The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-08-23
ON THE ROAD TO NANKIN
A Voyage Up the Broad Reaches of
the Yellow River.
4 Correspondent Describes the An
Client Chinese Capitai-A City of
Past GIOries, Which Is CIean-A
Niccroy Who Is Actually Honest
Big Guns for the Foreign Devils.

A London correspondent in China gives
the following graphic description of voy-
age up the Yangtse Kiang to Nankin:
Before the phantom of false morning
died. the unwieldy 30e0-ton Noah's ark
moved down the river from Shanghai.
passing the silent 'bund. and threading
its v ay through the foreign warsh,ps which
squat dcggedy nearly amidstream. Some
of them are quite as antique as Shengs
steamer. and far less fit to face rough
water; but, such as they are. their pres
ence is comforting. and they serve TO keep
cricket, baseball and the pony races going
By the time the sun has shown himself
everything is him in China. even a
lady-we have swung round and settled
to work up stream toward Nankin.
Scenery is absent. unless a vast waste
of yellow water, edged by a brown line
miles distant. deserves the name. Hours
pass. and the brown lire has crept closer
and carries few microscopic tufts, which
the telescope on the bridge resolves into
bamboo groves; but when this stage has
developed into something like a journey
by steamboat on a river with banks, the
ccltented calm of China has enveloped
you. and the smell of opium pipes and the
harsh noise of native music between decks
become entirely appropriate and rational.
At long intervals the boat edges toward
cluster of houses flying tattered flag
and is met by a greater or lesser scow.
crowded with Chinese and perhaps a stray
missioner. 1t ought to strike the paddle
wheel and be ground to pieces. but by
some sleight of hand it is twisted Just
six inches beyond the danger zone and ad-
heres to the side Immediately under a
door, into and out CT which, at the same
time and with much pushing and shouting.
men. women. children. birds in cages. tea
pots. mandarins' hats in oiled paper cases.
understandable bundles OF all kinds. ana
especially rolled-up bedding. are disgorged,
or injected. into the crowded vessel.
Nearing the Old Capital
Between thirty and sorty hours of This,
varied by one serious sop at Chinkiang.
where the imperial canal crosses the river
on its long way from Hang-chau to Tien-
tsin. bring US nearly TO Nankin. Here
the banks have risen into rolling hills,
and to the left the Yangtse shoots an arm
through them direct to the old capital, but
We may net avail ourselves Of it, though it
would cut off some miles, of our Journey.
for it is forbidden to foreign devils by the
VicerOy and by those tiny little unobtru-
sive lines and fattered specks which lie
near the tops Of the hills. Insignificant as
they appear from the river, the foreigners
who know most about Them and the slim.
shining 10 and 12-inch steel guns that Turk
there ready to lift their sly. hungry shouts
just above the grass, tell US that no var
ship yet contriyed by human ingenuity
could live within 1000 yards of them. and
that the river underneath is ranged and
plotted out TO foot.
Indeed, 1t is an oAsn secret that not so
very long ago these devils play toys rose
with the moon and silently swung into
groups at the orders of an irfuriated Vice
roy, who was restrained with difficulty
from blowing Into fragments the boats
of a foreign power which had been sent
up the river to bully him. He restrained
himself. but he patitioned the throne ask
ing to be permitted to retire, as he was
old and iufrm, and by reason of his igno-'
rance and natural stupidity unfit to ac5 as
Viceroy. The old gentlemsn's eommuniea-
ton disregarded all the canons of ct qaette.
but his pluck pleased the Empress, and her
decree, reprimanding him for daring TO
use sarcastic language TO the throne, con-
sisted of an inch of reproof and foot
of eulogy of his previous services.
"At last we may land. A swarm of Chi
nese have pushed past. and two military
mandarins have met a party from the city
and gone off at a trot in their chairs
With difficulty we gain a passage along
the narrow road between a row OF petty
houses and the river bank. soldier in
terests himself in our baggage. and we
see our porters off before mounting our
dilapidated carriage.
Refugees From shantunE.
"A short half mile brings the city walls,
but before entering the gate one cannot
avoid noticing a mass of miserable
hutches through which crawl half naked
figures, mere skin and bone. They are
from Shantung. wrecked and ruined by the |
Yellow River drifted down 400 miles. liv- |
ing on Chinese charity all their weary |
way. Fever and death have been their |
companions. Decent burial far from the |
ancestral land is an evil fate; but their |
comrades have found lower depth, and |
their angry spirits, deprived of the sac
riice which are Chinese sons first duty, |
will haunt the shallow graves from which |
the native dogs have dragged uncoffined |
bodies. To these few survivors the Vice |
roy has shown charity. They receive, or
are supposed to receive. daily dole OF |
rice and some local organization will sub |
scribe to coffin and bury them, perhaps |
even TO pay for some poor sacrifices to |
their SpifllS. so as 10 keep curse from |
the city.
The gate is passed. and you look in |
vain for the city. Nothing Is visible eX- |
cept few novels near the wall, and then |
q macadamized road planted with trees |
each side, passing through fields covered |
with bamboos and osiers. Driving on. |
dozen or so of houses loom up: but right |
ahead. though you can see for miles. moth
ing appears of city or its suburbs. Pres
emily a great arch standing lonely a
hill comes into view. and to your left a |
sharp hill carries a temple brooding over /
the SCARED mounds OF graveyard. Your |
road swings to one side. just avoiding |
the arch, and drops suddenly TO a cluster |
OF halfway houses two miles from the |
river. From here you become sensible |
that your road lies through what was once |
city. Ruined houses or walls do not |
exist. but the ground bears the traces OF
division into compounds, and indicates the
site Of a wealthy quarter.
Houses of Carved stone. I
Two miles farther passing another tenn
pie and long struggling barrack. some
thing like an inhabited region is reached
The houses are of stone. and the curved !
roofs. decorated with dragons and apes
seem unfamiliar and strange. You have
perhaps, seen many Chinese towns, yet
this has something distinctive and puZ-
ling until you notice that the grotesque
figures standing against the sky possess
their proper allowance OF whiskers and
claws. Then, in a fash. the mystery is
solved. and you learn that the distinctive
feature OF Nankin is tidness and good
repair OF course. the reason is plain.