HOW TO MANAGE INN-KEEPERS AND CARTERS—SHUEN-HUA-FU—"SPIRIT'S PAPER"—SHAHZAD MIR LOST AND FOUND—ESAU'S PRESTIGE.

About dusk we got to a very small village, with a most charming little inn. We got two very comfortable little rooms, with excellent furniture, consisting of tables, chairs, and looking-glasses.

This must have been quite one of the longest day's journey we did, but li are very erratic things to go by. As far as we could make out one hour's journey was always counted as ten li, quite irrespective of whether we went fast or slow; thus ten li in one place would be nearly five miles, and in another very little over three.

Delighted as we had been on arrival with our little inn, we were still more so on our departure, for we got off without a word of dispute at the price to be paid for our accommodation. At this time our rule was to pay one hundred cash for each room occupied, and about forty cash each for water and for the use of the fire; when nearer the capital we increased this as the accommodation improved, just as in the rough places further west we had given less. Having a fixed rule like this, which was liberal without being excessive, saved us an infinity of trouble, as the innkeepers saw at once that Rijnhart knew what he was about, and was not likely to be cheated or bluffed into making exorbitant payments. But there was always one thing they could not get over, and that was that Rijnhart always handed them whatever money we took out of the bag and gave him. They saw that we put ourselves in his hands, and could not make out why he exacted no squeezes from us or them; never was such honesty heard of!

This day, the 23rd November, was evidently a very lucky one: every one was out visiting friends, dressed in their best, the big ceremonial hat was seen on all sides, and several marriages were in progress. As if to make up for our peaceful morning, we had a most truculent fellow to deal with at breakfast; our cash were all too small and our fees were quite insufficient; in fact, he found a casus belli in our every act, and crowned his impertinences by selling us some two dozen real bad eggs, at eight cash apiece.

Sometimes a traveller is apt to find himself in a very awkward position, if his carters and an offensive innkeeper happen to be in league. It may happen that the carters owe the innkeeper money, and the latter threatens to get them punished unless they help him in extorting money from the unfortunate foreigner; the innkeeper then demands a perfectly unreasonable sum from his victim, which the latter refuses; upon this the carters come up and say that they cannot possibly leave till the money is paid, and the helpless traveller finds himself between the devil and the deep sea. Luckily for us, our agreement effectually stopped any nonsense of this kind, for if the carters said they could not go on, we at once replied, "All right, please yourselves—but if you do not arrive by the 27th, you lose half your hire."

Every day, now, villages became more numerous, and the country was very thickly cultivated. We stopped a long time at our midday halt at the city of Shuen-Hua-Fu,[15] as the carters had to change some silver and transact some business before proceeding. After leaving, we passed a very large number of gravestones and memorial stones, with old inscriptions of the rounded characters; the hillsides on the left of the road were studded with them for several miles, and in many places the coffins were sticking out of the ground, where the earth had been washed away from over them. On the road we met a convoy of mules carrying boxes containing tins of oil from Batoum, and another with silver; the latter had an escort armed with spears decorated with red tassels, each mule, too, was decorated with a red flag, the whole making quite an imposing show.

Towards evening the road got very bad, and in one place we all had to get out and steady the carts as they passed down a steep, rocky path. Luckily we got down without mishap, but one of the carts was within an ace of slipping down a decline, where there was nothing to stop it for a considerable distance, and where both it and the mules must inevitably have been smashed. As we went down, a string of carts was coming up, two or three teams being hitched on to one cart and then returning for the next. The shouts of the drivers, cracks of whips, and creaking of wheels, made a terrible din, while the motley teams of ponies, mules, donkeys, and bullocks, all straining every nerve and then only managing to progress some ten or fifteen yards without a rest, made a picture. I should very much like to have been able to perpetuate it, but the light had already failed, and I was unable to do so. It was dark when we got down to Siao-Si-Fu and into our inn, but we had really made quite a short day's journey.

Next morning we were up long before it was light, and made a start with lanterns. It was just as well we did so, for our landlord, who was evidently accustomed to foreigners, and looked upon them as fair prey, refused to open the gates of the inn yard unless we paid him far more than was his due; but he reckoned without his host, for as there was no crowd about, and no fear of exciting a disturbance, we were able to threaten, and telling him that if he did not undo the lock, we would blow it open with a revolver, he soon saw that the game was up, and let us go in peace.

The village of Siao-Si-Fu lies just at the entrance of a narrow gorge, through which runs a rapid stream; the road winds along the hillside, generally at a good height above the water, but it has been carefully made, and the going is excellent. We met a large number of camels coming through, mostly carrying tea into the interior; and in one place one of them had managed to slip some distance down the hillside, but did not appear to have hurt himself much—he had been wise in choosing a gradual slope, where he could not fall far. The defile lasted nearly ten miles, but we missed most of its beauties, owing to our early start and the darkness, which was also responsible for our party getting separated, Shahzad Mir having somehow managed to lose the rest of us. This did not cause us much anxiety at the time, as we thought that he had merely lagged behind, and would soon be up with us.

When, however, we had made our halt, and breakfast was being prepared, and there were still no signs of him, we began to get anxious, and in making inquiries, we heard that he had passed our halting-place, and been met by carters coming from the Pekin direction. We still consoled ourselves with the thought that he would soon find out his mistake and retrace his steps, but when it was time to yoke up and make a fresh start, nothing had been seen of him.

We were now very anxious about him, so divided ourselves into two parties, the carts and servants going one road, while we went another, which passed through several small towns and ran parallel to the road taken by the carts. Both parties made inquiries as they went along, and for some thirty li we still heard of him; he seemed to have walked straight ahead, never stopping except to buy some food. His clothes and gait, as well as his dark face, made him very conspicuous, so that the various guards on the town gates always noticed him; but after going about ten miles we lost all trace of our faithful Duffadar, and all we could do was to give notice of his disappearance in different places, and ask the people to show him which way we had gone. The most unlucky part of the business was that he could not speak a solitary word of Chinese, and might get himself into trouble, but fortunately we were in northern, and not central or southern China, so we felt sure that sooner or later he would turn up.[16]

In some of the towns we passed through we saw quantities of "spirit's paper" lying about the streets, or hanging up in the shops for sale. This spirit's paper is simply round pieces, cut to represent cash, each sheet of paper representing any number, or gilt to represent silver or gold. These are bought by the people and scattered about the houses, or put in holes in walls and tree trunks, where they are found by restless, wandering spirits, who, poor creatures, are easily deceived into thinking them offerings of great value, and consequently refrain from injuring the pious, but economical offerer. They also burn large quantities of this paper money, and effigies of carts, horses, and other signs of worldly wealth, all of which go to improve the social status of their ancestors in the nether world.[17] The Chinaman, though decidedly superstitious and pious, according to his lights, rarely allows his regard for his ancestors to overcome that for his own pocket.

This was to be another very long day, so we halted for an hour, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and fed the animals, we ourselves buying some splendid grapes for forty cash a pound. These are grown south of the town of Shuen-Hua-Fu; also quantities of millet (huang-mi[18]), which is ground up and eaten like rice by the poor classes.

While wandering round, telling people of Shahzad Mir's disappearance and looking at the various shops, we saw hung up in a cage on the city gate the head of a man who had been found guilty of theft, and next to this gruesome relic were the shoes of several officials, whose ability or zeal in discharge of their duties had merited this special distinction; thus are the best and the worst of men's deeds kept fresh in the minds of the Chinese people.

We were just about to make our third start for the day when two Russian merchants entered our inn. We were much struck by the promptitude with which they extracted their revolvers from the sedan chairs in which they were travelling, and placed them in handy and conspicuous positions on top of their luggage. Curiously enough the only language in which we could converse with them was Chinese, which one man spoke fluently; and it was a great relief when we learnt that we need have no fear of the Gulf of Pe Chili being frozen over, for we were still in plenty of time.

We still had sixty li to do before halting for the night at Huai-Lai-Hsien, so we shoved along as fast as the mules could go, but the last twenty li or so were done in pitch darkness and bitter cold. The gates of the suburb were closed when we arrived, but we got them open with some difficulty, after considerably exaggerating the importance of the high official posts we both occupied. We had done nearly fifty miles since morning, so were glad to get an excellent Chinese concoction of eggs, and tumble into our blankets as quickly as might be.

Next morning we had to wait till the main gates were open, as our road lay through the city. The innkeeper coolly demanded 1,160 cash for the use of his rooms, but after a very few moments was more than satisfied with 360, in addition to which we of course gave a douceur to the man who had waited on us, as is the custom. A biting cold wind was blowing from the west, and as it was also freezing hard, it was quite the most unpleasant day of the whole journey, but it was not till we got in the open country, outside the walls, that we really felt the full force of the gale. The road was crowded with travellers going to and from Pekin, and one could not but envy the wealthy individuals who, sitting snugly in their neatly-made sedan chairs, could despise both wind and cold. Usually we used to wonder how even a Chinaman could sit all day in one of these conveyances, from which every breath of fresh air was carefully excluded, but to-day I think we would gladly have got into the stuffiest of them had we got the chance.

But if it were bad for us, what must it have been for the people travelling against the wind? Time after time we congratulated ourselves on the wind being at our backs. Several unfortunate Russians whom we met looked as though the wind was nearly cutting them in two, while Mongols and Chinese sat with their backs towards the heads of their camels or mules as they rode along. One poor man, whose whole attention was fixed on keeping himself warm, was very nearly run over by our carts in spite of all our warning shouts. Somehow, watching the misery of others always makes one forget one's own, and we were able to laugh at the ludicrous though pitiable faces of those we met, and in this way the fifty li to Cha-Tao passed less unpleasantly than it could otherwise have done.

Just before reaching this village we passed through another of the many ramifications of the Great Wall, behind which we cowered until the carts came up, wondering all the time what had happened to the unfortunate Shahzad Mir. Where could he have passed the night? What was he doing now? How would he manage for food? These and many other questions we asked one another, but decided that the only way in which we could help him was to get to Pekin quickly, and give notice at the yamen there of his disappearance.

From the wall to the inn was a very short way, and soon after the carts had come up we found ourselves in a crowded inn, where every one was busy; all the travellers were shivering like ourselves, and all clamouring for hot tea and other luxuries. At length we managed to get something, and had just got well into a substantial meal, when, to our surprise and delight, Shahzad Mir strode into the yard. While some food was being got ready for him he told us his tale. After missing us in the dark, on the morning of the 25th, he had quite made up his mind that we must be ahead, so on and on he went, eventually leaving the right road to his left. By midday he realized that he was lost, but this did not seem to have bothered him in the least. He knew that we were making for Pekin or Peh Chine, as the people call it, and guessed that by repeating that word in an inquiring tone of voice, he would get people to show him the road. He also knew that Pekin lay pretty well due east, so made up his mind to hold his course in that direction until he got to the sea, if necessary, after which he hoped to fall in with some European who would help him. At nightfall he thought he ought to try and get some food and lodging. He was in a fair-sized town, so walked into the biggest shop he could see, and made the owner understand his wants. Food they gave him willingly, but it was some time before he could get them to let him stay the night, his dark-coloured face apparently filling them with awe; but at last he attained his object, and got not only a good night's rest, but a substantial meal before leaving in the morning, for all of which his host absolutely refused payment.

Somehow or other the dark complexions of our retainers always struck awe into the minds of the Chinamen, and time after time Rijnhart had to answer questions as to whether these men were "really wild or not." Esau especially, with his flowing Ladakhi locks and earrings, was an object of fear and wonder, being taken for either a woman or a cannibal, greatly to his own disgust, though luckily he could not understand the remarks aroused by his strange appearance, unless they were explained by Rijnhart afterwards.

After breakfast the wind dropped a bit, and the cold was much less than it had been, for which we had reason to be thankful, as about two li beyond Cha-Tao we passed through the Great Wall again, and were able to see it at its best. It is here made of rubble, and splendidly faced with stone; towers are placed at regular intervals, and the top is broad enough for any troops to pass one another without the slightest difficulty or confusion. Just by the gate a flight of steps leads up to the wall, from which we looked down the valley towards Cha-Tao, and I also managed to take a photograph showing the wall as it runs away over the hill tops to the north.

One could now for the first time realize the magnitude of the original design, and had the whole northern frontier of China been divided off from Mongolia by a wall, such as this is near Pekin, and some 1,600 miles in length, there would have been nothing in the world to compare with it. Just behind the wall we found an old cannon, the inscription on which was copied by Rijnhart, as he believed that it proved the gun to be some three thousand years old, but unluckily we had no books at hand to corroborate this idea, or to tell us how old it really was. The name of the Emperor in whose reign it was made was very clear, and a book of dates would show at once between what years the gun was made.

Meanwhile our carts had got some way ahead of us, and we had to hurry after them. Ascending steadily we reached the summit of the Nan Kou Pass, from which a rapid descent into a warmer climate commenced. The road was at this point by far the best we saw in China, and showed signs of immense labour and no inconsiderable amount of engineering skill having been expended on it. Our road lay down a narrow valley, high on each side of which rose rocky mountains, while along the northern skyline ran the Great Wall.