 
 chair and two bearers for him to-morrow. They all 
 tell me it is my duty to make some requisitions, or 
 else both I and my retinue will " lose face," as they 
 term it. 
 
 December 5tk.— 0n rising I was informed that the 
 magistrate had sent down his cook as well, and that 
 breakfast was provided for the whole party. And a 
 very good breakfast it proved to be. There was one 
 excellent circular dish containing duck, fowl and 
 pork, with vegetables swimming in a substratimi of 
 broth very much after the manner of an a la braise 
 })an. The road to-day has outdone everything hitherto
 
 KOAD FROM LAO-YA KUAN. 251 
 
 encountered in utter badness. In addition to its 
 natural imperfections, I believe the retreating Ma- 
 hommedans purposely destroyed the pavement in 
 order to throw difficulties in the way of the imperial 
 troops. It is far from being an easy task to describe 
 the incredible obstacles which are suffered to remain 
 unheeded on this track. In the first place there is 
 scarcely any level ground in the whole length of this 
 tedious stage of seventy-five li to Lu-feng Hsien. It 
 is full of steep passes, the chief of which rises to three 
 thousand five hundred feet (by my aneroid), and the 
 track by which it is surmounted is simply a chaos of 
 deep ruts and broken stones, offering the acme of 
 dangerous footing to animals as well as carriers. 
 Chair-bearers have to be supplemented by six or 
 eight coolies dragging a rope passed round the chair, 
 and even with this aid it is difficult to conceive how 
 they retain their footing at the rate they press up the 
 incline. Often it appears to be only a feat of balan- 
 cing skill which saves a dangerous fall, and many are 
 the knocks sustained by the traveller from the colli- 
 sions between his chair and projecting stones. In 
 many places the steep path has a horizontal slope as 
 well, and to complicate the danger, pack animals 
 passing both ways have to be avoided. At one 
 point in this wretched highway I was saved from an 
 imminent collapse by the strength and marvellous 
 stability of the four bearers. There was a stampede 
 of loose animals trying to press by us in a narrow 
 place just as a string of loaded mules arrived from
 
 252 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 the opposite direction. The result of which was 
 that the rope-pullers got entangled and thrown over, 
 dragging the chair aside in their fall. The usual 
 babel of altercation followed, and the ragged tracker, 
 who was most hurt by the fall, seized the head drover, 
 without resistance on his part, neither of them indeed 
 showing any signs of exasperation whatever. It was 
 curious to see a big strapping man like the drover, 
 who wore good clothes, quietly submitting to be 
 clawed and detained by a miserable starveling in 
 rags. But it was the dread of officialdom which 
 affected him, for he knelt down in his confusion to 
 my official messenger, who quickly released him, and 
 the coolie only got laughed at by his companions for 
 his pains. On arriving at Lu-feng Hsien, I was 
 greeted outside the city by the magistrate's card- 
 bearer, who knelt according to custom, holding up his 
 master's card, and politely informed me that the 
 official travelling quarters were ready for my recep- 
 tion. Messrs. Chow and Yang invariably pass on 
 ahead to prepare everything before my arrival, and 
 I found them at the door as usual, ready to receive 
 me. We were soon comfortably installed in two 
 side rooms, and dinner was served from the magis- 
 trate's kitchen in the centre compartment. Having 
 sent my card with polite excuses for not visiting the 
 magistrate at so late an hour, I was pleased to re- 
 ceive a visit from him later without ceremony. He 
 was a Ssii Ch'uan man, Hsiao by name, and like all 
 his fellow provincials exceedingly intelligent and
 
 SHE-TZC. 25:3 
 
 agreeable. The city was still in ruins and only 
 contained a small number of houses. 
 
 December 6th. — We started, after doing justice to 
 the magistrate's breakfast, at an early hour, in a 
 thick white mist (which the officials one and all so 
 much dread), and the thermometer at 46°. The 
 stage was the longest we have yet accomplished, 
 being ninety li, and much of it over steep passes. 
 The mountains were thickly covered with pine. All 
 the villages were in ruins, and the valleys, of which 
 we crossed three or four, are sparsely inhabited. 
 One very heavy pass, involving several li of a severe 
 incline, though fortunately without many bad places 
 on the road, intervenes in the long march, and by a 
 steep descent leads to the town of She-tzii, where 
 there is an inn, and a dilapidated official rest, or 
 Kung-kuan. Messrs. Ohow and Yang thought the 
 inn preferable, but I was obliged to alter their 
 choice, and select the Kung-kuan for my bed. The 
 place was quite empty, and I was obliged to request 
 the Pa-tsung, or ensign who had charge of the 
 town, to supply me with tables and chairs, which he 
 readily did. My servants spread their quilts on 
 straw, and we got through the night fairly well, 
 considering it was bitterly cold. It is surprising- 
 how the Chinese neglect good property. This 
 Kung-kuan, and all others, were repaired and 
 cleaned only last year for the governor ; but as soon 
 as he had passed, not a soul was left in charge, and 
 the paper ceiling has all but come down, while the
 
 254 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 walls have become begrimed with dirt and smoke 
 from impromptu fires lighted by vagabonds on the 
 floor. Yet it was preferable to the inn. Messrs. Chow 
 and Yang thought they had offended me by having 
 chosen the latter, but I soon reassured them over 
 some mulled claret. Chow is a young man, and as 
 affected as some women are ; full of mannerism, and 
 pointing his conversation with histrionic movements 
 of eyes, lips and brow. Yang, on the other hand, is 
 an honest, blunt soldier, hale and hearty under the 
 weight of sixty-five years, with a deep voice and 
 kindly eye. His face is so dark that he looks like a 
 mechanic, while blackened teeth and rough hands 
 bear out the impression. He takes great care of 
 me, and exerts himself far more than the other. I 
 remarked with satisfaction to-day that the road of the 
 salt carriers branched away from ours. I hop6 to 
 add some remarks about the salt trade when I have 
 made further inquiries. On entering and leaving Sai- 
 tsii, I was saluted by half a dozen of the Pa-tsung's 
 soldiers, who prostrated themselves to perform the 
 k'o-t'ou, and shouted out the usual formula of 
 welcome, or good speed. 
 
 December 7th. — The temperature was 42° at start- 
 ing, but before very long the sun shone out strong, 
 and by sunset the thermometer had risen 20°. The 
 difficulty of dressing in accordance with the weather 
 becomes a hardship under such circumstances. The 
 road was still full of difficult passes and deserted 
 villages, and one could not help deploring the
 
 BARRIERS TO COMMERCE. 255 
 
 existence of such barriers to the advance of com- 
 merce. If only an easy road lay ready between 
 Yunnan Fu and Bhamo, a perfect flood of British 
 goods would be swallowed up at once for the Kwei- 
 chou and Ssu Ch'uan markets. The merchants of 
 the latter province would naturally prefer to buy at 
 Yunnan, and float their goods down the Yang-tzu, 
 to the risk and expense of the difficult ascent from 
 Hankow up the I-ch'ang gorge. Native cloth is so 
 dear in Kwei-chou and Yunnan, that the people 
 cannot afford to buy it, and their ragged appearance 
 is due not so much to poverty as to the price of 
 cloth being beyond their means. There would be 
 an immense sale if only Manchester goods could be 
 cheaply conveyed. Matches have not penetrated so 
 far, and the people envy me the possession of them. 
 Watches are wanted badly by the rich classes. 
 And there is a great eagerness to know the price of 
 most of my foreign productions. Cutlery and 
 ordinary crockery excite admiration, and almost 
 anything foreign would speedily entice buyers, if I 
 may judge by the high appreciation and unfeigned 
 coveting displayed by the few who examined my 
 possessions. The country on this side of Yunnan 
 Fu is sadly deserted. We lunched to-day on the 
 brow of a hill in the open air. A woman held a 
 stall on the spot, and sold rice and other food. We 
 lighted bush fires, and ate in picnic style, seated on 
 logs of timber brought up for building purposes, and 
 undergoing preparation then and there in the hands
 
 250 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 of carpenters. The latter use similar tools to those 
 employed by our workmen, but they apply the axe 
 in many operations where saw and plane would 
 ensure more finished work. Kuang-t'ung Hsien, 
 our destination, lay in a fine valley which sadly 
 wanted inhabitants to recultivate its Ijroad acres. I 
 was exceedingly well received by the magistrate, 
 who was a young Kwei-chou man, and before 
 leaving we became great friends. His jurisdiction 
 was a very poor one for want of men and habita- 
 tions, nor was the yamen a fit house for his own 
 residence. Yet everything in it showed taste and 
 liberality, and although he had but three habitable 
 rooms, he managed to make me and my three 
 "gentlemen" (viz., writer and two Wei-yuans) 
 thoroughly comfortable. He gave us an excellent 
 dinner, and equally good breakfast. This part of 
 his hospitality was, however, due to the acting 
 viceroy's orders, which, I am privately informed, 
 instruct every official en route to expend six taels on 
 my entertainment and requirements. The rope- 
 pullers and extra coolies are all supplied by the local 
 authorities, and, I am sorry to say, at little expense, 
 for there is a class of men and boys who are 
 constantly called out for this mandarin service, and 
 receive scarcely sufficient remuneration to buy them 
 rice. I created extraordinary surprise and admira- 
 tion in the breasts of my six diminutive trackers by 
 the present of 100 cash each, or in this local currency 
 the equivalent of Z^d. They never get a cash from
 
 KOAD FROM KUANG-T'UNG. 257 
 
 mandarins after toiling like slaves over the high 
 passes. I shall have to add some remarks on their 
 condition. 
 
 December St/i. — The temperature was exceptionally 
 high this morning (58°), and the sun raised it to 
 66° by 2 P.M. The whole day has been clear and 
 warm, in spite of a southerly wind. We left Kuang- 
 t'ung highly pleased with our reception. It is 
 amusing how all my servants share the honours paid 
 to me, and plume themselves in the reflected rays. 
 They even tell me so, and acknowledge my bounty 
 with thanks, as if I commanded all this attention of 
 my own inception. The magistrate both welcomed 
 and dismissed us with the usual salute of three loud 
 crackers. The road was far better to-day, and only 
 two insignificant passes had to be crossed ; but there 
 were still some impracticable spots with footing only 
 fit for mules. From a tourist's point of view the 
 scenery was rather pretty. Young trees covered the 
 hills and shaded the road in many of its windings. 
 There were more villages and peasants, and we 
 crossed several good valleys. The last of these in 
 the long stage was of a wide extent, and full of ruins. 
 The houses here are built partly of sun-dried mud 
 bricks in large squares, and partly of massive walls 
 of the same material piled up like similar structures 
 in " concrete " elsewhere. These walls evidently 
 resisted destruction, for they stand in silent attesta- 
 tion of ruin all around, and frequently deceive one 
 with the appearance of extant villages. I lunched 
 
 s
 
 258 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 at a town called Yao-chan, which lies in a fine valley 
 watered by a good -sized stream, and contains some 
 inns. The road followed the banks of this river for 
 the latter half of the stage almost up to the prefec- 
 tural city of Ch'u-hsiung, where we stopped. Some 
 peasants were engaged in floating timber down the 
 stream. It was all cut into small lengths, and 
 myriads of these covered the face of the river, part 
 in swift motion with the main current, and part 
 lazily floating down the sluggish flow, while a quan- 
 tity remained jambed in an immovable mass. The 
 wood-cutters running along the banks with poles 
 seemed to have no easy task in hand to keep their 
 straggling property together. The villagers ap- 
 peared to be better off and more comfortably clad in 
 the Ch'u-hsiung district. Those of them who hailed 
 from Yung-ch'ang Fu, or T'eng-yueh Chow, on the 
 borders, showed a decided predilection for colour and 
 embroidery about their persons. Several individuals 
 wore scarlet jackets of a ribbed cloth which, I am 
 told, is a product of T'eng-yueh Chow, and I noticed 
 how many of the wayfarers who met us on the road 
 were becomingly decked with waist-bands or cum- 
 merbunds of pale pink or yellow. This taste for 
 colour is no doubt derived from the example of their 
 nomadic neighbours on the borders of Yunnan, and 
 presents a very agreeable contrast to the uniform 
 dark blue which otherwise prevails throughout China 
 as the national dress. A shopman who was clothed 
 in the red jacket, above mentioned told me that the
 
 CH'U-HSIUNG. 259 
 
 price of the material at T'eng-yueh was Tls. 2.5 per 
 ten feet (Chinese), and on my asking the width, he 
 held out his hands three or four feet apart, saying it 
 was of a good broad measure. 
 
 On descending the last pass the city of Ch'u-hsiung 
 came in full view at some distance across the splen- 
 did valley, situated under the hills toward the south 
 ern boundary of the plain. Once on level ground 
 and with the goal in view, my chair-bearers and rope- 
 pullers set off at a run, with encouraging shouts and 
 frolicsome laughter, until they ran against a bank 
 and fairly upset me on my side. After this catas- 
 trophe a becoming gravity suddenly replaced their 
 mirth, mingled with fear for having so offended the 
 Ta-jin. But I had suffered too many falls to care 
 about one more, and soon after we met the magis- 
 trate's messenger, who, as usual, came to bid me 
 welcome from the yamen. The city walls enclosed 
 an almost houseless waste. Only the high street, 
 together with a few houses which had crystallised in 
 its neighbourhood, had as yet arisen out of the ashes. 
 The prefect was living in a temple converted tempo- 
 rarily into liis yamen, and the Hsien occupied side 
 quarters in the same building. I called on both, 
 although the lateness of the hour required torches. 
 Neither received me. This apparent incivility, from 
 an English point of view, was really a mark of 
 respect ; for in Chinese etiquette the refusal is meant 
 to convey a sense of inferiority, and unworthiness to 
 accept the honour of a visit. On my return to the 
 
 s 2
 
 260 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 inn, which had been cleared out and prepared for my 
 reception in the want of any official building for the 
 purpose, the prefect, who was unwell, sent his card, 
 and the magistrate called in person just as I and my 
 bear-leaders were sitting down to the dinner pro- 
 vided by him. After the necessary bowing and pre- 
 liminary civilities we resumed our chopsticks at the 
 request of our host, who sat down alongside and kept 
 up a sparkling conversation about Shanghae and the 
 splendid steamers on the river. He thought the 
 roast mutton served on board these palaces at dinner- 
 time was excellent, and after exhausting his eulogy of 
 foreign manufactures, gracefully withdrew and left 
 us to finish our meal. He was a tall, clean, well- 
 dressed man, with an almost European face and 
 engaging manners. Ssii Ch'uan again deserved my 
 thorough appreciation of her sons. 
 
 December Wi. — We started early this morning in 
 order to accomplish a very long stage. The proper 
 resting-place was in a village, but as the road was 
 said to be level we determined to break into the next 
 day's march in order to reach the city of Chen-nan 
 Chow, and so avoid the discomforts of a country 
 lodging. The men were persuaded to go the extra 
 thirty li, and no doubt the good things of a yamen 
 added their enticement to make them undergo ninety- 
 five li. In so long a march the phases of country 
 naturally varied considerably. The road was cer- 
 tainly good, not however without exceptions, and the 
 bearers were able to keep up a fast pace throughout.
 
 A CANINE ESCORT. 261 
 
 After passing through the rich valley of Ch'u-hsiung 
 Fu, we crossed a series of low easy passes, always 
 leading to a valley, with the surrounding hills 
 prettily covered with young pine trees. The country 
 was less and less inhabited as we proceeded, and the 
 people more miserably clothed ; often wide flats ap- 
 peared given up to rank grass, and occasionally the 
 road crossed a desert of brambles and wild bushes 
 growing on a hard bed of clay. There was a 
 quantity of pure white clay fit for porcelain, and 
 different coloured mounds of lias gave a strange 
 aspect to the ground. Coal cropped out at one spot, 
 and a shaft was actually being worked higher up 
 on the hill. Buffalo carts reappeared on the plains, 
 and a river frequently had to be crossed over good 
 stone bridges. In the earlier part of the stage a 
 good deal of building was being carried on by rich 
 proprietors, and I noticed one example of the way 
 they construct the massive earth walls so charac- 
 teristic of the district round about. The mud was 
 thrown in between planks of wood, and battened 
 down with clubs. Each layer became hardened 
 in the sun, and the wall had the appearance of 
 being built in strata of about a foot thick. An 
 amusing incident occurred on leaving Ch'u-hsiung 
 Fu. Just as we passed the door of the yamen, a 
 miserable looking dog which had lost almost the last 
 shreds of his coat through mange placed itself at 
 the head of my procession, and persistently escorted , 
 us for sixtv li. He rested where we rested, and
 
 262 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 never failed to pick out my chair from among the 
 others as the special object of his care. I set the 
 whole crowd of Chinamen in a roar of laughter by 
 suggesting that this must be the Ohih Hsien's especial 
 messenger sent to escort me. On reaching Chen- 
 nan Chow we were very comfortably installed in the 
 yamen, which was in a better condition than most. 
 The sub-prefect was away in the country, but he 
 returned at night, and came in to see me after dinner. 
 He was a quiet, agreeable man of somewhat over 
 fifty, and a native of Shan-Tung. His cook must 
 have followed him from the north, judging by the 
 superiority of his culinary skill over all the other 
 cooks who had regaled us hitherto. There was a 
 good deal of traffic on the road, but it consisted of 
 the cheapest and most ordinary objects of daily use, 
 such as pottery, calibashes, hats and straw shoes. 
 The High Street in the cities was always full of 
 stalls, most of which displayed native cloth for sale 
 in small quantities. 
 
 To F. E. R. 
 \_At the city of Chen-nan Chov-, half'ivay between the 
 capital and the great city of Ta-Li Fu, lately the Ma- 
 hommedan head-quarters, December IQth, 1874. — It is 
 melancholy to see these fine valleys given up to rank 
 grass, and the ruined villages and plainly distin- 
 guishable fields lying in silent attestation of former 
 prosperity. Every day I come to what was a busy 
 city, but now only containing a few new houses
 
 CH^N-NAN CHOW. 263 
 
 inside walls which surround a wide space of ruins, 
 swept empty of many hundred habitations. But the 
 people are returning gradually, and the blue smoke 
 can be seen curling up here and there against the 
 back ground of pine-clad hills. It must take some 
 few years to repeople the country, rich as it is, at 
 the slow rate of Chinese enterprise. I am travelling 
 in clover comparatively ; quite a royal progress, 
 thanks to the hospitality of the viceroy, and the very 
 high and proper sense of his obligations towards a 
 British official which he entertains. I wrote a very 
 meagre letter from Yunnan Fu, as I was unexpectedly 
 pressed to catch an outgoing courier. I was indebted 
 to the great civility of the banker for the opportunity 
 of sending my mail so safely. We bought a letter of 
 credit at Hankow on the Yunnan bank, and my 
 first visit, after the chief magistrate, was to my 
 banker. He proved to be a charming old man, and 
 I had several conversations with him in our visits to 
 and fro. The money I drew out was in lumps of 
 silver, and every payment I make entails all the 
 trouble of carefully weighing out the sum, and 
 involves a somewhat easy but troublesome calcula- 
 tion to adjust the difference between Hankow and 
 Yunnan " touch," or value of silver. Of course I 
 have to keep a native scale by me. It is a pretty 
 little instrument in ivory, on the steelyard principle. 
 I think 1 told you how civil they were to me at the 
 capital, and the attention has been redoubled on the 
 road. The viceroy not only deputed two mandarins
 
 264 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 to accompany me, but sent a mandate along the 
 route, which has made all the local authorities treat 
 me with marked respect. I am called Ta-jin, or 
 excellency, and such of the mandarins whose 
 acquaintance with the outside world has been con- 
 tained within a very narrow horizon, or whose sense 
 of duty and bump of humility have been largely 
 developed, treat me with a deference which often 
 goes the length of kneeling to me. Some come 
 outside the walls in full dress to meet me, according 
 to their native etiquette, others send their card- 
 bearers, and all provide me with quarter's and 
 sumptuous repasts. These latter vary according to 
 the poverty of the city, or the badness of the cuisine. 
 They study my apathy to pork, and compose the 
 very savoury dishes of mutton, duck, fowl, fish, etc. 
 Imagine my astonishment at finding one day that 
 under the latter designation I was actually eating 
 the octopus. Indeed, the devil-fish is a common 
 article of food among the richer classes, and he 
 possesses a rank flavour which I can well understand 
 the Chinese palate enjoying. Fancy how the multi- 
 tudes who visited the poor wretch at the Brighton 
 Aquarium, that was swallowed by a dog-fish, and 
 commemorated in Punch, would shudder to hear of 
 his daily immolation on the altar of Chinese " gour- 
 mandise." Rest assured, — Je nieloigne du reste de 
 cet egard — and though I am scarcely yet a safe 
 connoisseur of Celestial cookery, yet you may believe 
 me when 1 tell you that much of it is excellent, and
 
 AFFABLE MANDAKINS. 265 
 
 as I invite my two guardians and my writer to sit 
 down with me to the superabundant feasts, in order 
 to pick up les nuances of their impossible lingo, I 
 am really becoming a fair critic of their culinary 
 art. 
 
 I wrote this first sheet this morning at the city 
 where we slept last night, but since then we have 
 progressed another stage to a country town, where, 
 having arrived early, and being comfortably quar- 
 tered in the official resting-house, I have been able 
 to write my journal, take my servants' accounts, 
 and still find time to continue my home letters. 
 The mandarin had the civility to send his cook here, 
 as others have done before when we slept in villages, 
 to prepare our dinner to-night and to regale us to- 
 morrow morning with a good breakfast. We have 
 five stages before us to Ta-Li Fu the renowned city 
 of the rebels. Four of these pass through a moun- 
 tainous district devoid of cities, wherein we shall be 
 thrown on our own resources for food. The mandarin 
 at Chen-nan Chow gave me a black goat, which 
 will no doubt liave to support us on the way. But I 
 have tins of soup and meat with me to guard against 
 a dearth of food. I have been on excellent terms 
 with all the mandarins en route, and by being daily 
 thrown into the very midst of their private life, have 
 learned more in this trip than I could have done at 
 the ports in any number of years. Three or four 
 stages back I became immense friends with one of 
 these local mandates, and you may judge how much
 
 266 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 I liked him by my having presented him with a 
 bottle of claret out of my precious slender stock. 
 He gave me a small silver chatelaine of Ta-Li Fu 
 work, which is worth having as a specimen of their 
 metallurgy. I have been now nine days travelling 
 from the capital, whence I could not get away before 
 the 2nd inst. Twice the viceroy sent me a message 
 to wait yet another day to allow my escorting 
 mandarins time to get ready. The idea of doing 
 things quickly is unintelligible to them, and were I 
 a Chinaman, I should have wasted ten days instead 
 of four getting ready. Although fretting at the 
 delay, I felt comfortable with regard to the Indian 
 officers arriving before me, as the viceroy at my 
 instance sent off a quick courier to the local autho- 
 rities on the borders, ordering them to look after the 
 expedition till my arrival. At length my escort was 
 ready, and we started with a numerous retinue. 
 My writer and three servants all mounted, and 
 myself and the mandarins in chairs. Then there 
 were my luggage animals and their carriers to swell 
 the train. With all the delays of starting we only 
 travelled about ten miles the first day, and slept in 
 a fearful inn at the top of the j)ass. It contained a 
 single spacious chamber. I occupied one corner in 
 a horse-box sort of room, which separated me from 
 two gaunt buffaloes, stabled on a bed of slush ; the 
 kitchen, which spread its smoke pleasantly over our 
 lungs, took up another corner, while Messrs. Chow 
 and Yang, whom I have described elsewhere.
 
 INCOMPARABLY BAD ROADS. 267 
 
 together with three or four servants, rested on 
 pallets along the other two sides. 
 
 Both take great care of me, and I like them well 
 enough. The road is dreadfully rough, and passes 
 over high mountain barriers, which try the strength 
 of the chair-bearers greatly. They have to be 
 supplemented by six or eight rope trackers, who are 
 harnessed to the chair and help to haul it up. You 
 can hardly imagine what incomparably bad roads 
 they have to traverse. It is a perfect marvel how 
 they manage to carry a heavy chair along. I was 
 lamed, and therefore could not relieve them by 
 walking, though mandarin dignity would forbid so 
 infra dig. a proceeding, and verily, so would the 
 roads, for I could defy any European to walk on 
 such a track. It is a very chaos of deep ruts and 
 jagged pointed stones, either mounting to the sky 
 or driving towards a valley, not to speak of narrow 
 banks, precipices, and horizontal slopes. Often it 
 seemed but an effort of balancing skill which saved 
 a sudden collapse. I tried to sit calmly and to see 
 whether I could sustain a philosophic smile under 
 the gravest of these circumstances, as I plainly saw 
 it imminent, and while it was actually occurring — ■ 
 but each time I found either my leg involuntarily 
 drawing itself up or my eyebrows screwed tight, 
 or some other extremely unphilosophical index of 
 apprehension. I did not escape many a collision 
 and complete collapse. To add to the complications 
 of the road there were long strings of mules and
 
 268 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 ponies meeting us laden with blocks of salt, and 
 loose animals pressing by in the opposite direction. 
 At one very bad point there was a stampede, and 
 the trackers getting involved got turned over and 
 dragged along, endangering the safety of the chair, 
 but the bearers, with amazing presence of mind, 
 kept their balance throughout. I fully expected a 
 roll in the mud, and was thankful to have escaped 
 a fall. So we go on from day to day, and 1 must 
 say it is getting to be a tedious operation. I have 
 now been thirty-eight days on the tramp, and have 
 sixteen more before me, and after that there will 
 be nearly as many again de retour. I shall have 
 seen a vast deal of China by the time I have floated 
 back to Hankow, on the swift bosom of the Yangtsze, 
 through the rich province of Ssii Ch'uan. It is now 
 too late to write more, as I have to rise at daylight 
 for a long stage. It is unpleasant to have to dress 
 every morning with the thermometer at 42°. I am 
 writing with a blanket round my legs, and am 
 obliged to breathe on my hands de temps en temps.'] 
 
 December lOth. — Having cut out thirty li of to-day's 
 stage, and the country ahead being thinly populated, 
 we could not go beyond the regular resting place,which 
 was now only thirty-five li distant. Accordingly 
 the whole party gladly availed themselves of half a 
 day's rest in comfortable quarters. I wrote my letters 
 till 1 P.M., and then, after a short interview with 
 our worthy host, took my departure for the town of 
 Sha-ch'iao. The sub-prefect gave us a good break-
 
 SHA-CH'IAO. 269 
 
 fast, and sent on his cook and servant to prepare 
 dinner for us at the next stage, where there was no 
 yamen. He was also good enough to present me 
 with a live goat, which is destined to feed us during 
 the next four stages, traversing a mountainous 
 district wherein no city is to be met with, and we 
 shall, I presume, be thrown on our own resources at 
 small country towns. The road to-day crossed one 
 or two hills, and then descended into a beautiful 
 valley well cultivated and containing many villages. 
 The town of Sha-ch'iao came in view about two miles 
 away and covered a large extent of ground. On 
 entering it we observed that the place had suffered 
 less in the war than its neighbours, and can now 
 compare favourably with the walled cities in size and 
 population. I could not judge fairly of the latter, 
 however, as it was market day and the main street 
 was thronged with country folk. We were lodged 
 in a remarkably good kung-kuan, which showed 
 signs of having been a temple once. With a clear 
 sky and hot sun, the temperature was uncomfortably 
 high all day. There was a strong breeze blowing 
 from the north towards sunset, but we fortunately 
 escaped its attendant dust by a speedy arrival at our 
 resting place. 
 
 December Wth. — We had to rise early this morn- 
 ing as ninety -five li lay between us and the next 
 resting place, a town called Pu-p'eng by the natives, 
 but which is entered in the Chinese map as Lien- 
 p'eng. The first thirty li of the way skirted the well
 
 270 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 cultivated valley of Sha-ch'iao, where we rested last 
 night, and the road thus far was level and really 
 good. Then followed twenty li of steep climbing up 
 a narrow ravine, which was full of trees and shrubs, 
 and contained a brook of clear mountain water 
 tumbling down at a great velocity. It was a beauti- 
 ful piece of natural scenery, but the dangers of the 
 rough and tortuous track by which we had to 
 thread our way marred the pleasure which it excited. 
 It was disturbing to be hung over a jDrecipice at an 
 angle of about 30°, while the bearers were turning a 
 sharp corner, and to feel the slips which they could 
 scarcely avoid on the loose red sand which thinly 
 covered the rock underfoot. It was one long ascent 
 every inch of the way until we reached a village at 
 the summit, which was the halfway rest. It was a 
 poor place and could not afford a decent lodging for a 
 European traveller. He must go forty-five li further 
 for that. The remainder of the road was tolerably 
 good. It first descended a ravine slightly, and then 
 followed a high level overhanging a deep precipice 
 well veiled with trees. This debouched at length on 
 to an arid uncultivable plateau of red sandstone, 
 undulating, and sparsely covered with shrubs and a 
 few stunted trees. Along this desert we were on a 
 level with the tops of a mass of hills stretching away 
 before us as far as the eye could see. A little culti- 
 vation was carried on in terraces, but otherwise it 
 seemed to be a red sand waste far and wide, I was 
 surprised to see quite a large town in the midst of
 
 CHAO CHOW. 271 
 
 this wild plateau, and still more to find that it con- 
 tained a yamen, in which we were soon very com- 
 fortably settled and fed by the hospitality of the 
 prefect of Yao-chow, in whose jurisdiction the town 
 lay, and who had actually sent down his servants a 
 distance of one hundred and eighty li, or two days' 
 journey, from the city to provide for us. Such 
 incomparable civility proves how thoroughly the 
 viceroy is to be relied on. His career has been 
 marked by ^' thoroughness." I listen daily to stories 
 of his remarkable campaigns against the Miaotsze m 
 Kwei-chou, and the Mahommedans in Yunnan, 
 which the old soldier Yang loves to dilate upon after 
 dinner. But as his accent is provokingly provincial, 
 I unfortunately cannot keep pace with his rapid 
 utterance, but I hope to know all about this hero 
 before returning to Yunnan Fu, where I have been 
 promised the honour of an interview. The Ta-li Fu 
 people are troublesome and dangerous. I was told 
 so by the Chen-nan magistrate, and it was for this 
 reason that the viceroy sent two mandarins with 
 me. AVe are four stages from that city, and I am 
 to remain a whole day at the previous stage, while 
 Chow and Yang go ahead to ensure arrangements 
 for my comfort and safety. 
 
 The journal is not continued beyond this date. 
 
 To his Parents. 
 [C/iao Chow, December 1 5th, 1874. — I posted my 
 last letter to you at Yunnan Fu, the capital of this
 
 272 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 province, in which I conveyed I fear a very imperfect 
 account of my journey of twenty days from Kwei 
 Yang. In the capital of the adjoining province of 
 Kwei-chou, I intrusted the packet in which that 
 letter was enclosed among others to the hands of 
 my banker, a charming old man, with whom I had 
 occasion to interchange several visits, and who was 
 just sending off one of his periodical couriers to 
 Hankow, the head-quarters of his business. He de- 
 livered to me also a letter from the consul of that 
 port which, as you may imagine, I very eagerly 
 opened, but there was nothing in it except a hurried 
 intimation that they had tried to catch me and send 
 me by sea to Rangoon. Naturally this upset me a 
 little, for I may have incurred a wigging for not 
 waiting for further orders when I was still on the 
 Yangtsze ; but calm reflection has set my ttiind 
 entirely at rest. I had Mr. Wade's orders to proceed 
 without delay, and my start had already involved 
 several hundreds of dollars. The telegram said 
 " Interpreter had better postpone departure till he 
 hears from Mr. Wade." Well, I could not postpone 
 my departure, having already taken it, but I could 
 afford to wait long enough for orders to catch me, 
 and this I did until it was too late for me to have 
 any choice in the matter ; I must either proceed or 
 give up the land journey. But the clearest inference 
 was that, as no further orders reached me and time 
 enough had elapsed for them to arrive, Mr. Wade 
 must have telegraphed back : Impossible ; interpreter
 
 CHAO CHOW. 273 
 
 has started ; large expenditure incurred ; must stick 
 to original plan. This is what I should have done, 
 I said to myself; and then I thought, supposing this 
 to be the case, what a fearful mess I should make of 
 the whole affair by waiting longer. However, as it 
 happened, Mr. Wade did countermand my journey, 
 and the despatch arrived six days later than it ought 
 to have done. I am, of course, in ignorance how 
 my decision is interpreted at head-quarters. I may 
 be blamed and I may be excused, but, in any case, 
 I care very little. My journey has been eminently 
 successful, and I can show that, without my preparing 
 the way for the expedition, we should have met with 
 extreme difficulty in travelling to the capital from 
 the borders. Mandarins are very capricious, and I 
 have leai'ned by experience that they will shirk 
 responsibility when there is any danger of an emeute. 
 J^ut having gained the care of the acting viceroy at 
 the capital, who happened to be a very " thorough " 
 man, and whose career is a very remarkable one, I 
 have obtained such powerful aid that the mandarins 
 are bound to tremble and obey. Not only did he 
 send stringent orders along the route to all the local 
 authorities to pay me every attention, and even to 
 spend a certain sum on my entertainment and re- 
 quirements, but he farther deputed two mandarins to 
 accompany me the whole way. My progress accord- 
 ingly during the last fortnight has been quite princely. 
 The city magistrates come out beyond the gates to 
 meet me, and even bend the knee. Everywhere 
 
 T
 
 274 MAKGARY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 official quartei"s are provided and a sumptuous repast, 
 spread for us. In one instance, about three stages 
 back, a sub-prefect actually had the civility to send 
 his servants and cooks about forty miles to the small 
 country towns witliin his jurisdiction through which 
 the road passed and where we had to rest. I am 
 afraid I can only give you a " bird's-eye " view of my 
 journey, full of incidents though it has been. I am at 
 this moment writing at an inn within ten miles of 
 the fam(ms ciiy of Ta-Li Fu ; I ought to have been 
 witliin its walls to-night, but the local authorities 
 fear the turbulent disposition of the people, and two 
 mandarins sent to meet me here, and with whom I 
 have had a long discussion to-day, tried hard to 
 dissuade me from proceeding there. They succeeded 
 so far that I was obliged perforce of limited time to 
 relinquish my visit to day, but I firmly insisted on 
 the necessity of seeing the chief mandarin to-morrow 
 and they were obliged to yield. But I am antici- 
 pating. I was at the capital when I last wrote, and 
 I had to remain, wasting three more days after 
 posting the letter I wrote you, requested by the 
 viceroy to allow that time for my escorting mandarins 
 to get ready. The Chinese cannot do things in a 
 hurry. They require sevei'al days for the simplest 
 act. Being behind time, I naturally fretted at the 
 delay, although I was comfortably quartered (com- 
 paratively) and received great ftttention. My two 
 conductors managed to steal a few more hours over 
 and above the extra days of delay-, and kept me 
 
 ./
 
 TA-LI FU. 275 
 
 waiting so long that I had to he content with only 
 half a stage on the first day. It was a sorry place 
 we slept in, but opium compensates Mr. Chow for 
 any amount of discomfort. There is no doubt some- 
 thing exceedingly attractive to a Chinatnan in this 
 indulgence. I have often envied them the pleasure 
 it affords. The fifty little instruments required ill 
 the process are treasures analogous to the well co- 
 loured pipe of the European or his favourite walking-^ 
 stick. This sheet should be dated the 16th, as I have 
 marched another stage since I began it, but I am tired, 
 and it is midnight, so I fear I must close, but hope to 
 snatch an hour to-morrow, early, to finish; 
 
 December l^tli. — And I am not disappointed in 
 my hopes. Me 2'oila ! wrapped up in rugs and still 
 shivering as I write, for the wind pours in through 
 the open eaves just above my head ; the window is 
 paperless, and the whole passage, containing the four 
 or five dofmitories occupied by me and my suite^ is an 
 open funnel creating a draught. But in a few minutes 
 I shall have a good hot cup of coffee, which my 
 boy is getting ready in an Etna. The thermometei* 
 marks 45° and it is 7 a.m. At ten I shall start off 
 in my chair for Ta-Li Fu, to visit the Tartar general^ 
 the Tao-Tai, the prefect, who ranks with me by treaty, 
 and tlie magistrate, who was here yesterday, and 
 proved to be a man from Pekin, whose familiar 
 accent is delightful to me after the exertion of 
 conversing with natives of Yunnan, Kwei-chou, 
 Ssu-chuan, and other provinces whose accent is 
 
 T 2
 
 276 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 invariably mingled with their native brogne. The 
 magistrate is a Tartar, and I like him. He will give 
 me a hmcheon in his own yamen, after which we 
 shall proceed to visit the big-wigs. I have to make 
 an experiment of the real disposition of the people, 
 whose turbulence the authorities so much dread, to 
 break the ice for the coming expedition, and to 
 familiarise the mandarins with the presence of a 
 British official. They tried to keep me out of Ta Li 
 Fu, but I gained the day in diplomacy so far ; for I 
 felt the great importance of establishing a precedent 
 which will open the doors to future visitors. Whether 
 they will try again to-day to stop my ingress, I can- 
 not say ; I have many troubles to contend against, 
 and the greatest is the unwillingness of my muleteers 
 to carry me on ; but I shall soon settle their hash 
 when I see the authorities. 
 
 Here then I will resume my trip and leave the 
 sequel of to-day's adventures for to-night. At the 
 second si age, which was the city of Chen Ning 
 Chow, the sub-prefect and his deputy, together with 
 a large suite, came out to pay me the honours of a 
 Ta-jin or superior mandarin. They knelt on one 
 knee, when I descended from my cliair to acknow- 
 ledge the compliment so unexpected and hitherto so 
 unexperienced by me. " To the yamen, to the 
 yamen !" was shouted out, and I shortly found 
 myself seated in princely dignity on the high seat, 
 while the master of the house begged an interview 
 and preserved a most respectful decorum in my
 
 CHEN NING CHOW. 277 
 
 presence. A Chinese dinner was served, and I again 
 made a favourable impression by my use of the 
 chopsticks. Next morning a breakfast was served, 
 the baggage despatched ahead, the yamen servant 
 tipped with the munificent sum of 1500 cash, 
 representing to us three or four shillings, but to 
 them a " cumshaw " worthy of thanks on bended 
 knee, and so we jogged on to the next stage, 
 received with civility and hospitably well lodged and 
 fed. The degree of respect shown varies according 
 to the temperament of the local rulers. Some were 
 obsequious, others reserved, but most of them met 
 me with high-bred courtesy worthy of praise, and 
 such as befits a welcome from man to man. I must 
 say I feel uncomfortable whenever too deep a sense 
 of humility overcomes the mandarin with whom I 
 have to do. 
 
 8 P.M. Veni., vidi, vici. I have just returned, 
 darkness and a high cold wind having set in long- 
 before reaching the inn. In order to save every 
 precious minute while my boy is serving dinner, I 
 resume my " breathless " pen — to lay it down again, 
 for here comes dinner — and now having finished, I 
 have lost an hour in entertaining a local official who 
 dropped in to see me and remained a monstrous long- 
 time. But I must say he was exceedingly intelli- 
 gent and agreeable. Well, I proceeded to the city 
 this morning, attended by an officer in full uniform 
 and an escort of soldiers, and at two or three stations 
 en route the gunrd turned out and gave me the usual
 
 278 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 three-gun salute. I visited the mandarin in turn 
 and had a most successful interview with all, but 
 especially with the Tartar general^ who treated me 
 with extreme civjlity, very much in the style of a 
 polished English gentleman receiving a younger man. 
 I was perfectly delighted with his reception. He com- 
 plimented me over and over again on my knowledge 
 of Chinese, and so far got over his first apprehensions 
 about the people that, in direct opposition to his own 
 hints of the day before against entering the city, he 
 said he hoped on my return I would spend a few 
 days with him, adding that it was perfectly natural 
 that travellers should wish to see something of new 
 lands. " I should naturally wish to see everything, 
 if I visited your country," said he, " and I shall have 
 a house ready for you and your honoured officials 
 when you return." Such a hoideversement of my 
 anticipations as to my reception by the great man 
 put me in high spirits. They tried to keep me at 
 arm's length at the little town of Hsia Chwang, where 
 the road branches off to Yung Chang, ten miles from 
 Ta-Li Fu, but I made such a point of paying my 
 respects to the local authorities that they could not 
 refuse the flattering request. It appears that the 
 magistrate went back with such a complimentary 
 account of me that the mandarins were positively 
 anxious to see me ! 
 
 I feel not a little elated at my success ; instead of 
 running away at the ominous warnings poured into 
 my ears, I have established the very best relations
 
 CllEN JS'ING (JHUW. 279 
 
 with both officials and people, opened Ta Li Fii, and 
 vanquished the dragon which guarded its gates ! 
 More than one foreigner has been driven away in 
 attempting to gain admission. My baggage animals 
 have been secured and all is now ready for a start 
 to-morrow on my last stage of seven days. I hope 
 to arrive first at Yung Chang Fu after all. 
 
 There are rumours among the Chinese of the 
 approach of foreigners from Burmah, and I trust it is 
 a true bill. I have so much to do and so much to 
 write that I cannot give you much more. You can 
 review each step of my way when my journal is 
 printed. The other day, in the middle of our stage, 
 a splendid lake burst upon my delighted gaze. Full 
 of water-fowl, I could not resist such a temptation to 
 fill my larder. Careless of distance, time, and every- 
 thing else, I hired a punt, and had a glorious chase 
 after wild duck and geese. I had only seen the 
 ducks and they were wild, but on a sudden a won- 
 derful sight transfixed my eyes on the opposite 
 shore. A gun-shot far away raised a perfect legion 
 of wild geese, whose wild cries, and even the very 
 sough of their myriad wings, were borne on the air. 
 I was quite bewildered by the dazzling interlacement 
 of their flight under the bright rays of a hot sun ; but 
 soon an ordeidy line was formed out of the rout, and 
 the long airay came on and on right over my nead, 
 near enough to add a couple of fiue fat birds to my 
 larder. B^'ortuuately, my boy only brought eight 
 cartridges, which made me relinquish a chase which
 
 280 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 liad caused me to forget how many miles lay between 
 me and my next resting-place, and bow dangerously 
 hot the sun was striking on my head. The punt 
 was a toy for littleness, and I had to sit very cautiously 
 while Bombazine propelled the cranky thing. I 
 have marked this delightful lake for a day's shooting 
 on my return, and if I can bag a good number of 
 these beautiful ducks you may look for the softest 
 and prettiest muffs you ever saw. On hurrying 
 after my retinue which had passed on and left me to 
 my luck, and on nearing the half-way village, I was 
 surprised to see a mandarin and about a dozen 
 graduates drawn up to do me honour. I hastily 
 donned my gold lace cap, and soon the whole row 
 saluted me with folded hands raised to the eyes. A 
 room was prepared all ready and a repast served 
 which I had to eat in the presence of the dozen 
 silent graduates who occupied a bench at the back. 
 At every complimeutary expression the whole array 
 rose up and bowed like so many rooks in a mas- 
 querade. It was by chance I had to fill so unique a 
 role (as elsewhere explained). Not one of them had 
 set eyes upon a foreigner before, and my strict obser- 
 vance of etiquette and knowledge of their customs 
 made so favourable an impression that they one and 
 all expressed their appreciation of the foreigner to 
 my writer after I left. All these meetings effect an 
 infinity of good in establishing an amicable feeling 
 between us and the Chinese, and I am proud to think 
 that I have drawn a successful trail across a large
 
 NEAK TA-LI FU. 281 
 
 extent of country. I am not boasting, and really 
 don't caie two pins about myself in the matter, but 
 for the good sound impressions I have laboured to 
 produce, being zealous for my country's advantage, 
 and I am filled with elation.] 
 
 To F. E. R. 
 [Decemher ISth. Near Ta-Li Fu. — Since I last 
 added a line to this letter, we have progressed several 
 stages, and I have set foot in the celebrated city 
 of Ta-Li. I am so pressed for time that I can 
 only give you a couple of pictures of my journey. 
 They are very agreeable ones. About three stages 
 back we passed a fine lake covered with water-fowl, 
 and as it was still early, I determined to have an 
 hour's shooting. The rest of my party, mandarins, 
 writer, animals and carriers, all passed on ahead, 
 while I hired a diminutive punt, and Bombazine 
 propelled it with a bamboo over the lake. After 
 a long chase, I managed to bag a brace of beautiful 
 ducks with coloured plumage, when all of a sudden 
 a perfect myriad of wild geese rose near the opposite 
 shore, and came flying over my head near enough 
 to leave two fine fat victims to my gun. The sun 
 was hot, and I only had eight cartridges, so I was 
 obliged to relinquish the exciting sport and hurry 
 after my caravan. On approaching the tiffin place, 
 I observed a mandarin and body of graduates drawn 
 up to receive me. I stopped my chair, and donned 
 the gold lace cap according to Chinese etiquette,
 
 282 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 and received a most respectful salutation from the 
 party, together with tlie usual three gun salutes. 
 On leaving my chair they ushered me into a room, 
 properly prepared with divan and stats. A lunch 
 was served, and I sat in company with my custodes, 
 writer and mandarin, while the Land of students 
 sat on a bench in the rear like mutes at a funeral, 
 watching our gastronomic efforts . I had to carry 
 on the conversation, and at every compliment the 
 mutes got up and bowed with distressing precision. 
 However, my writer informed me with a glowing 
 smile that, on my departure, they one and all ex- 
 pressed flattering opinions about the foreigner. 
 These good people had come four or five miles 
 out of a neighbouring city, which the road did not 
 enter, in order to pay due honours to a high 
 mandarin who was expected that day. But as he 
 happened to take a different route, and they heard 
 of my approach, I was substituted for the big wig. 
 Hence the bows and the crackers, the tiffin and the 
 nmtes all fell lo my lot by this odd chance. On 
 reaching the city of Chao Chow, which is one stage 
 short of Ta-Li Fu, my mandarins begged me to rest 
 a day, while one of them went on ahead to prepare 
 the local authorities for my arrival. They repre- 
 sented with grave faces that the city populace was 
 unruly and pugnacious, and that I might come to 
 grief, unless they concerted measujes lor my proper 
 escort, and proclamations were first issued to the 
 people, describing my position ai.d errand. As
 
 OHAU UllOW. 283 
 
 these onuQOUs words echoed the viceroy's previous 
 statements, and I had been seriously warned about 
 the turbulent Ta Li Fu people, there was no alter- 
 native but to acquiesce. I did so the more readily 
 as we were in a neat new kung kwan, or official 
 travelling quarters, and above all there were marshes 
 hard by full of duck. So next morning, early I took 
 Bombazine and " Leila," my two servants, and we 
 trotted off on three ponies with a yamen runner 
 for guide. But, oh ! the misery of my mount ; in 
 order to lessen the uneasiness of riding li la CItinols 
 I had bought a saddle at Kwei Yang Fu for about 
 155., but it was so loosely girthed, and the stirrups 
 were composed of string and straw, while the bridle 
 was only a piece of string, that I found it perfect 
 misery to balance myself, especially as the saddle 
 is high and narrow. However, we reached the 
 marshes, and after plunging into paddy beds, and 
 squattiijg on banks, I succeeded in adding a wild 
 duck and brace of teal to my larder. The sun was 
 quite hot, and visions of a plunge and swim in the 
 Ta-Li Fu lake impelled me to remount and canter 
 away some five miles farther to the delightful spot. 
 Just as we reached the north-west corner of the 
 Chao Chow valley, a glorious view burst on our 
 sight through an opening in the hills leading to 
 the Ta-Li Fu plain. There lay the city twenty 
 miles away by road, but seeming so close over the 
 calm blue waters of its splendid lake, that half-an- 
 hour might take me there. A back bone ot black
 
 284 MARGAKY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 rocky heights guards its rear, bathed in colour by 
 the lights and shades of a bright sun's rays playing 
 over its slopes. We rode into a large village. I 
 was anxious to test the temperament of the country 
 folk. Far from ill-will being shown, we were 
 courteously welcomed and fed, without being able 
 to prevail on our kind hosts to accept a single cash. 
 I cannot describe the pleasing scene now. They 
 ffot a boat for me, and I chased the wild duck in 
 vain over the magnificent lake which extends for 
 forty miles one way, and ten in breadth, cradled 
 in glorious mountains. Ta-Li Fu with its white 
 walls and white pagodas glistened in the sun over 
 against us. I rode back to Chao Chow well pleased 
 with the day's excursion, and set myself to writing 
 journal and letters. Next day we started full of 
 anticipations about the famous city. But what was 
 my surprise to find on reaching the half-way town 
 that the Yung Chang F'u road blanched off from 
 there, and that the city lay ten miles away off the 
 track. They took advantage of this to try and 
 persuade me not to enter Ta-Li Fu as they were 
 so apprehensive of the people. 1 was not going 
 to be baulked of so long wished-for a pleasure, and 
 had quite a diplomatic battle with a civil and 
 military mandarin sent down by the Tao-Tai and 
 Tartar general to keep me at arm's length. They 
 had hired an inn for me, and prepared a breakfast 
 to delay me, and I was perforce obliged to remain 
 that night at Hsia Kwan. But I gained my
 
 HSIA KWAN. 285 
 
 point, and sent the magistrate and captain back 
 with a message that I was bound to pay my 
 respects to the high authorities, and intended to 
 proceed to the city next day for the purpose. I 
 felt it all-important to break the ice, and open 
 Ta-Li Fu for a visit for the expedition. Mission- 
 aries had lately been driven back from the gates, 
 and it seemed as though the Ta Li Fu people 
 would have none of us inside their city. Well they 
 could not resist my demand, and next day I started 
 with mingled feelings of delight and curiosity, 
 escorted by the self-same captain who so strenuously 
 opposed my entrance yesterday, and with him a 
 troop of soldiers. Four train-band men kept by my 
 chair. Well, the result was, that I had quite a 
 triumphant day's w^ork. The people treated me 
 with respect and courtesy, calling me Ta Jin. I 
 went first to the Hsien, or magistrate, who was a 
 Tartar and spoke the pure accent of Pekin. We 
 were great friends already, indeed, my interview 
 with him at Hsia Kwan had brought about the 
 favourable sequel, for I told him I did not fear the 
 people ; I could speak to them and soon make 
 friends; and when he went back the high authorities 
 received his report with a great deal of curiosity, and 
 ended by writing down to invite me in. I went in 
 turn to the prefect, who treated me with a very 
 friendly air, mingled with nervousness, for we were 
 equals by treaty ; then to the Tao-Tai, who was my 
 superior, and he showed it in his manner, although
 
 aSfi MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 etiquette was strictly observed. I knew his style 
 beforehand, for I had made my inquiries too, and 
 knew exactly how to treat him. He had been most 
 curious of all to know all about me, and privately 
 expressed high appreciation of my qualities, especially 
 my being able to eat with chopsticks. I went from 
 him to his far greater superior the Tartar general. 
 I found myself in the presence of a perfect gentle- 
 man, who showed an enlightened understanding. He 
 was an enormously big man for a Chinaman, and I felt 
 quite small beside him. He insisted on my sitting 
 in the place of honour beside him on the divan (a 
 courtesy the Tao-Tai, a young man, had been afraid 
 to extend for fear of damage to his dignity), and 
 asked me innumerable questions about England and 
 Burmah. He said, on my return, he would invite us 
 to stay in the city a few days, at which I inwaMly 
 exulted. You may imagine how thoroughly pleased 
 I was at the result of my campaign. Ta-Li Fu 
 understands me, and I have succeeded in brushing 
 away their prejudices. On leaving the general's 
 yamen, 1 was set down in the main street, while my 
 bearers went to find two or three fresh men. The 
 crowd came round me at once, and this dragon which 
 was set at me to keep me away proved quite a tame 
 animal. I leaned forward smoking a cigar, and 
 chatted most agreeably with the most respectable 
 members of the formidable body. We parted with 
 bows and the mostly courtly adieux. I feel quite 
 proud of the success of my diplomacy. ... I had
 
 YUNG CHANG FU. 287 
 
 hoped to get off to-day by noon, l)ut Chinese dila- 
 toriness now makes it quite out of the question. I 
 shall accordingly hope to spend an liour or two on 
 the lake sketching if I can, and shooting if the birds 
 are accommodating. Starting to-moi-row, I shall 
 not reach Yung Chang before the 26th.] 
 
 To F. E. R. 
 [ Yang Cfidng Fa, December 2St/i, 1874.— We left Ta 
 Li Fu on the 18th. The road has been glorious in 
 scenery, and, though passing over high mountain 
 regions with many steep ascents and declivities, there 
 was nothing so bad to encounter as those horrid 
 passes further back. I cannot in this letter give you 
 an account of much, for I am off again to-morrow and 
 have to engage baggage animals, receive mandarin 
 visits, and make my official report during the day, 
 far too short for so much expenditure of thought and 
 action. Not a breath of the approach of the expedi- 
 tion can be caught anywhere, so I expect to arrive 
 at our rendezvous first. The city of Teng Yueh 
 Chow lies only four stages away, and having spent 
 Christmas on the road, I hope at least to eat a New 
 Year s dinner at the end of my journey. I could 
 have reached this place on Christmas night, but for 
 the alarm of the mandarins at a daring robbery on 
 the road, which they magnified into brigandage, and 
 begged me to rest a day while their troops scoured 
 the hills. I was at a pretty little town called Sha 
 Yang, comfortably quartered in the yamen of the
 
 288 MARGARYS JOURNEY. 
 
 petty mandarin who ruled the valley. His house 
 was small enough, having only three habitable rooms, 
 and the centre one of these, as in all yamens, was 
 the reception hall where visitors were both " divaned " 
 and fed. The red cushions and miniature table gave 
 place to my bed, while my three gentlemen conductors 
 and the mandarin reclined in the rooms on either 
 side. They chatted like magpies, and disturbed my 
 lest far into the night. I ordered my cook to make 
 the "thunderingest" Christmas dinner he could think 
 of with the few materials at our command, and he 
 succeeded well enough. A tin of mock turtle and 
 another of boiled veal, a roast duck, and boiled fowl, 
 with curry, and pancakes soused in melted sugar, and 
 a sponge cake, really made a fine feast, and as we sat 
 down, six in number, to devour it, there was not 
 much left at the end, in spite of the ludicrous attempts 
 of most of my guests to manage knives and forks for 
 the first time. Mrs. Hughes had very kindly given 
 me a large fat bottle full of mincemeat, so that even 
 in these far distant regions, I was not doomed to 
 break through the superstition of mince pies. . . . 
 Five days more at Teng Yueh I will commence 
 another letter. Just room for one incident. At 
 three or four stages back we came on a rough, long, 
 neglected valley, where villages had scarcely existed 
 above a few months, and the new settlers were burn- 
 ing the long grass off the ancient boundaries of the 
 fallow fields. Mountains all round sent down their 
 grassy slopes to where our path wound easily on
 
 YUNG CHANG FU. 289 
 
 with the resting town in view. All of a sudden my 
 servants roused my attention, as I sat in my chair 
 with one eye on a book and the other on the sceneiy, 
 to some animals up on the hills which everyone took 
 for deer. Immediately I got my gun, and began 
 cautiously to make my way through the wild grass. 
 But imagine my excitement on discovering that my 
 deer belonged to the feline tribe. I was actually 
 stalking three leopards, as I supposed at first, and 
 they were rapidly trotting down with the wind right 
 in my teeth. Just then a shout from my attendants 
 below showed that they had discovered the fact too, 
 and I saw the intrepid Lin with a young and lusty 
 chair-bearer rushing up the hill armed with sticks. 
 The animals raised their noble heads above the grass 
 in attention, and then ran off a few hundred yards 
 behind a knoll. I was puzzled. They were not 
 leopards. Excited by such an adventure I made my 
 way up, half enveloped in tall grass, until the tracks 
 and lair of wild animals brought me to a sense of my 
 dangerous position. Lin was checked by the same 
 warnings, but I called him up and we reached the 
 knoll. The animals had evidently paused a while, 
 for we saw them hurrying off at no great distance, 
 and the streaks now clearly visible showed how 
 rashly we had pressed upon tigers, armed with sticks 
 and two feeble shot cartridges in a fowling-piece. . . . 
 My journal is taking the alarming proportions of a 
 volume.] 
 
 u
 
 290 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 To his Parents. 
 
 \_Yung Chang Fu, December 2Sth, 1874. — Here we 
 are again, this side up with care. I have had a fine 
 journey over magnificent mountains since I wrote 
 last to you from Ta-Ii Fu ten days ago. Christmas 
 had to be passed on the road, and I made the most I 
 could of the glorious day. My writer is a Christian, 
 and he thoroughly joined with me in celebrating the 
 day. 
 
 We were at a pretty little town called Sha-yang, 
 and hospitably received in the yamen of the little 
 mandarin who ruled the valley. I had intended to 
 start by moonlight and run the one hundred and 
 twenty li which separated us from this city in order 
 to have a Christmas spread in comfort, but curiously 
 enough a dispatch from the general at Teng Yueh, 
 my next destination, arrived overnight to say that 
 brigands were abroad, and ordering the local officer 
 to scour the hills and take every care of a British 
 officer named Ma who was expected to arrive. So, at 
 the earnest request of the latter, I spent Christmas 
 in peace and quiet, instead of hurrying over a long 
 rough stage. I ordered my cook to make the biggest 
 dinner he could command, and invited my three 
 gentlemen and the two civil and military mandarins 
 to try an English spread. It was amusing to see 
 the difficulties they suffered under in trying to use a 
 knife and fork. We had mock turtle and veal from 
 Crosse and Blackwell, roast duck and boiled fowl
 
 YUNG CHANG FU. 291 
 
 from the market, curry and two puddings, besides 
 fish, which I had forgotten in its proper place. As 
 Chinese have dessert and wine mingled with polite 
 speeches /i?\9?f, before proceeding to heavier meat, and 
 rise up the moment they have finished the last dish, 
 the reversal of this order of things naturally depressed 
 their spirits, and we progressed in mournful silence, 
 till my writer, with a twinkle in his eye, proposed 
 my health, and all became merry. Each thought it 
 incumbent to make a speech, and I seized the oppor- 
 tunity to impart lofty ideas of amity and national 
 goodwill. I can only afford time for one more road- 
 way incident in which I might easily have run into 
 extreme danger. It was in a newly re-peopled valley 
 where the long grass was being burnt off the ancient 
 acres to bring their long-deserted boundaries to light 
 again, and the big eagles and mountain beasts had 
 not yet learnt to understand the change. My servant 
 recalled me from my book in the chair with a shout 
 of " deer ! deer !" and getting out with all haste T 
 seized my gun and waded through the long grass up 
 the slope towards the exciting game, absurdly trust- 
 ing to a light breech-loader charged with No. 4 shot. 
 The animals came down with far too great rapidity 
 for browsing deer, and at one hundred and fifty yards 
 or so, I thought they must be leopards. Just then a 
 shout from the intrepid Lin made them raise their 
 noble heads above the grass and I knew they could 
 not be leo})nrds. A rush by Lin and one of my chair- 
 bearers armed with sticks fai' on my left frightened 
 
 u 2
 
 292 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 the beasts out of my line, and the three ti'otted off 
 with the slouching gait of the tribe behind a knoll 
 some three hundred yards to my right. Entirely 
 forgetful of my feeble weapon I pressed on in pursuit 
 till the peculiar tracks and the actual lair of wild 
 beasts in the long grass made me pause to look well 
 round. The men below shouted cautions which only 
 reached the ears of Lin, but he overcame his momen- 
 tary alarm and dashed after me. We gained the 
 knoll, and there were three fine tigers trotting off at 
 no great distance, plainly distinguislied by the streaks 
 which I had hithei'to failed to discover. This would 
 be a fine joke against me at Shanghae. The idea of 
 a man stalking tigers with No. 4 shot under the im- 
 pression that they were small deer ! It nearly rivals 
 the absui'dity of a brother officer at Amoy, who pur- 
 sued a tiger into a deserted joss-house, and charging 
 his gun with consular buttons, fired at the beast 
 through a window. A roar and a crash found him 
 in a ditch and the animal rolling down a precipice 
 with the fragments of a stone window-casing after 
 him. I am at Yung Chang Fu and start to-morrow 
 for Teng Yueh Chow, four stages from this, and the 
 end of my long journey. I can hear no news yet of 
 the approach of the expedition and may have to wait 
 at the latter city two or three weeks. It is by all 
 accounts a great place for treasures. Country people 
 bring precious stones in their hands and part with 
 them for a song. I shall not believe this, however, 
 till I prove it. How long it must be before I can
 
 TENG YUEH CHOW. 293 
 
 hope for a, line. This continual jogging and contend- 
 ing with Chinese diplomacy and obstinacy is getting 
 somewhat tedious — but I am well and jolly.] 
 
 To F. E. E. 
 
 \^Teiig Yueh Chow. January Mh^ 1875. — The Indian 
 mission does not start till the middle of this month, 
 and they wish me to join them at Bhamo. I sat up 
 till 3 A.M. the night before last, meditating my proper 
 course, maturing my plans, and writing my despatches 
 to communicate them to Colonel Browne at Bhamo. 
 At 4 A.M. I sent off a messenger with the packet. . . 
 Yesterday I visited the mandarins, and arranged all 
 sorts of business. To-day I engage baggage animals, 
 and write my letters amid many interruptions from 
 visitors and business. To-morrow I start again en 
 avant for Bhamo. My messenger is to return and 
 meet me on the savage borders with instructions 
 where to meet the party. I cannot explain all the 
 ins and outs, but it requires a good deal of planning 
 to ensure co-operation at a distance. I am perfectly 
 delighted at going farther, and seeing something of 
 these wild regions ahead. . . I sent my last letter 
 six days ago from the city of Yung Chang. Four 
 stages brought us on here, but I spent New Year's 
 Day en route at a lovely spot in the mountains. It 
 was the only spot in all the long journey which came 
 up at all to my panting desire for something wild 
 and grand, worthy of Nature's finest efforts. An 
 accidental difficulty in procuring carriers detained
 
 294 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 me there, much to my delight, and I determined to 
 rummage the forest which crowned the mighty hill- 
 tops. On our way up the steep pass which leads to 
 this nest in the mountain forest we had a grand view 
 of the valley below the night before. Having started 
 too late, the long stage had buried us in darkness 
 before we could reach this eyrie rest. We proceeded 
 accordingly for the last two weary hours by torch- 
 light. It was like going up an interminable stair- 
 case, and I was obliged to dismount. Our torches 
 were ten feet long, made by simply binding sheaves 
 of dry reeds together, and we only had just enough 
 to carry us up. The last spark died out as we 
 wakened the echoes and the sleeping village with 
 shouts for assistance. One of my men foolishly set 
 a light to the parched-up grass as we were coming 
 up, and it blazed away like a train of gunpowder, 
 involving, I fear, many a young tree in its ruthless 
 rush. The valley below was glittering far and wide 
 with similar illuminations, where returning agricul- 
 ture was burning away the tall grass which had 
 hidden the fields for two years of anarchy. The 
 rivers and gorges in this part of the country are 
 crossed by elegant suspension bridges, and sometimes 
 one of these may be seen like a thing of beauty left 
 alone in the midst of a silent rugged waste. I started 
 for my holiday in the woods with Bombazine and 
 a boy to carry a small basket of provisions. We 
 plunged into a woodcutter's path, and soon came to 
 its end, after which we forced a way for ourselves,
 
 TENG YUEH CHOW. 295 
 
 buried up to the shoulders in fern brake. All of a 
 sudden an infernal noise fell on our ears, and came 
 nearer and nearer, till about fifty yards off it sounded 
 quite appalling. I could not for the life of me make 
 out what animal it could possibly be. Bombazine, in 
 his terror, thought it must be a tiger, although it was 
 as much like a feline roar as a trumpet to a whole 
 brass band. It was more like a howl. Whatever it 
 was, the beast which owned this singular voice 
 seemed to be in a rage about something, for we dis- 
 tinctly heard it striking the ground with a heavy 
 tread. But none of us caught a sight of the mystery, 
 although we followed it for some distance. I believe 
 it was one of the horned tribe. After this little 
 episode we lit a gipsy fire and made ourselves some 
 lunch. The woods were as silent as ourselves for 
 tlie rest of our ramble, and all we got to reward us 
 was a fine orchid perched in the branches of a tree. 
 This precious specimen fell a victim to our goat in 
 the evening, whose voracity seizes on anything care- 
 lessly left about. But Nanny suffered for two days 
 for this piece of folly. It was quite amusing to see 
 how tenderly my chair-bearers and servants nursed 
 him, and carried the favourite in a basket. He was 
 a gift from a mandarin nearly a month ago to feed us 
 on the way, but I saved him from such a fate, and he 
 will, I hope, still continue to trot along with us on 
 the long trudge home. We intend to give him some- 
 thing to do when we reach Ssu Chuan, and can buy 
 a monkey, and give it a ride. . . Bhamo is seven
 
 296 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 stages from this, but whereas I follow this nearest 
 route to join the expedition, we shall pursue a wider 
 track in returning of which 1 know nothing yet. . . 
 The mandarins here are delightfully civil, and my 
 business with them has exceeded my best hopes. 
 The Yung Chang ones were brutes, and gave me 
 trouble.] 
 
 To his Parents. 
 
 \_Teng Yueh Chow. January ^th, 1875. — Here I am 
 at the very end of China, and at the goal I sought ; 
 but I am going farther. I had not arrived half an 
 hour the night before last, when a packet was put 
 into my hands, from the political agent at Bhamo, 
 announcing that the expedition was not yet started, 
 and that I was to join it at Bhamo, if possible, soon 
 after the 1st of January. As there are seven stages 
 between, and a savage territory, I was obliged well 
 to consider my plans, and it was 3 a.m. of the same 
 night before I had resolved, written, sealed, directed 
 my packet, and prepared my messenger. The latter, 
 after receiving my instructions, had a three hours' 
 nap, and called me at four, to receive my final bles- 
 sing ere he started off with my joacket, for I was 
 determined to see him depart with my own eyes. I 
 was " in the arms of Murphy " again in five minutes. 
 Yesterday I arranged business with the mandarins ; 
 to-day I write letters and e'jgage baggage animals ; 
 to-morrow I start again for the savage borders, four 
 stages off, to await my return messenger. If, as I 
 hope, they hav^e not started from that end, I go on.
 
 TENG YUEH CHOW. 297 
 
 if otherwise, I drop back to await their arrival at the 
 conjunction point of the three main routes. The 
 expedition is to follow a wide detour, I suppose they 
 wish to survey a railway route. This letter will, I 
 hope, go via Burmah, and outstrip the last three sent 
 from Yunnan, Ta-Li, and Yung Chang, on November 
 29th, December IStli, and December 29th (all these 
 have been received), which will drag their slow length 
 along ever so many provinces before they reach the 
 mail steamer at Shanghae. I am at the ancient city 
 of Momien, as the hieroglyphics at the top will 
 explain. It is in ruins, for only last year this re- 
 maining stronghold of the Mahommedans became a 
 scene of slaughter, and by falling into Imperial hands 
 again, an end was put to the fifteen years' kingdom of 
 Tu Wen Hsin. I visited the Tartar general at Ta-Li 
 Fu in the palace of this late worthy and much- to-be- 
 respected rebel. I have no time, I am sorry to say, 
 for a good long letter, but it is a great comfort to 
 be able to gladden your anxious hearts with even a 
 scrap from these buried wilds, and to be able to avail 
 myself of the shortest route through Burmah. You 
 have done the same for me with three delightful 
 letters, which reached me in a large packet from 
 Hankow, almost immediately after the one from 
 Bhamo, dated July 28th, and two of August 11th. 
 
 I might have got through sheets by this time, but 
 lor interruptions. The brigadier commanding the 
 centre division of the army paid me a long visit, and 
 brought his little boy with him. It is customary in
 
 298 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 China to give presents to children in such cases, and 
 as I am all but cleared out of everything, I was 
 obliged to give the little fellow a pair of tortoise-shell 
 sleeve links, which seemed to delight him much. I 
 like these military men. They are devoid of the 
 stuck-up pride of the literary mandarins. I called on 
 the general yesterday, and had a very civil reception. 
 His name is Chiang, and he is much famed for a 
 daring military feat which brought about the fall of 
 Ta-Li Fu. I was very curious to see the intrepid man 
 who scaled the rocky heights behind the great city, 
 and dropped down in its rear. He has a calm sphinx- 
 like countenance, and a charming smile. Yet this 
 man slew thousands of Mahommedans on that day 
 without quarter. It was his birthday, and he was 
 giving a fete to the people. A " sing song " was pro- 
 gressing in front of the audience dais, and I had my 
 interview in the presence of two or three hundred 
 citizens, who thronged the courtyard.] 
 
 To Ms Parents. 
 [ Territory of Nan Tien, Toivn of Mamryne, January 
 Wth. — I have travelled four stages farther since I 
 wrote the first sheet of this letter, through a 
 beautiful valley inhabited by a people called Payi, 
 who are a mixture of Chinese settled here five 
 hundred years ago, and the Shans, or Laotians, who 
 cover the whole country between Burmah, Siam, 
 Cambodia, and China. Their dress and habits have 
 afforded me intense interest and curiosity. Divided
 
 MANWYNE. 299 
 
 into little principalities, three of which we have 
 visited on our way, they are governed by native 
 chiefs under Chinese supervision. In every case I 
 have, of course, been the guest of the chief, and, 
 owing to their sociable disposition, 1 have a good 
 deal of intimacy with their families. The women 
 are not shy, like the Chinese, nor do they fear to 
 talk with a stranger. Their dress is marvellous. I 
 could not keep my eyes off the strange and pictur- 
 esque figures which met me at every turn. The 
 marvel consists mainly in their turbans, which 
 outrival the busby of a Grenadier. They rise in 
 concentric folds backwards from the forehead, and 
 attain a diameter of fully a foot at the same height 
 above the head. The head cannot be seen in the 
 hollow behind, where large silver buttons attach the 
 hair, which is plaited into the folds. A neat little 
 dark blue jacket, fastened at the throat with a broad 
 silver buckle, and short petticoats tightly folded to 
 the figure of the same dark material, is relieved by 
 a phylactery of red, blue, white, and embroidered 
 panels. It has a neat homely look. They wear 
 also embroidered shoes, and wrap their ankles and 
 shins in blue embroidered cloth. I spent the whole 
 afternoon surrounded by the male members of the 
 family ; they examined all my things, and I learned 
 a good many sentences of their language which 
 they wrote down for me. They write like us, from 
 left to right, and the characters have almost a 
 Roman look. The men are light, active, well-made
 
 300 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 fellows. They wear blue cloth round the shins, and 
 expose the knees in a fashion which, at a little distance, 
 looked uncommonly like the Highland dress. Some- 
 times dressed in pure white with a red girdle, their 
 heads covered with a straw hat like a Leghorn, and 
 carrying a long sword in the belt, they enliven the 
 road with their picturesque attire. The earrings of 
 the women are made of silver in profuse variety, and 
 other ornaments of silver adorn both sexes. 
 
 January 12th. — I am still waiting my messenger, 
 who ought to arrive to-night. I was quite tired out 
 yesterday, and felt in no mood for writing a good 
 letter, and the above hurried account of these 
 interesting people is very unsatisfactory, but you 
 will understand how much I have to do. I was 
 only able to snatch an hour in the afternoon for a 
 stroll through the market. It was frequented by a 
 number of queer little semi-savages from the moun- 
 tains ; most of them were women, and they certainly 
 had a most repulsive scowl on their faces. Colour, 
 cowries and silver ornaments distinguished their 
 attire, and they moved about with a shuffling trot, 
 throwing hurried glances right and left. The men 
 carried javelins, but dressed much like Chinamen. 
 These cinious creatures inhabit the country lying 
 between this and Bhamo, and the two stages ahead 
 of us are infested by their dangerous presence. I 
 am protected by the Chinese Government, and so 
 have nothing to fear. 
 
 A furious ex-brigand, called Li Hsieh Tai, who
 
 MANWYNE. 301 
 
 attacked our last expedition in 1867, has been re- 
 warded lately for liis services against the rebels with 
 a military command over all this country. He is 
 here, and I felt much curiosity to see how he would 
 receive me. To my surprise, he prostrated himself, 
 and paid me the highest honours. I had a most 
 successful interview. He sent for a few notable 
 townsmen and the chieftain of the savages, and 
 introduced me with the greatest respect. We sat in 
 a small room, badly lighted, quite a conclave, and 
 carried on a regular battery of mutual buttering. 
 
 Li told them I had come protected b}" an Imperial 
 edict, and that they had better take care of me. 
 This morning I went out with my gun to get some 
 exercise, and having bagged half a dozen wild duck, 
 I have just sent a brace to the commander as a 
 present. I took two of my servants, and we had 
 great sport. The river was half a mile wide and 
 full of sand-banks, on which the duck rested. The 
 first difficulty was to find a boat ; and after searching 
 up and down stream we were fortunate enough to 
 find a diminutive punt under the bank without an 
 owner, of which we calmly took possession. But we 
 could not manage it against the stream with the 
 slender paddle that was attached to it. A native, 
 however, offered to paddle us over, and so, with a 
 present of a few cash, we soon found means to be 
 landed on a sand-bank. Kicking off gaiters and 
 boots, I waded about after the duck, and managed to 
 bag a good many. We returned through the motley
 
 302 MARGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 market witli our spoil, and excited quite a sensation. 
 Cries of Ah-a-ab in the peculiar high-pitched tones 
 of this people greeted me ; and they held up their 
 thumbs to express their admiration for such prowess. 
 I have bought one of the jackets worn by the little 
 wild women, but cannot find a petticoat to complete 
 the attire. The villages in this lovely plain are all 
 embowered in groves of feathery bamboos and 
 plantains. The latter are ripe even now, and I can 
 buy any quantity for a couple of copper cash apiece. 
 The weather is as temperate as we could wish. On 
 the third stage to Teng-yueh we rested at a little 
 village nestled high up in a forest-clad mountain. 
 It had been a long stage, and full of magnificent 
 scenery. After threading a long gorge with a 
 torrent dashing below, we entered a wide plain covered 
 with a jungle of two years' growth, and crossed the 
 Nuikong river by a suspension bridge. . . . 
 
 I have not time to give more of our numerous 
 incidents. You must kindly wait till the official 
 journal is complete. It has already attained to three 
 volumes of foolscap. I don't remember whether I 
 have mentioned our goat before. Miles away back a 
 mandarin gave it me for food, and I saved it from 
 the butcher's knife, and he has trotted along ever 
 since, repaying us with much diversion.] 
 
 To F. E. R. 
 
 [Manwyne, January \Wi, 1875. — Since writing my 
 last lettei'of January 4th from Teng-yueh or Momien,
 
 MANWYNE. 303 
 
 a frontier Chinese city, I have travelled on five stages 
 through a most interesting country, of which I must 
 give you a hasty sketch. But first I must tell you 
 that all my plans succeeded without a hitch. My 
 messenger arrived at Bhamo just in time, and has 
 returned with despatches requesting me to proceed. 
 They sent a Burmese guard of forty men under two 
 officials to escort me back. . . . They are footsore 
 and want to rest two days. . . . Yesterday they 
 arrived at about 4 p.m. and came into my room, 
 squatting down silently to smoke in the most undig- 
 nified manner. They spoke neither Chinese nor 
 English, and so I took them all over to the Chinese 
 commander, who is a famous man named Li Hsieh 
 Tai, once a brigand^ now a Chinese general, in reward 
 for services against the Mahommedan rebels. Arrived 
 at his yamen we had quite a conclave. There were 
 savage chieftains from the mountains, with whom 
 the general was negotiating a treaty, and notable 
 townsmen interested in the proceedings, besides a 
 crowd of idlers who cannot be got rid of at official 
 interviews in China. We sat round in a large circle, 
 the Burmese squatting on their haunches. A long 
 discussion was carried on through an interpreter, 
 which ended in my finding it impossible to get them 
 to move sooner, and had to submit to the delay. To- 
 day, however, I have visited Li early and induced him 
 to give me a guard to-morrow morning, so that I may 
 hurry on and leave my baggage and servants to the 
 care of the Burmese for the following day. I cannot
 
 304 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 yet feel certain, however, that I shall not be foiled 
 after all. There are wheels within wlieels innumer- 
 able, and intrigues going on which require my 
 most careful watchfulness. The Burmese want to 
 thwart our expedition ; and Li himself some seven 
 years ago attacked our last expedition and may not 
 be entirely free from enmity. But I liave a very 
 powerful engine in the will and expressed commands 
 of the great Viceroy at Yunnan, who has been an 
 almost unexpected friend and ally throughout. 
 
 Our journey to this interesting town has lain 
 through a lovely valley full of villages embowered 
 in groves of plantain and bamboo. High mountain 
 ranges towered right and left. The people are sub- 
 ject to China, but are governed by their native here- 
 ditary chiefs. They are sociable and amiable, while 
 their striking costumes quite delight the eye' with 
 their novelty. The women wear the most marvellous 
 turbans of black crape. When I first saw them, I 
 could not help staring right and left at such magni- 
 ficent beings as their majestic head-dress made them 
 appear. A Grenadier Guardsman would pale beside 
 one of these. This wonderful covering rises in 
 concentric folds (each partly visible) to a height of 
 fully twelve inches, and, narrow at the forehead, 
 expands to more than a foot in width at the top. 
 Dark blue jacket, ditto petticoat, red cuffs. Red, 
 white, blue, and embroidered border. Red shoes. I 
 was of course a guest of the local chiefs, wherever 
 we spent the night. At the first stage, Nan-tien, the
 
 MANWYNE. 305 
 
 brother of the head man put us all up in the out- 
 houses of his court^'ard. It was a sorry lodging, but 
 experience has not made me critical, and my utmost 
 demand is now for a sound roof and a heap of good 
 straw. The next two stages will possibly abound in 
 neither, and we shall either camp in the primeval 
 forest among tigers, or worse still, have to put up in 
 the loathsome villages of the wild tribes. 
 
 January lAth. — . . After expending much energy 
 in trying to " double " on my dusky guard by per- 
 suading the redoubtable Li to give me a few men for 
 to-day, I am brought to a full stop by rain. The 
 climbing road is impassable in wet, and the Celestial 
 won't attempt anything in a shower. The family of 
 my host came round and examined all my things. 
 We got very sociable, and I profited by the occasion 
 to study their language a little. I got one young 
 scion of the reigning house, who was a pleasant 
 young fellow, to write me down several sentences 
 in their own characters, and we subjoined sounds and 
 meaning in Chinese and English. One or two of 
 the majestic females were moved by curiosity to 
 come and look at my photograph book, and the 
 dresses worn by the ladies created quite an enthu- 
 siasm amongst them. Ah-ah ! they exclaimed, and 
 laughed with delight. They were homely, amiable 
 creatures, in spite of their black teeth and betel- 
 nut stains. I quite regretted leaving the family, 
 although we hoped to meet again. Now, however, I 
 fear the expedition is to take a long unexplored round 
 
 X
 
 306 MARGAEY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 which will bring us out in a different direction. We 
 exchanged presents. I gave our host a sword-stick 
 and his amiable spouse a fine pair of scissors. They 
 gave me a piece of amber, which is a prized orna- 
 ment here, and a black cane pipe-stem, which will 
 make me a very handsome walking stick. I only 
 saw two young maidens, and they looked very in- 
 nocent and really pretty. Neither black teeth, busby, 
 nor coiffure had as yet transformed their naive 
 simplicity into majestic matronly dignity and, in 
 most cases, ugliness. The chief paid me a visit with 
 his two fresh-looking nice boys, whose handsome faces 
 paid too great a compliment to their ugly parent. He 
 was, however, very fond and affectionate to them, and 
 displayed many homely virtues. His manner was 
 restless and odd. Jerking out questions without 
 waiting for a reply, he would seize on something 
 novel among my things and examine it with a sur- 
 prised look and then suddenly return to his dignity 
 again. . . . 9.30. a.m. — I intend to seek exercise with 
 my gun. I come and go without meeting with the 
 slightest rudeness among this charming people ; and 
 they address me with the greatest respect. The streets 
 are narrow and horribly dirty. I am obliged to make 
 my servant carry me over the puddles. The river 
 teems with duck, and I calmly appropriate any 
 tenantless punt I can ferret out lying under the 
 banks. The other day I had great sport with 
 Bombazine and a boy named Soo-ah. Kicking off 
 gaiters and boots, I waded after the duck on the
 
 BHAMO. 307 
 
 sand-banks, and they drew me across deeper channels 
 in my frail canoe which we could not manage with 
 the slender paddle attached. We tried once to navi- 
 gate in this novel manner to the opposite bank, but 
 the deepening water began to wet their short jackets 
 and the current drove us back. I shot half a dozen 
 fine " yellow ducks," as they call them here, and on 
 our way back through the motley market, which is 
 daily held outside the town in a meadow, we created 
 quite a sensation, and the crowd suspended their 
 business to come and look at my astonishing gun 
 and the game. 
 
 Bhamo, January 17th. — Now I am over the savage 
 hills and have wrung the hands of fellow countrymen 
 again. It was so delightful to come down from the hills 
 to the Burmese plain and see the semi-Indian civilisa- 
 tion all around. . . . Col. Browne and a string of 
 distinguished officers gave me a hearty welcome, 
 with congratulations on my splendid journey. I am 
 the first European who has traversed the trade- 
 route of the future. No time for more now. We 
 shall not start for a week yet.] 
 
 To his Parents. 
 
 \_Bhamd, January l7th, 1875. — You will, no doubt, 
 be surprised to find me in so advanced a position, 
 but here I am safe and sound. They sent me a 
 Burmese guard of forty men, who conducted me 
 through the savage Kakhyen hills. When we de- 
 bouched on to wide flat Burmese plains covered with 
 
 X 2
 
 308 MAEGAliY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 jungle and forest, on the 15th, just as the evening 
 sun was bathing the wide expanse in colour, and the 
 new life and semi-Indian manners and customs of the 
 Burmese burst upon us, as we rapidly trotted through 
 their picturesque and homely villages, a sense of 
 relief and pleasure came over me and my Chinese 
 companions alike. We slept in a Burmese bamboo 
 cabin perched on piles, and next day floated down 
 the river to Bhamo. It was one of the most delight- 
 ful periods of my life to come in sight of the British 
 flag again, and to be congratulated on my splendid 
 journey by the Indian officers. I look forward with 
 intense pleasure to spending hours in such intelligent 
 company. We have an officer with a guard of fine 
 Sikhs and hosts of baggage animals, and countless 
 stores. The steamer is going soon and I am pressed 
 for time, and can only add a sort of latest intelli- 
 gence. We shall go a long round, I expect, and I 
 very much doubt if May will put an end to my long 
 travels. I am the picture of health, people will tell 
 me, which is about as annoying as to be called 
 " amiable." You may imagine how full of delight I 
 am at the happy results of my journey and the 
 glowing prospect ahead.] 
 
 To F. E. R. 
 
 [^Sawaddy, January 24M, 1875. — Since my arrival I 
 have had six days' rest in the hospitable house of 
 Captain and Mrs. Cooke, and yesterday we rode down 
 here, a ten mile ride, to make our final preparations
 
 SAWADDY. 309 
 
 for the great journey, which is an entirely fresh ex- 
 citement for the rest of the party, but a somewhat 
 weary continuation for me. Colonel Browne, Mr. 
 Fforde, and I, are the only members of the party 
 down here ; the naturalist, Dr. Anderson, being 
 detained at Bhamo by the illness of the remaining 
 member of the party, Mr. Elias, who fills the post of 
 astronomer and topographer. We hope to have him 
 among us again by the time we reach Mansey, our 
 first stage from this. We shall be detained here two 
 or three days whilst our enormous baggage of over 
 two hundred boxes is " fixed up," as the Yankees 
 say. The enormous difficulties which stood in the 
 way of the last expedition in 1867 have been guarded 
 against on the present occasion, and Colonel Browne 
 seems to do just what he likes with Burmans and 
 Kakhyens. My arrival from the China side created 
 a wonderful sensation among the Bhamo population, 
 and has done wonders in smoothing matters on this 
 side. They would not believe that we had any 
 officials in China, and my arrival from that side con- 
 siderably surprised them. I am called the " Pekin 
 man," i.e. the Pekin mandarin, and the local official, 
 who rejoices in the name of Woon, was quite anxious 
 to see me. His principal occupation seems to be to 
 sit cross-legged in state in his open verandah (which 
 like all Burmese houses is raised several feet above 
 the ground on stakes), and listen to what is called a 
 pwai. This is a national song accompanied by slow 
 movements of the arms, performed by women. He
 
 310 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 has only to order a pwai and twenty or thirty 
 women come together dressed in their most brilliant 
 clothes, and wearing all the jewelry they possess, 
 which is more or less a sign that they belong either 
 to a rich or a fond husband. It is a pretty sight, 
 but a dreadfully tedious affair to sit through. . . . 
 The floor of these houses is made of split rattan, so 
 that in walking across it you have, at first, an un- 
 pleasant sensation of expecting to go through, and 
 the whole place rattles as you proceed. The women 
 stand in rows in the courtyard below, which is covered 
 in with a broad flat shed, and lazy townspeople stand 
 round to watch the entertainment. The Woon has 
 a whole crowd of petty oificials squatted in the back- 
 ground, and we filled up the centre. My writer, 
 whom we now call " Goggles," from his enormous 
 heavy brass-rimmed, window-like spectacles, has also 
 assumed a position of importance among us, and the 
 old Woon was delighted to ask him up to the enter- 
 tainment. Fortunately, we could come and go as we 
 liked, and I stretched my legs outside as soon as the 
 squatting became tedious. Married and single, old 
 and young, alike took part in the pwai. Some were 
 young and pretty, but most were quite the reverse. 
 I had a very novel journey of two days across the 
 mountains which lie between the Shan Valleys on the 
 China side and the wide plains of Burmah. They 
 are inhabited by the wild Kakhyen tribes, and my 
 rabble guard of forty Burmese was no idle precaution 
 on the part of Captain Cooke. We passed through
 
 SAWADDY. 311 
 
 eight or nine of their curious villages, and experienced 
 one or two amusing examples of their bold impudence. 
 My servant Lin was menaced by one of these semi- 
 savage brutes with a large stone, which he raised to 
 strike him with ; and another drew his dah, a rough 
 weapon sheathed on one side, which they all carry, 
 and made a daring attempt to rob one of my men of 
 his bag. Their long thatched cabins of rattan peep- 
 ing out of the still forest here and there had a strange 
 exciting interest for us, and the little scowling, 
 vicious-looking women eyed us with the unchanged 
 countenance of savages. 
 
 We had a strange lodging that night in the hills. 
 We merely travelled on till the sinking sun warned 
 us to halt, and on reaching an open clearing the 
 brave captain of the dusky tattooed army slid off his 
 pony and pointed me to a low hovel of twigs and 
 dry leaves which some recent occupants had left for 
 the next comers. There were three or four ready 
 made, and I enjoyed the look of amazement on 
 " Goggles' " face when I told him to look sharp and 
 appropriate one for himself before the Burmese 
 anticipated him. We crept in on all fours, and spread 
 our beds, adding fresh twigs outside to keep off the 
 heavy dew. The " forty thieves " set to work to 
 build themselves huts, and before long a whole cordon 
 of camp fires surrounded the gipsy-like lodgings. 
 We were astir again by daylight, pursuing our 
 difficult track through dense forest and tangled 
 vegetation, which required both hands to protect the
 
 312 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 eyes, and both feet drawn up to avoid projecting 
 rocks, whilst one's pony slid down a slippery path ten 
 feet at a time. The transition from China to Burmah 
 with a bit of savagery between was most striking. 
 We descended on the second day after a long tedious 
 march to the jungle plains of Burmah, and trotted 
 off with delighted feelings some six miles on the 
 pleasant level to the first Burmese village, where the 
 brave captain put us up in his bamboo stake house. 
 The scene was novel indeed. Here were women going 
 about freely in the very slight dress of the Burraans, 
 displaying a shocking amount of their persons to 
 view. The third day took us to Bhamo in a clumsy 
 boat, and I arrived early in the afternoon at the 
 Political Resident's house. Since then Colonel 
 Browne has made a start, and we are living al fresco 
 in an open shed surrounded by a strange medley of 
 nationalities. The wild Kakhyens are in treaty with 
 us, and some two hundred boxes of treasure and 
 presents is being made over to them rapidly for 
 carriage. Just outside the village some hundreds of • 
 these rough brutes are encamped, and the bullocks 
 they have brought down for carrying our enormous 
 baggage roam all over the wild jungle for food. We 
 make excursions in the surrounding forests with our 
 guns, in search of peacocks, tigers, wild elephants, 
 and a host of wonderful game which abounds in the 
 vicinity. Yesterday Mr. Fforde and I had a long 
 ramble. Each had a boy guide and a tall sepoy in 
 attendance, and of course very soon lost sight of
 
 BHAMO. 313 
 
 each other in the jungle. I walked over acres of 
 marsh, sinking over knees among the reeds, and crept 
 into the forest through thorny openings made by 
 wild boars or other savage monsters. Footprints of 
 large tigers and innumerable beasts abounded, but 
 the forest was as still as death, and neither of us saw 
 anything at all. 
 
 Januaru 2Sth. — We have all collected now and are 
 under orders to start to-morrow morning. . . . Our 
 quarters are exceedingly simj)le and open to the 
 night air. I am sitting on the floor writing on my 
 tin desk.] 
 
 To F. E. E. 
 \_Bhamd. — February 5t/i, 1875. — The expedition is 
 not off yet, on account of those troublesome hillmen 
 with whom it is so difficult to treat. My last letter 
 was from Sawaddy, on January 28th, after we had 
 spent a whole week encamping in the jungle village, 
 surrounded by the wild Kakhyen hordes. It was 
 a fruitless attempt to get off by that route, and 
 after the daily pretexts for further delay, trumped 
 up by their ugly avaricious old chief (he with the 
 big hole in his ear filled with coils of gold ribbon), 
 Colonel Browne broke up his camp and resolved to 
 go the way I came, which is thirty miles farther 
 north of the Sawaddy passes. So we all returned 
 in detachments, and sent all our baggage, with 
 the fine old Sikhs, and the whole army of atten- 
 dants, on in boats to a village called Tsikaw,
 
 314 MAKGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 which lies at the foot of the other route some fifteen 
 miles from this. Some members of our expedition 
 have already gone up to settle themselves in their 
 new quarters, and Colonel Browne and I are to ride 
 up to-morrow. The road to Sawaddy was bad enough 
 to break our girths and stirrups, but here we shall 
 have to swim our animals over three large streams, 
 and ride over goat tracks under the cliffs. We were 
 in the midst of a very novel scene at Sawaddy, . . . 
 In order to put the picture before you more vividly, 
 I must try and make you imagine a vast plain here 
 profusely covered with forest and jungle, sometimes 
 of underwood, sometimes of thick grass, standing 
 fifteen feet high, such as buries the track to Sawaddy 
 out of sight. You must not think of smiling fields, 
 or picture to yourself farms and busy cultivation. 
 It is as wild as wild can be, with but few villages 
 between large places like Bhamo, Magoung, or Man- 
 dalay. This, to me, delicious burst of nature, is over- 
 looked by a long narrow range of high forest-clad 
 hills to the east, which it is our ambition to cross. . . 
 We were very nearly off by the Sawaddy route. The 
 whole of the baggage, with the exception of the boxes 
 which held the silver, was going over to the savages, 
 and when complications began to arise, I certainly 
 thought we were in for a row. But Colonel Browne 
 cut short further parley by telling them he would go 
 another way, and rode up to Bhamo to make new 
 arrangements. Dr. Anderson and I accompanied him, 
 and we had no easy ride. There was a nasty creek
 
 BHAMO. 315 
 
 to cross with a steep sandbank on the other side, 
 surmountable only through a narrow trench scarcely 
 affording room to dismount at its base. The water 
 was from two to three feet deep at its side. I 
 attempted to ride up, and my pony gave a bound out 
 of the water to rush up the bank, but not only did 
 my knees catch in the narrowing sides, but the 
 animal could not maintain its footing, and we simply 
 slid back into the water in a most ridiculous plight. 
 I then managed to spring off on the wrong side, and 
 ran up, leading my pony, who plunged so much that 
 the stupid beast knocked me down and knelt on me, but 
 we got up at last in a pretty state of ruin. Having 
 reached Bhamo and made all arrangements, we 
 dropped down to Sawaddy again by night in a boat. 
 Captain Cooke was to start next day for Tsikaw to 
 see the savage chiefs. . . I rode into Bhamo again 
 next morning with old Goggles in company, for I 
 wanted him to write some Chinese despatches. We 
 had great fun, anticipating Groggles' difficulties at the 
 creek, and the whole party had the cruelty to walk 
 out to see the fun. But I had a man to assist the old 
 chap, and he got up beautifully. We then started 
 off without a guide, and of course lost our way in the 
 jungle. Following what seemed a broad track, we 
 soon found it narrow into nothing. After trying- 
 back three times and wasting forty minutes, I at last 
 hit upon the right way, and we got into Bhamo 
 pretty hot. 
 
 Febnmry Qth. — We are just about to start off for
 
 316 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 Tsikaw. . . We shall be five days probably before 
 finally starting over the hills, and then I shall be 
 retracing my steps.] 
 
 To his Brother. 
 \_Tsikaw, Burmah, February 10th, 1875. — A very 
 welcome letter of yours, dated I don't know when 
 in the now distant past, reached me at the ancient 
 city of Momien among a whole heap of correspond- 
 ence forwarded after me by the consul at Hankow. 
 I have been wanting to write to you, old boy, for a 
 long time, but as each rare opportunity occurred I 
 was compelled to write long official yarns, which left 
 me little time for home. You have, however, I 
 hope, heard from time to time of my progress. I 
 was continually on the tramp for four months and a 
 half, and eventually got as far as Bhamo, being the 
 first European who has yet succeeded in coming 
 through. They thought I was lost, and Lord North- 
 brook telegraphed for another man, the result is 
 Clement Allen came round by sea and dropped into 
 our camp one night as we were at dinner in the 
 open air. So now there are two interpreters instead 
 of one. We have wasted a lot of time trying in vain 
 to get off, and from all I have seen of the dirty 
 brigands who live in the range of mountains that 
 bar our way to China, we shall be lucky to get off 
 in a fortnight more. Meantime we sit jawing in 
 the midst of a stinking crowd of savages. We 
 annihilate iime by shooting excursions in the sur-
 
 TSIKAW. 317 
 
 rounding jungle, and living alfresco in open bamboo 
 huts raised on piles, which are necessary for this 
 country to guard against floods, reptiles, et hoc genus 
 onine. We are supposed in a couple of days to take 
 our part in a disgusting ceremony with the savages 
 of swearing eternal friendship and concluding a 
 treaty. They will slaughter a bullock before us, and 
 the blood must be drunk all round after the chiefs 
 have dipped their spears into the revolting bowl. 
 They are a rum lot to deal with, and we have only 
 as yet succeeded in paying away a lot of money, and 
 being robbed of nearly all our liquor. There are 
 three routes through these brigand-infested hills. 
 Two have been already explored by the Sladen 
 expedition of 1867, and we tried to go by the 
 remaining Sawaddy line. We lived al fresco for a 
 week in a village of that name on the Irawady, and 
 gave over our boxes to the Kakhyens for carriage, 
 after which all sorts- of troubles arose, and they coolly 
 helped themselves to the contents of our baggage. 
 We ultimately got it back by surrounding the 
 dirty thieves with a Burmese rabble of a " brave 
 army," and removed our camp up here twenty-five 
 miles farther north to cross by the route I followed 
 in coming over. It is in the hands of different 
 clans. As most of us have little to do but amuse 
 ourselves, you may be sure we take fine excursions 
 into forest and jungle, marsh and lake, wherever 
 there is game at hand. Sawaddy was surrounded by 
 a wonderful jungle, and the forest at the back
 
 318 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 abounded in wild game. One morning, in the 
 pin\suit of peacocks, I came across tracks of tigers and 
 wild^boar, deer, and other things. Fforde and I started, 
 with sepoys to guai-d us, but soon separated, after 
 wading knee deep in green marshes ; the way into 
 the forest often led through a narrow tunnel made by 
 some wild beast through the thorny jungle. 
 
 Sunday, February l^ith. — We are not off yet, 
 although there are signs of an approaching start. 
 Inaction in a camp is fatal to high spirits and good 
 humour, though this is not the case with us, for we 
 meet over our late dinner with many a laugh and 
 joke, but my Chinamen have broken out into irritable 
 fits, and four of them tried to break each other's 
 heads the other day. I have a good deal of in- 
 fluence over them, and brought them to their senses 
 again after a sound lecture. . . I tell you what, old 
 boy, I don't find writing by any means a pleasant 
 occupation, squatted on the floor with a box for a 
 table, and a perfect plague of flies settling over my 
 face and hands. We have been stringing beads all 
 the morning to captivate the savages, and those 
 other fellows are at it still ; but as the whole mass 
 was put in basins of water first, my hands are like a 
 washerwoman's after fishing them out. I hope to 
 goodness we shall get off soon, for although snipe 
 and deer abound in the fields and jungle around us, 
 and we have a jolly swim every evening in the river, 
 it is anything but comfortable living long in a 
 rattan shed, open to Mn'nd and weather, getting
 
 TSIKAW. 319 
 
 every day more nuisty inside and out from the 
 accumulation of refuse and unavoidable dirt. Tlie 
 doctor's museum does not contribute towards sweeten- 
 ing the air, and a host of natives of various race and 
 complexion take kindly to grubbing. I often think of 
 you when we are in a particularly nice fix out riding, 
 and wonder what you would do, eh, old centaur ? 
 Would not your long legs have stuck in the mud at 
 some of the choicest mud-larks we have occasionally 
 come in for ! I smashed my bridle and girths the 
 other day in crossing a river. There was a steep 
 bank rising out of deepish water, and a narrow 
 cutting up it. My pony got restive and plunged up 
 the slope with a sudden bound out of the water, and 
 when we got half-way up my knees got jambed 
 against the sides, and the poor beast could not keep 
 his footing, so the result was a slide down backwards 
 into the river again. On coming over here we had 
 to swim our animals across three rivers. It was a 
 fine sight to see five or six ponies swimming on each 
 side of the canoe and the syces holding up their 
 heads by the bridles. We have an Arab and a huge 
 Australian, which are intended as presents ; the latter 
 kicked up no end of a row in the water, rearing, 
 and attempting to take passage in the canoe. 
 Colonel Browne gave me the prettiest pony of the lot, 
 but he shies badly. Out for a ride in the jungle the 
 other day, a dark deep ditch barred the way, and 
 while the others leapt over and galloped away I 
 spent about ten minutes trying to get my beast over,
 
 320 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 putting him at it again and again with terrific 
 results. It is not pleasant being left behind in the 
 gloaming with tigers kicking about. We have a 
 fine body-guard of fifteen Sikhs. They go in for 
 athletic sports, and as for swimming they are perfect 
 fishes. I never saw anything of the sort finer than 
 the way they plunged into the river the other day ; 
 with a run of thirty or forty yards, they sprang ofi" 
 the high bank, feet foremost, and disappeared in 
 the rushing current fifteen or sixteen feet out. Allen 
 and I go in every evening and attract a big crowd 
 of Kakhyens and Burmans, who live on the banks 
 above us, and seemed considerably astonished at our 
 little feats of swimming. We swam across one night, 
 the river is not above a hundred yards wide, but the 
 current carries you down a long way. I got giddy, 
 and came to an anchor in my depth till a canoe came 
 to pick me up. Here come a lot of these filthy 
 savages ; some of them speak Chinese, so I get along 
 splendidly with them. One of the Pawmynes (or 
 deputy chiefs) has taken a fancy to me (I hope it is 
 not too strong), and promised to get me some of 
 their dresses and ornaments. No time to write 
 more, but shall be able to write again from Momien. 
 
 To F. E. R. 
 
 [ Tsikaw, fifteen miles from Bhamo. — February 9th, 
 
 1875. — I have been out all tbe morning after snipe 
 
 with the colonel. We have been tramping through 
 
 mud and slush and sinking over knees in treacherous
 
 TSIKAW. ?m 
 
 marshes. At one place we got entangled in high 
 elephant grass, and had to cut our way out of it. 
 The four stalwart Sikhs who accompanied us hacked 
 away with their short swords and bent down the 
 thick grass to pave a way for us. We are encamped 
 on the banks of a small tributary of the Irawady 
 called the Tapeng, which flows by with a tre- 
 mendously strong current. It is about one hundred 
 yards wide, and we try to swim across occasionally, 
 but the stream of course carries us down a long way 
 before we reach the sandy stretch on the opposite 
 bank. The sun shines hot all day, and the refreshing 
 coolness of the water in the evening is delicious. 
 There is a large village of Burmese and Chinese here, 
 and we live in a deserted kyoung or priest's house, 
 just outside their stockade. The Kakhyens have not 
 yet infested up, but as it was arranged in the pre* 
 liminary parleys the other day with their chiefs, whrt 
 go by the titles of Tsanbwas, and Pawmynes, that 
 the bull sacrifice, by which horrid ceremony these 
 dirty ruffians conclude a treaty, shall take place in a 
 couple of days more, I shall expect to see their filthy 
 hordes encamping round next week. The only 
 result of our week's stay at Sawaddy, was, that the 
 dirty thieves broached all our liquor boxes, and 
 provision stores, about which few questions were 
 asked, and we are now reduced to the necessity of 
 writing down for fresh stores which may not catch 
 us after all. However, I do not believe we shall get 
 away for ten days yet. These brigands know too
 
 H22 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 well how to trump up excuses and squeeze money out 
 of us. We shall be accompanied through the hills 
 by a Burmese brave army, whose rabble ranks 
 surround us now with a cordon of huts — no unneces- 
 sary precaution in this tiger-teeming jungle. I am 
 going to make a trip to-morrow to a certain forest in 
 which the gorgeous peacocks perch about as numerous 
 as magpies. We are more comfortable up here than 
 we were at Sawaddy, and the air and water are 
 superior to Bhamo. 
 
 February 10/A. — We have put off the peacocks. 
 A flock of geese settled this morning on the sands 
 opposite, and Dr. Anderson and I dropped down 
 from above in a canoe till the unsuspecting birds 
 came within range, and then blazed away. I bagged 
 nine. He missed, but two wounded birds were seen 
 to separate themselves from the flock and settle in 
 the creeks away above the sandy stretch. We went 
 in pursuit, and had a veritable wild goose chase. It 
 was a frightful sell after all our trouble to lose our 
 game just as we had stalked it down by the pro- 
 voking report of a savage's gun hard by. The birds 
 had settled on a small island in such a position that 
 we could not approach within shot without wading 
 through the river for more than one hundred yards 
 behind a bank of reeds. It was the greatest fun in 
 the world. . . 
 
 February Vlth. — We are still here, but there is a 
 slight prospect of our getting off in three or four 
 days. The sacrifice is to be dispensed with out of
 
 TSIKAW. 323 
 
 respect to the Burmese repugnance for taking life. 
 The Kakhyens are flocking in now in ninn])ers, and 
 bring iis presents of vegetables and a fermented 
 drink like beer which they call " sherroo, " We let 
 them ascend to our raJtan floor (raised on stakes) 
 and apart from the novelty and indeed fun of chaff- 
 ing them and trying to buy their various curiosities, 
 it is by no means a savoury infliction. The shocks of 
 an electric machine produce a constant flow of merri- 
 ment, and we roar with laughter at the grimaces and 
 contortions of our savage guests while under its 
 treatment. The women are getting bold by this 
 time and come in considerable numbers, bringing us 
 their simple offerings of friendship. They are the 
 queerest creatures imaginable, and dirty beyond all 
 description. Yet we humour them, and there is no 
 small degree of coyness about them, which makes 
 them interesting in spite of their redstained lips and 
 unwashed legs. They wear the most marvellous 
 girdles of loose rings of rattan, split to the thickness 
 of a thread, and a belt covered with cowries. The 
 ears are pierced with big holes, in which they insert 
 silver tubes six inches long and adorned with tufts 
 of red cloth. We have been trying to-day to tempt 
 them to sell these strange ornaments for dazzling 
 bead-necklaces, bnt to no purpose. One creature 
 permitted me even to draw a tube out of her ear, but 
 my attempts at bargaining only produced good 
 humoured laughter from the men, and giggles from 
 the women. A Kakhyen has a horror of water, and 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 MAEGARY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 this evening we excited immense amusement and 
 screaming exclamations of surprise by diving into 
 the river and swimming about performing all sorts 
 of tricks on each other. The river is too swift to 
 admit of our stemming its current, so we dive in 
 above and swim down to a landing, and then run 
 back most unceremoniously along the bank to repeat 
 the operation. 
 
 Yesterday we went a long expedition with Dr. 
 Anderson fifteen miles across the opposite jungle 
 and bang into the Kakhyen hills. We met several 
 of these uncouth marauders, but I suppose they 
 would tLunk twice before attacking Europeans armed 
 with double barrelled guns, more especially as we 
 were not encumbered with attractive plunder. A 
 glorious sight certainly rewarded us for the weary 
 tramp, for we saw our Tapeng leaving the deep hills 
 by one of the most lovely gorges I ever saw, and 1 
 have seen many. We were too hot to risk a most 
 tempting bath in such a climate. Excursions like 
 this are of course of daily occurrence, and we live a 
 regular gipsy life. 
 
 Monday, February li)th. — I really believe we are 
 off in earnest to-day. It looks very like it. The 
 cramped Zayat is full of people packing up and 
 carrying off our personal luggage, while a whole 
 host outside are rapidly attaching the vast baggage 
 to pack saddles. There is a look of business about 
 them which augurs well for our progress. The 
 Woon has taken hostages from tlie Kakhyen chiefs.
 
 CONCLUSION. 325 
 
 arid vvc sluill in all probability go through their hills 
 without much delay. . . 
 
 We were awakened last night by a hideous yell 
 which appeared to our sleepy senses to overwhelm us 
 in the midst of a very pandemonium. It proceeded, 
 however, from the throats of our friends, and not 
 from bloodthirsty savages in a night raid. The 
 brave army of two or three hundred Burmans gave 
 tongue with terrific effect. If their bite were only 
 equal to their bark, we might laugh at our Kakhyen 
 marauders. The cause of the outcry was an un- 
 fortunate buffalo which dashed into our camp with a 
 gash across its sacrificial throat, followed by a savage 
 band with drawn dahs. The incident passed off 
 without disturbing our equanimity long. 
 
 Here the story, as told by Mr. Margary himself, 
 breaks off. What followed during the next five 
 days has been shortly told in the opening sketch, 
 and may be found more at length in Dr. Anderson's 
 * Mandalay to Momien.' To his kindly and sympa- 
 thetic notice of his young comrade the doctor adds, 
 page 451 : " He may be said to have bequeathed it 
 as a public duty — made more imperative by its being 
 tlie most fitting tril)ute to his worth — to establish in 
 those border lands the right of Englishmen to travel 
 unmolested." And, " for the present, above and 
 beyond the task of avenging his murder on the 
 guilty, of whatever rank they may be, his name will 
 be most fitly honoured by a party of his countrymen
 
 326 MAKGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 formally asserting their right to traverse, in honour 
 and safety, the route between Burinah and China, 
 which he was the first Englishman to explore, and 
 which should be maintained as his most durable 
 monument." 
 
 Already an investigation into the circumstances of 
 his murder, and the attack on the mission, is being 
 held in Yunnan, in the presence of Mr. Grrosvenor 
 and his staff representing England. It seems more 
 than probable that it will be avenged amply enough, 
 more amply indeed than he would have desired. 
 But whether, and how soon, his countrymen will be 
 able to travel in honour and safety the route which 
 he was the first to explore, will depend upon the 
 faithfulness with which they copy his example. As 
 soon as Englishmen shall be able, as he did, to find 
 *' the people everywhere charming, and the mandarins 
 extremely civil" (134) — in spite of all the serious and 
 petty vexations, discomforts, and discourtesies, which 
 met him day after day, and which he had to brush 
 aside with a firm hand, but without losing temper — 
 the route will open out, and become as safe to them 
 as it proved to him on his lonely westward journey. 
 For his short story, if read aright, and in spite of its 
 violent ending, adds yet another testimony that a 
 little genuine liking and sympathy for them, com- 
 bined with firmness, wnll go further and do more 
 with races of a different civilization from our own 
 than treaties, gunboats, and grape-shot, without it. 
 Tf the route is ever to be a durable and worthv
 
 CONCLUSION. 327 
 
 monument of the man, it must be opened and used 
 in his spirit, by fair means, and for beneficent ends. 
 If a reluctant consent is only forced from the Chinese 
 by threats of war, and the route becomes the high- 
 way for the ojDium traffic, it may enrich the spinners 
 of Lancashire, and the planters of Bengal, but it 
 will never be a true or satisfactory memorial of 
 Augustus Raymond Margary.
 
 C y2'.i ) 
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 
 
 By Sib Rutherpokd Aloouk, K.C.B. 
 
 I HAVE beeu requested to furiiisii a few notes tbat 
 may serve to complete tlie record of an expedition 
 brought to such an abrupt and untimely end, by 
 the murder of the author of the journal and letters 
 now given to the public. As tlie Minister at Pekin 
 when Mr. Margary first joined the consular service, 
 where his assiduity in the study of the Chinese 
 language at the Legation bi'ought him frequently 
 under my favourable notice, it was natural that 
 I should follow with interest his subsequent career, 
 which so fully realised the promise of his student 
 days at the capital. It is, perhaps, no less natural 
 that I should now be appealed to by his friends and 
 the publishers, to complete, as far as possible, the 
 interesting narrative which will be found in the 
 preceding pages. 
 
 It is too early yet to form any definitive judg- 
 ment as to the causes of the hostility the expedition 
 encountered on the Chinese borders. It would be 
 e(pially premature to anticipate the results of Mr.
 
 330 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 Grosvenor's mission. Whether he has succeeded in 
 obtaining trustworthy evidence as to who were 
 the responsible parties, and instigators of the 
 attack upon Colonel Browne's party, of which, as 
 Sir Thomas Wade has justly said, the murder at 
 Manwyiie was but one of the incidents, we do not 
 yet know. With whom the responsibility properly 
 lests for both hostile acts, either as planners or 
 perpetrators, cannot profitably be considered until 
 such authentic account of the inquiry as only the 
 Government will be in a position to furnish, with all 
 its details, is accessible. 
 
 As to the origin of the expedition. Sir Thomas 
 Wade [has told us that " the Government of India 
 having signified a desii'e to send a small mission 
 into Yunnan, a passport was obtained by the British 
 Legation from the Chinese Government to enable 
 four officers and gentlemen with their followers to 
 cross the frontier from the Burmese side, and that 
 Mr. Margary was sent with a separate passport to 
 meet the above mission under the leadership ol 
 Colonel Browne." Why the Indian Government 
 came to such a decision, and chose the particular 
 time selected for renewing an ' enterprise which had 
 led to no ver^' satisfactory result under Major 
 Sladen, are questions of considerable interest. We 
 learn from a narrative of both expeditions lately 
 published by Dr. Anderson,* that some years 
 
 * ' A Narrative of the Two Expeditions to Western China of 
 1868 antl 1875, under Colonel Edwaid B. Sladen and Colonel
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 331 
 
 previous to tlie date of that expedition in 1868, 
 the attention of British merchants at home and 
 in India had heen directed to the prospect of an 
 overland trade with Western China, and most "espe- 
 cially did this interest the commercial community of 
 Rangoon, the capital of British Burmah, and the port 
 of the great water highway of the Irawaddy, boast- 
 ing a trade the annual value of which had increased 
 in fifteen j^ears to 2,500,000/. The avoidance of 
 the long and dangerous voyage by the Straits and 
 Indian Archipelago, and a direct interchange of our 
 manufactures for the products of the rich provinces 
 of Yunnan and Sz-chuen, might well seem to be ad- 
 vantages which would richly repay almost any efforts 
 to accomplish this purpose." But the official answer 
 to both questions has been given in a despatch from 
 the Government of India to the Marquis of Salisbury 
 dated the 5th of March 1875, written after news had 
 been received of the disasters which had befallen the 
 Yunnan expedition. In this is embodied " a state- 
 meijt of the origin and progress of the expedition un- 
 dertaken by the Government of India in furtherance 
 of the wishes of Her Majesty's Government that 
 efforts should be made to explore trade routes 
 between British Burmah and Western China." 
 The despatch proceeds, " Your Lordship is aware 
 that the Government of India have never been 
 
 Horace Browne.' By John Anderson, M.B. — London : Maoniillau 
 A- Co., 1876.
 
 332 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 disposed to entertain sanguine expectations of the 
 advantages to be derived from the schemes which 
 have, from time to time, been proposed for the 
 exploration of the routes from Burmah to tlie 
 Western Provinces of China." To which is 
 added the fact that they became aware, from a 
 despatch of Her Majesty's Minister at Pekin of tlie 
 24th of July, 1873, "that in Mr. Wade's opinion 
 there was no prospect of trade across the borders 
 of Yuinian." The statement continues in the fol- 
 lowing terms : " While the matter still engaged our 
 consideration, we received the despatch from the 
 Secretary of State, No. 45, dated 2ord April, 1874, 
 in which we w^ere informed that recent reports from 
 the Chief Commissioner of British Burmah and the 
 Chinese frontier had convinced your Lordship of the 
 importance of institutiug an examination of the 
 country between British Burmah and the Chinese 
 froiitier, and the Secretary for State for Foreign 
 Affairs had been invited to instruct Her Majesty's 
 Representative in China to co-operate, should he 
 be aware of no objection to such a course, in aiding 
 the proposed expedition to Talifu and other ar- 
 rangements connected with the same purpose." It 
 was clearly therefore the act of the Secretary of 
 State for India — moved no doubt by tlie succes- 
 sive memorials of the Associated Chambers of 
 Commerce in tliis country, as well as in India and 
 China. 
 
 To a meicantile nation, the simple fact tliat there
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 333 
 
 was a possibility of a great shortening of distance, 
 and a diminution of danger in the transport of goods, 
 would be quite enough to justify strenuous efforts 
 to secure such results. And as to the particular 
 route, the further fact that the Burmese annals 
 testify to this having during several centuries been 
 the passage from China to Burmah for " invading 
 armies or for peaceful caravans," would naturally 
 direct those efforts in this direction. Perhaps, as 
 not wholly foreign to this predilection, the very 
 terms used in the treaty of peace that was signed nt 
 Bham6 in 1769, may have had their influence. 
 It was there stipulated that the " gold and silver 
 road " between the two countries should be re- 
 opened. But the truth is that long before, as well 
 as subsequent to that date, a good deal of attention 
 had been devoted to the development of a trade 
 by this route, in which British and Anglo-Indian 
 merchants might reasonably hope to participate 
 largely with mutual advantage. Not to speak of 
 references to this in the last century by Colonel "^^ 
 Symes, the East India Company's Envoy to xVva 
 in 1795, there has been a continuous series of 
 notices all tending to direct public attention to the 
 value of such a line of communication across Burmah 
 into China. Wilcox and Crawford in 1826, and 
 the Bengal Grovernment's map, published in 1827, 
 containing the best procurable information about 
 the Burmo-Chinese frontier, all point to the same 
 end. Colonel Bnrnev, our resident in Ava in
 
 334 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 1830, Pemberton later, and Haniiay, all made con- 
 tributions pointing to Yunnan and the north-eastern 
 boundaries of our Indian Empire, as naturally indi- 
 cated for commercial interchange. In 1862 the 
 Government of India, in prospect of a treaty being 
 negotiated with the king of Burmah, instructed 
 the British Commissioner, Sir. A. Phayre, to keep 
 in view the advisability of a stipulation for re- 
 opening the caravan route from Western China 
 by the town of Bhamo, and the concession of faci- 
 lities to British merchants to reside at that place 
 or to travel to Yunnan ; — and for Chinese from 
 Yunnan to have free access to British territory, 
 including Assam by Upper Burmah and the Ira- 
 waddy. Dr. Williams also, when resident at the 
 court of Mandalay, proceeded to Bhamo, a journey 
 of twenty-two days, to test the practicability of 
 a route in this direction through Burmah to Western 
 China. In a word, the opening of a practicable 
 trade route has, for a long series of years, been a 
 '* favourite project with Indian residents in Burmah, 
 and merchants, whether located there or at our 
 centres of trade in England. Even the French, who 
 by their late conquests and annexations in A nam and 
 Ton-Quin, have established themselves in the Indo- 
 Chinese peninsula, are seeking very perseveringly 
 to create a commerce and facilities of access into 
 Yunnan by means of a direct route from their own 
 possessions. And they appear to have found the 
 best and shortest route in tliis direction l>v the
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 335 
 
 Sankoi river. Unfortunately for the dev^elopment 
 of any large, trade the mouth of this river is 
 on the eastern instead of the v^^estern side of the 
 peninsula, and can only therefore offer facilities to 
 vessels having already incurred the delay and ex- 
 penses of a voyage through the Straits and up the 
 Chinese Sea — a long and more or less dangerous 
 navigation, which would be avoided by any route 
 starting either from the coast in the Gulf of Bengal, 
 or Rangoon. 
 
 Enough evidence is furnished by all these various 
 reports and explorations to show that European 
 travellers and traders had very early believed in the 
 importance of this field for commercial enterprise, 
 and the desirability of establishing lines of com- 
 munication between India and the western pro- 
 vinces of China, either through our north-eastern 
 frontiers in Assam, Tibet, or Burmah Nor has 
 there been wanting foreign aid to stimulate the 
 Indian government to active efforts to secure if possible 
 this end, for in 1848 Baron Otto des Granges pub- 
 lished a survey of the " Countries between Bengal 
 and Cliina, showing the great commercial and poli- 
 tical importance of Bhamo, and the practicability of a 
 direct trade overland between Calcutta and China." 
 
 In the meantime the Mahommedan rising in Yunnan, 
 by which the greater part of the province was lost 
 to the Chinese for some seventeen years, went far to 
 destroy all trade between China and Burmah : Dr. 
 Anderson tells us that the trade, wliieh in 1855
 
 336 MARGAKY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 represented half a million sterling per annum, had 
 almost entirely ceased when General Fytche, then Chief 
 Commissioner, anxiously pressed upon the Govern- 
 ment of India the importance of ascertaining the cause 
 of this cessation, and whether it was attributable to the 
 Mahommedan insurrection, or as alleged by some, to 
 Burmese policy ? He also urged the opportuneness 
 under the treaty of 18 02 of thoroughly examining 
 " the possibility and probable results " of reopening 
 the Bhamo trade route. 
 
 How far the time selected was really opportune in 
 the midst of an insurrection which extended over the 
 whole province, and a civil war raging close 
 to the frontiers of Burmah and China, may be 
 considered very questionable. If the chief objects 
 of the expedition were, to use the words of 
 General Fytche, " to discover tlie cause of tlie 
 cessation of the trade formerly existing by these 
 routes, the exact position held b}^ the Kakhyens, 
 Shans, and Panthays (the latter being the Mahom- 
 medan insurgents) with reference to that traffic, and 
 their disposition or otherwise to resuscitate it, also 
 to examine the physical conditions of these routes," 
 it cannot be doubted that we were engaging in an 
 enterprise that must necessarily involve official rela- 
 tions with the men in open rebellion with our ally 
 at Pekin, and could not fail to be regarded with 
 suspicion and dislike by the Chinese Government. 
 That this was one of the most prominent results of 
 Major Sladen's expedition in 1808, and that it has
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 337 
 
 had some sinister connection with the tragic termi- 
 nation of the second, seems distinctly traceahle, in 
 the journal and letters included in this volume, as 
 well as by all the information which has since been 
 obtained. Of course it is impossible to say what 
 may be the precise extent of these influences, unless 
 the Grosvenor mission supply us with fresh facts. 
 But the charges so freely made against Lee~see-tai, 
 as the immediate instigator, if not the actual leader 
 of the Chinese force which attacked Colonel Browne's 
 party, pointed to his previous relations, as the Chinese 
 commander on the border when Major Sladen crossed 
 it under the protection of the Panthay chiefs, and 
 resided for a term in their camp at Momien. It is 
 indeed clearly shown that this visit, and the friendly 
 relations established by Major Sladen with the Mussul- 
 man chiefs of the rebellion, had a more decisive 
 and disastrous influence on the fate of the insurgents, 
 than either they or Major Sladen could have well 
 anticipated. It is true that the chiefs, and the Sultan, 
 as he was styled, were not without hope of securing 
 some powerful support by means of relations to be 
 established with the British for commercial objects 
 only. But they could little have foreseen that the 
 fact of such relations being contemplated, and the 
 possibility of foreign aid being obtained by the 
 insurgents, should have so alarmed the Chinese Go- 
 vernment as to lead them to make a supreme effort 
 to stamp out the rebellion. Certain it is that such 
 effort was successfully made ; and it dates from the 
 
 z
 
 338 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 arrival of Major Sladen's party at Momein, and the 
 subsequent despatch of the Sultan's son Hassan to 
 Europe on a mission to the British Government, 
 seeking for help. But for these events, it seems more 
 than probable that this insurrection, like so many 
 others in China, might have been allowed to smoulder 
 on for many years longer, witliout any adequate 
 effort being made by the Chinese Government to put 
 it down. It is impossible to doubt, that if the ap- 
 pearance of an expedition headed by a British officer 
 on the Chinese border, and the establishment of 
 friendly relations with the insurgent chiefs, could so 
 deeply move the Imperial authorities and govern- 
 ment, and excite so much alarm as to lead to the 
 concentration of all their forces for the destruction 
 of the rebels, the expedition itself is not likely to 
 have been forgotten. It is equally improbable that 
 the hostile feeling it created should have wholly dis- 
 appeared in the breasts of the Imperial soldiers 
 and authorities engaged at the time in a death- 
 struggle with the insurgents. 
 
 Dr. Anderson, in his account of the two expeditions, 
 to both of which he was attached, cannot avoid 
 referring to the untoward connection between the 
 first and the second. In speaking of the intermediate 
 events and relations with the Panthays, he says : 
 
 "It was a necessary, but regretable consequence of 
 the reception given to the first expedition by the 
 Governor of Momien, that we maintained friendly 
 relations with successive Residents. It appeared
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 389 
 
 desirable, with a view to maintain the security of the 
 trade route, to keep on friendly, though strictly 
 neutral, terms with the holders of the commanding 
 position of Momien. It is, doubtless, easy to look 
 back, and be wise after the event ; but rightly or 
 wrongly, the intercourse once begun could not well 
 be abandoned ; at all events, it was judged prudent 
 to maintain it. It certainly created in the minds of 
 the Chinese at Bhamo a distinct impression that the 
 interests of there possible commercial rivals and of 
 their actual foes were identified. The Kakhyen 
 chiefs of the southern route even complained that 
 since they and the Shans had become friends of the 
 English, the Bhamo Chinese were no longer amicably 
 disposed towards them. The presents sent by the 
 Residents from time to time were doubtless magni- 
 fied by popular imaginaticm, and neither side found 
 it easy to believe that the sole object was the as- 
 surance of safe and commodious transit. Thus at 
 least it may be conjectured, from the study of the 
 course of subsequent events, as well as from the 
 manifestations of feeling on the part of both Panthays 
 and Chinese.'' 
 
 Again, we are told further on, that " the conflicting 
 accounts and reports which were brought in, and 
 which enable us in some degree to trace the progress 
 of events in Yunnan, which led to the complete 
 overthrow of the Mahommedan power, all combined 
 to show that from the time of the visit to Momien, 
 the Chinese Government would seem to have aroused 
 
 z 2
 
 340 MAEGAEY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 itself to the necessity of recovering the ahnost lost 
 province." The distinction here sought to be drawn 
 between relations that should be " friendly " with a 
 province in active rebellion, " and yet strictly neutral" 
 is much too fine and subtile for the Chinese intellect. 
 Both in the popular and the official mind, such a plea 
 would make no appreciable difference in their estimate 
 of the proceeding — and its object. That it was giving 
 strength and encouragement to their enemies, and 
 therefore disloyal in a friendly nation, was the only 
 conclusion they could be expected to draw. Still less 
 was it likely they would form any more favourable 
 opinion, seeing that they had a very similar ex- 
 perience of our opening friendly relations, for com- 
 mercial objects, with another insurgent chief in 
 Turkestan, Yakob Beg, who had already wrested a 
 large territory from their rule, and was seeking in 
 Russia and England, his northern and southern 
 neighbours, both support and alliances. Sir Douglas 
 Forsyth's expedition to Yarkand in 1870, and the 
 subsequent convention or treaty entered into with 
 Yacob, another Mahommedan rebel, must have greatly 
 tended to confirm the deep distrust of the Chinese 
 in our good faith on either border. 
 
 If I insist upon this in some detail it is not with a 
 view of attaching blame to the chief actors, or the 
 responsible authors of both expeditions, but to show 
 the importance in reference to the future, of observing 
 a certain logical sequence in the events — and the 
 necessity of not overlooking the relation in which
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTEK. 341 
 
 they stand to each other. The second expedition, in 
 which Mr. Margary lost his life, was the heir of the 
 first, and reaped the fruit of the seeds sown in 1868 
 at Momien. Major Sladen's expedition, so fatal to 
 the Mahommedan cause in Yunnan, was scarcely less 
 prejudicial to the success of the second expedition led 
 by Colonel Browne. And if any future efforts in 
 this direction are to be made with better success, we 
 must address ourselves to the consideration, how the 
 misgivings and animosities which have contributed so 
 largely to the failure of the two now on record, may 
 best be removed ? It is true, that in the last of these 
 missions we are held to have had the full sanction of 
 both the governments concerned ; the Burmese on 
 the one side, and the Chinese on the other. But a 
 question has been raised how far this is true ? And 
 certainly the Blue Book recently issued on the 
 * Indian Expedition to Western China,' is not as con- 
 clusive on this head as might be desired. That pass- 
 ports were given at Pekin, on the application of the 
 British minister for Mr. Margary to proceed to, and 
 for the officers to come from Burmah, is beyond 
 doubt. But there is a distinct disclaimer on the part 
 of the Prince of Kung, in the subsequent corre- 
 spondence with Sir Thomas Wade, of any informa- 
 tion as to the ulterior object both of Mr. Margary's 
 journey and the Indian mission. That this object was 
 to establish a caravan route into Western China from 
 Burmah ; to assert a permanent right of access for 
 British traders, and establish a trade in Yunnan, by
 
 342 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 sending goods across the border overland, was of 
 course known to all foreigners. But was this ex- 
 plained, or any attempt made to explain the real 
 purpose of the mission, to the Tsungli yamen ? and 
 did they in effect understand what was the object 
 proposed ? In the absence of more precise information 
 than the Blue Book supplies, it is impossible to say ; 
 but Lord Northbrook in proposing a mission to Ta-Li 
 Fu himself telegraphed to the India Office : " Agree- 
 ment of Chinese Government an essential prelimi- 
 nary." And the Earl of Derby had pointed out to the 
 Marquis of Salisbury that "Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment had no right to appoint consuls at any places 
 in China, except the Treaty-ports, and that there were 
 grave difficulties in the way of establishing consulates 
 or British communities in the far interior of China 
 where British protection could not be extended to 
 them in case of danger, which, in the present state 
 of the Chinese Empire, is in some shape, constantly 
 threatening foreigners, and which the Government of 
 Pekin, even if well disposed to do so, can often only 
 imperfectly guard against." While a year antecedent 
 to this Sir Thomas Wade had written : " As to the 
 prospect of trade across the border of Yunnan, I regret 
 to say there is none. The western and south-western 
 frontiers are as jealously guarded as ever." Yet the 
 expedition started, and Mr. Margary was despatched 
 to meet it with a passport from the British minister 
 countersigned (sealed) by the Chinese Foreign Office. 
 So far they obviously had cognizance of the two
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER 343 
 
 parties being engaged to meet in Cliiua^ and that 
 from Burmah passing over the border. But how 
 much more did they know ? The Tsungli yamen, 
 in a memorandum of the 22nd of March 1875, 
 states that " the original understanding with re- 
 ference to the Indian expedition was that the pur- 
 pose in view was travel. Nothing was said of any 
 other objects ; and the province, in fact, is not one of 
 those comprising ports open to trade." If this be 
 true, the Chinese Government has certainly some 
 ground for complaint. And what is still more im- 
 .portant perhap.=j, in one sense at least, the exj)edition 
 had no fair chance of succeeding in its real object, 
 since that must have essentially depended upon the 
 willingness of the Chinese authorities, not onl}^ to 
 make a very large concession, to winch they had 
 always evinced the greatest repugnance, but a funda- 
 mental change in their relations with other Treaty 
 Powers, as well as ourselves. 
 
 To this negation of the Tsungli yamen there is no 
 rejoinder in the Blue Book. The answer actually 
 sent by the British minister appears to be given i?i 
 extenso in the Blue Book, under date March 25, 1875, 
 in an official despatch addressed to the Prince of 
 Kung. In this Mr. Wade observes that when he 
 applied last summer for the passports, the 3'araen was 
 informed of the official character of this mission, and 
 adds, " I stated that the passports were applied for, 
 in the terms of Article IX. of the treaty, as for 
 persons touring, not travelling for })urposes of trade,"
 
 344 MARGAKY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 And ill the preceding paragraph he gives, what pro- 
 bably was intended to convey at the time referred to, 
 all the information which was thought necessary, to 
 the following effect : " The Government of India 
 desiring to possess itself of information that might 
 prove useful to the traders of the province of British 
 Burmali, between whom and the province of Yunnan 
 there is in times of peace a considerable traffic, 
 resolved to. send a mission headed by an officer, who 
 would be accompanied by three or four gentlemen. 
 They were to make a tour through the province and 
 report upon the conditions of trade." Whether such 
 an announcement as this was all that was required — 
 or whether other and more precise information as to 
 the ulterior object of the mission may not have 
 actually been given — are questions which cannot be 
 satisfactorily answered witliout further information. 
 But this much may be very confidently affirmed, 
 that there was no reasonable prospect of any satis- 
 factory result, by any intercourse or negotiation with 
 the provincial authorities, of establishing a trade, or 
 obtaining commercial concessions and facilities of any 
 kind, without the full concurrence and authority of 
 the Central Government. It is possible, however, 
 that in sending the expedition, it was hoped such 
 preliminary information might be obtained as would 
 pave the way for some ulterior concession or ti-ading 
 facilities, which would be so much gained, without, in 
 the meantime, committing either government to any 
 more formal act or policy. But the event seems to
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 345 
 
 show, if this wei-e the case, that the chances of success 
 had been miscalculated, and the damnosa hceredltas of 
 the first expedition, and our subsequent missions 
 to Yarkand, had not been sufficiently weighed. We 
 must not complain that our reputation in the East 
 takes its complexion from our conquests and progress 
 in India, the history of which, in broad outline at 
 least, is perfectly well-known in China, if not over 
 all Asia. How we began by asking for a privilege 
 to trade, and ended by annexing provinces after 
 disastrous wars is no secret. Whatever explanations 
 or defence we may have to ofler, as to the causes 
 of this irrepressible advance from trading factories 
 to Empire, we can scarcely expect any Eastern 
 sovereign or people to attach much credit to them. 
 We must be content to trade and to negotiate, 
 weighted with this heavy burden of distrust and 
 suspicion. 
 
 It seems impossible to maintain that the mere 
 consent of the Tsungli yamen to affix the Foreign 
 Office seal to the passports issued by Sir Thomas 
 Wade, conveyed any " agreement of the Chinese 
 Government with the objects of the mission " either 
 as to the opening of a trade route from Burmah, 
 or the establishment of a British official at Ta-Li 
 Fu, or at " inland centres to watch proceedings, 
 and on occasion to remonstrate with the local 
 authorities ;" — as the Minister announced after the 
 event, in his reply to the memorandum of the 
 22nd of March, above quoted. The Tsungli yamen
 
 346 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 might at all events with truth rejoin, as they 
 did, " that no proviso exists authorising foreign 
 governments to station officials in the interior of 
 China ; and although Yunnan is conterminous with 
 the kingdom of Burmah, the Chinese Grovernment 
 has never by the terms of any enactment given 
 sanction to trade carried on within the limits of a 
 subject state." Nor does it seem that this objection 
 is satisfactorily met by the rejoinder of the British 
 minister, in his despatch of the 25th of March, that 
 the " right to remain in the interior under passport 
 can no more be denied to British subjects^ official or 
 non-official, than it is denied to the Romish mission- 
 ary." It would seem to be a strained interpretation 
 of the treaty clauses touching j^assports and the 
 right of travel or residence in the interior, to say 
 that " if the Grovernment of India saw fit to send a 
 second mission under the same form of passport into 
 Yunnan, and were to direct it to remain there for a 
 longer or a shorter space of time as it might deter- 
 mine, it would be under treaty at perfect liberty to 
 do so, should this course appear to it essential to the 
 accomplishment of the object of the mission." They 
 not only may fairly dispute such a forced interj)reta- 
 tion of existing treaties, but with their knowledge of 
 the past in India — Burmah and China Proper — be 
 determined, so far as their power extends, to resist 
 any attempt to introduce clauses to this effect, or 
 otherwise sanction any steps for establishing centres 
 of British trade in Yunnan ; lest in course of time that
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTEE. 347 
 
 experience should be renewed, and trade be speedily 
 followed by quarrels, disputes, wars, and conquest. 
 
 Having thus traced the connection between the 
 two expeditions and the apparently natural sequence 
 of events, culminating so unfortunately in the 
 disaster at Manwyne, and the attack by an armed 
 force on Colonel Browne's party, we may pass 
 on to the consideration of the advantages gained 
 by the adventurous journey of Mr. Margary, 
 and the lessons to be derived from the narrative 
 he has left us in his journal. We cannot read 
 either this, or the letters to his family, without 
 noticing the powers of observation he brought 
 to his task, and the freshness and directness of 
 purpose in all he writes. These give a charm to 
 the narrative, even when the incidents are not of 
 any very striking character ; and when trouble and 
 danger threaten to arrest his progress and try his 
 courage, we admire his ready command of resources, 
 without a moment's doubt that the events are re- 
 corded exactly as they happened, and with perfect 
 truth. This gives great value to all he tells us of 
 the demeanour of the officials and the conduct of 
 the people, while it throws considerable light on a 
 subject hitherto only imperfectly known — the rela- 
 tions maintained between the provincial authorities 
 and the population, at a distance from Pekin, and 
 away from the coast, together with the amount of 
 obedience rendered by both to the decrees of" the 
 Sovereign power at Pekin.
 
 348 MAKGAEY'S JOUENEY. 
 
 Passing in review the results of the expedition 
 on both sides of the border, we are led to conclude 
 that the best fruit is to be found in the knowledge 
 acquired of the physical geography of the whole line 
 of country from Hankow to Bhamo, together with 
 the condition of the populations through which Mar- 
 gary passed on his way to the latter place, and 
 Colonel Browne's party on the Burmese side. The 
 treacherous and predatory habits of many of the 
 intervening Kakhyen and Shan tribes extending 
 over one hundred and fifty miles of a difficult 
 mountain region was fully ascertained, and indeed, 
 with so large an experience as to compel Colonel 
 Browne to change his route after having attempted 
 the Sawaddy line on which Li-sieh-tai had gone 
 from the Chinese side, as far as Muangmow, pro- 
 fessedly, to meet and forward the expedition. I say 
 professedly, because when Mr. Elias did make his 
 way alone to the point indicated, Dr. Anderson tells 
 us Li-Sieh-tai raised insuperable difficulties, from the 
 alleged unsettled state of the country and anxiety 
 for his safety. Endless attempts at extortion and 
 imposition in reference to the means of transport, 
 delays on evershifting and doubtful pretexts, had 
 previously convinced Colonel Browne however, that 
 he could not safely trust his party to such keeping. 
 The Pontine route, which had been taken on the 
 first expedition by Major Sladen in 1868, was thus 
 finally decided on. 
 
 In the midwt of these contentions about baggage
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTEE. 349 
 
 nnd payments, orders came from Mandalay that the 
 Burmese guard should escort the mission right up to 
 the nominal frontier of Burmah and China, or to 
 Kwotloon, instead of Mansay, as previously arranged 
 and approved by the Kakhyens, whose opinion of the 
 change was not given. We are not left in much doubt, 
 however, as to the spirit in which it was received. 
 On the morning fixed finally for a start, a number 
 of gunshots disturbed the party at breakfast. The 
 Kakhyens had endeavoured to remove the reserve 
 clothes boxes from the charge of the Sikhs on guard, 
 and to add theui to the general baggage, which was 
 resisted. The Burmese tsitkay expressed uneasiness 
 as to the temper of the Kakhyens, and seemed to 
 fear a collision with them, as they numbered about 
 four hundred men armed with muskets, and there 
 evidently existed some ill-feeling between the two. 
 It further appeared in the course of the day, that 
 the Paloungto chief in charge of the caravan had not 
 entered into any convention with the other Tsawbahs 
 or chiefs on the route who might object, and would 
 certainly make their own terms. In the meantime, 
 the inveterate curiosity and pilfering habits of the 
 hillmen were exemplified by their boring holes in 
 several provision tins, the holes being afterwards 
 carefully stopped with cotton. " The sugar, salt, and 
 bags of rice were all taken toll of, and sundry bottles 
 of brandy had mysteriously disappeared. It was 
 subsequently discovered that the screws had been 
 withdrawn from the boxes." Dr. Anderson suggests
 
 350 MARGAEY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 that a number of wild hillmen detained in the place 
 for a fortnight with scanty provisions must not be 
 judged too severely for petty thieving — but there 
 must have been an unpleasant want of security for 
 their honesty in larger matters. Colonel Browne no 
 doubt exercised a sound discretion therefore, in de- 
 clining to trust himself and his party to their convoy. 
 Returning to Bhamo, he determined to enter the 
 upper or northern road, thoroughly explored by his 
 predecessor six years before, and respecting which 
 full information had been obtained, concerning its 
 physical and social conditions. The suspicious bear- 
 ing of the Paloungto chief, which was the main 
 ground for the change. Dr. Anderson thinks may have 
 been greatly due to his dislike of the Burmese, who 
 were taking part in all the aiTangements. He 
 certainly, with his brother of Warrabone, gave a 
 very friendly reception to Mr. Elias, and Captain 
 Cooke, who had proceeded on the original line, un- 
 encumbered by baggage, the source of much delay 
 and danger to the rest of the party. They even 
 seemed anxious to prove the absence of any " ill- 
 feeling." Be this as it may, it is obvious that much 
 patient and skilful preparation would be required 
 wuth all these Tsawbahs and petty chieftains, — in- 
 dependent, or quasi-independent, and wholly savage 
 hill tribes, — to secure a passage through for any 
 commerce, free from robbery or extortion. 
 
 The second start from Bhamo, by the northern 
 route to Manwyne, seemed to commence under
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 351 
 
 happier auspices. The Woon or chief Burmese 
 officer there showed every disposition to facih'tate 
 their progress and provide for their safety. After a 
 conference had been held with the Tsawbahs of the 
 northern hills, it was agreed that the hire to be paid 
 per mule should be seven rupees and eight annas, 
 besides a fee or tax of five rupees for each animal. 
 Many robberies had been latterly complained of by 
 the merchants frequenting the road, and frequent -^ 
 levying of black mail. An agreement in Burmese 
 accordingly was drawn up and duly signed, by which 
 it was stipulated tliat the party should be conveyed 
 in safety to Manwyne, at which place presents were 
 to be distributed. As guarantee of good faith, the 
 sons of three of the Tsawbahs were to be left at 
 Bhamo as hostages. A large influx of the subjects 
 of these chiefs came from the hills — " little scowlino- 
 women and half savage men." Margary alludes to 
 this descent of the hill people in one of his letters, 
 who he describes as the " queerest creatures imagin- 
 able, and dirty beyond all description." He speaks of 
 their visits, and the roars of laughter, and constant 
 flow of merriment induced by the novel experience 
 of the shock of an electric machine, and the grimaces 
 and contortions which were excited. At last the 
 preparations were all completed, and the 14th of 
 February was fixed as the date for starting, in order 
 that a Chinese caravan should precede them — with 
 a view as the Tsare-daw-gyee curiously remarked 
 — that if the Kakhyens intended to attack either
 
 352 MAEGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 ^«£ 
 
 party, " he would give them the opportunity to do 
 both, that their might he no mistakes." This might 
 not appear to be an arrangement calculated to 
 give much assurance of safety. No more was the 
 report that orders had been received at Manwyne 
 from the Governor of Momein, that the English 
 mission was to be treated " according to custom," 
 without any explanation of what the Manwyne 
 custom consisted ? However, there were no mis- 
 givings apparently among tlie party, although a 
 squabble between the associated chiefs about the mule 
 hire, a third of which had been paid the previous day 
 to one for the rest, who was charged with retain- 
 ing it all, was not altogether satisfactory. This 
 was followed by a violent altercation between the 
 Kakhyen Ponsee, and the Burmese Choung-oke or 
 guard, with threats of shooting and cutting down, 
 but ended only in mutual abuse, in which the 
 Burmese seems to have had the best of it by sheer 
 strength of lungs. The muleteers, in the meantime 
 having been delayed by these various contentions, 
 unloaded their animals and drove them off ! Finally, 
 however, the day having a good many hours between 
 -sunrise and sunset, a start was accomplished, and the 
 caravan " filed off, preceded by Margary and Allan, 
 with a division of the Burmese guard," the departure 
 having taken place from Tsitbaw, a village some few 
 miles in advance of Bhamo. Dr. Anderson tells us 
 that the travellers observed by the roadside, " several 
 women sitting with " carafes of water, each containing
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 353 
 
 a flower, from which they poured libations as they 
 muttered prayers for our safety, and in the three 
 succeeding villages the road was lined with women 
 similarly occ\]pied So pleasantly and propitiously 
 the expedition started on the 16th, to return six 
 days later in full retreat, — and one, the most hopeful 
 and active of their party — left dead with all his 
 attendants, in Manwyne. Colonel Browne, in the 
 rear, surrounded by Chinese troops, had been obliged 
 to fight his way back. From the first victim in 
 this act of treacherj', we have no information after 
 his arrival in advance at Seray, on the morning of 
 the 20th, whither he had gone as a pioneer, to see 
 if the road was safe, after various warnings of 
 danger ahead had reached Colonel Browne. In a 
 letter despatched from thence, he announced that so 
 far the road was safe, and all the people met with were 
 civil, and that he was about to proceed to Manwyne. 
 On the strength of this communication, although 
 the Tsare-daw-gyee urged that no movement should 
 be made until the news of Margary's reception at 
 Manwyne reached them, Colonel Browne resolved to 
 proceed on, and, if possible, reach that town in one 
 march. The camp was struck, and, crossing the river 
 Mampoung, they entered China. But after a march 
 of eight miles they halted for tlje night in a clearing, 
 where they bivouacked in the open. The Burmese 
 guard were on the alert all night, but the Tsawbahs 
 of Wancheoun and Ponwah visited the camp, and 
 they had heard nothing of any suspicious movements 
 
 2 A
 
 354 MARGAKY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 of troops, and the other Shans who brought fowls 
 for sale confirmed this. Their interpreter Monng 
 Yoh, a nephew he called himself of Li-sieh-tai the 
 Chinese general, returned to the camp in company 
 with the Seray men, and reported that the Seray chief 
 was dissatisfied on account of the payment of the 
 mule tax having been made to Sala, which, however, 
 had been done with the consent of his son. Moung 
 Yoh then suggested that presents should be sent to 
 Seray, whom he had discovered to be a great friend 
 of his uncle, Li-sieh-tai, and to whose house he 
 returned the same evening to await their arrival, but 
 who disappeared altogether after the attack. 
 
 The morning of the 21st found them ready for a 
 start, but the Tsare-daw-gyee had apparently de- 
 termined to remain in the camp until definite news 
 came from Margary. Colonel Browne resolved, not- 
 witlistanding, to jDush on to Seray, and the camp was 
 left in charge of the Kakhyens and the Burmese. 
 There were some incidents on the road of a disturb- 
 ing character, and at Seray an uneasy apprehension 
 of danger was apparent. A Burman messenger 
 from the camp urged their return, and it was found 
 that during their absence the Burmese had thrown 
 up barricades commanding tlie road to Serai. The 
 Tsare-daw-gyee announced to Colonel Browne that 
 they would certainly be attacked by the Chinese 
 either that evening, or on the march next day. Some 
 men were observed peering down from among the 
 trees on the hill brow, as if reconnoitring, and the
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 355 
 
 Burmese who were collecting firewood enme running 
 down as fast as they could. 
 
 About seven o'clock the next morning large bodies 
 of armed men were observed on the heights hurrying 
 downwards in the direction of Shitee, as if to cut off the 
 retreat of the party, and there was no mistaking their 
 hostile purpose. While preparations were in progress 
 to resist any attack, the Tsare-daw-gyee, Dr. Ander- 
 son tells us, " appeared with a very serious counte- 
 nance, and produced two letters received from the 
 Burmese agents at Manwyne. They briefly narrated 
 the horrible murder of Mr. Margary on the previous 
 day at Manwyne ; his writer and other attendants 
 were also reported to have been killed. No par- 
 ticulars were given, but he was warned that we were 
 about to be attacked, and that it would be for his 
 own interest to detach himself by some miles from 
 the English, failing which precaution he would 
 incur the same danger, although the Chinese bore 
 no ill-will to him and his party." Contrasting this 
 determined hostility and open war with Margary 's 
 letter of the 13th of January previously, written on 
 the spot scarcely a month before, at Manwyne, where 
 he says, " I intend to seek exercise with my gun ; I 
 come and I go without meeting the slightest rudeness 
 among this charming people, and tliey address me 
 with 1 he greatest respect " — it is difficult to account 
 for the sudden and total change. It is true that in 
 tliis same letter he says, in speaking of some delays 
 occasioned by the arrival of a Burmese guard of forty 
 
 2 A 2
 
 366 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 men for his escort over the frontier, who were foot- 
 sore and required rest : " There are wheels within 
 wheels innumerable, and intrigues going on which 
 require my most careful watchfulness. The Burmese 
 want to thwart our expedition, and Li himself some 
 seven years ago attacked our last expedition, and may 
 not be entirely free from enmity. But I have a very 
 powerful engine in the will and express commands 
 of the great viceroy at Yunnan, who has been an al- 
 most unexpected friend and ally throughout." But as 
 regards this suspicion or doubt in his mind as to 
 Li-sieh-tai's enmity, he speaks of his reception, under 
 date of the 11th, in a letter to his parents from 
 Manwyne : — 
 
 " A furious ex-brigand, called Li-sieh-tai, who 
 attacked our last expedition in 1867^ has been re- 
 warded lately for his services against the rebels with 
 a military command over all this country. He is 
 here, and I felt much curiosity to see how he would 
 receive me. To my surprise he prostrated himself, 
 and paid me the highest honours. I had a most 
 successful interview. He sent for a few notable 
 townsmen and the chieftain of the savages, and 
 introduced me with the greatest respect. We sat in 
 a small room, badly lighted, quite a conclave, and 
 carried on a regular battery of mutual buttering. Li 
 told them that I had come protected by an imperial 
 edict, and that they had better take care of me." 
 
 The most suspicious circumstance here is the ex- 
 aggerated respect paid by Li-sieh-tai. Outwardly,
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 867 
 
 there was nothing but honour and respect for his 
 mission. As regards the disposition of the Bur- 
 mese king or ojBScials to thwart the expedition, it is 
 impossible to read Dr. Anderson's interesting and 
 trustworthy account of both expeditions, and not 
 believe that they are absolved from any plotting 
 on the last occasion, and the testimony of the whole 
 party shows that the Burmese guard fought bravely 
 and with great loyalty. Intrigues from Bhamo 
 on the part of the Chinese traders there, or the 
 Chinese and Burmese together, there may have been, 
 but these should be carefully distinguished from 
 any action of the king or his authorities. 
 
 In the proceedings on the Chinese side, the cir- 
 cumstances are very different. Everything tends 
 to implicate in the most direct manner the autho- 
 rities, since troops could not possibly be moved, 
 nor an attack of so grave a character, in a political 
 aspect, be adventured upon by military commanders 
 on their own responsibility, or with no higher 
 sanction than subordinate civilians could give. Both 
 as regards the murder and the attack, we must await 
 the information it was the business of the Grrosvenor 
 mission to obtain, before we can safely form a judg- 
 ment as to the apportionment of responsibility and 
 guilt among the different parties. Dr. Anderson 
 says that the attacking party undoubtedly consisted 
 largely of thePonsee and Seray Kakhyens, and the 
 son of Seray was detected by the report of his 
 double-barrelled gun, a present to his father at the
 
 368 MAEGAKY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 time of the former expedition. The only satisfactory 
 feature in the whole business seems to have been the 
 staunchness both of the Burmese and the Kakhyen 
 escort. The safety of the whole party was greatly due 
 to the Shitee Tsawbwha and his Kakhyens with those 
 of Woonkah, having at a critical moment fired the 
 forest in front of the attacking party. Dr. Anderson 
 bears willing testimony to this fact, and adds : " Our 
 Burmese showed great spirit, and the Tsare-daw-gyee 
 from first to last was deserving of the highest praise." 
 
 Thus ended the second of the two expeditions, of 
 both of which, it may, I think, be truly said they 
 were equally unfortunate in their inception and con- 
 clusion. The time chosen for both would seem to 
 have been peculiarly unpropitious. In the first, because 
 it was suggested by an erroneous calculation that the 
 Yunnan rebellion had secured the province for a 
 Mussulman dynasty, and that the Chinese Govern- 
 ment was incapable of the necessary effort to recover 
 it. The event proved that the mere suspicion of a 
 desire on our part to enter into alliance, roused them 
 sufficiently to pour army after army into the wasted 
 province, and wage a war of extermination which 
 scarcely left a Mussulman to tell the tale within the 
 limits of Yunnan, While the permanent result of 
 the questionable attempt on our part to establish 
 friendly relations with the insurgents, is a legacy of 
 distrust and ill-will on the part of the Chinese 
 within the border, if not of the Government at Pekin. 
 
 After such experience, it is evident that no move-
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 359 
 
 ment could be made in this direction with a chance 
 of success, unless a clear understanding could have 
 been first established with the Chinese Grovernment 
 as to the real object. The concurrence of both the 
 Emperor of China and his tributary, the King of 
 Burraah, was so plainly essential to the attainment 
 of the ends, that one can hardly conceive the most 
 sanguine anticipating any good result witliout it. 
 The first of these expeditions was a mistake, if only 
 because it was illtimed — but it was not followed by 
 any serious loss of prestige, or consequent political 
 necessity of renewing the effort to repair a defeat. 
 Very different is the second in this respect. It has led 
 not only to a discomfiture, damaging in the eyes of 
 Chinese and Burmese alike, to say nothing of all the 
 intervening Shan and Kakhyen tribes, but to an open 
 act of war on the part of the Chinese, for which we 
 are obliged to seek redress, and claim an indemnity for 
 injury sustained. Nor is even the loss of a valuable 
 life, however much to be deplored, the worst conse- 
 quence of this expedition. There is a Nemesis 
 attaching to failure in the East, which no Asiatic 
 power can afford to disregard. However questionable 
 might have been our right, in an international point 
 of view, to insist on the concession of a free passage 
 and trade with Yunnan from Burmah originally, we 
 could have very little choice left afterwards. The 
 vestigia nulla retrorsmii alluded to in the intro- 
 ductory remarks, is too plainly written to leave any 
 option.. Clear as it may seem to some of the latest
 
 360 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 critics of our Eastern policy, and of this advance in 
 particular, that, if our first step was an error, to 
 extort a concession which could not in the first 
 instance have been rightly insisted upon, would be 
 to take advantage of our own wrong, — it must not be 
 forgotten that an act of treachery, followed by an 
 attack in force on the part of the Chinese, gives a 
 right to indemnity, and imposes the obligation upon 
 them of affording complete reparation. A reparation 
 which in this case cannot take any better form for us, 
 or one less injurious to the Chinese, than the establish- 
 ment of such regulations for peaceable access to their 
 territory, as the interests of mutual intercourse and 
 commerce demand. But a right to such access, for 
 purposes of trade or exploration did exist antecedently 
 by the " most favoured nation clause " of our treaty, 
 and their action in dealing with similar claims on the 
 part of the Russians along the Siberian and Mongolian 
 frontier as at Kiachta, Urga, and Kiuldja. It may 
 be safely asserted moreover, that when two countries 
 are conterminous over a great extent of territory, 
 intercourse is inevitable. This may either be pre- 
 datory and hostile, or commercial and peaceable. But 
 in any case, several hundred or thousand miles of 
 frontier cannot be hermetically sealed by any acts 
 of a government, and it is therefore in the interest 
 of both countries to establish peaceful relations and a 
 mutually beneficial intercourse. To do this, access 
 must be given, and a right of transit for all peaceable 
 and legitimate purposes be duly regulated by treaty.
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 361 
 
 On these grounds I have had no hesitation in advo- 
 cating elsewhere such a policy, and the right to insist 
 upon its adoption, greatly strengthened and rendered 
 imperative indeed, by the treachery and hostilities 
 which have recently taken place in Western China. 
 If it were even granted, for the sake of argument, 
 that the expedition was unwarranted — and that they 
 were entitled to refuse access under passports bearing 
 the seal of the Foreign Office at Pekin, they should 
 have said so, either at the time, or even later, 
 when the party of Colonel Browne was passing 
 the frontier. It was still possible to have taken 
 effective steps to stop him, without incurring the 
 responsibility of deliberate treachery and violence. 
 Fifteen armed Sikhs did not constitute an army ; or 
 any force that could offer resistance, if the passage of 
 the party had been officially refused by the local 
 authority. Preferring to adopt a different and wholly 
 unjustifiable course, they not only may rightly be 
 held answerable, but they must be so dealt with, 
 if the jus gentium, which governs the intercourse 
 of civilised nations, is not to be wholly abrogated in 
 dealing with the Chinese Empire. 
 
 But with the expediency of the expedition — its 
 opportuneness, or the right of his government to 
 despatch, at any time such a mission, Mr. Margary 
 had nothing whatever to do. He had only a duty 
 to perform, and, as it unhappily proved, a dangerous 
 one. In the preceding narrative and letters will 
 be found a record full of interest showing that,
 
 362 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 apart from its dangers, his task was both arduous and 
 difficuh. The information afforded on many points, 
 even of an incidental nature, is as novel as it is 
 valuable, filling up a great blank in our previous 
 knowledge of the actual state of the central and 
 south-western provinces of China. The commercial 
 resources of the different districts through which he 
 passed for a distance of some nine hundred miles ; 
 the state of the roads and means of transport; the 
 natural or manufactured products of each district 
 traversed ; the habits and temper of the people ; the 
 disposition of the provincial authorities ; the deference 
 paid in some cases, and the manifest disregard in 
 others, of the obligations imposed upon them by the 
 Imperial safe conduct given to Mr. Margary, — are all 
 noted with conscientious care, and such intelligent 
 discrimination and keenness of observation, that we 
 cannot help feeling his selection from the juniors of 
 the consular service reflects equal credit on the body, 
 and the judgment of his chief in assigning him the 
 post. A very cursory glance through the pages will 
 suffice to show how much may be learned from the 
 perusal of the whole narrative. The physical geo- 
 graphy, climate, and scenery, are all noted with no 
 less vivacity and care, than the political condition 
 of the several districts which pass under his 
 observation. Nothing escapes him; and it is the 
 more remarkable and praiseworthy from the fact 
 that he started in bad health from the malarious 
 climate of Shanghae, and on several occasions was
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTEE. 363 
 
 absolutely incapacitated, by attacks of fever and 
 dysentery, from all exertion for days together. 
 Under date, August 24th, while on his way to 
 Hankow, he writes : " I have had a long spell of 
 bad health in Shanghae, without any positive sign of 
 sickness. The fact is, as I know now for certain, that 
 I have been under the wearing influence of Shanghae 
 fever, which is very subtle. It is an intermittent 
 fever, and if one's constitution is strong enough, like 
 mine, to resist it, the silent enemy continues its 
 creeping attacks, until the mischief is detected by loss 
 of flesh, and emaciation. 1 have been working too 
 hard, and sitting out too much in evening breezes, 
 the result of which was a loss of fourteen or fifteen 
 pounds, which I was startled to discover the other 
 day. It is not pleasant to have to start on my stu- 
 pendous journey after such a pull down, but every 
 mile away from Shanghae has been adding strength 
 and vigour to my spirits and frame, and I have no 
 doubt under the quiet, regular regime of a traveller's 
 life, I shall feel as blithe as a lark." 
 
 Again, on the 8th of October : — " Felt very much 
 better. At 6 a.m. I tried to take a stroll, but my 
 strength was scarcely equal to a hundred yards. I 
 went along the cliff path and found composition of 
 hills all quartz. Tung-wan had a lot of houses on 
 poles, which seems their favourite style of architec- 
 ture here ; a number of empty pens showed where 
 the market was held in the day. Attack of rheuma- 
 tism in right side."
 
 364 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 The spirit in which he received the first intimation 
 of the honourable commission with which he was to 
 be intrusted is well seen in one of his letters dated 
 August 9 : "A magnificent opportunity of distin- 
 guishing myself has just been opened to me, and I 
 am sure it will please you very much to know how 
 great an honour has been lately conferred upon me 
 in connection with it. I am appointed to the very 
 duty I was longing for and wrote about in my last 
 letter to you, namely, that of accompanying the 
 Indian expedition which is to enter China through 
 Burmah and survey a new route for commerce." 
 And further on he says, "The plan adopted is to 
 send me overland from this side to the western 
 borders of the province of Yunnan, there to wait at 
 one of the passes for four Indian officers who are to 
 come over from a place called Bhamo, near the upper 
 sources of the Irrawaddy or Irawady. lam provided 
 with huge Chinese despatches from the Tsung-li- 
 Yamen at Pekin to three governor-generals who rule 
 the vast territories through which I shall pass. These 
 letters direct them to take every care of me, and to 
 issue orders to all their magistrates and officers along 
 my route to jjrotect and help me on. I shall pass 
 over about nine hundred miles of country of which 
 some five hundred will be new ground. I have to 
 keep an official journal and an itinerary, and every 
 thing will be published. The trip is calculated to 
 last six months. At any rate I shall be completely 
 buried out of sight till the end of November, and
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 365 
 
 shall probably bear no news of you or the world in 
 general till next year. Only tbink what a glorious 
 opportunity I shall have of seeing this wonderful 
 country, and of bringing to light numerous facts as 
 yet unknown from regions untrodden by foreigners. 
 It is really splendid ; you cannot think how elated 
 am. 
 
 In the same buoyant and confident tone he writes 
 a few days later : " It is impossible to say when you 
 may hear from me. I shall try and make use of the 
 native post, which is a very efficient service, but how 
 far it may be safe for foreign correspondence remains 
 to be proved. It may be that not a word will be 
 heard of me the whole time, in which case, all sorts 
 of rumours may arise as to my fate. Let me beg of 
 you not to believe one ; rest assured I will make 
 my way there and back, by God's help, as safe as a 
 trivet." " I have only to pray for health and strength 
 to carry me through, and there is no doubt I shall 
 have had the privilege of doing some service to the 
 world at large." He speaks with enthusiasm of the 
 time when he may hope to be " on the heights of the 
 Momien pass, far away on the Burmese frontier and 
 anxiously scanning the country beyond for the first 
 glimpse of Indian helmets approaching from the 
 west. Then you can picture the meeting, China and 
 India grasping hands " — " The trade route of the 
 future," as he elsewhere says, laid down. Nor can 
 we wonder at the sanguine nature of his anticipa- 
 tions, for, so far as he was aware, all necessary and
 
 366 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 preliminary steps ImJ been taken at Pekin to ensure 
 his uninterrupted progress to the destined goah As 
 he remarks in another letter : " The letters and passes 
 furnished me by the Imperial Cabinet will command 
 respect from all the officials high and low throughout 
 my route ; so that, though no doubt, innumerable 
 schemes may be devised to hinder my progress, I 
 shall be hedged around with protection." And, in 
 effect, although he did meet with numerous obstruc- 
 tions both from ill-disposed officials and dangerous 
 mobs, and a sad lack of that official protection he so 
 confidently counted upon, he achieved the end of 
 his journey triumphantly and in safety ; it was onl}^ 
 on his return that the catastrophe came. Looking to 
 that end, nothing is more interesting or valuable for 
 future guidance, than the account he has left us of 
 the behaviour of officials and populace along the line 
 of route. None of our experiences in China have 
 thrown so much light on the degree of protection pass- 
 ports secure to foreigners, and the amount of danger 
 and insecurity to be encountered in spite of such pro- 
 tection. The application of this knowledge in regard 
 to rio:hts of inland trade and residence, so constantlv 
 demanded by the mercantile communities, in China 
 and at home, is obvious, and full}^ justifies Lord 
 Derby's warning to the India Office already quoted 
 when this expedition was first referred to by Lord 
 Salisbury. 
 
 There are indeed " grave difficulties in the way 
 of any project for establishing consulates or British
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 367 
 
 communities in the far interior of China, wliere 
 British protection could not be extended to them, 
 which, in the present state of the Chinese Empire, 
 is in some shape constantly threatening foreigners, 
 and which the Government of Pekin, even if 
 well disposed to do so, can often only imperfectly 
 guard against." No better commentary in con- 
 firmation of the perfect accuracy of this statesman- 
 like estimate of the actual position in China could 
 possibly be furnished than tlie entries in Mr. Mar- 
 gai-y's journal afford ; and his varied experiences 
 during this four months' journey from the centre to 
 the south-western frontier of tlie empire. On the 
 third day after his start from Hankow, our last treaty 
 port on the Yangtzse, he had his first experience of 
 popular violence, when he was hustled and hooted by 
 a mob of junk men on landing from his boat for 
 a walk. Five days later, he had a similar experience 
 from the inhabitants at Loshan, where " there was 
 only a local official of no position or authority." This 
 officer was civil enough when called upon, and sent 
 two of his soldiers to accompany Mr. Margary back 
 to his boat as a protection — " but their efforts were 
 barely equal to rej^ressing the excited crowd which 
 had surrounded me with shouts and abusive lan- 
 guage ;" he tells us. Under date, October 5, he 
 records what seemed a more serious danger, the way 
 in which the magistrate at one of his resting-places 
 acted upon his instructions from the viceroy. These 
 were imperative, to send two officials to escort and
 
 368 MARGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 protect him as far as the next magisterial city, and 
 the course he took was to send a small " boat of 
 the commonest class, and a couple of disreputable- 
 looking rascals with the card of the Tao-yuan magis- 
 trate — a couple of dirty scullions, or some other 
 such menials out of the nasty crowd that infest all 
 yameiis." Later on, when he passed a dilapidated 
 city which had suffered from the Taipings, he was 
 much disturbed by the mob, and even the efforts of 
 the sub-prefect, " who accompanied me in a gun-boat, 
 were fruitless in quieting them, and as for the 
 soldiers, they positively feared the mob." On 
 another occasion, three weeks later, when he reached 
 a provincial city, Ch'en-yuan-fn, he proceeded on foot 
 with his party and four men, sent by the magistrate 
 at his request, to protect him a short distance to the 
 inn. He writes, " a crowd quickly formed round 
 me, chiefly consisting of soldiers, the fruitful source of 
 trouble everywhere, and attempted to follow me into 
 the house, but the very unsubstantial door was closed 
 upon them, and it severely taxed the energies of the 
 four yamen men to keep it so. Then the mob in the 
 rear would not allow his baggage to be brought 
 in, on which he determined to go to the magistrate. 
 By him he was received with great rudeness ; and it 
 was only after a sharp and indignant remonstrance, 
 backed by the production of the passport and the 
 Tsungli yamen's letter to the governor-general of the 
 province, that he changed his tone, and condescended, 
 when he found he had to deal with a foreigner well
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTEK. 869 
 
 acquainted wirli ( 'liiiiese, and nndei' espocial protection 
 from Pekin, to give orders to send men down and 
 guard the house. But even then, and when a chair 
 had been prepared in which the traveller attempted 
 to return, the crowd was too great and violent for 
 all the magistrate's men, and the party had to beat 
 a retreat again to the magistrate's yamen, " in which 
 ignominious plight," he observes, " T had to be carried 
 backwards through the mob." Attempts were made 
 to upset the chair, and one man who thrust his face in 
 to insult him got his nose broken. He concludes the 
 account by observing, " As an example of Chinese 
 apathy, I may as well mention that at the very spot- 
 where I was being insulted by the mob, a military man- 
 darin of high rank was passing by, under whose very 
 command were hnlf the rioters round, a.nd yet he 
 made no more effort to repress them than a private 
 individual." Fortunately Mr. Margary had many 
 other and more agreeable experiences. At Kwei- 
 cliou, where he arrived on the 6th of November, he 
 was most civilly treated by tlie governor — " a brisk 
 old man full of energy and intelligence," and with 
 one or two exceptions he continued -in i]\e latter part 
 of his route to receive great attention. Up to his 
 arrival at Yunnan Fu, the capital of the province, he 
 met with the greatest civility from all the authorities, 
 from the acting viceroy downwards. A couple of 
 mandarins were deputed to escort him thence the 
 whole way to Ta-Li Fu, and on the 11th of December, 
 
 2 R
 
 370 MAKGARY'S JOURNEY. 
 
 when near tlie end of his journej^ he speaks in warm 
 terms of the hospitality and great civility of the 
 prefect of Yao-chou, who had sent down his servants 
 a distance of sixty miles to provide for his wants. 
 " Sncli incomparable civility," he observes, " proves 
 how throughly the Viceroy is to be relied on." " His 
 career has been marked by thoroughness," was almost 
 the last entry in the diary ! Taking all these expe- 
 riences together the impression left is decidedly to 
 the advantage of the Pekin Government, so far as 
 the bond fides of the safe conduct given is concerned. 
 But there is a second conclusion not less distinct, 
 that the best passport gives no real security in the 
 interior, and that the provincial authorities cannot 
 be trusted for any effective protection, nor in all 
 cases for providing an escort according to orc^ers to 
 perform this part of their duty. 
 
 This last conviction is so manifestly borne out by 
 the facts recorded in this journal, and Mr. Margary's 
 tragic end, that no government who has any care 
 for the lives of its subjects, or its own respon- 
 sibilities, can well come to any other conclusion 
 than that arrived at by the Earl of Derby, namely — 
 " that there are grave difficulties in the way of any 
 project for establishing consulates or British com- 
 munities in the far interior of China." 
 
 This seems to be the moral of the whole history, 
 and had fuller consideration been given to all that 
 was known, even before the flood of light thrown by
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTEE. a71 
 
 this most interesting journal, respecting the temper of 
 tlie people and the officials, as well as the uncertain 
 control exercised by these over a mob, even when they 
 really desire to do their duty, it is difficult to believe 
 it would have been undertaken. 
 
 The fate of Major Sladen's expedition in 1868 was 
 not encouraging ; but, as has been already pointed 
 out, it left no obligation to retrieve a disaster. Up 
 to the date of this last mission I should have entirely 
 agreed with Dr. Anderson that the " question of 
 opening trade routes may be left to the future." But 
 this option is no longer ours. When he says, " the 
 death of this young officer, and the repulse of the 
 British mission from the frontiers of China, have left 
 a marked impression on the minds of the various 
 populations," he points to an effect which must be 
 counteracted, and this can only be done by success 
 taking the place of failure. Whether it be Burmese, 
 Kakhyens, Shan tribes, or Chinese that are in question, 
 it is impossible we can accept a defeat of this nature, 
 brought on too by our own spontaneous acts. It is 
 well known, but can hardly be too often repeated, 
 that our position in the midst of Asiatics is one of 
 prestige. We may often refuse to advance, if we do 
 not choose to incur the risk of any forward step, 
 but can seldom retreat afterwards without ruin. The 
 disadvantages or dangers of an advance, tlierefore, 
 should be duly weighed befoi'e any step is taken, and 
 among these, the chances of failure and its conse 
 
 2 B 2
 
 372 MAKGARY'S JOUKNEY. 
 
 quence. However serious or unwelcome these may 
 prove, they can rarely be averted by acquiescence in 
 a defeat. Renewed and successful effort is the only 
 alternative if we would avoid a total loss of the moral 
 power by which, far more than by superior force, 
 we govern in the East, and enjoy both security 
 and commercial privileges. I have serious doubts 
 of the value of any trade route between China and 
 Burmah in the present state of Yunnan and the 
 intervening Shan and Kakhuen territories. Such 
 overland commerce as can reasonably be anticipated, 
 holds out no promise of an adequate return, for the 
 risk and responsibility that must be incurred by any 
 government undertaking to open up and maintain a 
 channel of communication. No doubt such a channel 
 Las existed of old time, does actually exist now, under 
 conditions of great insecurity ; and a trade is carried 
 on by natives between Burmah and China, despite of 
 such drawbacks. But the question is of what value 
 is this trade, and what are the prospects or capabilities 
 of development, even under more favourable circum- 
 stances ? And, finally, at what cost can these more 
 favourable conditions be secured ? It is very natural 
 that mercantile communities in Burmah, China, and 
 India should desire to see a trade route permanently 
 opened ; but it is for the government which must 
 incur the responsibility, and bear the burden of any 
 efforts for its attainment, to estimate the cost, not 
 merely in money, as we see, but the consequences of
 
 CONCLUDING CHAiTEH. 373 
 
 failure, — the risk of war and border contentions with 
 wild and half-savage tribes, in addition to the chances 
 of new complications and dissensions with the 
 Chinese. The policy of Great Britain has for the 
 most part been_, with regard to uncivilised countries, 
 to allow traders to push their way at their own risk 
 if they think it worth their while. And it may be 
 doubted whether, if the prosperity of Yunnan were 
 restored, the steamers of the Burmese rivers, as Dr. 
 Anderson suggests, and the entrepot of Bhamo, 
 where the British flag assures protection, would not 
 be sufficient to furnish the best means of bringing up 
 supplies to the border land, and opening up a con- 
 tinuous trade in the first instance. However, as we 
 are now committed, and are likely to find ourselves 
 forced into a policy we might not deliberately or 
 voluntarily have chosen, the question of relative 
 value and cost may be dismissed. But it would cer- 
 tainly seem that the only course which can with any 
 safety be followed after recent events, must be direct 
 negotiation with the Chinese Government, without 
 concealment or disguise as to what is required, and 
 the real object in view. As to the choice of routes 
 between Burmah and China, that is rather a question 
 of detail, and time may be taken for fuller informa- 
 tion to be obtained as to wiiich would be best. We 
 can only hope that whichever may be chosen, a 
 satisfactory settlement will in the end be effected 
 by peaceable means. In any case the narrative of
 
 374 MX:flGAEy'S JOUENEY. 
 
 this journey from Hankow to Bhamo and the in- 
 formation Mr. Margary has afforded throughout his 
 journal, will make the present work one of special 
 interest and permanent value.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Adventure, exciting, 6. 
 
 " Ah-a-ah," 302. 
 
 " Ai-yahs," 52. 
 
 Alcock, Sir Kutlierford, 11 ; notes 
 
 by, 329 ; fii'st meeting with Mr. 
 
 Margary, ^'ft. 
 Allen, Mr. Clement, 316. 
 America, railway travelling, 31, 37. 
 American Consul-General, 88. 
 Amur, Eussian settlement in the, 14. 
 Anam and-Ton-Quin annexations, 
 
 334. 
 Anderson, Dr., 101, 216, 309. 322, 
 
 324, 325 ; note, 331, 335, 337. 
 An-hsiin, 20i. 
 An-ning Chow, 246. 
 Asbestos, 44. 
 Associated Chambers of Commerce, 
 
 memorials of, 332. 
 Athens, Acropolis, resemblance to, 
 
 89. 
 Azaleas, profusion of, 79. 
 
 Bamboo rope manufacture, 151. 
 
 Beauty, Chinese beau ideal of, 42. 
 
 " Belle- Vue " temple, 57. 
 
 Bhamo, 98, 243, 293, 307, 312; 
 
 treaty signed at, 1769, 333. 
 Blue Book information, 342. 
 Bombazine, 107, 171, 192, 238, 294, 
 
 306. 
 
 British goods, market for, 255. 
 
 Browne, Colonel, 101, 173, 234, 241, 
 293, 307, 309, 313; present from, 
 319 ; mission imder, 330, 354. 
 
 Buddhism, 56 ; mockery of wor- 
 shippers, ih. 
 
 Buddhist, priests and gods, 2; 
 temple, 56. 
 
 Buffalo, a sacrificial, 325. 
 
 Burmah, 100; inhabitants, 298; 
 portrait of king of, 243. 
 
 and China route, 326. 
 
 Burmese, opposed to expedition, 
 304; guard, 307; houses, 310; 
 dress of women, 312. 
 
 Burney, Colonel, 333. 
 
 C 
 
 Calcutta, telegram from, 122. 
 
 Cambodia, inhabitants, 298. 
 
 Canton Province, Governor of, 110. 
 
 Cart, agricultural, 127. 
 
 Cave, remarkable, 225. 
 
 Chair-bearers, 214. 
 
 Ch'ang-te, 144 ; river, front of, 145, 
 
 238. 
 Changteh, 112. 
 Chan-i Chow, 227. 
 Chao Chow, 282. 
 '^ Chti-hu sheng-k'oti," 244. 
 Chefoo, 39, 40, 70. 
 Chen-ch'i Hsien, 157. 
 Ch'en-chou Fu, 147, 157. 
 Chen-nan Chow, 260.
 
 376 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Chen Ning Chow, 276. 
 
 Ch'en-yuan Fu, 119, 147, 165, 166, 
 17i; difficulties with mob, 175, 
 198. 
 
 Chiang, 298 ; at the fall of Ta-Li 
 Fu, ih. 
 
 Chiang-Hsi, 162. 
 
 Chiang Kou, 159. 
 
 Cliia-yii Hsien, 124. 
 
 Chicago, 31. 
 
 (-'h'ien-tsuny, 203. 
 
 Chiang Yang Hsien, 161. 
 
 Chih Hsien, 75, 159, 162. 
 
 .Chil,-/u, 149. 
 
 Chi-hsia Hsien, 66. 
 
 Chih Li, province, 127. 
 
 Chi-Ini, outrage at, 68. 
 
 China, desolation of central pro- 
 vinces, 54. 
 
 Chinese teachers, 5 ; New Year, 43 ; 
 cemetery, ih, ; garments, 48 ; inns, 
 49; proofs of pluck in, 53; cu- 
 pidity, 59; pride in composition, 
 71; troops on the war-path, 72; 
 quarrel with French, 74 ; manage- 
 ment of boats, 80; theatre, 81; 
 IX)stal system, 97 ; curiosity, 131, 
 135; food, 138; mode of reception, 
 168, 195; etiquette, 259, 280; 
 distrust, 340 ; Foreign Office and 
 mission, 342. 
 
 Ching-chen Hsien, 201. 
 
 Ching-ch'i Hsien, 201. 
 
 Ching-kou, 122. 
 
 Ch'ing-p'ing Hsien, 181. 
 
 Chinkiang, 100, 103, 109. 
 
 Chou-t'ung, 125. 
 
 Chow, 213, 253. 
 
 Christmas dinner, 288, 290. 
 
 Ch'u-hsiung, 258. 
 
 Chung-chia, 216 ; classes of, 217. 
 
 Chung-khing, 105. 
 
 Chun-shan Island, 142 ; tea of, 143. 
 
 Chusan Islands, 88. 
 
 Cigarettes, value of, 137. 
 
 Cii'cus, 86. 
 
 Coal, abundance of, 212, 261. 
 
 Confucius' tomb, 72. 
 
 Cooke, Captain and Mrs., .308. 
 
 Cooper, Mr., 243. 
 
 Copper Cash, 213. 
 
 Cotton cultivation, 114, 144. 
 
 Crawford, 333. 
 
 Cricket, 87. 
 
 Crosse and Blackwell, 290. 
 
 Deer, 54. 
 
 Derby, Earl of, and the consuls, 
 
 342, 366. 
 Despatch, important, 331. 
 Dodd, 19, 24 ; bravery of, 25 ; fight 
 
 with looters, 28. 
 Dog escort, 262. 
 Duck, wild, 279. 
 Dutch, massacre of, at Formosa, 16. 
 
 E 
 
 Elias, Mr. Ney, 101, 309, 348. 
 
 Elk, the, 22. 
 
 Expedition of 1867, 301. 309, 317. 
 
 Fforde, ]\Ii-., 309, 312. 
 
 Fishing, mode of, 160. 
 
 Flail, use of, 185. 
 
 Foochow, 21. 
 
 Formosa, 13; Dutch forts at, 15; 
 
 beauty of, 17; tea, 19; soldiers en 
 
 mute to, 140. 
 Forsyth's, Sir Douglas, expedition 
 
 of 1870, 340. 
 French and Chinese quarrel, 74 ; 
 
 action of the English police ; 75.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 377 
 
 French Bishop, visit to, 239. 
 Fytche, General, and the Blianio 
 trade route, 336. 
 
 G 
 
 Garnets, 4A. 
 
 Gamier, Lieutenant, 150- 
 
 Geese, 279, 322. 
 
 " Gin-rick-a-sha," the cab of Yedo, 
 
 36; in Shanghae, 74; mode of 
 
 guiding, 86. 
 " Goggles," 310, 315. 
 Gold mines, 44. 
 Gordon, Colonel, 109. 
 Griffiths, Mr., 3. 
 Grosvenor, Mr., 326 ; mission under, 
 
 330, 337. 
 
 H 
 
 Hai-tzu P'u, 226. 
 
 Han dynasty, 216. 
 
 Hankow, 14, 97. 
 
 Haulin, or Forest of Pencils, a 
 
 member of the, 13. 
 Hannay, 334. 
 lUru'lo, the, 102. 
 Holland and Holland, 47. 
 Hong-Kong, 14. 
 House building, 208. 
 Hsia, 224. ' 
 Hsia Chwaug, 278. 
 Hsiao, magistrate of Lu-feng Hsien, 
 
 252. 
 Hsaio-hua-pai, 124. 
 Hsias Lou T.sai, 160. 
 Hsien, a, 209. 
 Hsien Niao, 163. 
 Hsiu Chow, 179. 
 Hsin T'i, 125. 
 Hsin Tsai Tang, 165. 
 Hughes, Mr. Consul, 118, 238. 
 Hughes, Mrs., 288. 
 
 H'ua-king, 212. 
 
 Hu-hsin Chou, 124. 
 
 Hu Kvvang, viceroy of, 119. 
 
 Hu Nan, roiite, 118, 142, 150, 166. 
 
 Hung Chiang Ssu, 161. 
 
 Hu Pei carts, 127. 
 
 Hwang Chow, 164. 
 
 Hw^ang-kwo-su, 207. 
 
 I-ch'ang, rapids of, 105 ; gorge, 255. 
 
 I-lung Ssii, 230. 
 
 Imperial badges, 13. 
 
 Indian mission, 293 ; Government 
 
 despatch, 331. 
 Indians, appearance of, 37. 
 Indigo, 122. 
 
 Inns, misery of, 49 ; charges, 50. 
 Irrawaddy the, or Irawady , 98, 317. 
 Iron, 44. 
 
 Jade, 44. 
 
 Japan coast, beauty of, 35. 
 
 Japan, the, 32. 
 
 Jasper, 44. 
 
 Joss-sticks, 62. 
 
 Junks, timber, 90. 
 
 K 
 
 Kakhyen, hills, 307, 324 ; tribes, 310 ; 
 
 in treaty with, 312; Pawmynes, 
 
 or deputy chiefs, 320 ; Tsanbwas, 
 
 321 ; women, 323. 
 Kwliang or Sorghum, 122. 
 Kelung, 18, 20; typhoon at, 21; 
 
 shipwrecks, 24 ; earthquakes, 28. 
 " Khang,"' 67. 
 Kilt, the, 17. 
 
 King, Mr. Vice-Consul, 100, 111, 117. 
 Kinkiang, 100, 104, 111.
 
 378 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Kobe, or Hiogo, 39. 
 
 K'o-t'ou, 213. 
 
 Kow-tows, 56, 62. 
 
 Koxinga, 16. 
 
 Kung, Prince of, and the mis.sion, 
 
 341. 
 Kuanginy, 12. 
 Kuang-t'ung Hsien, 256. 
 Kung-kuan, 253. 
 Kwei-chou, province, 112, 206 ; 
 
 route, 118 ; climate of, 218. 
 Kwei-yang Fu, 189, 191 ; plain, 205. 
 Kwe-ting Hsien, 184. 
 Kwotloon, 349. 
 Ky-oung, or priest's house, 321. 
 
 Lai Yang, 60. 
 
 Lake Spirit, army of the, 143. 
 Lang-tai, 209. 
 Lao-ya Kuan, 250. 
 Lao-yeh, 245. 
 
 Lee-see-tai, charges against, 337. 
 Leila, 107, 134. 
 
 Letters from Augustus Raymond 
 Margary to— 
 
 Brother, 316. 
 
 F. E. E., 29, 32, 34, 39, 70, 111, 
 113, 152, 166, 185, 189, 198, 
 262, 281, 287, 293, 302, 308, 
 313, 320. 
 
 Layard, Rev. J., 1, 12, 18, 192. 
 
 Layard, Mrs. J., 36. 
 
 Parents, 4, 21, 98, 101, 127, 171, 
 235, 271, 290, 296, 298, 307. 
 " Li " (courtesy), 53. 
 Li (measiu'ement), 49. 
 Liao Ya Tsui, 144. 
 Li-chou, 145. 
 Lien-p'eng, 269. 
 Li Hsieh Tai, ex-brigand, 300 ; his 
 
 attack on 1867 expedition, 301, 
 
 303, 356. 
 
 Li Hung-Ch'ang, 148. 
 
 Lin, 69; his bravery, ih.; his 
 
 daughters, ib. 
 Li Pi-sheng, 146, 148, 153. 
 Li-Sieh-tai, 318. 
 " Longhaired Rebels," 157. 
 Lo-shau, 122, 125, 112; theatrical 
 
 troop at, 133. 
 Lotus cultivation, 141. 
 Lou-cli'i Hsien, 157, 158. 
 Lu-ch'i-k'ou, 124. 
 Lu-feng Hsien, 251. 
 Lung-chi-kou, 164. 
 Lung-li Hsien, 188. 
 Lung Wang Sang, work at, 1. 
 Lung-yang Hsien, 144. 
 Lytton, Bulwer, 115. 
 
 M 
 
 Magoung, 314. 
 
 Mahommedans, 271. 
 
 Ma-lung Chow, 228. 
 
 Mantchooria, 72. 
 
 Mandalay, 314. 
 
 ' Mandalay to Momien,' by Dr. 
 Anderson, 325. 
 
 Mansey, 309. 
 
 Manwyne, 298 ; semi-savages at, 
 300. 
 
 Man-yang-hsien, 165. 
 
 Margary, Augustus Raymond, at 
 Lung Wang Sang, 1; visit to 
 temple of Ta-pei-su, 11 ; at 
 Formosa, 13 (sec, also. Introduc- 
 tion); Kelung, 20; conduct 
 during typhoon at Kelung, 25 ; 
 return to England, 29 ; at Ni- 
 agara, 29 ; on board the Japav, 
 32 ; misery of American railway 
 journey, 33 ; Yokohama, 34 ; at 
 Yedo, 36; sent to Chefoo, 39; 
 visit to the Tao-Tai, 40 ; trip to
 
 INDEX. 
 
 379 
 
 hills of the Shantung province, 
 47 ; at Lai Yang, 158 ; curious 
 visitors, 65 ; at Chi-hsia Hsieu, 
 66; an affable host, 67; return 
 to Shanghae, 73 ; an interrupted 
 rehearsal, 77; trip to Ningpo, 
 79 ; visit to monastery, ib. ; work 
 at Shanghae, 85 ; visit to the 
 Chusan Islands, 88 ; at Napier 
 Island, 91; return to Shanghae, 
 92 ; appointed to Colonel Browne's 
 Mission, 95 ; preparations for 
 Journey to Hankow, 99 ; start for 
 Hankow, 102 ; route, 105 ; at 
 Hankow, 111 ; at Tung-kua-nao, 
 122 ; wind-bound at Lu-ch'i-k'ou, 
 125 ; at Lo-shan, 127 ; leave Lo- 
 shan, 142; on the Yuan river, 
 143 ; at Ch'ang-te, 145 ; ill, 156 ; 
 notes from private journal, 158 ; 
 at Hung Chiang Ssu, 161 ; dis- 
 turbance with crowd at Yuen 
 Chow Fn, 162 ; at Yu-ping Hsien, 
 165 ; an old friend, 167 ; a sad 
 incident, 169; reach Ch'en-yuan 
 Fu, 174 ; visit magistrate at 
 Shihping Hsien, 178; trouble 
 with bearers, 185 ; at Ching-Ch'i 
 Hsien, 201; at An-hsiin, 204; 
 Chen Ning Chow, 205 ; Lang-tai, 
 209; reception at P'ing-i Hsien, 
 224; Chan-i Chow, 227; arrive 
 at Yunnan Fu, 232; at An-ning 
 Chow, 247 ; Lu-feng Hsien, 252 ; 
 Kuang-t'ung Hsien, 256 ; reach 
 Ch'u-hsiung, 259; at Chen-Nan 
 Chow, 262 ; reception at Chen 
 Ning Chow, 276 ; sport, 279 ; at 
 Ta-Li Fu, 285 ; Yung-ch'ang Fu, 
 292 ; an alarm, 295 ; to join 
 mission at Bhamo, 296 ; Momien, 
 297; Tu Wen Hsin, 297; Man- 
 wyne, 298 ; meets Colonel Browne 
 at Bhamo, 307; with Captain 
 and Mrs. Cooke at Sawaddy, 308 ; 
 
 break up camp at Bham6, 313; 
 
 in camp at Tsikaw, 316 ; murder 
 
 of, 325 (see, also. Introduction) ; 
 
 letters from (see Letters). 
 Medhurst, Mr. Consul, 97, 107, 117, 
 
 122. 
 Me-k'ou, 212. 
 Miao-tzu, 216 ; distinctive dress of, 
 
 ih. 
 Miaotsze, the, 178, 183, 271. 
 " Mihiloongs," the, 85. 
 Mission, see Yunnan. 
 Missionary question, 71. 
 Momien, 105, 235, 297. 
 Monastic service, 79. 
 Mormons, the, 33. 
 Mosquitoes, 138. 
 Moung Yoh, 354. 
 Mountains of Kwei-chou province, 
 
 211. 
 Muangmow, 348. 
 Mule litters, travelling by, 47. 
 Murder, attempted, 164. 
 
 N 
 
 Nan-chai, 143. 
 
 Nankin, 103; destruction of the 
 
 porcelain tower, ih., 109. 
 Nanny and the orchid, 295. 
 Nan-tien, 304. 
 Napier Island, 90, 91. 
 New Year, in China, 43, 45, 59 ; 
 
 worship, 62. 
 Niagara, 29 ; hotels at, 30 ; falls, ih., 
 
 37. 
 Ni Hsin Tang, 144. 
 Ningpo, 88, 89. 
 Ni-Ssu-yeh, 161. 
 
 Northbrook, Lord, 193, 316, 342. 
 North Walsham, 194. 
 Nuikong River, 302.
 
 380 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Octopus dish, 264. 
 Ogden, Mormon settlement at, 34. 
 Opium smoking, 246. 
 Otto des Granges', Baron, ' Survey,' 
 335. 
 
 P'ai-chou, 123. 
 
 Pai-ma iu, 147. 
 
 Pai-sbui, 225. 
 
 Pai-tzii Pu, 229. 
 
 Paloungto, the, chief, 349. 
 
 Pan-ch'iao, 231. 
 
 Panthays, the, 336. 
 
 Passport question, 343. 
 
 Pa-tsung, 139, 253. 
 
 Payi tribe, 298; picturesque dress 
 
 of women, 299. 
 Peacocks, 322. 
 Pekin, storm at, 4, 54. 
 Pekinese, 5; mode of fighting, 6. 
 Pemberton, 334. 
 Pepohwan tribe, 183. 
 Persimmon tree, 189, 
 Phayre, Sir A., 384. 
 Pheasants, 54. 
 Piccadilly lamps, 135. 
 Pi-chi K'ou, 245. 
 Picigeon English, 192. 
 Pien, magistrate of Yunnan Fu, 234. 
 Pigs, wild, 54. 
 P'ing-i Hsien, 224. 
 Players, strolling, 133. 
 Ponline route, 348. 
 Pottery trade, 147. 
 Prairie dog, 37. 
 Pu-an Chow, 221. 
 Pu-erh-ch'a, 200. 
 " Pulpit Rock," 34. 
 Pd-p'eng, 269. 
 Pu-shih, 157. 
 
 Pu Ssu, 161. 
 PvKii, a, 309. 
 
 Queen Victoria, Her Majesty, 246. 
 
 R 
 
 Rafts, timber, 126, 172. 
 
 Rain, effect on wind and waves, 
 35. 
 
 Rangoon, 118, 122 ; interest in ob- 
 ject of mission, 331. 
 
 Revue des Deux Mondes, 49. 
 
 Rice cultivation, 141. 
 
 Richthofen's, Baron, report, 219. 
 
 Ritual, 62. 
 
 Roads, how formed, 4. 
 
 Rocky Mountains, 37. 
 
 Roman Catholics successful as mis- 
 sionaries, 2. 
 
 Sai-tsu, 254. 
 
 Sa-li-ju, 237. 
 
 Salisbury, Marquis of, 331. 
 
 Salt, 224, 249. 
 
 Salt Lake City, 34. 
 
 San Francisco, 38. 
 
 San Men Tan, 164. 
 
 Sankoi river, route by, 385. 
 
 Sa-tui, 159. 
 
 Sau-o-bay, 22. 
 
 Sawaddy, 308. 
 
 Saw-teeth Mountains, 55. 
 
 Sea discoloration by rivers, 90. 
 
 Seng-Yuen-Fu, or Momein, 106. 
 
 September, first of, 12. 
 
 Sha-ch'iao, 268, 270. 
 
 Shan Valleys, 310.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 381 
 
 Shanghae, 14, 36, 40 ; as a place 
 of residence, 73; Frencli and 
 Chinese riot at, 76 ; lire at, ib. ; 
 further alarms, 77 ; theatre, 81 ; 
 recreation grounds, 84 ; circus, 
 86; cricket ground and race- 
 course, 87 ; the Maloo, ih. 
 
 Shans, the, 298, 336. 
 
 Shunsi, the, 88. 
 
 Shantung province, 47. 
 
 Sha-shih, 145. 
 
 Sha Yang, 287. 
 
 Shenchow, 112. 
 
 " Sherroo," 323. 
 
 She-tzii, 253. 
 
 Shih-ma P'u, 144. 
 
 Shihping Hsien, 178. 
 
 Shih-i/eh, 221. 
 
 " Ship stone," 70. 
 
 Shui-ch'i, 148. 
 
 Siam, inhabitants, 298. 
 
 Sierra Nevadas, the, 37. 
 
 Sikhs, guard of, 320. 
 
 Silver Island, 104. 
 
 Singapore, 15. 
 
 " Sing-song," a, 298. 
 
 Sladen, Major, 330 and note ; 336 ; 
 and the expedition of 1868, 341. 
 
 Soo-ah, 306. 
 
 Spirits, banquet to, 62. 
 
 Ssu Ch'uan, 255 ; province, 268. 
 
 ISnti-yeh, 160. 
 
 Storks, 225. 
 
 Strang leang, 76. 
 
 Sulphur baths, 44. 
 
 Sunday, a day of rest and enjoy- 
 naent, 3. 
 
 Swatield, 194. 
 
 Symes, Colonel, 333. 
 
 Sz'chuen province, 105, 331. 
 
 T 
 
 Ta-ch"i-k'ou, 146. 
 
 Ta-feng T'nng, or Cave of the 
 Winds, 181. 
 
 Taiping rebels, 109, 143, 157; re- 
 bellion, 217. 
 
 Ta-ji^n, 203, 239, 245. 
 
 Talc, 44. 
 
 Ta-li Fu, 241, 243, 265 ; the magis- 
 trate of, 276; plain, 283; lake, «6., 
 332. 
 
 Tn-loa-yeh, 245. 
 
 Tamsuy, fort of, 16, 18. 
 
 Tao-Tai, the, 40. 
 
 Tao-t'ai, 125. 
 
 Tao-Tai of Yunnan Fu, 163, 173. 
 
 Tao-Tai Wu, 196. 
 
 T'ao-yuen Hsien, 146. 
 
 Ta-pei-su, visit to temple of, 10. 
 
 Tapeng, camp by the, 321 ; view 
 of from Kakhyen hills, 324. 
 
 Tau, 5. 
 
 Tavist temple, visit to, 6. 
 
 Ta Wan, 159. 
 
 Tea trade, activity of, 14 ; at 
 Formosa, 19. 
 
 T'eng-yueh Chow, 258, 287, 293, 
 302. 
 
 Theatre, Chinese, 81. 
 
 Theatrical performances, 82. 
 
 Thi'upp and Maberly, 47. 
 
 Tientsin, pugnacity of, men, 5, 40. 
 
 Tigers, pursuit of, 283. 
 
 7'/«v, a, 209. 
 
 Ti-tu, 161. 
 
 Tobacco cultivation, 184. 
 
 Tomatoes, 187. 
 
 Towns, walled, mode of building, 57. 
 
 Trade routes, 331 ; the "object of 
 residents in Burmah, 334. 
 
 Treaty of BhamO, 1769, 333. 
 
 Tsare-daw-gyee, the, 353. 
 
 Tseng-shih, 145. 
 
 Tsikaw, 313, 316 ; start of caravan 
 from, 352. 
 
 Tsung-li-Yamen of Pukiu, the, 98, 
 118 ; memorandum of, 313.
 
 382 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Tsungping, 149. 
 
 Tuin Qun, 161. 
 
 Tumuli ou Kwei-yang Fu plain, 204. 
 
 Tung-kua-nao, 122. 
 
 Tung Ling Lake, 128. 
 
 Tungting Lake, 112, 114, 123. 
 
 Tung Shing, 72. 
 
 Tung-wan, 160. 
 
 Twain, Mark, 109. 
 
 Typhoon, 22, 34. 
 
 U 
 
 " Undefined persuasion," the, 68. 
 Utah, the " promised land," 34. 
 
 Van Eyk, Professor, 81. 
 Verrey, 11. 
 
 w 
 
 Wade, Sir Thomas, 98, 101, 113, 
 
 122, 128, 272, 330, 341. 
 " Walking Beam," the, 103. 
 Wang, 44. 
 Wen, 5. 
 
 Westward Hu I the, 25. 
 Wilcox, 333. 
 Williams', Dr., map of China, 100 ; 
 
 iourney to Bhamo, 334. 
 Woon, the, 309, 324, 351. 
 Wu, 181. 
 
 Wu-ch'ang Fu, 121, 149. 
 Wu Tao-Tai, 181. 196. 
 
 Yakob, 340. 
 
 Yakob Beg, 340. 
 
 " Yamen," 78. 
 
 Yang, 243, 253. 
 
 Yang-lin, 230. 
 
 Yang-shun, 220. 
 
 Yangtsze, the, 39, 79, 104, 268. 
 
 Yang-tzii, 255. 
 
 Yao-chan, 258. 
 
 Yao-chou Fu, 123, 142. 
 
 Yao-chow, prefect of, 271. 
 
 Yedo, 36, 38. 
 
 Yin Ho Hsiang, 144. 
 
 Yo-chow, 112. 
 
 Yokohama, 24, 38. 
 
 Yonng, Brigham, 34. 
 
 Yuan river, 143 ; journey up, ib. 
 
 Yu-chi, 125. 
 
 Yuen Chow Fu, 162. 
 
 Yule, Colonel, 243. 
 
 Yung-ch'ang Fu, 105, 235,241, 258, 
 278, 287 ; mandarins, 296. 
 
 Yunnan Fu, 105, 113, 171, 231 ; 
 reception at, 233 ; province, 98, 
 106; Mission, origin of, 330; 
 object of, 331 ; Mahommedan 
 rising in, 335; attack on mission, 
 355, 357. 
 
 Yu-ping Hsien, 165. 
 
 Zehm, H.M.S., 21. 
 Zni-hi, 108. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 MY CIRCULAR NOTES; Extracts from Journals ; L<:tters 
 
 spnt Homp;aiid Xotes, written while Travellinj Westward Round the World, f oni 
 Julv 6th, 1874, to July 6tb, 11-75. By J. F. Campbell, Author of " Frost and Fire." 
 
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 and, into the bargain, most instructive reading."— ri'.-es. 
 
 " We have read numbers of books of travel, but we can call to mind few that have given us 
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 liescription of the countries he visited " — I. and and Water. 
 
 " Something of an artist and still more of a geologist, an authority on folk-lore, and a shrewd 
 observer of national peculiarities, his comments, even among the most familiar scenes, a'e 
 
 rarely without a certain humour and originality Altogsther there is much more of the 
 
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 in the sketches "by the way wlich illustmte them."— Grapliic. 
 
 MR. M. E. GRANT DUFF'S NOTES OF AN INDIAN 
 
 JOURNK^. 8vo. With Ro. te Map. 10s. 6 J. 
 
 " Nothing could be more felicitous than the diary of bis flying Journey An 
 
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 thinks ha> been clearly and c.irefully thought out." — Saturday I eviev. 
 
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 AT LAST : a Christmas in the West Indies. By Charles 
 
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 A RAMBLE ROUND THE WORLD, 1871. By M. Le 
 
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 2 vols. 8V0. 25s. 
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 CENTRAL AND EASTERN ARABIA. A Personal 
 
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 them iXV— Academy. 
 
 EGYPTIAN SEPULCHRES AND SYRIAN SHRINES, 
 
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