The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1890-08-01
LETTER FROM MRS. DIR. NrAr.
AsroR HOUSE,, TrENrsrS, CHINA.
April 2lst, 1890.

| 'S'H~oN"J SNShihB, habtE OuE llTtbOH
journey down from Tung Chow. wrot
] all about the long ride / was obliged [,
take, the running away Of the horses, &c.
so need not repeat The only thiag tha
grieves me about that ride now ,s, that
shall not have such chance again on iea
Jess, for many long day, If indeed eve
see her again. II is more than likely tina
we cannot keep or ride horses in and abou
Che Nan Foo. We are to live so far from
the city gates that 1t will take too long tC
go outside them TO where we can ride, and
inside the city the streets are too crowded
and the people too hostile, TO make ridinp
at all pleasant We have planned to re.
turn our horses to Tung Chow till we car
determine whether it is at all possible tc
have them In Che Nan Foo. Thursday
April "a, am now writing in little Chin
ese boat called house boat by Europeans
going up little river, the Pei Ho, to Tune
Cho on our way to Pekin. could no,
finish this at Tientsin on Monday, Tuesday
rose rather late, had some repacking OF
our baggage in preparation for our Journey
up the river, also had stores to provide
and food for the trip, and were off in this
boat by four o'clock that afternoon. We
are having adverse winds, tho current is
against us and the trip which we hoped to
end to-day will probably last until satur
| day. This way of travelling is very differ.
ent from shentsze travelling as we have
known 1t the past six years and more.
| Writing is possible, and the time does not
seem so long, but at the same time it seems
even slower than the other way. Our
| boatmen stop entirely when the wind bio ws
| gale. The river winds such a crooked
| course that we appear to go two miles to
| advance one. There is little to sec for the
| river is low, and the boats are low too, one
| cannot see above the banks. The country
is very flat and sandy and the wind blows
almost constantly, sending the sand and
dust into every crack and crevice. The
boat, In the house part is divided into
three small rooms. The middle one is
raised and just holds our mattress and
bedding, and is where we sleep. The
front room has wee bit of table and two
stools In it, our trunks, lunch bas kets and
bags are there too, and in that division,
which is about feet wide and or u long
we eat and live generally. The bed room |
should guess to be about 8 K 6 feet, and
the little back room where the boy sleeps,
five feet by four. The four boatmen, two
who pull the rope attached 10 the one
m q Of in tba 10 ba
guides the rudder, and one who SHIFTS the
sail ropes, manages the pole that is used to
keep US off the shore or from striking any
passing boats, all sleep in little cubby
holes under the floor of both the front and
back parts of the boat. The sides and
| ends of the house part are all NOV cable
and can be shut up or taken down at pleas
! ure. The three little rooms are separated
by carved open work doors over which red
paper or red cloth are pasted. The roof is
made of a frame of bamboo over which
| mating is stretched. We have our food
with us, as on an overland journey. There
| is but littlelmotion on the boat, only a
gentle rocking that no one minds. The
| river is narrow and not very deep but has
| pretty stiff current. We can 60 ashore
| any time for walk and only feel regre
that We make so little, so very little pro-
| gress. Hereafter we shall often travel in
this way l suppose, so l write rather in de
tail so that you may know what boat trav.
el means in China. 1t is different enough
from the steamers. We came from Che
Foo to Tientsin by the China merchan nts
steamer, Kung Pal, Owned by nativt
company in about thirty hours, that is, WI
got as far as the bar, a two-miles stretcf
of shallow water, that vessels can only g
oyer at high tide. As there was a Manda
rim on board who was summoned to Pekii
IN connection with the examinations nov
being held there, and was consequently
very anxious to reach the Capital, when h
found the steamer must wait about eigh
hours for the tide and he would then mis-
the last train from the landing at Tong X
to Tientsin, he hired tug boat to tax
him and his party up to Tong Ku in tim
for the train. The captain of the tug boa
was kind enough to bring us and two 9th
er foreign passengers up, and would tax
nothing from us, saying the uip of tn
boat was paid for blythe twenty taels this
the Mandarin paid. This brought us
Tong Ku IN good season for the 4:30 trai
, to Tientsin, 80 after long time We agsi
r had ride Of % miles on railroad, tt
, only one in all China; it was pleasure
We left four other steamers be ides OF
. own, outside the bar waiting for the It'd,
! to go the remaining fifteen miles to Ton
Ku. Formerly steamers used to go all tn
3 way to Brand Gas Front or River street
8 calledln all these Eastern cities, for Tien
. sin is on the Pei Ho and not on the SCI
9 but of late the river is too full of silt to {
s low boats of heavy draft to 60 all the ws
q up, 80 the Chinese have built this littl
: railroad up one branch of the river. Whe
!, | we reached Tientsin it seemedi like civi
t zation to see so many Jinricshas wsitin
= so the DR.. had me ride in one, though v
= had not very far to go to the hotel, the A
tor House, kept by a German, where '
stayed until our start on this boat the ne
afternoon. A very nice hotel we found
Il to be. Tientsin, next to Shanghai, is +
d largest foreign settlement in China, h
e fine wide streets, large handsome she
and stores, and quite the air and style o.
n foreign city, Che Foo is only small v
l. lage in comparison. You can imagi
'e how, after so many years in dingy, dir
1t native city, we enjoyed this glimpse
& something like home life. After our t
}. to Pekin l hope we can ave few dt
there again before going to Che Nan F.
In Tung Cho we are to stay with DR..
a. gram, former classmate OF DIR. Meals
te the medca, school in Philadelphia. FIR
in Pekin We are planning an excursion
n, the Great Wall, that separates China fr
it Mongolian territory, also to the w
ce Tombs, the burial place of the Emperc
r, of the dynasty just preceding the pres
lh Manchurian one. With love to all, as e
IT. atfectionately,
Is Your daughter,
n ELIZABETH s. NEAL
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