After a
nerve-trying half-hour, I was thankful to see the form of my men
appearing at the moment when I was vehemently expressing indignation at
not being understood.
CHAPTER XVII.
_A bumptious official_. _Ignominious contrasts of two travelers.
Diminishing respect for foreigners in the Far East_. _Where the European
fails_. _His maltreatment of Orientals_. _Convicts on the way to death_.
_At Ch'u-hsiony-fu_. _Buffaloes and children_. _Exasperating repetition
met in Chinese home life_. _Unaesthetic womanhood_. _Quarrymen and
careless tactics_. _Scope for the physiologist_. _Interesting unit of
the city's humanity_. _Signs of decay in the countryside_. _Carrying the
dead to eternal rest_. _At Chennan-chou_. _Public kotowing ceremony and
its aftermath_. _Chinese ignorance of distance._
All-round idyllic peace did not reign at Kwang-tung-hsien, where I
rested over Sunday. Contacts in social conditions gave rise inevitably
to causes for conflicts.
Arriving early, my men were able to secure the best room and soon after,
with much imposing pomp and show, a "gwan"[AH] arrived, disgusted that he
had to take a lower room. I bowed politely to him as he came in. He did
not return it, however, but stood with a contemptuous grin upon his face
as he took in the situation.
Pages:
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332