E. G. Kemp

“ Even a first-class carriage has only a single candle for all illumination, and that is placed in a lantern above the door, so that it only serves to reveal the darkness.
Leaving Manchuria we passed into the Trans-Baikal province, at the western side of which lies Lake Baikal, and to our no small surprise and disappointment, winter still reigned supreme. Beautiful forests of birch and pine trees broke the monotony of the plains, and drifts of snow still lingered in the hollows, where sun or wind had failed to chase it. ”

“ We travelled slowly, though occasionally our little ponies would break into a trot; then the driver would leap into the air, fold his legs beneath him and alight seated cross-legged on the cart, with a solid thud, like some gigantic frog. Hulan is quite a Chinese town, and indeed Manchuria is rapidly becoming populated with the Chinese, for whom its fertile plains offer an excellent home. The old Manchu towns are in a decadent condition, and can only hope for a fresh lease of life by new blood being introduced from the south. ”

“ This palace is thoroughly Chinese in appearance (I failed to ascertain its date, but it is at least some centuries old) , with its gorgeous golden roofs and Venetian red walls. The façades are decorated with coloured tiles of great beauty and infinite variety of detail: they challenge comparison with some of the majolica most highly prized in Europe. Under the wide eaves there are finely carved dragons, stretching their sinuous length from end to end. The buildings are ranged court beyond court, with a fine staircase leading to the innermost one at the back. ”

“ Next morning a radiant sun following the rain showed us Samarkand in its most attractive guise. We drove through shady avenues, past fashionable shops towards the real city, and suddenly there burst upon our view a wonderful dome and lofty archway, jewelled with tiles of dazzling blue. It is the Gur Amir, the tomb of Tamerlane, the great Conqueror, the forerunner of the Mogul Emperors. In the midst of a thick cluster of trees the tomb rises erect, so that only the cupola is visible until you come close to it. ”

“ A noticeable feature of Korea is the absence of temples, and the disrepair of the shrines; we never saw any sign of worship by the people at these wayside shrines. They are, many of them, simply empty huts, or have a little writing on the walls, and occasionally a picture. On sacred trees strips of paper are hung, and the passer-by, if devout, adds a stone to the heap round its roots. ”

“ All day long we slowly wended our way southward, stopping at many stations of a mushroom growth: it requires no imagination to fancy yourself back in Europe as far as the houses are concerned, but the people are quite out of keeping with them. The train had a sonorous bell attached to the engine, absolutely like that of a church, which heralded our approach to the stations. ”

“ After climbing down to the river-bed by the waterworks, we proceeded to climb up the opposite slope, where numbers of people seemed bent on holiday-making, and there was a Japanese tea-house half-way up to Pioneer Point, whence a magnificent view is gained over a large stretch of country. The old city walls and a watch-tower surmount the pine-clad hill, and a short walk brings one to a tomb of historic interest. ”

“ We thought it best, however, to stick to what we had been advised, especially as our letters had been directed to the Hotel de France; so we got into a droshky and drove away into the darkness. What a heavenly drive it seemed after the long days in the train. Our horses were all too nimble as we drove on and on through the warm and scented air, under apparently never ending avenues of tall poplars and bushy elms. ”

“ The Bibi Khanum cupola is dome-shaped and entirely covered with the turquoise blue tiles so characteristic of Chinese architecture (in Shansi especially) , and one likes to fancy it as a reminiscence of the princess’s native land. It is the most glorious note of colour, and at a distance, where the other tiles lose all their effect, it glows with undimmed beauty. It added value and charm to the various shades of blue in the great archway below it. In my sketch of the city I have tried to give this effect. ”

“ The children brought forget-me-nots and anemones to sell at the wayside stations; but on this line the towns and hamlets are fewer than on the one we had just left. Though the land seemed so uninhabited the train always seemed full, and the passengers made themselves thoroughly at home. The second-class travellers, who were going any distance, put on fresh clothes, the ladies dressed in négligé costumes like tea-gowns. One amazingly stout lady put on a muslin gown over a pink slip, and looked just like an animated pin-cushion. These people seem to wear all their jewels too, when travelling. ”

“ It seems absurd to the traveller to hear the Japanese pretending that they have not annexed Korea, for they have, practically speaking, taken possession of everything in the most high-handed manner; they have dispossessed the Koreans of all riparian rights, of fishing, game shooting, of the coasting trade, of large quantities of land, for which a purely nominal price has been given, and which the Koreans have been forced to sell contrary to their wishes. ”

“ It seems a pity that the Russian Empire, which extends over an area of no less than one-sixth of the territorial globe, should leave this fertile land of Siberia, much of it the finest grazing ground in the world, and other parts excellent wheat-growing land, so sparsely inhabited, while it stretches envious hands into Manchuria, the land which China imperatively requires as the natural outlet for her surplus population.
At the railway stations all sorts of queer people are to be seen, the men mostly wearing bright-coloured shirts, and tall red leather, or felt boots ”

“ At the great World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh, stress was laid by speakers from all lands on the growing desire of native Christians to have their own national churches. To this end every detail must be studied; not only must religion be taught them in their own language, but the churches in which they worship must have a homelike feeling, so that nothing may suggest to them that Christianity is a foreign religion. When all is said and done it came from the East and not from the West, so that its externals at least should have as little Western colouring as possible. ”

“ It is encircled within lofty hills of granite that change in colour at different times of day from gold and steel to deep blue. Formerly high walls surrounded it, pierced by noble gateways, but these walls are rapidly disappearing to form material for building Japanese houses of truly Philistine ugliness. Every day sees new and deplorable changes in the way of picturesqueness, and one is tempted to say that even sanitation may be too dearly bought. ”

“ But although Irkutsk has a certain comeliness of appearance, and is the centre of intellectual activity in Siberia, it is not altogether a desirable place to live in, for not only is the climate trying, but report says that it is imprudent for any one to go about unarmed. The great prisons in the neighbourhood of Irkutsk have for generations been the place where the worst criminals of the Empire, as well as political exiles have been sent, and when their term of service has expired they are let loose on the community, the only regulation being that they shall remain there. ”

“ At the close of the Russo-Japanese war Baron Komura tried to induce the Chinese Government to open Manchuria to Japanese colonists, but as Manchuria is imperatively needed by China for her own surplus population, which are pouring into it daily by thousands in the early spring, it was only natural that she should resent the proposal, and refuse to grant the desired [xiv] permission. Hence the present attitude of Japan. “If you do not allow our people to colonise Manchuria peacefully, there is only one thing for us to do: to enter it anyhow.” ”

“ Passing outside the city we saw an endless stretch of graves beyond graves; then we came to a beautiful park-like place where lilies of the valley grow thickly in the spring—but alas! people are digging them up so ruthlessly, that it is to be feared there will soon be none left. ”

“ I have tried to show in the foregoing pages how the Manchus won their position in China, and also how the southern part of Manchuria, including Moukden, was originally Chinese. Those who wish to wrest it from China are seeking to take an integral part of the empire. No one who visits Moukden can fail to see that it is a thoroughly Chinese city, with its magnificent walls and gateways, and the big drum tower and bell, like the one at Peking. ”

“ The journey from Seoul to Fusan is through lovely cultivated land, everywhere varied by hill scenery, of which it has been estimated that three-fourths of Korea consists. The largest proportion of grain cultivated is rice, but wheat, barley, beans, millet, and other cereals grow equally well. It is truly a land flowing with milk and honey, has a beautiful climate, and if well governed ought to be most happy and prosperous. ”

“ English is the one European language which makes its way into every corner of the earth, and will with ever-increasing rapidity tend to become the universal means of communication. As an instance of this fact, the Chinese Government has just issued an order that henceforth English is to be the language in which science shall be taught throughout the Chinese Empire. This will, I fear, be a severe blow to our German friends, who were confidently expecting China to follow the example of Japan and take German as the scientific medium of instruction. ”

“ The earth seemed utterly barren, and exuded nothing but salt; hour by hour elapsed, only varied by the interest of stopping at some wayside station, standing alone in the desert, where samovars full of boiling water were eagerly sought by the passengers with their various pots and kettles; the ordinary charge for a potful is three farthings, and one wonders how the poor creatures who supply it are able to make any living out of so poor a harvest. ”

“ A Russian red cross nurse told me that she had travelled in charge of a train full of such immigrants, and the description of the horrors of the journey are only to be equalled by Zola’s tale of the pilgrims to Lourdes. To these immigrants many free copies of the Gospels are given, and the value of such a gift in that land must be very great. Books must be scarce in the greater part of the country, though, thanks to the generosity of a Russian there is a village libraries’ organisation in the province of Tomsk, by means of which fifty villages have been supplied with libraries. ”

“ Life on the mission field soon cements friendship, and medical mission work must appeal even to the stubbornest heart. We had already visited the two hospitals, models of practical, unostentatious usefulness, with the excellent native staff trained by Dr. Westwater, whose name is a household word in the land. To him was due the fact that the town was saved from the horrors of bombardment by the Russian troops, and one has but to walk through the streets of Liao Yang with him to see how universal is the respect in which he is held. ”

“ Hard by, but outside the precincts of the palace, another lofty tower stands erect, entirely covered with blue arabesques. Surely [212] such a wealth of beauty can be found nowhere else in the world.
In the centre of the main courtyard, under the shade of the trees, is a great marble lectern, richly carved, on which the gigantic Koran of Othman was placed, which, it was alleged, the Chinese princess used to read from a neighbouring window. It is certainly difficult to see how it could be read otherwise than from some elevation, except by a giant. ”

“ For the last half century the Russians have been gradually colonising the steppes. Some people labour under the impression that the agricultural classes are not only happier but also more successful when they are ignorant, but this has certainly not proved the case in the Russian Empire. The colonists have considerable advantages offered to them by the Government in the way of cheap grain and agricultural implements, but their ignorance of the rotation of crops and the necessity of feeding the land cause them to exhaust it in a few years’ time. ”

“ There is an unpromising-looking hotel at Moukden called the Astor House, but Americans who stayed there assured us it was quite comfortable, and every one passing through Moukden ought certainly to stop and see it, especially in view of its being so rapidly modernised. The old temples seem to be in a state of utter disrepair, and the most interesting one, the Fox Temple, will soon cease to exist. The worship of the fox is very common in Manchuria, and is especially incumbent upon officials, all Mandarins being supposed to do it, as the fox is the keeper of the seals of office. ”

“ At the present time no less than one hundred and eighty-four mining concessions have been granted to British, American, German, and French companies, and their prospects are thoroughly encouraging. Korea is the fifth largest cotton producing country in the world, and now that it is opening up to trade, with fresh facilities of transport by land and sea, it is likely to make rapid progress. The people are naturally peaceful and diligent, and under a wise rule the land ought to become an ideal one. ”

“ The royal ladies have not only women attendants, but also eunuchs, one of the worst curses of life in an eastern palace. They are required to carry messages from one department to another, and also to perform other duties. One of the eunuchs belonging to the household of the Dowager Empress used to read aloud to her a small daily Korean newspaper. While so doing he sat outside the window, where he could be heard, but whence he could not see inside, because the window was of paper. Korea is like China in respect of windows, and is only now beginning to replace paper by glass. ”