Travel Notes.

Samoanische Zeitung, Volume 23, Issue 33, 17 August 1923, Page 7

Travel Notes.

(By H. J. Moors.) NANKING. (Concluded.)

Having to remain in Nanking all day awaiting the crossing at 5 p.m. if the river was smooth enough, my companion and I decided that we would hire a motor-car and a guide and drive to the Ming tombs and see the various surrounding ancient buildings. We had first of all to pass through the great wall which surrounds the city, and is probably forty feet high at the gate. The great tunnel which leads through the wall is about 120 feet long, being about sixteen feet wide and twelve feet high and closed at the end with a ponderous wooden gate studded with iron bolts. 5 lbs of dynamite would blow it to kingdom come. Numerous beggars accost every traveller passing through, and one of these was styled the "Laughing Beggar," and true to form, he was most gracious and full of smiles wishing us a pleasant trip after we had well ''coppered" him. Over the top of this gate was a five-storied building where the former garrisons had resided, and which was now far gone in decay. Part of the roof had fallen down, and a considerable amouht'of vegetation was growing abdve the roof tiles where dust from the surrounding plain had blown up and served as nourishment. Broken tiles had slipped down and were seen by the wayside. A long road was discovered leading across a rolling countryside—this was about 30 feet wide, and paved with flat stones, and between the crevices weeds and grasses were growing profusely, except where in little lanes footpaths were kept open by the constant going and coming on passengers. •'-' ' On each side of this roadway were great concrete statues of various animals done up in gigantic

sizes. For instance, two camels in concrete would face each other across the road, and then two dreadful stone giants armed with bludgeons, would glare at each other 30 feet apart. Then we would come to elephants, rhino, ceros, and all kinds of mythical monstrosities, until we came to the tombs themselves.

As usual, long flights of stone steps led up to mounds on which were ancient temples, through which we were permitted to pass after paying a small fee. v These were filled with ancient and dusty gilt furniture, and various altars whose uses and meanings our guide was unable to explain. Back of the first building were others to which we went, still ascending interminable, steps, until there were no more. We saw no tomb or anything resembling them; probably if any bodies had been buried about the premises they were beneath the temples lhemselves. All of these once fine courtyards we saw were weed covered, and the roofs of some of the temples themselves were overgrown with bushes three or four feet high, thriving on the dust that was daily blown up to them. At each flight of steps were officious flunkeys tendering their help to make the ascent, or to hold an umbrella over one's head, and there were numerous child beggars, who performed amusing antics to charm the coppers out of our pockets ; and they were successful in this, for we went well provided for this sort of thing. On returning to town we were taken to some manufacturers of fine silk, velvets and damasks, and were surprised to find that no large factory was used or any modern machinery to produce the finest fabrics. The looms we saw were of wbod and were worked by three nearly naked men, and the brocades were very artistic and completely finished. I have been told that both the Chinese and Japs make liberal use of German dyes ; and there is one thing certain, they produce wonderful goods in lovely shades, and dyed fast and evenly. This same guide also took us to some other places of interest, which I have forgotteu, and his main object seemed to be to try to get us to purchase some of these productions, and there .was no doubt but that in case of sales he obtained a commission. Although the prices asked seemed very high, I cannot understand how they could ask less when considering the extreme slowness of the manufacture, and the amount of manual labour expended in getting results, and the great care that must be observed in every operation. The City of Nanking , itself is located on the banks of the Yangste Kiang, thirty or forty miles from its mouth, and contains 300,000 inhabitants. Good-sized steamers come up to its wharves, which are crowded with native junks of all sizes up to 300 or more tons. These same steamers may proceed up the river several hundred miles further to Hankow, a great city and business centre, from whence another railway leads on to Peking. We saw the river in a state of con-, siderable agitation, and noted that the so-called typhoon was abating, and our chances of crossing in the evening were getting better. At Nanking the Yangste is a magnificent stream considerably wider, than from Mulinuu to Matautu, and it was bank-ful, and running rapidly towards the seadelivering an immensity of yellow muddied waters into the ocean. It compares with the Mississippi at New Orleans. We crossed this water in the afternoon, on a ferry boat, capable of decently accommodating 200 people, but crowded with twice that number and consequently top heavy, and I often thought that she would roll completely over and drown us all, for owing to the wind blowing up the river against its current, ' ■ ■

very large seaswer*]formed which broke angrily, atHT'often these ' threatened to engulf us, and the landing and tie up on the Pukow side was no ealsy accomplishment. There seemed tb;'be' no competent direction to handle this river traffic, and will not be surprised to redd some day of some disastrous acci- , dent happening. The train for Tientsin and Peking was in waiting, and on the tick of c time' we mov<M-O i ut K on the way north. The Chinese villages along this line are frequentlylargely made up of mud huts' of a" very primitive kind/and very houses were to be seei; people fear to separated—becauaje of robbers, so'the£ duster together for mutual protection. Besides the usual products, which I have'already mentioned, I now began to see wide fields of a new plant, resembling Indian corn,. namely the "kaoliang," a Jbrgum, which' produces a dawjacOloured grain and its top, and stalks are used largely for theuuihufacture of a distilled Uqttbr. We "also came through fields of real Indian corn, which were producing scanty crops. Atevery, station ycddots were offering cakes made of these grains, and our third class passengers were buying them, I do not recollect seeing, any rice fields in this region. The dining car offered'; us three meals a day, which were passable but not appetising. The sleeping accommodations were about as good as I have experienced in New Zealand (which is not saying- much) and the other facilities were on the same low level. Wherrwe awoke in the morning we had'=travelled several hundreds of mites,' nearly due north, arid we now found our- . selves passing' over' a more' prosperous region: for the beans, - corn, and specially kao Hang Were much higher, and "thjL crops very; much h^vi^r;J-As!'^4';i^tiaiTied"; : travel*? hug, n6j"tir allday;'"'the''' aspect of the? country improved, and sortie good* apples and also some' passable 1 peaches were sold to us at high' railroad prices. . It was in this very region we were now passing, that the great famine of two years ago 1 devastated the land, and instead of offering fruits for sale through'; the' railroad fences; some these •vvery people were theft holding out their children and begging the passengers to;b«y v I was' told that did' buy a. great nitrhfber of girls as low;; as 1 dollar each', and then took good eafe of . them.' A long continued drought had caused this disaster, and thousands who were moving pushing their Wheelbarrows were often so weak that they died by the roadside as - they attempted to pass along. As we rah along towards we found that "all the small stations were garrisoned by Chinesesbidiers, ' who were weti equipped like dependable , and : nlpa>' aw%*a* iFfr** Tti&bm rfcinity in' which the bahditaUtely operated and made prisoner* whom' they- held for '"■ ; ; :: .' -'v•','.'• ;s£\ :'-» thetuitiohi%t'mettW'%Wc6 ia even the larger city oTth* twtf I did haying no wish to stay' OveHor the nighl.Tien'tstiiisa big city and thVee stations as we .. v/rWfc-«tos &ss%&s& very gtettiwece expected toi dress for expected to drop con-

the city and almost adjoining the M K(otel Peking." I think it was the "Central." They had a good car and porter at the station, who took care of our luggage, and in half an hour we were in possession of good quarters, f 1 had a front room just above the entrance and it was beautifully furnished and with a telephone installed and a convenient bathroom with modern plumbing. We found the table excellent, and the tariff only $8 per diem. Cheaper rooms could be had for those who wanted them. "Hotel Peking" and the "Wagon I*its" tariffs were sls and upwards. Our table was well supplied. During the day we had crossed the famous Yellow River, of the Hoang Ho, on its mile-long stee 1 bridge. Where we crossed, the streantltself was perhaps 300 yards wide, the river being: rather 10w..; I.>saw a few small junks tied tip to a landing. Butthis river is that it is not much used-for traffic. Some years' ago it took quite a new course, and its present exit on the sea coast is some hundreds of miles from its former mouth. When in flood, this river often does immense damage and ruins millions of people. It does not seem to have any distinct banks, but shoals to sand banks, and these merge into the plain, which is often overflowed. When possible, the soil is cultivated to the water's edge by these industrous people, who live huddled in mud huts close up together for mutual protection against roving thieves and unpaid soldiers, who are totally devoid of patriotism and will serve any master who pays. In,. this respect they differ from: the patriotic Japanese who periodically die for their emperor or Japan.