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THE FACE OF
MANCHURIA
KOREA
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TURKESTAN
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THE FACE OF
MANCHURIA
KOREA
RUSSIAN
TURKESTAN
WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED WITH
XXIV PLATES BY E. G. KEMP, F.R.S.G.S.
AUTHOR OF "THE FACE OF CHINA"
NEW YORK
DUFFIELD & COMPANY
191 I
All rights reserved
DEDICATED TO
MY THREE SISTERS
PREFACE
I ESS than three years ago I made a journey with
a friend, Miss MacDougall, across the Chinese
^ Empire from north-east to south-west, and
while my interests in the changes going on there was
intensified, a profound anxiety took possession of my
mind as to the effect these changes would produce in
the national life. The European and other Powers
who had wrangled over the possibility of commercial
and political advantages to be obtained from the
Chinese Government (after the Boxer troubles) have
withdrawn to a certain extent, but like snarling dogs
dragged from their prey, they still keep covetous eyes
upon it, and both Russia and Japan continue steadily
but silently to strengthen their hold upon its borders.
These borders are Manchuria and Korea, and it is in
this direction that fresh developments must be ex-
pected. I read all the available literature bearing on
the subject, but so rapidly had the changes occurred
that books were already out of date, and they failed to
make me see the country as it now is.
As an instance of this, let me quote Whigham's
(correspondent to the Morning ^Posi) " Manchuria and
Korea," published in 1904. 1 " one cannot seriously
1 Whigham's " Manchuria and Korea," pp. 117-119, 153, 49.
vij
Pi~eface
believe that Japan would ever invade Manchuria,
unless, indeed, she be caught by the madness with
which the gods first visit those whom they wish to
destroy ; but if ever her army did occupy Moukden she
would only find another Moscow in the ancient capital
of the Manchus, and when all is said and done what
would be the use ? She could never hope to hold the
Liao valley for ever against Russia ; Great Britain
might just as well try to hold Normandy again against
France. . . . The conclusion is that as far as Manchuria
is concerned, Russia is even now more or less invul-
nerable," &c. &c. This was published the year the
Russo-Japanese war took place.
Taking heart of grace by the kind reception of my
former book on China, I determined to visit Manchuria
and Korea, and to try and describe them by pen and
brush as I had described the Face of China. My
former fellow-traveller was willing and eager to repeat
our wanderings, so we set out on February ist of this
year, 1910, via the Trans-Siberian Railway. Much
has been written by various travellers about this part
of the journey, but the questions that I wanted
answered are mostly ignored by them. Baedeker is
wholly inadequate. I begin therefore my tale from
the point where we crossed the border into Manchuria,
so as to give more continuity to the narrative and avoid
repetition. on our return journey across Siberia I
give details which may possibly be of service to those
who intend travelling on that line, and also the general
information about the condition of the country at the
viij
Preface
present time, which I have gathered from reliable
sources since my return.
When we started for our four months' tour we had
no intention of extending it to Turkestan, but finding
that a railway line connected it with the one on which
we were travelling, and that it could be reached in
three days from Samara on the Trans-Siberian line,
we decided to include it in our programme and so
vary the journey home. It proved to be of ex-
traordinary artistic interest, not to mention its his-
torical importance both as the centre of Moslem
learning and of Russian experiments in civilizing
Central Asia. Russia looks with a jealous eye upon
the traveller, and a special permit has to be obtained
in order to travel through Turkestan, even on the
railway line. Not only is it necessary to apply for
this through the British Embassy at St. Petersburg,
but several weeks elapse before a notification can be
received that the Russian Government graciously
permits the traveller to cross Turkestan. We were
informed also that when all these formalities had been
duly observed, the traveller was still liable to be stopped
by the police on the ground that they (the police) had
not received official notice of the traveller's coming,
and in that case he would be ordered to return by the
way he came. Despite this discouraging information
we determined to try our luck, and in due course re-
ceived a "note verbale " from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs at St. Petersburg, addressed to the British
Embassy, permitting us to visit Tashkent, Samarkand,
Preface
and Bokhara. In point of fact our difficulty proved
to be not that of getting ///, but that of getting out of
Russian territory, as will be seen later on.
Despite the difficulties, Russian Turkestan is well
worth visiting, and had the scope of this book per-
mitted, I should like to have added further illustra-
tions of Samarkand. All the illustrations suffer from
lack of time, and the earlier ones from the inclemency
of the weather, but they are an attempt to show as
accurately as possible what the countries and people
are like, and especially to give correct colouring, in
this way supplementing the photographs with which
many previous works on these countries have been
illustrated.
We were warned before undertaking the journey
that great dangers would lie in our path. I should
indeed regret depriving the arm-chair critic of the
pleasure of threatening us with tigers, brigands, Hun
Hutzes, and the lowest class of Japanese ruffian, or of
his special satisfaction in shaking his head over the
follies of those who run into unnecessary danger ; but
in the interest of other travellers I must confess that
we met none of these things, though doubtless it would
have added to the piquancy of the narrative to have
done so. The only striped beasts we saw in the forests
were chipmunks, and the only people who were to
be feared were the monks in a certain Buddhist
monastery.
I cannot omit a word of thanks to the many
missionaries who helped to make our journey such a
Preface
pleasant one, and without whose kindly aid we should
have missed a large part of its interest. The Medical
Mission work of the Irish and Scotch Presbyterians in
Manchuria, and the various branches of work of
American and Australian Presbyterians in Korea have
been briefly described in this book, but their profound
value can only be appreciated by those who have come
in personal contact with them. In the troublous
times of the last decade they have proved their worth,
and I only hope that the ominous cloud still over-
hanging the land may be dispersed and a time of
prosperous growth succeed the trials which they have
triumphantly endured.
As I write these words the June number of World's
Work falls into my hands, and I read what Japanese
writers have to say upon the Manchurian question.
Adachi Kinnosuke pointsout that, despite theimmense
financial strain of the war with Russia, Japan has
trebled her army and strengthened her navy to an
equal extent during the few years that have elapsed
since that struggle, which cost her the lives of 300,000
men. The reason which he assigns for these military
preparations is the necessity of being able to face China.
At the close of the Russo-Japanese war Baron Komura
tried to induce the Chinese Government to open
Manchuria to Japanese colonists, but as Manchuria is
imperatively needed by China for her own surplus pop-
ulation, which are pouring into it daily by thousands
in the early spring, it was only natural that she should
resent the proposal, and refuse to grant the desired
Preface
permission. Hence the present attitude of Japan.
"If you do not allow our people to colonise Manchuria
peacefully, there is only one thing for us to do : to
enter it anyhow." Yet the density of population in
Japan at the present time is considerably less than that
of Great Britain, of Belgium, of Holland, of Saxony,
of Alsace Lorraine, of Hesse, of Baden ; not to
mention other non-European countries. The new
Russo-Japanese Alliance is concerned mainly with
their railways, and Japan insists on China relin-
quishing her project of a railway into Mongolia.
Now it is an open secret that Russia is to have a
railway direcl from Irkutsk to Peking — the inference
is obvious. The situation is an interesting one ; but
I have neither the knowledge nor the impertinence
requisite for prophesying the course of events. My
object will be attained if I can in any way succeed in
describing the condition of affairs at the present
moment.
The latest step in advance is the annexation of
Korea, the highroad into Manchuria.
August 26, 1910.
xij
CONTENTS
Preface
PART I
The Face of Manchuria
V1J
I. Hulan 3
II. Moukden 1 1
III. Hsin Muntun 34
IV. Liao Yang 42
V. A Visit to the Thousand Peaks 5 1
VI. From Moukden to Korea 58
XIV. Ashiho 141
(For narrative purposes included in Part II.)
PART II
The Face of Korea
VII. Pyong Yang 67
VIII. Sunday at Pyong Yang 74
xiij
The Face of Manchwia
IX. The History of Roman Catho-
licism in Korea 84
X. Seoul 93
XI. Fusan 107
XII. The Diamond Mountains 113
XIII. Seoul to Dalny 134
XIV. Ashiho 141
PART III
The Face of Russian Turkestan
XV. Through Siberia 151
XVI. Into Turkestan 171
XVII. Tashkent 178
XVIII. The Home of Tamerlane 188
XIX. Samarkand 201
XX. Bokhara 220
XXI. Through the Caucasus 230
Index 241
Map To fa ce page 248
XIV
ILLUSTRATIONS
Tamerlane's Tomb
Frontispiece
Foo Ling Tomb
To face page 1 2
Imperial Tomb, Moukden
28
Manchu Ladies' Greeting
36
Korean Gate, Liao Yang
42
Blind Buddhist Nun
49
Buddhist Monastery-
53
Korean in Mourning
69
Coy Korean Maiden
7 6
Korean Woman
94
Empress's Tomb
102
Korean Graves
103
(A) Fusan ; (B) Korean Village
108
(A) Devil Posts ; (B) " Ten
Parts
Imperfe<5t
one"
118
North Gate, Seoul
l 3 l
Mohammedan Mosque
H5
Prayer at a Saint's Tomb
184
Tamerlane's Tomb (Interior)
190
Samarkand
21 1
Hazreti Shah Zindeh
2I 5
Mosque at Bokhara
226
Baku
231
(A) Tiflis ; (B) A Persian
2 33
Mount Kasbec
236
PART I
The Face of Manchuria
THE FACE OF MANCHURIA
CHAPTER I
Hulan
THERE is always a thrill of expectation for the
genuine traveller on crossing the frontier into
an unknown country, which even the sight
of the custom-house fails to dispel. In the case of
Manchuria we were fortunate enough to escape the
custom-house altogether, as having no registered
luggage we only received a perfunctory visit from the
politest of officials in our railway carriage at about
1 1 p.m. While all the rest of the travellers had to
turn out and spend an hour or more in an offensive-
smelling office, we comfortably went to bed and awoke
next morning to find a glorious, dazzling sun shining
on the snowy plain between Manchuria (town) and
our terminus, Kharbin. The railway station is in the
Russian town, which has been built up round it, and
still looks painfully new : it lies on the banks of the
great Sungari River, at the junction of the Trans-
Siberian line with the line to Moukden and Peking.
After a night's rest in the Russian hotel we started
3
The Face of Manchuria ch. i
for Hulan, a Chinese town about sixteen miles to the
north of Kharbin.
No Chinese vehicle is allowed in the Russian quarter,
so we were obliged to take a droshky to the Chinese
town, about a half mile distant, where our belongings
were transferred to the sleigh, which was the only
possible vehicle for crossing the open country. It was
of a most primitive description, a sort of raft on runners,
with a little straw on it covered with a rug. Our
luggage was somewhat insecurely corded on, and we
seated ourselves in the midst of it, only too soon to
become acutely aware of the extraordinary number of
corners which it possessed. Between the shafts, which
consisted of two sapling birches denuded of their
branches, was a shaggy pony, and another little pony
ran alongside to give what further assistance he could,
both animals having a miscellaneous harness of bits of
old cord, which looked incapable of enduring any strain,
though the event proved quite the contrary. We
passed through the old town, which was gay with New
Year decorations, the doors all bright with tutelary
deities, freshly pasted up. Already the streets were
filled with traffic, heavily-laden waggons of corn drawn
by teams varying from four to eight, stacks of straw on
rafts, fitted with runners similar to those of the one we
were on, and all the various equipages likely to befound
in such a nondescript place. The drollest of all was
a little wooden house on runners, with a tall chimney,
which we supposed to be on its way to some other
permanent position. This, however, proved to be the
4
ch. i Hulan
bus plying daily between Kharbin and Hulan, the place
of our destination. It contained eleven passengers
inside, and a stove. Outside was a heap of bedding
on a wooden box tied on a narrow ledge at the back,
upon which lounged another passenger.
It was desperately cold and almost impossible to
keep one's extremities warm, but the Chinese cope
successfully with this difficulty. Nearly every one
wears ear muffs (some of them beautifully embroidered
and fur-lined), or big turned-up collars as high as
their heads, or caps coming over the ears, and at the
other extremity large felt boots. Passing through
the busy town we plunged down into the river-bed
of the Sungari, a most perilous descent, as the sledges
slither away and sometimes turn completely round,
unless the driver dexterously contrives to push them
into a convenient rut. We passed one heavy cart
that had turned completely on to its side, while yet
another was being dug out of a rut with a pickaxe.
The ponies show their mettle, and though they have
the worst of tempers, and not infrequently give a
sudden bite to the passers-by, they work with a will
to drag their often too heavy loads over the difficult
ground. We passed the landing-stage, whence in
summer the steamers ply daily up to Hulan.
After struggling up the farther bank we passed over
a bumpy plain for several hours, with various incidents
to mark the road. Our umbrellas soon disappeared,
then a collision sent a basket flying. Sometimes we
were in imminent peril as some passing vehicle would
5
The Face of Manchuria ch. i
skid violently ; once I thought escape was impossible,
as a large cart crashed into our side, missing my arm
by a hair's-breadth, but we strove — I hope not un-
successfully — to imitate the Chinese imperturbability
of appearance. During one of our halts for repairs
we were overtaken by the above-mentioned bus, and,
behold ! there was the Chinaman still on the back of
it, trying to take a nap. We passed and repassed the
vehicle, and he was always in the acl of trying to sleep
in some different attitude, but apparently never suc-
ceeding — the only Chinaman I have ever met who
failed to sleep in any attitude whatever !
These plains are very fertile, and as soon as spring
comes there is a steady stream of workers to be seen
arriving from China proper, especially from the pro-
vince of Shantung, to which they return when the
harvest is ended. Many come to accumulate enough
money during eight or nine years to buy land and
bring their families up to live here. In facl: we met
some emigrants already arriving with all their scanty
possessions. The Chinese Government is now waking
up to the importance of colonisation on the borders
of the empire, in order to check the sure and steady
pressure of the Russians from without.
As we approached Hulan we came to another river
to be crossed, but not nearly so large a one as the
Sungari. Few foreigners come to such an out-of-the-
way corner of the empire, so people came hurrying
out to see us, calling to one another, " Come and
see the shaggy women ! " " These shaggy women
ch. i Hulan
are tip-top ! " The ｅxpression " shaggy " seems to
have been first applied to the Russians, who wear
their hair somewhat loose and long, but it is now the
common designation for foreigners of all nationalities.
We travelled slowly, though occasionally our little
ponies would break into a trot ; then the driver would
leap into the air, fold his legs beneath him and alight
seated cross-legged on the cart, with a solid thud, like
some gigantic frog. Hulan is quite a Chinese town,
and indeed Manchuria is rapidly becoming populated
with the Chinese, for whom its fertile plains offer an
excellent home. The old Manchu towns are in a
decadent condition, and can only hope for a fresh
lease of life by new blood being introduced from the
south. No wonder the Japanese cast covetous eyes
on the land where crops produce an increase of 100
per cent. The crops are mainly wheat and beans,
both of which are being largely exported to Britain.
Great quantities of oil are obtained from the beans,
and the refuse is made into large flat cakes, nearly as
big as cart wheels, which form excellent fuel. The
price of beans in the north is three times as great as
it was a year ago, and the people in Manchuria are
on the whole more prosperous than elsewhere in the
Chinese Empire.
on Sunday morning we attended service in the
Mission Hall, and received a warm welcome from the
people, to whom we were formally presented at the
conclusion of the service. The Mission is still in its
infancy, but promises well, and when the medical
7
The Face of Manchuria ch. i
side is started will make more rapid progress. The
next day "the faithful of Hulan " sent us gifts of
cakes, and asked when we were leaving, that they
might speed us on our way. We left too early, how-
ever, to go and thank them in person, as we had a
four hours' sleigh ride in order to catch the express
at Kharbin, which only goes twice a week direct, to
Moukden. Unfortunately we had mistaken the day,
and we doubly regretted that we had not waited to
return the courtesies shown to us.
The first section of the railway line running south-
wards is still in the hands of Russia, and one's atten-
tion is continually arrested by the large numbers of
soldiers who are kept all along the line to guard it.
Kwan-cheng-tze is the terminus of the Russian line :
it is not quite half-way from Kharbin to Moukden.
The Japanese call their station at Kwan-cheng-tze
Changchun, which is rather puzzling to the traveller
who is unaware that the place boasts two names.
All passengers have to change trains here.
We had a leisurely journey across the plains, and
arrived at Kwan-cheng-tze about 8.30, our halting-
place for the night. It boasts a brand new Japanese
hotel just opposite the station, which was radiantly
clean and fresh, such a contrast to the Russian one at
Kharbin. There was no lack of attention, for the
Chinese boys flew to do our bidding, and fetched us
tea unbidden. In the morning we started at 8.30 on
the Japanese section of the line. The cars are long
open corridor ones, and kept admirably clean, but one
ch. i Hulan
misses the privacy so dear to the Englishman. All
day long we slowly wended our way southward, stop-
ping at many stations of a mushroom growth : it
requires no imagination to fancy yourself back in
Europe as far as the houses are concerned, but the
people are quite out of keeping with them. The
train had a sonorous bell attached to the engine,
absolutely like that of a church, which heralded
our approach to the stations. At almost every station
there is a little house where hot water is to be ob-
tained ; the moment the train stops out dash numbers
of Chinese, carrying their teapots, which they get
replenished. We had no need to bestir ourselves, as
the conductor was most attentive and kept us well
supplied. The trains always have Japanese military
officials on board, who usually go only short stages,
being replaced by others whenever they get out. The
trains are very crowded, and in the third class they
are packed like monkeys in cages : some of the car-
riages have three shelves one above the other, on
which the passengers lie, and as they are lighted at
the top by a single dim candle, at night the top man
certainly has the best of it.
At 6 p.m. we steamed into Moukden punctual to
the minute, and found a deafening crowd ready to
lay hold of the passengers. We were greeted by a
man possessing a few words of English, and able to
understand where we wanted to go, so we were glad
to entrust ourselves to his care. He even satisfied
any curiosity we might have had as to the personal
9
The Face of Mci7ichuria ch. i
appearance of our host, whose main feature, judging
from the description, was a huge moustache. The
drive was thrilling, and the five miles were none too
long ; it was the New Year festival, and all sorts of
things were to be seen in the thronged streets. Bril-
liant moonlight illuminated the city from above, and
lanterns and fireworks lit it up intermittently from
within. A short drive brought us near a thoroughly
Burmese dagoba of old times, and then through a
horrible iron archway of the worst type of modern
times. Farther on we passed through the gloomy gate-
way in the big city wall, and found an almost impene-
trable throng of sightseers. Our driver had no longer
a chance of pointing out interesting buildings, and
giving us details of his faith, &c, with which he had
varied the earlier part of the drive, for he was obliged
to keep up a monotonous shout of " hech ! hech !
hech ! " only varied by what sounded like " hurry
on, hurry on ! " a much needed injunction to his
steed. After about an hour's drive we reached the
group of Mission buildings, hospitals, schools, and
dwelling-houses situated on the river bank, which is
radiant with lotus blossom in the summer-time. But
I must not begin describing the charms of Moukden
at the end of a chapter : it demands one to itself. As
the relation of Manchuria to China is but little known,
it may be of interest to the reader to have the brief
account which forms the beginning of the next
chapter, but after this warning it is easy for those
who are not interested to skip the next four pages.
CHAPTER II
Moukden
THE story of the rise of the Manchu dynasty
is like a romance, and no parallel to it is
to be found in the pages of history. In the
middle of the sixteenth century there was no Manchu
Empire, and the Manchus themselves were wild, un-
cultured barbarians without any written language,
living in caves which they hollowed in the earth, and
engaged in constant warfare with other tribes living
like themselves in the northern part of that country
which we call Manchuria, the central and southern
part being inhabited by the Chinese. In the year
1559 Noorhachu was born, with the prospect of be-
coming ruler over six little hamlets ; by the year 1 6 1 6
he had conquered all the adjacent tribes and founded
the Manchu kingdom, receiving from the " great
Ministers " the title of Ying Ming — " brave and illus-
trious." Noorhachu's military conquests and singular
political sagacity alarmed the Chinese, whose frequent
attacks and whose murder of his father and grand-
father had roused his deep-seated enmity. He pre-
pared an army of picked men, and drew up a paper
of " seven hates," addressed to the Emperor of China.
The Face of Ma?ichuria ch. ii
Instead of despatching it to the Emperor, he addressed
it to Heaven, burning the document with full sacri-
ficial rites, after which he started his campaign (i 6 1 7)
by attacking the Chinese in the territory east of
Moukden. In the midst of this campaign he was
recalled to his capital, Hingking, by the news that a
Chinese army of 200,000 men was approaching. on
reaching Moukden this force divided into four armies
of equal size : they were all in turn defeated by the
smaller forces of Noorhachu within the space of five
days, the number of killed being computed at 45,000.
After one month's rest he led his victorious troops to
the conquest of Moukden and Liao Yang, and at the
latter place he built a palace for himself and made it
the seat of government.
Noorhachu, oras hewas afterwards styled, Taidsoo =
the Great Ancestor, was far-sighted enough to recog-
nise that his only means of holding the large territory
which he had won was by wise and good administra-
tion, and in this he was successful. In 1625 he retired
to Moukden and made it his capital ; in the following
year he died there, after an unsuccessful campaign
against the Chinese. They were led by a determined
general who brought (for the first time) "terrific
western cannon " against him, which had been cast
by Jesuit missionaries.
Noorhachu was buried in the Foo Ling tomb, east
of Moukden, a fitting resting-place for the great
founder of the Manchu dynasty. It was during his
son's reign that the Manchu dynasty was firmly placed
-1^
v/^WHH
^v*»
/
Mk ^ ^ ■
1
FOO LING TOMB, MONICDEN
ch. ii Moukden
upon the throne of China in the person of Noorhachu's
grandson, a boy of five years old (1644). His father
had been summoned by the Chinese to aid them
against several hordes of rebels who had devastated
the empire, and he sent a powerful army led by his
brother. The Manchus, after defeating the rebel
army, marched on Peking, where Li Dsuchung, the
most noted rebel leader, had entrenched himself, and
where the last of the Ming Emperors had in conse-
quence committed suicide. Li Dsuchung had indeed
proclaimed himself Emperor in his stead, but after a
reign of one day he fled from the city at the approach
of the Manchus, was pursued by them, and severely
defeated. The Manchu general at once sent for his
nephew — the ninth son of the reigning monarch, a
child of five yearsold — and placed him upon thethrone,
himself acting as Regent. The new Emperor received
the title of Ta-tsing, or " Great Pure " — the name of
the present dynasty. The Regent was an able ruler,
and soon succeeded in dispersing the rebels and re-
storing order throughout the empire. At the end of
six monthscomparative peace had been established, and
the Regent issued a proclamation that all who sub-
mitted to the new rule would enjoy the same rank,
position, and emoluments, as they had done under the
Ming dynasty. 1 He ordered sacrifices to be offered at
the Ming tombs, and that a tomb should be erected
1 This wise policy has been consistently carried out ever since. In 1878
there was not a single Manchu governor or viceroy of any of the eighteen
provinces of China. (Ross, p. 566.)
J 3
"The Face of Manchuria ch. ii
for the last of them, where sacrifices should also be
offered. He postponed the enforcement of the humili-
ating law requiring change of dress, the shaving of the
head, and wearing of the queue and Manchu cap, and
he promised those who complained of the negle6t of
etiquette and music among officials, that proper atten-
tion should be given to this matter as soon as war was at
an end. It is an interesting fatt that the Manchus
should afterwards have so completely succeeded in im-
posing their dress on the Chinaman, the wearing of the
queue becoming universal ; but equally interesting is it
to observe that the women never could be madetoadopt
it. The Manchu woman's dress is to this day quite
different fromthe Chinese, from itswonderful wing-like
head-dress down to its largeshoes. The Chinese woman
refused to unbind her feet, and was in consequence
never admitted within the precincts of the palace at
Peking. In facl it may be stated that whereas it is
impossible to distinguish between a Chinaman and a
Manchu, there is no part of a Chinese woman's dress
which is quite the same as a Manchu's. The latter
have different styles of arranging their hair from the
spreadeagle style, so commonly seen in Peking, to the
curious one shown in the sketch (see next chapter), and
also wear different kinds of shoes — some with a heel
attached to the centre of the sole, others with a flat
white sole some two inches thick.
The foregoing historical details are mainly drawn
from Dr. Ross's book,"The Manchus,or the Reigning
Dynasty of China." The uniqueness of the story lies
14
ch. ii Moukden
in the fact that when the Manchus conquered China
they were merely a horde of savages attacking a highly
educated people, infinitely their superiors in number
and resources. They not only conquered them, but
for centuries they imposed their yoke upon them,
always hated, yet always obeyed. As the centuries
elapsed the Manchus grew weaker in their own
country, and never fused with the conquered race.
In China proper they still live apart ; walled Manchu
cities may be found within many walled Chinese
cities ; and it is only last year that the stringent rule
forbidding Manchu women to marry Chinese hus-
bands has been rescinded. It needs no explanation
to see why the opposite rule held with regard to
Manchu men marrying Chinese wives, who, ipso facto,
lost their nationality.
I have tried to show in the foregoing pages how
the Manchus won their position in China, and also
how the southern part of Manchuria, including
Moukden, was originally Chinese. Those who wish
to wrest it from China are seeking to take an integral
part of the empire. No one who visits Moukden
can fail to see that it is a thoroughly Chinese city,
with its magnificent walls and gateways, and the big
drum tower and bell, like the one at Peking. Alas
for the modern utilitarian spirit ! Already they are
beginning to pull down the fine old gateways, and to
replace the inimitable shop fronts with shabby imita-
tions of European ones.
It was cold weather when we walked through
15
The Face of Manchuria ch. ii
those fascinating streets, and in the fish shops we saw
quantities of frozen as well as dried comestibles.
Game was plentiful and cheap, and the frozen deer
had quite a life-like appearance, standing waiting for
a customer. In one street nothing but boots was
being sold, and the fact was evident from afar, for out-
side the shops were hung gaily painted effigies of
boots, some two feet in length. Above some shops
were dragons, over others tigers, or the phoenix, or
lotus blossoms all painted in every colour of the rain-
bow, and hanging from them signboards bearing the
name of the shopkeepers. The cash shops have
almost a screen of strings of gigantic cash dependent
from the eaves. The curio shops still contain things
to charm the soul of the artist, though every day sees
their treasures diminishing, to be replaced by modern
imitations. The glorious jade that used to be obtain-
able is scarcely to be found, and the bronzes have
mostly been carried off to the West ; still one hopes
for the best, and carries off a few things, which if not
so old as they boast to be, have at least an air of
antiquity and some noble suggestion of the glory of
the art of the Ming dynasty.
Our first expedition at Moukden was naturally to
the Foo Ling tombs to see where the great founder
of the Manchu dynasty lies buried. It is disappoint-
ing to be unable to gain information as to the date
of the tomb, but no doubt the Manchus adopted the
architecture and arts of China at an early stage of
their conquest.
16
ch. ii Moukden
It was by no means a promising morning when we
set out, but our time was limited, and we had per-
suaded the doctor to take an unwonted holiday from
his strenuous labours, so delay was impossible. Where
no guide-books are obtainable, it is doubly valuable to
have kind friends willing to place their knowledge at
your disposal, and doclors are skilful at smoothing
other things as well as pillows ; in fact I can give no
better advice to travellers than to try and secure the
help of the medical missionary — the busier the better
— as a guide to all that is best worth seeing in the
foreign field. Dr. Young had kindly procured for us
the requisite permit to visit the tombs, which can
only be obtained through the British Consul. We
set out in a weird glass chariot, quite suggestive of
Cinderella's coach ; it had windows the whole way
round, and was lined with mouse-coloured plush, not
to mention a fine mirror opposite to us. We had
a retainer standing on a step behind, who spent all
his time jumping on and off, as he required to lead
the horse round every corner and over every obstacle
in the road. Passing outside the city we saw an
endless stretch of graves beyond graves ; then we
came to a beautiful park-like place where lilies of the
valley grow thickly in the spring — but alas ! people
are digging them up so ruthlessly, that it is to be
feared there will soon be none left. The trees seemed
to grow finer and finer as we neared the tombs. The
wall surrounding them has been damaged by its occu-
pation during the war, when the Japanese troops took
17 B
The Face of Manchuria ch. ii
possession and were attacked by the Russians : the
wall is riddled by bullets, but it is astonishing how
comparatively little damage had been done. The
gateway is beautifully decorated with green tiles, and
there are handsome large green medallions set in the
Venetian red wall. Inside is a fine avenue of hoary
trees leading to the main avenue, in which are some
curious stone animals ; these are so familiar to us by
photos and by the description of other travellers, that
it is unnecessary for me to attempt it. They form
but a detail of the fine effect which is created by the
lofty buildings among the trees, enclosed within a
high wall. The colouring of the building — mellowed
by time — is superb, and as we saw it under the fast
falling snow, was most impressive.
Some difficulty attended our entrance despite the
permit, but the doctor's tact overcame it, and once
inside they were most civil to us, and becarne quite
interested when I began to sketch. The actual
grave of Noorhachu, or Taidsoo, the grandfather of the
first Manchu Emperor of China (Ching dynasty
1 644), is a lofty mound at the far end of the enclosure,
and surrounded by a wall of its own. The entrance
by which the ruling Emperor approaches the tomb
is very fine, a handsomely carved marble pailow sur-
rounded by trees, and as we looked at the whole
group of buildings from the top of the wall, along
which there is an excellent walk, they form a most
impressive sight. The trees are full of mistletoe, but
of a different species from ours ; it has either yellow
ch. ii Moiikden
or scarlet berries, and in some trees we saw both
varieties.
There are many interesting monuments in Mouk-
den, but I venture to think this is the finest of all.
The design is copied from the Ming tombs near
Peking, and it is said that it was originally planned
to carry away the stone animals from the former in
order to use them for the Moukden tombs. This
design was frustrated, however, for a descendant of the
Mings accidentally heard of it, whereupon he at once
went and mutilated all the stone beasts, knocking off
the ear of one and the beard from another, and thereby
rendering them useless. While this explanation is
merely a tradition, the facl remains. The Ming
tombs, forty miles north of Peking, are designed on a
much larger scale than the Moukden ones, and cover
a distance of several miles in length, as compared with
acres in the case of the latter. In my opinion this
detracts considerably from the effecl, as only one detail
can be properly seen at a time ; first the fine marble
pailow of five gateways, then at varying distances other
gateways (very dilapidated), then a square tower
containing a stone tablet on a tortoise, then a
dromos of stone animals and warriors facing one
another, with a considerable space between each
couple, so that the sixteen couples extend over a
space nearly a mile in length. Between them and
the tombs is a considerably greater distance, and
whereas the above-mentioned memorials are all in a
straight line, the thirteen tombs are arranged in a fan
l 9
The Face of Manchuria ch. ii
shape at the base of the hills which enclose the end
of the valley.
These Peking tombs date back to the time of the
Ming dynasty, which ended in 1644, and the Mouk-
den tombs are considerably later. Their whole design
is taken direcl from the former, and there is no attempt
to introduce any Manchu characteristics. The reason
for this is obvious ; the Manchus were emerging from
a state of barbarism, and possessed no architecture
worthy of the name.
After the tombs the most interesting building at
Moukden is the palace, for which also an order has to
be obtained through the Consul. We visited it twice.
This palace is thoroughly Chinese in appearance
(I failed to ascertain its date, but it is at least some
centuries old), with its gorgeous golden roofs and
Venetian red walls. The facades are decorated with
coloured tiles of great beauty and infinite variety of
detail : they challenge comparison with some of the
majolica most highly prized in Europe. Under the
wide eaves there are finely carved dragons, stretching
their sinuous length from end to end. The buildings
are ranged court beyond court, with a fine staircase
leading to the innermost one at the back. But the
main object of the visitor is to see the priceless trea-
sures locked up in its rooms, for they contain the most
valuable possessions of the Chinese throne. Unfor-
tunately, when admittance has been obtained, it is not
easy to see the treasures, for they are carefully wrapped
up in cases, or stacked in hopeless confusion in cup-
ch. ii Moukden
boards, and are taken out one by one and laid on a
table for the visitor to see them, and then put away
again. First we were shown imperial robes, studded
with pearls and jewels, then jade-mounted swords.
Jade is considered by the Chinese to be the most pre-
cious of all stones, and it is one of the hardest to cut.
" It was first brought toEnglandfrom Spanish America
by Sir Walter Raleigh," says Bushnell ("Chinese Art,"
p. 134), and he derived the word "jade" from the
Spanish piedra de hijade — "stone of the loins."
Vessels of jade are always used in the Chinese Imperial
ritual worship, and must be of various colours, accord-
ing to the particular ceremonial in which they are
employed.
After showing us these things the officials began to
lose their distrust, and invited us to come inside the
enclosure and peer into the dark cupboards, whence
we picked out things that looked particularly attrac-
tive, but found that the waning light prevented our
doing justice to the opportunity.
It was on our second visit that we were shown the
much more valuable collection of bronzes and porce-
lain, the door to which could only be unlocked after
prolonged effort, and in the presence of special officials.
Other visitors besides ourselves were anxious to enter,
but a special permit was required, and they were sent
away disappointed. The porcelain was piled in end-
less heaps in glass cases, which probably remained un-
opened for decades, and there was no attempt at classi-
fication. The beauty of colour and design could be
The Face of Manchuria ch. ii
but imperfectly realised, as sets of bowls or dishes
were all piled in one another, so as to occupy the least
possible space, and there was but little variety in pro-
portion to the large quantity of china displayed. A
visit to the British Museum gives a much better con-
ception of this form of Chinese art. It was much the
same case with the bronzes, and it was even more
difficult to see them than the china. There was one
fine example of the " gold splash," which is so well
represented at the South Kensington Museum in
Mr. Behren's collection. To my great disappointment
there was little variety of design. It is to be hoped
that the Chinese may be sufficiently imbued by the
modern spirit to make them copy (to a certain extent)
the arrangement of our museums, so that the art
treasures contained in the palace may be more acces-
sible to visitors. Outside the palace were the curious
fences known as " deer's horns," which are also to be
seen at the great tombs and outside official buildings.
They are long pieces of wood set at right angles to
one another as closely as possible, and running through
a long heavy beam. The lower ends of the cross
pieces are heavy, and are set into the ground, the
upper ones taper to a point : altogether the " deer's
horns " form a strong, though simple, barrier. They
are usually painted red.
After seeing the palace we visited the fine church,
built by the native Christians after the destruction of
the former one by the Boxers in 1 800. It seats several
hundred people, and has a native pastor. It may
ch. ii Moukde?i
interest readers to know that among the State papers
found during the Russian occupation of Moukden
was a description of the destruction of the property of
the Christians. This was written in Manchu, which
is quite different from Chinese writing, and bound in
imperial yellow silk, enclosed in a yellow silk box and
sent to Peking. There it was countersigned by the
late Emperor and late Dowager Empress, and sent back
to Moukden to be placed in the State archives. Could
any more conclusive proof be found that the Boxer
outrages were sanctioned by the Court at Peking ?
We were privileged to see this interesting historical
document.
At the time of the Boxers all the missionaries in
Manchuria were obliged to flee, some without time
to take even necessary clothing with them. one of
the most popular doclors learnt afterwards that the
robbers in a certain village had planned to carry him
off in order to save him from the Boxers ! It is im-
possible to overestimate the influence of the medical
missionary, and no mission field has been more favoured
in this respecl: than Manchuria. The medical mission
work was started at Moukden in 1882 by Dr. Christie,
who has steadily built up the work there, and whose
new hospital is the model for what such institutions
should be. Despite the prejudices of the people, the
work has steadily grown. The renown of the foreign
doclor has spread for hundreds of miles, and the
message which is nearest to his heart has been carried
into remote villages in the Long White Mountains by
2 3
The Face of Manchuria ch. ii
patients who return from the hospital not only cured,
but also imbued with the missionary spirit which has
brought a new life to them. The resped which is
felt for this work is shown in no way more clearly than
in the fact that when the hospital was obliged to be left
for ten months during the war between China and
Japan, the buildings with their contents were left
absolutely unharmed.
Not so fortunate, however, was the hospital during
the Boxer time, for all the buildings were destroyed
by fire, and when they might have been rebuilt,
another desolating war swept over the country. The
missionaries had returned and had their hands more
than full, for Moukden was the refuge to which
crowds of destitute Chinese were driven. No less
than seventeen refuges, containingsome 10,000 people,
were under the care of the missionaries, for the
officials thankfully recognised their efforts and co-
operated with them, doing similar work themselves.
There were as many as four hospitals being carried
on at the same time, for not only were there numbers
of wounded, but epidemics of smallpox and fever
spread among the refugees.
When at last the time came for building the new
hospital, the money granted as an indemnity for the
destruction of the former ones by the Boxers was
wholly inadequate, for the price of everything was
more than quadrupled. The Chinese were not slow
to show their sense of indebtedness for the unstinted
labours on their behalf, and the new buildings, owing
24
ch. ii Moukden
to their generosity, were built on a larger scale than
before. The Japanese, too, came forward with most
generous aid, in return for the work that had been
done for their wounded during the war. Marshal
Oyama sent a donation of about £100 for the Red
Cross work, and ordered all the wood required for
the buildings to be sent up by rail, free of charge,
from Newchwang. This was of the greatest import-
ance, as there was no seasoned wood to be obtained
in Moukden, and it meant a saving of several hundred
pounds. The Viceroy sent a gift of over £600, to
which he added another £150 when he opened the
new hospital. Another friend carted all the bricks
and tiles ; a director of the Chinese railway ordered
all the requisite Portland cement and floor tiles to be
brought up free of charge from Tang Shan to Hsin
Muntun, and others helped in various ways. No
wonder the hospital is such a splendid success, when
it has such workers and such friends ! It has several
wings radiating out from a long central corridor, with
a fine operating theatre at the end. There is an
X-ray apparatus and other special furnishings. 1 There
are outbuildings for students, &c, a laboratory and
class-rooms, besides the preaching hall, where service
goes on daily.
But what, it may be asked, is the staff for this large
1 When it was made known at the opening of the hospital that more
furnishings were required, many gifts, both in money and requisites, were at
once contributed, while two merchants told the docior to apply to them for
money as it was needed, which he did several times till the hospital was
completed.
2 5
The Face of Manchuria ch. ii
work ? The surprising answer is one man ; only last
year has a second been appointed, to give a part of
his time to assisting Dr. Christie. He has, of course,
trained Chinese assistants to help him in the work,
and very efficient some of them are, and two Chinese
hospital evangelists, who follow up the cases, but
the bulk of the work falls on himself. What would
our doctors at home think of having to perform ten
operations in a day, after handing over nine minor
ones to the assistants ? But that was the case the day
we visited the hospital. It accommodates 1 1 o patients,
and the beds do not lack occupants. The attendance
of out-patients is frequently 200 or 300 per morning,
so that the attendance for the year is very large, last
year numbering over 26,000. After the recent visit
of the Naval Commission returning from Europe, a
request came for medical aid for 200 men with badly
frost-bitten ears, as the soldiers are not allowed to
wear ear-muffs when on parade. It is not etiquette
to wear ear-muffs or spectacles when speaking to any
one, and the curious custom is now coming into
fashion of touching the glasses instead of removing
them. The hospital is a free one, but poor as are
many of the patients, few of the in-patients leave
without giving an offering, and many out-patients do
the same. Some of the beds are supported from
home, and it only requires £5 per annum to support
one.
It will be seen from these figures how requisite it
is to have a larger staff, and to undertake (what is now
26
ch. ii Moukden
being planned) a training college for the Chinese.
The late Viceroy promised a yearly sum of about
£420 for this purpose, but as he has been replaced by
an anti-foreign Viceroy, it was feared that his promise
would not be ratified by his successor. Despite the
further facl that the new buildings are not yet begun,
when the matter was placed before him he promised
to consider it, and shortly afterwards sent word that
the sum had been duly placed in the bank to the
credit of the mission. The college will be a union
one of the Irish Presbyterians and the United Free
Church of Scotland, and may draw students also from
the Danish Lutheran stations, the only other mission-
ary society working in Manchuria. As there are
now some 40,000 Christians there will be no diffi-
culty in rinding students, though it will not be entirely
confined to Christians.
The course will be a thorough one, extending over
five years after the preliminary examination, and
diplomas will be given. The estimated cost of the
new buildings and equipment is ^2500, and two
houses for professors £1500. An excellent site has
already been obtained through the generosity of the
Chinese, which is close to the hospital.
I have described at some length the medical mission
here, and yet have done scant justice to it ; of the
women's work a word must also be said. There are
two fully qualified women doctors, and their hospital,
withaccommodation for seventy patients, is socrowded,
that a new wing is now being added. They do a
27
The Face of Manchuria ch. ii
large amount of work in the people's homes, as many
of the ladies are not to be reached otherwise, also
they do work as far as time allows in the district
round Moukden. When it is known that the doctor
is coming, patients crowd to see her ; and one realises
a little the magnitude of the work when one chances
to see the missionary come back utterly worn out by
a two days' visitation, having interviewed over 900
patients in that short space of time.
Women's work in Moukden is not merely medical,
but also educational. Besides the training of Bible
women there is an excellent girls' boarding school,
for which new buildings (badly needed) are in course
of erection. Great excitement was caused in the
little community by the girls being taken, for the
first time in their lives, to see an exhibition. It is
rather disappointing to the traveller who thinks he
is going to the genuine Far East to find it invaded by
industrial exhibitions and school excursions, but alas,
such is the prosaic fact.
We devoted a day to visiting the imperial tombs
on the north of the city, and although it was the end
of March, we suffered intensely from the cold, and had
not the advantage of going in a glass coach as we did
on the occasion of visiting the eastern tombs. The
road was too rough, and even the solid droshky built
in Odessa, and drawn by two sturdy beasts, was
severely tested by the frightful ruts into which we
were frequently plunged. The Russian driver was
a capital, good-tempered fellow, and never hesitated to
28
IMPERIAL TOME, MUKDEN
ch. ii Moukden
drive through a quagmire or up a bank into a
ploughed field when necessity compelled. After three
hours' driving we approached a fine bluff crowned
with pine-trees, among which gleamed the golden
roofs of the tombs, so we knew that our destination
was at hand.
" Deer's horns " palisades enclosed the wood at the
base of the cliff, and we turned up a gully to the left
of it. The road soon became very steep, and we left
the carriage to climb up on foot. The view of the
entrance gate among the trees as seen in the
accompanying sketch, was peculiarly striking after the
long drive over the dun-coloured plain, for as yet there
was no sign of spring. Passing through the gateway
we soon came to the lofty facade of the main en-
closure, and a surly old guardian of the place came to
challenge our entry. We produced the permit, which
we had obtained through the Consul, and were kept
a long time waiting before we were allowed to enter,
but there was plenty to interest us in the scene. It
was a sort of square, with the dwellings of the officials
on either side, and at the lower end a small temple
facingthe plain below, down to which were longflights
of steps, and then a steep paved incline the same width
as the steps and with balustrades at the sides. Lofty
pine-trees surrounded the place, and scattered amongst
them at the bottom were stone animals and figures.
At a short distance from the stepswas the State entrance
gateway, but that was closed. one could imagine
how fine the effect would be to see a gorgeous royal
29
The Face of Manchuria ch. ii
procession enter the gateway from the plain, cross the
short level space under the avenue of pine-trees, and
mount the long ascent to the towering, golden-roofed
temples behind which the imperial tomb stands. The
colouring in the brilliant sunlight looked very rich as
it gleamed among the dark pine-trees.
Before leaving, we asked the man who had showed
us round if we could have some hot water for tea,
but he said there was none, so we took our things
outside, and sat down to sketch and lunch. At first
I could not think what was the matter, for the paint
seemed thoroughly intraclable ; then it suddenly
dawned on me that no sooner was a wet wash laid
on the paper than it froze. Yet this was the last
week of March, and midday, with the sun shining
full on us. Sketching generally seems to be done
under difficulties, and this trip more so than ever.
It will be understood how doubly welcome was the
sight of our guide returning to say that he had got
hot water for us, and he took away our teapot and
filled it, for all Chinese understand the right making
of tea. As we were drinking it shortly afterwards,
a pitiable figure came creeping up the hill, evidently
suffering acutely from asthma. When we offered
him a cup of hot tea a look of intense gratitude shone
in his eyes, and when he had drunk it, still speechless,
he drew himself up and made a European military
salute, then passed slowly on to the gateway.
As we returned to the city we agreed that no one
should fail to visit the tombs who comes to Moukden.
3°
ch. ii Moukden
It is of course tiresome to have to get permits, and
takes a little time, but there is nothing within the
city that is half so picturesque as these two groups of
tombs, to each of which a whole day should be de-
voted. Some inscriptions at the Foo Ling tomb, we
were told, are quite unique, but the heavy snow when
we were there prevented our doing justice to the fine
details of architecture.
There is an unpromising-looking hotel at Moukden
called the Astor House, but Americans who stayed
there assured us it was quite comfortable, and every
one passing through Moukden ought certainly to stop
and see it, especially in view of its being so rapidly
modernised. The old temples seem to be in a state
of utter disrepair, and the most interesting one, the
Fox Temple, will soon cease to exist. The worship of
the fox is very common in Manchuria, and is especially
incumbent upon officials, all Mandarins beingsupposed
to do it, as the fox is the keeper of the seals of office.
Doolittle, in his " Social Life of the Chinese," says :
" There is in connection with some of the principal
civil yamens a small two-storied building devoted to
the worship of his Majesty, Master Reynard. There
is no image or picture of a fox to be worshipped,
but simply an imaginary fox somewhere. Incense,
candles, and wine are placed upon a table in the room
of the second storey of this building, and before this
table the Mandarin kneels down and bows his head
in the customary manner, as an act of reverence to
Reynard, the keeper of his seals of office. This
31
The Face of Manchuria ch. ii
sacrifice, it is affirmed, is never performed by deputy.
The Chinese believe the official seal of the Mandarin,
after he has arrived at his yamen, to be in the keeping
of the fox. They assert with great earnestness, and
apparent sincerity, that if the Mandarin did not
worship the fox on his arrival at his residence, his
seal of office would shortly disappear in some inex-
plicable way, or some singular and strange calamity
would certainly befall him or his yamen."
We visited the Temple of Hell, where all sorts of
horrible penalties are vividly depicted in stucco, and
these are more terrible as indicating what Chinese
punishments have been, than in suggesting what may
be expected in the future world. The temples seem
to be little frequented by the people, and it is only on
certain occasions that the people flock to them. The
ancestral tablets in his own home have the main part
of a Chinaman's devotions.
on our second visit to Moukden we had rather a
rickety droshky, and were amused to see the way the
driver arranged the luggage. The Chinese never make
any difficulty about the quantity, for fear by so doing
of losing a fare. The man therefore entirely filled his
footboard with luggage, and seated himself on it with
a large bag of bedding on his lap. We had not gone
far when a wheel rolled off into the gutter, and we
waited some time for it to be put on again, the luggage
meanwhile being deposited in the road. The job was
not satisfactorily managed, for we had to go very, very
slowly, and have the wheel continually hammered on.
32
ch. ii Moukden
It began to rain, and in order to put up the hood most
of the luggage had to be piled on the top of ourselves,
and we found it, to say the least, both hot and heavy.
At last our driver gave up in despair, and by means of
signs made us understand that he would go and fetch
another vehicle. When he returned with a cart the
transfer was soon made, and our driver with great
secrecy explained that he had bargained with the carter
to take us to our destination for a certain sum. The
difficulty then arose as to how we were to pay him,
for we only possessed Japanese and Pekingese money,
which he eyed with distrust, and declined to accept.
We gave him, however,arather liberal fare,and pointed
to him to take it to a big shop, opposite which we
were standing. There he was reassured as to its value,
and came back smiling ; he thrust his head into the
cart with a final rejoinder to us only to pay the right
fare to the carter, evidently feeling that we were liable
to spend our money too lavishly.
33
CHAPTER III
Hsin Muntun
FROM Moukden we made a flying visit to Peking
and into Shansi, but as that does not come with-
in the scope of this book, I shall take up my
narrative from the point where we re-entered Man-
churia on our return by the South Manchurian Rail-
way. We were astonished to see the hundreds of
emigrants going north : every train was packed with
them. There was an accident on the line, a young
lad of twenty having his leg badly crushed by the train
preceding ours. First aid was rendered by the officials,
who are trained to give it, and by means of a chunk
of coal and some cord the bleeding was stopped,
the ligature being so tight as completely to stop the
circulation. The lad was put on a big sort of door
and placed in the luggage van of our train, and the
conductor came round as soon as we had started again
to see if a docl:or was aboard to give further aid. Our
party provided one, and there were all necessary requi-
sites in the shape of bandages, splints, permanganate
of potash, &c, in the surgery at the junction farther
up the line, so that the patient was made as comfort-
able as possible when he arrived there, and a message
34
ch. iii Hsin Muntun
was telegraphed to the medical mission at Hsin
Muntun, which happened to be both his and also our
destination. on arrival the do6tor and assistants were
waiting, and the young man was carried away at once
to the hospital. Amputation was necessary, but the
lad would not at first agree to it ; however, just as we
had finished dinner a message came to say that his
friends had been summoned, and that both they and
he were willing for the operation to take place, so no
time was lost in performing it.
Next morning we visited him in the hospital, and
found him looking quite comfortable, and not at all
pale even.
In the early days of the railway there were count-
less accidents ; people would drop things on to the
line, and then creep under the train to pick them out,
or step in front of it just as it was starting. We were
surprised to find blue glass windows in many of the
trains, but the explanation of that was, that being
unaccustomed to glass, people were continually putting
their heads through them as long as they were un-
coloured ! Even now the trains all approach and leave
the stations extraordinarily slowly, and there is a great
bell ringing in order to warn people off the line. Of
course there are no overhead or underground passages
for crossing the line, so that it makes accidents almost
inevitable. They are taken with the usual Chinese
stolid imperturbability.
Hsin Muntun is an interesting little town not far
distant from Moukden, which we visited in order to
35
The Face of Manchuria ch. iii
see the admirable mission work carried on there by
members of the Irish Presbyterian Mission, having
received a cordial invitation from one of the staff
whom we happened to meet on the railway as we
travelled south. The Irish and Scotch Presbyterians
may be said to have federated in Manchuria, and work
together with hearty goodwill. Though Hsin Mun-
tun offered no striking characteristics, I had the good
fortune to make sketches of the women there, with
their curious head-dress, similar to that worn through-
out the country.
In the women's hospital were two widows, a6ting
as assistants ; they donned their best garments for my
benefit, and may be seen in the accompanying sketch,
saluting one another in the Manchu style. The
Manchus always wear the hair dressed over a metal
framework, either as in the sketch, or like a wide flat
bow, and with both styles of head-dress a large bunch
of artificial flowers is worn, and gold ornaments in
addition. In winter a cap is worn out of doors, with
fur round it, and embroidered strings hanging down
behind, not to mention ear-muffs, an imperative ne-
cessity where the cold is so intense. We found that in
the women's hospital they decided to have the bulk of
the accommodation in the shape of heated khangs, as in
the homes of the people ; these are brick platforms,
used instead of bedsteads : they are greatly preferred by
the patients. It may not be so sanitary, but the people
feel much more at home on the khang, and as physical
health is not the main object of medical mission work,
36
ch. iii Hsin Muntun
it is obvious that due regard must be paid to the
likings or prejudices of the people among whom the
missionary is working. The cost of medical mission
work is heavy, and we were touched by the efforts to
utilise to the utmost the money which had been sent
from home for the buildings. The funds had not
been sufficient to provide for a porch or front door,
so a mat shed had been erected till the requisite
money should be forthcoming. Efficiency does not
depend on these things, but workers would be much
encouraged if their supporters were more numerous,
or more generous.
The men's hospital is larger, and is complete —
very simple, but thoroughly practical, and attracting
patients from all the country round. Our visit took
place at rather a slack time of year, and it was
undergoing a New Year's cleaning, as that is the
occasion when all patients, if possible, return to their
own homes. After visiting both the men's and the
women's hospitals we went to the girls' school, and
met with a great surprise. Three years ago the school
was not in existence, and when the children first came,
mostly from Christian homes in neighbouring vil-
lages, they were absolutely ignorant of reading and
writing. Now we saw them examined in geography,
arithmetic, algebra, singing, and drilling. There are
about fifty boarders : they are under the charge of a
Chinese matron, with four senior girls as monitors to
help her. These girls were examined last term along
with the boys, who had been studying many years.
37
The Face of Manchuria ch. iii
The best girl pupil obtained an average of 84 per cent,
marks, coming out ahead of the boys in arithmetic,
Scripture, and algebra. She got 100 per cent, for
arithmetic, 95 for an essay, 96 for Chinese classics
(memorised), and 85 for explaining the Chinese
classics. The children's sums were as neat and the
figures as well written as one could wish to see, their
maps excellent, and they answered the questions in
geography on all parts of the world, pointing out the
places on the charts on the wall. I am forced to
admit that the examination in geography was more
painful to us than to the examined, for we were re-
quired, without book or map, to ask questions on
Australasia and South America, parts of the world
with which I was sadly unfamiliar. We happened
to go back into the schoolroom after school had been
dismissed, and found a child who had not been able
to point out on the map the way from Shanghai to
England now receiving a lesson on it from the
monitor. The Irish master told us the girls are
" tigers " for work, and far keener than the boys, to
whom education has always been open. We went
into the courtyard to watch them drill, and here again
we were struck with the success of the monitress, who
had learnt the exercises from a book, with merely an
explanation from the foreign teacher when she failed
to understand it. The singing is entirely taught on
the sol-fa system, and the children have already learnt
to sing creditably simple part music. They are nearly
all Chinese, but apparently there is little appreciable
38
ch. iii Hsin Muntun
difference between the intellectual ability of Chinese
and Manchus. Morning school closed with two or
three short prayers by the girls, and the repetition of
the Lord's Prayer : they always dismiss themselves.
The education is free, but the children's food is pro-
vided by the parents : they looked thoroughly well and
happy, and comparatively clean, and none are allowed
to have bound feet. They have a large measure of
freedom, except that they are not allowed outside the
large compound. The money for the building came
in a way as unexpected as welcome. The missionary
received word that an official desired him to come to
the railway station to see him on his way through
Hsin Muntun, and when they met, the official pre-
sented him with a cheque for 3000 taels in aid of the
excellent educational work that he was doing. This
enabled him to start building the girls' school, of which
he had to be not only the founder, but also the archi-
tect. In the same way the doctor had to design his
house and hospitals, and superintend the building of
them ; no doubt the labour is far greater for a man
without architectural training ; otherwise the build-
ings seem to be quite as well done as the majority of
houses, and at considerably smaller cost.
Leaving Hsin Muntun we started for Moukden,
where the Chinese stationmaster had been asked to
give us assistance in changing stations, so that we might
not miss the train. He spoke a little English, and
sent a man with us to look after our luggage in
one cart, while we went in another. The road was
39
The Face of Manchuria ch. iii
indescribable, for a thaw had set in, and oceans of mud
added to the horrors of the way, emitting a stench
which had lost nothing by six months' frost. We
were flung to and fro in the cart, and it seemed an
endless drive. on arrival we rejoiced to see that the
clock had not yet struck, though it was just approach-
ing the hour for the train to start. As this was the
Japanese line (the one which extends from Dalny to
Kwan Chengtze), we had to get our money changed
into Japanese yen before we could buy tickets, and
were then told there was no train for three and a half
hours. As our friends had sent to the station at Hsin
Muntun to inquire, and been told that this train was
running, we felt rather provoked, but found the ex-
planation in the fadt that it only ran three times a
week, and this was not the right day. A pleasant little
fellow took us to a comfortable waiting-room, and
fetched us a kettle of hot water to make tea, but no
sooner had we done this than another official came and
turned us out in order to prepare a meal for a Japanese
family, and we had to retire to a miserable little office.
The Japanese line is well managed and clean : the
Chinese attendant comes round at intervals with his
feather brush, and is ready to provide you with hot
water whenever you want it, and comes to brush you
down before you leave the train. We were thankful
to betake ourselves to the train as soon as it came in,
although there was still an hour before it was due to
start for Liao Yang. The journey is only thirty miles,
but the ordinary trains take nearly three hours, and
4 o
ch. iii Hsin Muntun
one finds it rather slow and monotonous. When one
thinks, however, of the pre-railway days, when you
might not infrequently take the same length of time
to do three miles, thanks to the ocean of mud which
constitutes a road as soon as the spring thaw sets in,
ten miles an hour seems wild speed.
41
CHAPTER IV
Liao Yang
1IAO YANG was the ancient capital of the Liao
Tong province of Southern Manchuria, and it
Jl is the most beautiful of Manchurian cities, for
within the walls are orchards of plum, cherry, apricot,
and pear, which look radiantly lovely against the
sombre background of the walls. Originally it was
not Manchu but Chinese, as I have pointed out on
page 15. The Manchus tried to gain possession of
it, but, failing in the attempt, they built a city for
themselves on the other side of the river, which is
called the New Liao Yang. In addition to the four
usual gateways into the city — north, south, east, and
west — there is one which is quite different in ap-
pearance, called the Korean Gate, through which the
Korean envoys used to pass when bringing tribute.
Through it there is a lovely view on to the river,
with low-lying hills in the distance : the sketch is
looking not out of the city, but inwards. Just within
the gate is a dusty sort of waste place at the foot of
the wall, frequented by scavenger dogs, and you may
see, as we did, a wisp of straw in which a dead baby
has been wrapped and cast out, for the Chinese do
42
ch. iv Liao Tang
not bury them, in the hopes that the ill-luck caused by
the death of the child may be averted. 1 To this day
the cart may be seen going round Peking to collecl:
the little corpses, just like a scavenger's cart.
Just outside the Korean Gate we saw a cadet corps
marching along in good style, with drums beating,
and creating just as much interest as a similar one
does at home. These city walls were in existence
before the Manchu dynasty came (in 1644), and yet
the bricks look as new in most parts as if they had
just been built, and it is only where the Russians made
breaches in them that they are at all ruinous ; we
found this to our cost when we wanted to climb
down them after seeing the view. The dust had
accumulated somewhat on the outer side, so we
climbed up with comparatively little difficulty, and
were well rewarded by the glorious panorama illumin-
ated by the rays of the setting sun. The Liao River
runs just outside the east wall, and the fields and dis-
tant hills wore the lovely golden colour of an Egyptian
scene. Just below us the ferry-boat was conveying
passengers, carts, mules, cows, donkeys, &c, from
one shore to the other, and we watched a carter first
getting his cart up the steep bank and then returning
1 Dr. Arthur Smith, the well-known authority on Chinese customs, told me
that the reason for the non-burial of children in China is due to the facl that
they are not recognised as an integral part of the family till after marriage.
Consequently it is not uncommon to marry them after death, in order to be
able to give them an adopted son to perpetuate the family, and to offer
worship at the ancestral shrine. In one case of which he knew, the corpse
of the bride was carried with great pomp to the village where the bridegroom
had lived, and they were both buried together.
43
The Face of Manchuria ch. iv
to carry his fare, an old lady, up the bank on his back.
A recalcitrant cow had to be hauled aboard by a cord
tied to its front leg and by its bridle, but most of the
animals seemed quite accustomed to the job. After
watching them awhile we turned southward to where
a range of hills bounded the horizon, ending with a
peak loftier than the rest, and known by the Japanese
as " Kuropatkin's eye." This ridge was held by the
Russians during the war, and for six months previous
to the battle of Liao Yang they were busy making
defences between the hills and the city. The trenches
and barbed wire entanglements were admirably
executed, and it cost seven days of hard fighting
before the Japanese were able to enter the city. Point
after point was taken and retaken ; the Russian ranks
were mowed down like standing corn, and the
Japanese displayed an equal courage, so that during
those seven days the loss of the two armies was
reckoned at 25,000 men left dead on the field. The
Japanese general sat in a temple some miles away
from the scene of aclion, directing the operations,
but with the information coming steadily in from all
points by telephone. He had pushed forward, leaving
no means of retreat, and by the end of the battle he
was at the end of his resources, victorious, but unable
to follow up the victory. In England few people
realised the tremendous struggle that was going on,
and the magnificent prowess of the two nations.
The Russian soldier mournfully asked, " Why do
we come out here to fight ? " but he fought valiantly
44
ch. iv Liao Yaiig
all the same. Eighteen months ago Kitchener sent
a party of forty young officers from India to visit
these battlefields, with Japanese lecturers to instruct
them daily, while they sat taking notes on the hill-
sides overlooking the plain. There was always one
Japanese soldier present, who had taken part in the
action, to describe his own personal experiences, which
must have added a vivid touch to the technical details.
The Japanese travelled lightly, and, fortunately for
them, the standing crops rendered cavalry practically
useless. The principal crop is millet, which grows
fifteen feet in height, and the Russians crushed it
down by means of improvised rollers drawn by horses.
In the Japanese army everything is utilised, and is
as compact as possible. A general was seen lost in
study one day, and he explained that he had found a
use for the little boxes in which the rations were
carried and for the paper in them, but he could not
think what to do with the string ! During a plague
of rats in the north the Japanese all provided them-
selves with ear-muffs, which they manufactured out
of the rat skins.
one of the interesting sights at Liao Yang is the
Fox Temple, which standson a little hill, and is reached
by a fine flight of steps. The worship of the fox is
a purely indigenous form of worship in China ; but
it is mixed up with the other religions, and fox
shrines may be seen in Buddhist or Taoist temples.
In the principal building was a Buddha, before
which worshippers were offering cakes and incense,
45
The Face of Manchuria ch. iv
and there was also a large bag of paper money on
the altar. In an adjoining shrine were three large
figures of the fox family, dressed as officials, with
literary badges on the front of their robes. The old
priest came in to remove some of the offerings for
his midday meal, and on inquiry said he had often
seen the fox come in, and that it was white. In one
of the side doors is a hole, just like those to be seen
for cats in old French castles, through which the fox
is supposed to enter.
As we returned from the walls we watched a man
flying a wonderful centipede kite, some sixty feet
in length. The head was that of a dragon, with
wide open jaws, and a red tongue ; its eyes rotated in
their sockets with a whirring sound, and it was
painted gold, and pink, and blue. The sections of the
body were round discs of green and pink paper on a
light bamboo framework, with a stick about four
feet long protruding on each side, and a tuft of feathers
at the ends to represent the legs of the beast. This
kite is a graceful objedt serpentining in the sky, and
when at a considerable height, a messenger kite was
sent up to it, which discharged a shower of crackers (?)
on its arrival and then sped swiftly down the string
again, having accomplished its errand. These kites
sometimes require as many as six men to hold them,
and a very strong cord is necessary.
Passing along the street we came to an interesting
medicine stall, where four bears' paws and some stags'
antlers were the most prominent goods. The latter
4 6
ch. iv Liao Tang
are in great request when they are in velvet, and
hunters dig pits for the deer in the eastern mountains
of Manchuria. Sometimes the hunter is robbed of
his prey by the wily bear, who finds the antlers a
tasty morsel, and gnaws them off before the hunter
comes round to visit the pit. As medicine the antlers
are dried and ground into powder. Other medicines
on the stall were eagles' claws, deers' hoofs, and dried
centipedes, about four inches long, attached to bits
of bamboo. We bought one of these, and inquired
what disease it is used for ; " wind in the stomach,"
was the reply.
All diseases in China seem to have their root in an
evil temper, and it is not uncommon for patients so
afflicted to come for medicinal treatment to the dis-
pensary. The prescription of one of the lady doctors
is as follows : " Go into a room alone, take a mouth-
ful of mixture (a nice pleasant one), and hold it in the
mouth twenty minutes before swallowing." This
remedy has excellent effects, and may be used in
England with equal efficacy.
We were so charmed with the city of Liao Yang,
that it required small persuasion to induce us to return
there a month later in order to visit the neighbouring
mountains of Chang Shan (a thousand peaks), and I
shall let the account of it follow the present chapter. It
was the last week in April, and all the fruit-trees and
the elms were bursting into blossom and leaf, as we
walked from the station outside the gate to the mission
premises within it, embowered among orchards, and
47
The Face of Manchuria ch. iv
the scent of lilac filling the air. The mission gardens
were beginning to show signs of the loveliness which
has won them a well-deserved reputation among tra-
vellers, and we returned like old friends to our former
quarters. Life on the mission field soon cements
friendship, and medical mission work must appeal
even to the stubbornest heart. We had already visited
the two hospitals, models of practical, unostentatious
usefulness, with the excellent native staff trained by
Dr. Westwater, whose name is a household word in
the land. To him was due the fact that the town
was saved from the horrors of bombardment by the
Russian troops, and one has but to walk through the
streets of Liao Yang with him to see how universal
is the respect in which he is held.
There are various temples of different religions in
Liao Yang, and we visited the Temple of Hell, where
are depicted all the horrors of future punishment,
than which nothing could be more ghastly than the
Chinese conception. The grotesqueness of their real-
istic execution in coloured plaster fortunately took
away some of the gruesomeness, and in one of the
side shrines we found the extraordinary figure of the
popular deity, called the " Ten Parts Imperfect one."
The sketch in Chapter XII. hardly does justice to
the hideousness of the figure, which represents the
main woes to which flesh is heir in China — lameness,
blindness, dropsy, harelip, boils, &c. &c, and to this
deity the people come to pray in all cases of sickness.
We also visited a picturesque Buddhist shrine,
48
7
BLIND BUDDHIST NUN
ch. iv Liao Ta?ig
where an old blind nun lives, the owner of much
property, and of the orchards adjacent to the mission
property. We found her seated on the khang imme-
diately behind the figure of the Buddha, where she
has spent many, many years in meditation. She
welcomed us with cordiality, and made us sit down
beside her, while she entered into a long and intimate
conversation with our host, whom she had not met
for some years. The nun had a remarkable head,
closely shaven, of course, under her black cap, and
looked more like a man than a woman. She told us
that she became blind when she was only six years
old, and now she was seventy-nine. She felt our
hands with the subtle, searching touch of the blind,
and had not a little to say on them ; we much
regretted our ignorance of Chinese, as our feminine
curiosity to know what she said was left ungratifled.
The conversation then turned on the great problems
of life, both this life and the next, but she seemed
entirely ignorant of Buddhist philosophy, and took
refuge in futile platitudes ; as regards the future she
said, " We die, and there is nothing more." It is dis-
appointing to find how utterly ignorant they are of
anything beyond the externals of their religion. The
Taoist monks, on the contrary, boast many men of
learning, and have more conception of real religion.
I understand this is also the case in other parts of
the Chinese Empire.
In contrast with the various temples nothing more
charming could be found than the simple beauty of
49 D
The Face of Manchuria ch. iv
the mission church. It is always difficult to arrange
for parts of a building to be screened off without
spoiling the effecl: of it as a whole ; at the present time
this is still considered necessary in China, so that the
men and women may be separated from one another,
also they have separate entrances. In the Liao Yang
church the difficulty was ingeniously conquered by
making the transept the women's part, and diminish-
ing the space of the nave where it joins the transept,
by erecting a smaller arch on either side containing
a screen. The pulpit, being in the centre, commands
the whole building. This church was designed by
an archite6t specially sent out by the mission com-
mittee, and it is of no small importance that such
buildings should be carefully designed to be in har-
mony with the architecture of the country, and not
to seem European. At the great World Missionary
Conference at Edinburgh, stress was laid by speakers
from all lands on the growing desire of native
Christians to have their own national churches. To
this end every detail must be studied ; not only must
religion be taught them in their own language, but
the churches in which they worship must have a
homelike feeling, so that nothing may suggest to them
that Christianity is a foreign religion. When all is
said and done it came from the East and not from the
West, so that its externals at least should have as
little Western colouring as possible.
5°
CHAPTER V
A Visit to the Thousand Peaks
NEXT morning we made an early start for the
Changsha Valley, in which is an interesting
group of monasteries, both Taoist and Budd-
hist. The former do not admit women visitors, but
the latter do. The carts containing our luggage and
bedding had started about 3 a.m., as we were to
do the first few miles by rail across a monotonous
plain. There was only a goods train at that early
hour, 7.25, but one car is attached to it for passengers,
and in this we travelled for nearly an hour. It contains
but one small seat at each end, occupied by Japanese
and guards, so the rest of the company mainly squatted
on the floor. Some had nice skin rugs or parcels on
which to sit, and looked eminently comfortable, but
we had to make the best of narrow window ledges,
and were glad enough to reach the roadside station
where we got out. There was a little waiting-room
in which we sat, as the cart had not yet arrived,
but thanks to the care of a charming hospital assistant,
who came to look after us from Liao Yang, we were
promptly invited into the booking-office, where several
smart Japanese officials were seated round a stove, and
51
The Face of Manchuria ch. v
European chairs were given to us. A bullfinch was
piping cheerfully in a corner, and they brought us tea
to beguile the time. In about half-an-hour the carts
turned up, but our hearts sank at the thought that
they had required four hours to do considerably less
than half the journey. We were soon packed into
the carts, each with our bedding and various odds and
ends. We promptly became aware that the more
padding we had the better, as the jolts of the carts
grew worse as time went on. For three hours we
crossed the plain and then halted for lunch. This
was our first experience of a Manchurian inn, which
certainly falls far short of Chinese inns. The kitchen
and guest-room are always combined, the khang
running along each side of the room, and the fires are
at one end of it, at right angles to the khangs. We
were installed comfortably on one side of the room,
and enjoyed a discreet investigation by the other
guests and villagers from the other side of the room.
Dr. Westwater's excellent servant acted as vigilant
guardian, and made us quite break the tenth command-
ment before the end of our excursion. It took nearly
another two hours before we came to the mouth of
the valley, where the monasteries lay, and the dull
monotony of the plain gave way to a ravishing scene
of craggy and abrupt hills clothed with vegetation.
The wild flowers were beginning to come out,
purple anemones, white violets, &c, but nothing like
the wealth of the woods we had just left in Korea.
The monasteries were pitched aloft in inaccessible-
52
*PKi'a^
BUDDHIST M< INASTFRY
ch. v A Visit to the Thousand Peaks
looking spots, terrace above terrace. When we reached
the gorge where we were to stay, it looked well-nigh
impossible for the carts to make the ascent. At the
entrance gate they halted, and a group of men came
forward to help push them up over the rocks. Each
cart had two mules, and they pulled with right good-
will, so that in a few minutes of pushing, pulling, and
shouting, the carts had been rushed up through the
second gateway on to the platform where they were
to be housed. Much disappointment was shown by
the monks at the non-appearance of our friend the
doclor, who was evidently a favourite here as every-
where, but heavy work at the hospital and other
reasons had prevented his accompanying us. Up and
up the rock-cut steps we climbed to the guest-room,
which had been bespoken for our use, and a more at-
tractive spot itwould have been impossible to find. Far
below the mountain torrent murmured, and wild
pigeons and kites added their notes to the music of the
brook. I sat down to sketch shortly after our arrival,
and the scene was precisely the one to charm a Chinese
artist of the old school. I found myself insensibly
imitating the reproductions I possess of work done
by noted artists of three hundred years ago. A tiny
bright green bird perched on a tree close by, and soon
the gong began to sound for evening worship. A few
monks made their way up the flights of steps to where
a faint glimmer of light showed from within the main
temple, bowing and kneeling at intervals on the way.
Evening settled down and we repaired to our cell,
53
The Face of Manchuria ch. v
thinking of the lovely rose-coloured dawn when I
would paint the scene. Alas ! next morning showed
a leaden sky, and by the time we had finished break-
fast large snowflakes came floating down. The scene
melted away before our eyes, and soon the ground was
white with snow, and the weather showed no signs of
clearing. The disappointment was a bitter one ; our
one day, our only opportunity gone, and the long cold
hours of the day without any occupation to fill them.
Fidus Achates brought us a charcoal brazier, but it was
poor comfort. After lunch, however, the clouds broke
and the snow ceased falling, so we went out to prospecl.
We were guided by our servant Jim down the gorge
and up another, where we came to a long flight of steps
leading up to a small Taoist temple, with beautiful
wooden carvings round the shrines, and a thoroughly
picturesque little courtyard with various plants in it,
and brass ornaments brilliantly polished. Altogether
it formed a charming picture, and had all the appear-
ance of being carefully tended. A curious sundial
and various ornamental tablets were arranged in the
court, and there were also the conventional pair of
trees on either side of the steps leading to the principal
shrine. The sun began to shine fitfully, and the snow
to melt from sunnyspots,so we hastened back to sketch.
Scarcely were we settled when the gorge began
to resound with periodic whistle calls, and then we
saw men in a kind of blue uniform, and each with a
scarlet blanket slung across one shoulder, beginning
to ascend the temple steps. They continued to arrive
54
ch. v A Visit to the Thousand Peaks
till the whole place was swarming with them, and
finally we saw our little platform invaded. It seemed
time to interfere, so my friend went back and told our
servant we could not possibly have them established in
our outer room, which was already full of their things,
and strewn with orange peel ; for the time being re-
monstrance was effectual, but after a short evacuation
they returned and took fresh possession. I then went
to the charge and told Jim to send them away. He
went instead to fetch an official in European tourist's
dress, with field-glasses slung over his shoulder, and to
my surprise he spoke excellent English. He explained
that this was a party of one hundred students from a
commercial college at New Chwang who had come
for an excursion, and were going to spend three days
here. I pointed out that these rooms had been engaged
for us before we came, and that it was impossible for
us to have people filling the outer one, our only means
of exit. He asked if we should obje6t to having a
party of little boys in it, and we said we certainly
did object, and that for this night they must sleep
elsewhere. He promised to arrange it so, and all
their things were taken away, leaving us in peace
and content. Alas ! it was only for an hour ; then
he returned to say that they had sent to try and find
accommodation in another monastery but in vain ;
that the carts had arrived bringing the little boys who
were very tired, and he begged they might have our
outer room, promising they should be quite quiet.
We were compelled to give in, though sorely against
55
The Face of Manchuria ch. v
our will, as the next day we were starting on a long
journey to Kharbin, not to mention the fatiguing six
hours' cart journey. I must admit that the boys be-
haved perfectly : they came in like mice, and were
sound asleep before we knew they had arrived : only
gentle snores proclaimed their presence. In the
morning they were up and out by 5.30 in perfect
silence. As we started at 6 o'clock we could only
admire the excellent discipline and good manners
which they displayed, and almost regret that we had
not seen more of them.
It was a lovely morning, and we were sorry to quit
the peaceful valley, the more so as we emerged into
a raging dust-storm on the plain. Our return journey
was much more rapid than the previous one, and we
reached the station one and a half hours before the
train started. The tiny waiting-room was already
crowded, and the atmosphere dense, for the people
have the vaguest conception of time, and are
accustomed to wait hours at the station. We had
no longer our previous escort to find us more com-
fortable accommodation, so we had toexercisepatience.
The bookstall does not yet form part of the equip-
ment of a Chinese railway station ; we were reduced
to the study of humanity. We returned to Liao
Yang for the third and last time, and found the same
kind welcome and sense of home-coming which is
familiar to all visitors at Liao Yang. We were told
that the good monks at Changsha had refused to take
any remuneration for our accommodation, but had sent
56
ch. v A Visit to the "Thousand Peaks
word to the do&or that it was time to think of it
when he came again. Perhaps that was a gentle hint
for him to come soon, but it was a different experience
from the one we had in the Buddhist monastery that
we visited in Korea.
A few hours later we took the bi-weekly express
train for the north, and reached Kharbin in about
eighteen hours.
I must now take my narrative back to the time
after out first visit to Liao Yang when we returned
to Moukden, as the base from which to go to Korea.
In the map at the end of the volume it will be seen
that the single line from the north to Moukden is
replaced by three lines spreading out fan shape, one
to Korea, one to Dalny (both of these are Japanese),
and one to Tientsin, which is Chinese.
57
CHAPTER VI
Moukden to Korea
WE left Moukden at 8 a.m. by the ordinary
Japanese train, but the permanent line
to Antung is only completed for a short
distance. In our carriage there was a framed
notice in Japanese, of which there was apparently
an abbreviated form in English below, which ran,
" Hands off the rope, please." No rope or check-
string was visible, so the order was rather a dead
letter. After travelling two and a half hours we had to
change to the light railway on which are no first-class
carriages. The accommodation was limited in every
way, and the narrow benches made us long for the
" cushioned seats " which Maggie's brothers found so
reposeful in " What every woman knows." Despite
the beauty of the scenery the way seemed long :
hour after hour passed by, while still we crept up the
mountain gorges. The Manchurian side showed little
vegetation on the crags, except some stunted pine-
trees. on all the Japanese lines we were struck with
the large number of soldiers hanging about. The
Chinese Government granted permission for one
soldier to every ten miles of railway ; but there are
58
ch. vi Moukden to Korea
15,000 men to 703 miles of railway, according to Mr.
Tyenaga's reckoning in an article entitled " Man-
churia's Strategic Railway." They are quartered in
various places. Yet Japan notified to the Powers the
withdrawal of her troops from Manchuria only a few
months ago ! At midday we made a short halt, and
the Japanese officers had tea served to them, and pro-
duced their "luncheon baskets." These consisted of
three neat little trays, a paper serviette, and chopsticks :
the top tray was filled with rice, the next with a
vegetable salad, and the third with rissoles, fish, and
other savouries. Another Japanese passenger pro-
duced from his sleeve a toothpick, knife, fruit, &c.
It was a continual source of interest to us to see what
came out of that receptacle — note-book, pencil,
handkerchief, cigarettes, matches, a veritable box of
tricks ; finally he selected a lump of coal from a truck
attached to the rear of the carriage, wrapped it in
paper, and added it to the other treasures up his sleeve,
or perhaps it would be more correct to say down his
sleeve, for it formed a sort of pouch. He was an
interesting specimen of the indeterminate Jap, so
common in Manchuria ; his clothes, the first day of
the journey, were a mixture of European, Chinese,
and Japanese, but next day he appeared in a sort of
European clerical black suit and white shirt, a costume
which was by no means adapted to his mode of sitting.
He took off his elastic-sided boots, climbed on to the
narrow seat on which he had previously placed a
folded blanket, gathered his clothing carefully to-
59
The Face of Ma?ichui~ia ch. vi
gether, and sat down cross-legged. If it had not been
for the large felt wideawake hat which rested on his
ears, he would have looked, with his folded arms, like
some contemplative Buddha. Much of the time he
spent in sleep, but every now and then he woke up,
and at once set to work with feverish energy, writing
rapidly in his note-book.
As we zig-zagged up the mountain the air grew
colder and denser, for our carriage was full, and every
one smoked but ourselves. We managed to light
the stove with the remains of the luncheon boxes,
and fortunately there was a scuttle of coal with which
to replenish it. The main drawback was the difficulty
of escaping being burnt owing to the narrow space,
and one's dress paid with a couple of holes.
At 7.40 p.m. the train stopped for the night, and
we betook ourselves to a Japanese inn tinctured with
Europeanism. It consisted of a squat tower with
ten sides, of which the centre, also ten-sided, formed
the parlour. Each of these inner walls formed a
door, seven of which opened into bedrooms. As
they were all alike, no one seemed able to remember
which was his room, so we had to barricade our door
if we wanted to exclude visitors. The other guests
were led off in turns to have a bath, and returned in
due course arrayed in hotel dressing-gowns and
slippers to sit before the stove and smoke. Next
morning we started again at 8 o'clock, and spent a
similar day to the previous one, climbing through
mountain gorges and crossing and recrossing the same
60
ch. vi Moukden to Korea
river. The hill-sides boasted more vegetation, and
the brown autumn leaves still clung to the trees, of
which a number are wild mulberry, which grows
freely in these mountains. We reached Antung soon
after 6 o'clock, and went to a Japanese inn, recom-
mended by the proprietor of the one where we had
spent the previous night : he telegraphed to them to
meet us at the station. Antung is a considerable
place, and the Japanese town is situated quite apart
from the Chinese ; the railway and ferry were near
the hotel, and we started betimes for the latter, which
runs in connection with the train at Wiju on the
south bank of the Yalu River. We took our tickets,
but they possessed literally no change at the ticket-
office. I was able to pay almost the correct sum,
only three farthings in excess of the full price, and
the man offered to give me the change later on. It
did not seem worth while struggling through a dirty
crowd for this magnificent sum afterwards, so I did
not return, but an hour later, when we were seated in
the train at Wiju, an official solemnly presented the
three farthings to me !
The river was full of ominous-looking blocks of
ice, and the tug looked sadly unequal to making
its way through it : in fact it had missed running
on that account more than one day the same week,
so we thought ourselves fortunate in getting across
the river at once. There is often considerable
delay, both at the time of the freezing and of the
thawing of the river, and unfortunately there is
61
The Face of Manchuria ch. vi
no bridge of any kind. The permanent line will
necessitate the building of a bridge, but it is not
expected to be ready within the next two years,
though the Japanese are straining every nerve to
complete the line. The tug was wretchedly small
and crowded, but performed its journey valiantly,
crunching through the ice, and landing us in about a
quarter of an hour on the Korean bank of the Yalu,
where a well-appointed train awaited us. Never was
a first-class carriage more welcome to weary travellers,
never was an excellently cooked lunch which was
served in due course more highly appreciated, and
the attendant gave the finishing touch to our content-
ment by administering a much-needed brush down
before our arrival at Pyong Yang. Everything was a
strange contrast from what we had left ; the cold
colouring of Manchuria was replaced by a warm red
soil, through which the first tokens of spring green
were beginning to appear. Instead of the blue
clothing to which we had been accustomed, every
one here was clad in white, both in town and country.
Rice fields greet the eye at every turn, for this is the
main cereal grown. The only things that were the
same were the Japanese line and the Japanese official,
no more conspicuous here than in Manchuria, and
apparently firmly rooted in both.
Korea is somewhat larger in extent than Great
Britain, about 80,000 square miles in size, and the
population is estimated at about twelve to thirteen
millions. Owing to the mountainous character of
62
ch. vi Moukden to Korea
Korea, a large part of it, especially in the north, is
uninhabitable ; in facl: some people estimate that
only one quarter is occupied. No census of the popu-
lation was taken till that made by the Japanese in
1904. As the people feared that this was preliminary
to a tax, they made every effort to prevent correct
numbers being ascertained, and consequently the
returns were less than nine and a half millions.
Another census is now being taken, which, in all
probability, will be much more accurate.
Korea is a country abounding in valuable produces,
one of the chief of which is gold. There are also
excellent anthracite coal and other minerals, but as
yet these resources have been little utilised. At the
present time no less than one hundred and eighty-
four mining concessions have been granted to British,
American, German, and French companies, and their
prospecls are thoroughly encouraging. Korea is the
fifth largest cotton producing country in the world,
and now that it is opening up to trade, with fresh
facilities of transport by land and sea, it is likely to
make rapid progress. The people are naturally peace-
ful and diligent, and under a wise rule the land ought
to become an ideal one. Christianity and education
are spreading rapidly, the former being said to have
already 200,000 adherents. The written language is
alphabetical, and consists of twenty-five letters, but
the literate Koreans use Chinese characters, and all of
them are expected to know that language. The
missionaries decided to use the Vn Mum, the native
63
The Face of Manchuria ch. vi
script, and most of the Christian literature is pub-
lished in that form. The Protestant Missions have
been working only about twenty-five years in Korea,
but the Roman Catholics were there long ago, and
the terrible persecutions they underwent form one of
the most striking chapters in Korean history. The
former have had remarkable success, and have intro-
duced fresh methods of missionary enterprise, which
will be described in the next chapter, as they are
likely to have great influence on the future develop-
ment of missions in other countries. Nowhere have
the people of a country more thoroughly recognised
their duty of handing on the gift they have received,
or of accepting their personal responsibility for evan-
gelising their own people.
64
PART II
The Face of Korea
THE FACE OF KOREA
CHAPTER VII
Pyong Yang
WE reached Pyong Yang (written Ping Yang
by the war correspondents, and universally
pronounced Piang) in the early afternoon,
and found chairs sent by our kind hosts to take us
from the station to the town, a distance of about one
and a half miles. Other passengers got into rickshas,
and others again into the drollest little trolleys on
wheels, like boxes with the front side missing, and con-
taining a bench to seat two persons. These trolleys run
on the narrowest gauge tram lines, and are propelled
with great rapidity by a coolie running on each side :
I have never seen them anywhere but at Pyong Yang.
We set off in our chairs, our luggage being carried
on frames called " giggies " on the backs of coolies,
and the Chinese interpreter, whom we had brought
from Tai Yuan Fu (Mr. Cbiao,pronounced"jow," as in
jowl) walking with a friendly Korean evangelist sent
to meet us. We had been told that Chinese was
understood everywhere, but this proved entirely in-
correct (like most of the information we had received),
The Face of Korea ch. vii
and we were vastly entertained to see that these two
could only communicate by writing ; this they did on
the surface of the dusty road as they went along. Our
pace was fortunately slow, as Korean carriers are not
likethe Chinese, and they set us down pretty frequently
for a rest, which was an opportunity for communica-
tion eagerly seized by the writers. Near the station
are handsome large new red brick barracks, and a
Japanese suburb is growing up : it is sad to see every
place being disfigured by European-looking erections
of the ugliest and most aggressive type. The American
Presbyterian group of buildings are a delightful con-
trast to these, and are Korean in style with necessary
adaptation for Western requirements, but there is a
hideous new school on the brow of the hill facing
them, which stands in conspicuous nakedness likeablot
on the landscape. A sort of building epidemic seems
to have broken out, which threatens to sweep away all
pi£turesqueness from the important towns in Korea.
The city of Pyong Yang is of great antiquity, and
is said to date back as far as 1 122 B.C., when the cele-
brated Ki Cha reigned there.
The streets still retain a great charm, but each day
sees it lessening. The stalls contain all sorts of strange
comestibles, among which fish occupy a prominent
position, and various seaweeds are a naturalaccompani-
ment to them. Dried cuttle fish hang up in rows, and
are a tasty dish in the eyes of the natives, and all kinds
of other fish are dried and hung up in strings to form
artistic designs for the adornment of the shops, as well
68
KOREAN IN MOUKNINC
ch. vii Pyong Tang
as for the benefit of purchasers. Next in number to
fish shops are those for hats, I should think, and these
are quite unique. I understand that a book has been
written on the subject, so numerous are the varieties
in Korea. The common hat is made of black crino-
line, rather like the old Welsh hat, but not so tall, and
it is tied with black strings under the chin. As the
whole of the rest of a Korean's costume is white, the
black hat forms a telling contrast. The hair is allowed
to grow long, and is gathered into a top knot, which
is visible within the transparent crown of the hat. A
closely fitting cap of horsehair rising into a peak is
worn indoors, and below it is a tight band of horse-
hair about a quarter of an inch wide, bound round
the head, greatly to the detriment of the circulation.
The mourning cap or hat is white, or rather cream
colour, and still more commonly is a large hat worn as
mourning, looking like an inverted flower, and accom-
panied by a long coat of stiff undressed cotton to match
(see sketch). Scholars wear a somewhat different
shaped crinoline hat, and boys celebrate their engage-
ment by wearing a special little straw hat. Official
hats again are quite different, of which an example
may be seen in the design on the book cover.
one of the most familiar sights passing along the
streets is thewater-carrier,for up to thepresenttime the
water-supply of Pyong Yang has been entirely drawn
from the river, and the men carry the water in pails
on their backs ; in facl, unlike China, every thing almost
iscarried on the back in Korea, and frequently the loads
69
The Face of Korea ch. vii
are of a great weight. The old tradition is that Pyong
Yang is a floating city (it was built boat-shaped), and
no one is supposed to dig in it, for fear of sinking the
ship.
one of the most interesting places outside the town
is a famous temple beautifully situated on the brow of
a hill, set up to the god of war. It was small and fairly
well kept, and the priest made some fuss before allow-
ing us to enter. Like all the temples here, there is but
scant space within the building for any worshippers,
but as they have no conception of congregational
worship, this is a matter ot no importance. The
original religion of Korea was Shamanism, the worship
of evil spirits, and although it is supposed to have been
superseded first by Confucianism and later on by
Buddhism (a.d. 550), it still retains its hold over the
people, and is carried on side by side with Confucian-
ism and Buddhism. Its shrines are to be found in
Seoul itself and also by the wayside in all parts of the
country. The main point in the religion of the edu-
cated Korean, as of the Chinese, is ancestor worship,
and in the courtyard of every large house may be seen
the ancestral tablet house, where are the tablets of two
or three generations. There seem to be considerably
fewer temples in Korea than in China ; they are less
imposing, and less frequented.
We next visited the fine new waterworks built by
the Japanese, and they have selected a beautiful spot
on the summit of a hill overlooking the town, as well
as an island in the river which they have connected
70
ch. vii Pyong Yang
with the mainland by a bridge. Soon that picturesque
being — the water-carrier — will be nothing more than
a memory ; but undoubtedly the advantages of a good
water-supply will reconcile the inhabitants to the
change. I am greatly astonished at the charge of
dirtiness so frequently brought against the Koreans,
for on the whole they would bear comparison with
almost any European nation. They lavish endless
time and energy on getting their clothes white and
well laundered, for which they possess the most primi-
tive implements imaginable. The garment is folded
quite wet, placed on a board, and beaten rapidly with
two flat sticks for any length of time. The sound
greets one's ears all day and every day in the streets,
and resembles that of a stick being drawn across pal-
ings ; if you happen to be lying ill, the endless sound
is apt to be as nerve racking as the notes of the brain-
fever bird in India.
After climbing down to the river-bed by the water-
works, we proceeded to climb up the opposite slope,
where numbers of people seemed bent on holiday-
making, and there was a Japanese tea-house half-way
up to Pioneer Point, whence a magnificent view is
gained over a large stretch of country. The old city
walls and a watch-tower surmount the pine-clad hill,
and a short walk brings one to a tomb of historic in-
terest. In the heart of the pine forest is Kicha's grave,
but the entrance was tightly shut and barred, so that
we were only able to get a glimpse of it. Like all
important Korean graves, it is a mound surrounded
71
The Face of Korea ch. vii
by stone animals and figures of servants for the use
of the deceased, and an altar on which sacrificial food
is placed. Kicha is said to have cometo Korea in
i 122 B.C. as a refugee from China, to be the founder
of the empire, and to have given it its name of "Land
of Morning Freshness." His dynasty lasted nearly a
thousand years. The old city wall of PyOng Yang is
said to date from Kicha or Kuei-ja's reign, but it is,
alas, now in course of demolition. This synchronises
with the coming of the first party of Cook's personally
conducted tours !
SHORT SUMMARY OF RECENT
KOREAN HISTORY.
It is possible that some readers of this book may
wish to have their memories refreshed about the events
which have crowded so rapidly on one another's
heels during the last half century, so I have ventured
to set down a table of dates with notes, which can
easily be skipped by those whose memories do not
require it.
i 876. First foreign treaty with Japan — unsuccess-
ful attempts had previously been made by the Russians
and Americans to obtain permission to trade.
1883. Trade relations opened with Great Britain,
America, and Germany. Owing to internal factions,
the Chinese, representing the conservative forces of
72
ch. vii Pyong Tang
government, got decided hold in Korea over the
radical party, represented by Japanese factions.
1885. Treaty between China and Japan guaran-
teeing that neither country should send troops to
Korea without previous consultation.
1890 (approximately). First Protestant missions
sent to Korea — mainly American.
1894. China sent troops (without advising Japan)
to put down the Tonghak rebellion ; hence resulted
the war with Japan, in which China was completely
defeated.
1896. Russian influence became powerful. The
Emperor took refuge in Russian legation. Lobanoff
Yamaga agreement between Russians and Japanese to
respecit the independence of Korea, and not to send
troops except by mutual agreement.
1903. Russian intrigue won large timber conces-
sions on the Yalu, and demanded port on the N.W.
coast opposite Antung-Yongampo, which they re-
named Port Nicholas. This was applied for by Great
Britain and United States of America as an open port,
but Russian influence prevented this being granted.
1904. War declared between Russia and Japan ;
Korea made agreement with Japan to facilitate its
campaign on the basis of Korea's independence. Since
then the Japanese have steadily increased their control
over Korean affairs.
1907. The Emperor forced by the Japanese to
abdicate in favour of his nephew.
73
CHAPTER VIII
Sunday at Pyong Yang
SUNDAY is a busy day for missionary workers
at PyOng Yang, as the rapid growth of the
work and the need for consolidation by
constant instruction, taxes the resources even of
the large staff of foreign as well as native helpers.
We were told that in many cases before the building
of a church is completed the congregation has out-
grown it, and that from one church alone (the central
one at PyOng Yang) no less than thirty-nine others
have " swarmed " merely for lack of space, not from
any discord. Thirty-five of these churches are in the
district round the town, four others are in the town
itself; the youngest of them already has a member-
ship of 561. This is the result of sixteen years of
work, for the missionaries settled there in 1894, and
the first convert was baptized that year.
We started out about 1 o o'clock to make a round of
some of the places of worship. The first visited was
a women's institute, where we found a large upper
room filled with about 500 women and nearly as
many babies and little children. At the door of the
Korean churches and schools the first thing to be
74
ch. viii Sunday at Pyong Tang
noticed is the shoe stand, where each comer deposits
shoes before entering. The floors are covered with
matting, and every one sits cross-legged : the babies
are noisy, but their crying is not nearly so sharp as
that of Europeans, though sufficiently disturbing to
any ordinary speaker. At the harmonium a sweet-
faced Korean girl sat, whose playing was very superior
to the singing. What it lacked in harmony, how-
ever, was atoned for by its earnestness, and in all the
services the reverent attention of the whole audience
was most impressive ; even the little children covered
their eyes with their hands during prayer. From
below stairs came the lusty tones of children singing
" Hold the Fort," and we found a Sunday school in
progress, the classes sitting in circles on the floor,
each with a girl teacher in the centre. The children
have been less cared for than the adults hitherto, but
they look most attractive and winning, and greater
efforts are now being made to provide for their in-
struction.
We next visited the central church, where the
men had just finished their morning session of Bible
instruction (9-10.30), and the women were rapidly
gathering. Nowhere could there be found a more
attractive sight than the hundreds of white clad
women, carrying their books wrapped in cloth tied
round their waists in front, or their children tied on
behind, the little ones dressed in every colour of the
rainbow. The service is much like Sunday school
at home ; after the opening hymn and prayers, the
75
The Face of Korea ch. viii
women are divided into classes, and the older children,
like a gay group of butterflies, are gathered at the
back of the church to be taught separately. Some
of the girls had hats which take up space, as they
are much larger than umbrellas, and are carried by
both hands, extending over the head in front and to
the knees behind. These are peculiar to this district,
and are used not mainly for protection from the sun
or rain, but from the vulgar gaze of man. I sketched
one of the school girls on the verandah, wearing the
big hat. They have to be left outside the church
in the verandah with the shoes. Some of the young
women of the wealthier classes look quite charming
in their nun-like coifs, and dressed from head to foot in
dazzling white silk, with smart little sleeveless coats
lined with white fur ; the fur also forms a border all
round the coat and outlines the arm-holes. Woman-
kind in Korea suffers from a strange lack — the absence
of names. A woman may possess a pet name, other-
wise she has none ; frequently she does not even know
her husband's name. If she becomes a Christian and
receives baptism she acquires a name, and this must
give her quite a new sense of dignity. The Korean
woman has not been considered of much value in the
past, but she is awakening (under Christian influences)
to a sense of responsibility, and she takes her share in
the work of evangelisation among her people. There
had been a fortnight's Bible study for women just
before our arrival at Pyong Yang, attended by over 500,
many of whom had come long distances on foot to
76
COY KOREAN MAIDEX
ch. viii Sunday at Pyong Ya?tg
attend it. Some had travelled no less than seventy
miles on foot, carrying their supply of food with
them; they were lodged by the Christians in the city
without charge, and after earnest study they set out
on their long homeward journey. There is also a
special Bible school for a fortnight for those women
who wish to become teachers or Bible women,
many of whom are supported by the native church.
The Women's Missionary Society of the Central
Church has supported two missionaries for some years.
The morning school in the Central Church num-
bered five or six hundred, so that when both men
and women come in the afternoon to a united service
of worship the church is full to overflowing : it holds
1500 to 1700.
The venerable pastor, Kil Moksa, is a Korean of
solid character, who has done much to lessen the
evils incident to the coming of the Japanese. Seeing
the utter hopelessness of resistance, he persuaded the
people neither to flee nor to resist, so that the blood-
shed which took place in the south of the country was
avoided in the north. His influence is not only power-
ful but widespread, and it is sad to see the curtailing
of his work owing to increasing blindness. He was
originally an ardent Confucian, and not content with
a passive faith he practised rigorous austerities in order
to obtain peace of mind. In describing this time, Kil
Moksa said: " I was trying to put away every thought
of worldly advancement and every filthy or unclean
impulse, for I knew right and wrong then just as well
77
The Face of Korea ch. viii
as I do now. I endeavoured to keep my mind pure
by concentrating upon the idea of a full moon in my
stomach. By centring my thoughts upon this I
endeavoured to shut out the world and secure a view
of spiritual truth. I wanted to get a vision of some
spiritual being, but all the time, in spite of my efforts,
my mind was filled with thoughts I would fain have
dismissed. I could not get the victory. At the end
of my stay on the mountain side, when I went to the
homes of my friends, I was filled with disgust because
their conversation was all about worldly advancement
or interspersed with filthy stories." When Kil
Moksa became a Christian he was equally filled with
this passionate desire for righteousness, not for him-
self only, but for his people. When his people
seemed to be growing careless, he started a daily prayer-
meeting at 4 o'clock in the morning, and this was
soon attended by six or seven hundred people, with
the result that a great revival took place, and his
people promised to spend over 3000 days in trying
to win others to a knowledge of Christ.
We next visited the Union Theological Seminary,
vacated by the students on Sunday and used as a
church, where we found numbers of men all seated
on the floor with the teacher in the centre. The
bulk of the teaching and preaching in Korea is done by
natives, and every church has a native pastor ; the
foreign missionary acts as superintendent of groups
of churches (sometimes as many as fifty or sixty)
extending over a large area of the province. The
78
ch. viii Sunday at Pyong !Ta7ig
college students were all busy on Sunday either
preaching or itinerating in town and country, and in
order to facilitate this arrangement they have no
classes on Saturday afternoon or Monday morning.
They remain at college only three months in the year,
and spend the remaining nine in practical work.
Their course extends over five years, and by this
arrangement the four missions which it represents are
able to supply the requisite number of teachers from
their ordinary staff of workers ; these teachers can
be spared from their other work for three months in
the year, though it is only in cases of special qualifi-
cation that the same man is sent three years in suc-
cession. The head of the college is, of course, a
permanent official, and lives at Pyong Yang. This
is Dr. Moffett, who was stoned out of PyOng Yang
when he first came ; he frequently used to hear the
remark at he passed along the streets on those early
days, " Look at this black rascal ! why did he come
here ? let us kill him." Nowhere was the opposition
to Christianity fiercer than at PyOng Yang ; it was a
notoriously bad city. The students at the present
time number 126, and the missions represented are
the American Presbyterian (North and South), the
Australian Presbyterian, and the Canadian Presby-
terian. The college is a modest and unpretentious
building in native style, and it is proposed to build
dormitories round the compound as soon as the
ground has been levelled.
From this point we crossed the town to the im-
79
The Face of Korea ch. viii
posing group of buildings of the Methodist Episcopal
Mission, which are in American style. The fine
large church has a belfry, which can be seen as well
as heard from afar. We entered at the back of the
women's side, divided from the men's by a screen,
and found it well filled. one of the missionaries told
us that it had the largest " floor space " of any church
in Korea. As w r e entered four young men mounted
the platform and sang an anthem, but none of our
party could decide whether it was in Korean or
English. Then the sermon began, and we slipped
out to continue our pilgrimage. The greatest har-
mony exists between the different missions, and the
preacher for the day belonged to the Presbyterians.
The main difference between the missions is one of
policy. The Presbyterians encourage the Koreans
to rely upon their own efforts for support, to build
their own churches in native style, and to undertake
the work of evangelisation at their own expense.
The offerings of the Korean church (that is of all the
missions) is said to be already £25,000 per annum,
and the number of converts 200,000 ; not a bad result
to show for only twenty-five years of missionary work.
(These figures are drawn from the report for the World
Missionary Conference at Edinburgh.) The American
Episcopal Mission do not expecl: as much from the
native church as do the Presbyterians, and they keep
the pastorate and general control to a greater extent
in their own hands. They have larger funds at their
disposal, and do not require the village communities
80
ch. viii Sunday at Pyong Yang
to build their own churches, whereas the Presbyterians
only help them with a loan, which is repaid in two
years. Even the primary schools are entirely sup-
ported by the Koreans. The Methodist Episcopal
Mission has initiated work among the blind, and it has
a promising school of blind girls, who are already pre-
paring text-books in Braille with a view to the opening
of other schools for the blind. The Presbyterians
have also started a class for blind boys, but it is more
difficult to know what to teach them as a means of
livelihood than it is in the case of girls. They have
begun to prepare a New Testament in Braille type,
but it will require a great deal of revision ; the British
and Foreign Bible Society has promised to print it
as soon as it is ready, at cost price. The lot of the
blind in Korea is a sad one ; their sole means of earn-
ing a living is by practising sorcery.
In conclusion, I must add a word as to the character
of the native Christians in Pyong Yang, but which is
equally applicable to the rest of the Korean Church.
It is not only remarkable to see the number of Christians,
but still more so to see their character. one of the
ablest speakers at the Edinburgh Conference was the
Hon. T. H. Yun of Songdo, Minister of Education,
and leader of the native church, a man of culture and
refinement, of whom any country might well be
proud. He spoke of the danger due to the extra-
ordinarily rapid growth of the church, yet nevertheless
urged the desirability of trusting it with enlarged
responsibilities. As far as my experience goes this
F
The Face of Korea ch. viii
has been done in Korea to a greater extent than any-
where else in the many mission fields that I have
visited. The Christians have shown such a keen
desire for instruction, together with such an aptitude
for learning, that they are much more capable of self-
government, and of forming a national church, than
would be conceived possible by those who have not
seen this wonderful people. They have devoted
themselves with extraordinary ardour to the study of
the Bible. The membership of a great Bible class at
Syen Chun is over thirteen hundred, and the Bible is
the most read book in Korea to-day. They memorise
it apparently as well as do the Chinese ; two school
girls may be mentioned as having learnt by heart the
whole of the New Testament, with the exception of
St. Matthew's Gospel, in the course of a year. Yet
less than thirty years ago it was prohibited to sell it
in the Hermit Kingdom, as Korea has so justly been
called, and it was only possible to do so by having the
Gospels done up in bundles, unbound, and distributed
through the country by the natives. To them is
mainly due the introduction of Christianity into
Korea.
Another striking feature of the Korean church is
the importance they attach to prayer, and their implicit
belief in its efficacy. Where else in the world is to
be found a weekly prayer-meeting which habitually
numbers thirteen or fourteen hundred ? Yet such is
the case at the Central Church at PyOng Yang.
Mention has already been made (page 78) of an early
ch. viii Sunday at Pyong Tang
morning prayer-meeting, which cannot find a parallel,
I think, in any of our home churches.
No less important is the characteristic of generosity
both in the matter of money and labour. In some
churches they are hardly willing to admit any one as
a member who has not already won at least one con-
vert to Christianity. A form of contribution was
started by which people promise to give a day's work
during a certain specified time. Last year there were
over 67,000 days promised throughout the country.
It is hardly necessary to give further details as to the
generosity of the Koreans with regard to money,
because of what has already been related, but I must
point out that the majority of the Korean Christians
are extremely poor, and great self-sacrifice is involved
by the amount of work which they support, as well
as by what they do personally.
83
CHAPTER IX
The History of Roman Catholicism
in Korea
/* I AHE extraordinarily rapid progress of Protes-
tant missions in Korea makes one turn with
ii
interest to the past history of the country
in its attitude towards Christianity, as shown in the
work of the Roman Catholics. This history is a
very unique one, and is characterised by some of the
same features as we see to-day ; the zeal, self-sacri-
fice, and faith, the independent spirit which makes
the Koreans able, if need be, to carry on the work
without foreign aid, are to be seen on every page of
its history. No church has had to pass through more
ceaseless and relentless persecution for the first century
of its existence, nor has counted more heroic martyrs
among its members. The story has been fully told
in Pere Dallet's Histoire de /'Eg/ise de Koree, and I
was so impressed with that work that I have ven-
tured to make a brief sketch of it, in the hope that
it will be of interest to those who are unable to study
that history for themselves.
The first introduction of Christianity into Korea
84
ch. ix Roman Catholicism in Korea
was a strange one. In 1592 Japan sent an army of
200,000 men to conquer the country, and a large
number of these men had been selected for the pur-
pose because they were Roman Catholics, and Japan
was anxious to get rid of them. The great general
known as Taiko Sama thought this was an excellent
method of extermination, but when the war was
prolonged, the Christian admiral of the fleet sent to
Japan for priests and commenced missionary work.
Many converts were baptized, and things looked
promising, when the sudden recall of the army to
Japan, followed by a fierce persecution, completely
stamped out the work in both countries.
Korea continued her policy of jealously excluding
all foreigners from entering the country, and only
occasionally were a few books (printed in Chinese) sent
over by the Jesuits from Peking. Not until 1784
was the work recommenced, and then it emanatedfrom
a purely Korean source. A young man called Piek-i,
of great physical strength and intellectual keenness,
heard that the father of a friend of his was going as
ambassador to the court of China, and that his son
was to accompany him. He therefore begged his
friend, Senghoun-i, to use the opportunity to visit the
foreigners there, in order to study their science and
religion. Senghoun-i not only fulfilled his friend's
request, but was so deeply impressed by what he
heard that he became a Christian and was baptized,
after which he returned to his native land, carrying
books, crosses, and pictures with him. He at once
35
The Face of Korea ch. ix
sent books to Piek-i, who retired into solitude to study
them, and was soon convinced by pondering over the
life of Christ of the truth of what he read. No
sooner did Piek-i become a Christian than he set
out to tell his friend, Senghoun-i, the good news.
"The great God of Heaven," he said, " has had pity
on the millions of our fellow-countrymen, and He
desires us to make them share in the benefits of the
Redemption of the world. It is the command of
God. We cannot be deaf to His call. We must
spread this religion and evangelise the whole world."
How thoroughly these words express the feelings and
action of the Korean Christians of the present day !
Piek-i at once commenced the work of evangelisa-
tion, and success attended his labours ; but close upon
its heels came that persecution which was to con-
tinue down to the present day. There were no
foreign missionaries to help or instruct the youthful
disciples, and naturally they were unable to see the
bearing of Christian teaching upon the customs to
which they had always been accustomed. They
evolved from their books a conception of the priest-
hood, and elected from their number a sort of religious
hierarchy, which existed for some years undisturbed.
When eventually they heard that this was not sanc-
tioned by the authorities at Peking, and that they
must utterly renounce the ancestor worship, which
formed the basis of their former religious belief, and
was so integral a part of the national life, it was a
severe blow to them. They loyally obeyed, however,
86
ch. ix Roman Catholicism in Korea
the mandate to destroy the ancestral tablets, and a
storm of persecution swept over the church.
The leaders were tortured and executed, firmly-
refusing to renounce their faith. Nevertheless the
number of converts increased, and ten years after the
baptism of Senghoun-i at Peking there were 4000
Christians in Korea. A time of comparative peace
followed, and the church was consolidated. At last
a priest was sent over from China called Jean dos
Remedios, in 1 79 1 ; but he was unable to penetrate
into the country, and was obliged to return to Peking.
No further attempt to send a missionary was made for
several years. Then a young Chinaman called Tsiou
was selected for the perilous task, and during a stormy
night he succeeded in crossing the closely guarded
frontier disguised as a Korean. Some months later the
news of his arrival became known to the authorities,
and they ordered his arrest. But the Koreans who
had long been asking for a missionary to be sent to
them guarded him with the utmost loyalty, and the
authorities seized instead the Koreans who had
brought him into the country, and after cruel tortures
which utterly failed to make them confess his where-
abouts, they were put to death.
Tsiou, meanwhile, mainly owed his safety to a
devoted Christian woman, and continued his labours
unremittingly in secret, while she prosecuted an im-
portant work in teaching a large number of girls.
During the reign of the king at that time on the throne
of Korea, the persecution was somewhat limited, but
37
The Face of Korea ch. ix
as soon as he died in 1800 it broke out afresh with
redoubled energy. Tsiou was at last captured, and
with many others laid down his life, not only willingly,
but joyfully. He was only twenty-five years of age.
The persecution raged till the next year, when the
kin": issued a strange edict, to the effect that he was
determined to have done with the matter ; that the
Christians filling the prisons should at once be judged
and executed, and after that no more trials were to be
instituted. JV1 any were publicly executed, while others
were strangled in the prisons in order to expedite
matters. Then followed a lull, and the church had a
breathing space, but all its leaders had been put to
death, and it was reduced to a pitiable condition.
The church sent a fresh appeal to the bishop at
Peking to send them another priest, but he was utterly
unable to grant their request, for the mission itself
was at a low ebb on account of the French Revolution.
No missionaries were coming out to the foreign field,
and no promise even could be held out to the Koreans
of any one coming to them in the future. Again and
again their messenger braved untold risks to carry
their piteous appeal to China, but in vain. To those
who like myself intensely dislike the system and many
of the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church, while
loving and profoundly venerating many of its adher-
ents, this absence of the priesthood may well seem a
blessing in disguise.
In 1 8 16, for the fifth time, the messenger of the
Korean Church arrived in Peking, and the bishop,
88
ch. ix Roman Catholicism in Korea
touched by their importunity, promised to send them
a priest. Plans were arranged that he should be met
and secretly taken into the country, for persecution
still raged. The time came, but at the rendezvous
the Koreans found no priest awaiting them ; it had
proved impossible to find any one willing to undertake
the well-nigh hopeless mission. Years elapsed : they
were all marked by the same record of faith and
suffering, heroically borne, until the year 1827. Then
followed three or four years of comparative peace, and
the church steadily grew in numbers.
A letter was sent by it to the Pope, beseeching
him to send reinforcements to the suffering Christians.
He forwarded the appeal to the directors of the
" Missions Etrangeres " in France, which had recently
been re-established, after its destruction by Napoleon
in 1 805. The directors forwarded the appeal, making
it known throughout their missions, with the result
that Monseigneur Brugniere, a missionary in Siam,
volunteered for the perilous task in a letter burning
with apostolic love and zeal. His offer was accepted
by the society, and after some delay he set out accom-
panied by a young Chinese priest, educated in Naples,
who had also volunteered for the service.
Three years were spent by them in weary journey-
ings without success, owing partly to the jealousy of
a Chinese priest who had been sent meanwhile to
Korea by the Sacree Congregation de la Propagande,
and when at last the difficulties were on the eve of
being overcome, Monseigneur Brugniere was taken
The Face of Korea ch. ix
suddenly ill and died on the very threshold of the
promised land.
In 1836 the first European missionary penetrated
into the country, and he was soon followed by others
in steady succession. Despite the ceaseless persecu-
tions the number of Christians in 1838 was estimated
at 9000. The following year a more violent persecu-
tion than ever broke out, and the three French mis-
sionaries were betrayed and executed, beside many
Koreans of all ranks. The authorities were firmly
resolved to exterminate them ; but the attitude of the
Korean people in general towards the Christians was
no longer what it had been. Whereas previously they
had been despised, now they were respected, for the
people realised that there was a power in this religion
which nothing could annihilate. The Christians had
been decimated as to numbers, and such as had escaped
destruction were reduced to a state of utter destitu-
tion, yet still they remained loyal to their convictions.
The non-Christian Koreans came to the rescue and
lent them the necessary grain to sow their fields, well
assured that they would honestly repay the loan, un-
like what would have been the case with some others
of their fellow-countrymen.
The foreign missionaries having been murdered,
there was a new development in the life of the Korean
Church ; for the first time they had two priests of
their own nationality consecrated in China. They
came to the church at a time of great need, for per-
secution was raging more hotly than ever. The time
90
ch. ix Roman Catholicism in Korea
for labour was but brief in the case of one of them,
Andre Kim. His undaunted courage and zeal led
him, at the age of twenty-five, to the crown of mar-
tyrdom, " he being made perfect in a short time,
fulfilled a long time. For his soul pleased the Lord."
In 1850 we again find two French missionaries at
work, who gave their testimony as to the steady
growth of the church, despite ceaseless persecution.
European missionaries could only enter the country
by stealth, and they always had to endure untold hard-
ships in the prosecution of the work, which could
never be carried on openly. Monseigneur Daveluy
described it in these words : " Our year (1859) may be
summed up thus — miseries upon miseries, but every-
where the great protection of God, and in the midst
of tribulations the advance of the apostolic work."
The aggressiveness of the Russians in the north in
1866 goaded the Korean Emperor into a fierce deter-
mination to exterminate the Christians once for all.
He began by putting to death all the French mis-
sionaries upon whom he could lay his hands, and nine
out of twelve were taken. They seem to have been
put to the torture before execution ; one was Bishop
Daveluy, who had spent twenty-one years in the
country, and another was the latest recruit who had
only been there nine months. The three other mis-
sionaries succeeded in escaping from the country, and
one of them told the whole sorrowful story to the
French admiral at Tientsin, which resulted in the
sending of an expedition against Korea.
91
The Face of Korea ch. ix
Meanwhile the church in Korea was exposed to
relentless persecution, and was again left to carry on
unaided the long struggle to win her people to the
Catholic faith. Here Pere Dallet's narrative ends ;
but it would not be complete without adding one word
as to the position and numbers of the Roman Catholics
in Korea at the present day. I regret that it only
amounts to a statistical statement drawn from Krose's
Katholische Missions Statistik^ 1908.
The mission is that of the Paris Seminary, and there
are 45 European priests, 53 sisters,and 10 native priests
now working in different parts of the country. Their
native membership numbers 64,070 and they have
8220 catechumens. They have 45 stations, and a
considerably larger number of schools. I hoped to
have visited the sisters working at Seoul, and to
have been able to give some personal details, but was
prevented from doing so, as well as from visiting
various institutions, owing to the facl of having a
severe chill, which confined me to bed during much
of the time I was there.
92
CHAPTER X
Seoul
UNLIKE Venice, Seoul should not be ap-
proached after dark, but we arrived late at
night,and drovein rickshas through ill-lighted
streets and over endless stones to our destination,
Miss Pinder's rest-house for missionaries, excellently
situated in the upper part of the town.
With morning light we received a different and
beautiful impression of the town. It is encircled
within lofty hills of granite that change in colour at
different times of day from gold and steel to deep
blue. Formerly high walls surrounded it, pierced by
noble gateways, but these walls are rapidly disappear-
ing to form material for building Japanese houses of
truly Philistine ugliness. Every day sees new and
deplorable changes in the way of picluresqueness, and
one is tempted to say that even sanitation may be
too dearly bought.
We started on a lovely spring morning to visit
the old palace, which, subject to certain rules, is now
thrown open to the public at a small charge. The first
rule is that visitors must be respectably dressed, the
next that they must not catch birds or fish, and so on.
The Imperial Palace covers a large area of ground,
93
The Face of Korea ch. x
and is surrounded by lofty walls, in which there are
eight or ten doorways, surmounted by the typical
curved and tiled roofs. It looks like a small walled
town, and used to contain some 3000 persons. The
main entrance to the palace is at the end of a wide
thoroughfare, adorned with fine stone animals on
pedestals, and flanked by official buildings on each side,
which, alas, are being pulled down to be replaced
by Japanese buildings. This thoroughfare was a
gay and busy scene. The Korean dress is eminently
picturesque, and many of the women wear brilliant
cloaks of lettuce or apple green with scarlet streamers ;
this cloak depends from the crown of the head to below
the knees ; the sleeves are never used, nor indeed could
they be used, as the space for the neck is filled in
with a piece of white material which acts as a cap and
raises the coat several inches above the proper height.
This strange garment is said to have been originally a
man's coat, and the wives used to wear it (as so many
Eastern women do) to conceal their figures in the streets.
It certainly adds a most charming note of colour to the
streets of Seoul. The ordinary dress of the women is
entirely white ; it consists of a short coat, baggy
trousers, and large pleated apron completely enclosing
them and acting as a skirt. The lower class women
are not careful to prevent there being a gap between
the upper and lower garments ; as they seem to be
always nursing a baby, they no doubt think the cos-
tume was devised to suit that purpose. My sketch
shows the dress with the addition of the winter cap.
94
KOREAN WOW W
ch. x Seoul
on passing from the square into the precincts of
the palace by the main gateway you have a vision of
harmony in green ; a delicate, subtle blending of
greens in courtyard buildings, and pine-trees behind
them, while the range of hills towers in the back-
ground. A beautiful bridge spans a sort of moat, over
which grotesque stone creatures lean towards the
water as if about to plunge into it. on the right
there is an entrance to an open space of ground where
the Japanese are erecting a boys' school. This is a
hard blow to Korean pride, but unfortunately our
Japanese allies are apparently reckless of such details,
and instead of trying to make their protectorate as
conciliatory as possible, they too often do the reverse ;
indeed it is only in rare instances that they seem to
do otherwise. In many ways they are doing a great
deal which should benefit the country, but in such a
manner as to make it thoroughly obnoxious. It is
of little use to repudiate the idea of annexation, when
they trample on the dearest wishes of the Korean,
and treat him as a vanquished foe. From this court-
yard one passes into others where the sewing women
used to live, for there are numbers of courts sur-
rounded by houses varying in size and importance, but
all of them in a state of decay.
The palace is the most beautiful and cherished spot
in the capital, and it is sad to see it falling to pieces
with alarming rapidity, while the part inhabited by
the Empress was absolutely destroyed and its very
stones used in the construction of other buildings.
95
The Face of Korea ch. x
The great audience chamber is a glorious colour
study in green, Venetian red, gold, and blue, with
lofty pillars stretching up to the ornate roof, which
culminates in a centrepiece of gold dragons, some-
what different in design from the Chinese dragon.
Although it is only one storey, the roof has been so
built so as to give it a great appearance of height.
All round the hall are latticed windows, which could
be set open for large audiences. The hall is sur-
rounded on three sides by a fine large paved court,
through the centre of which runs a double line of
stones like milestones ; they mark the places where
the courtiers used to stand according to their rank
when waiting their turn for audience on state
occasions.
Court beyond court the palace stretches to the
Emperor's private apartments, which were more
modest in size than the public halls.
The Emperor used to rise about noon, so the
morning hours were quite quiet, no unnecessary
labour being permitted. The imperial reveille was
announced by a roll of drums, summoning all
courtiers, physicians, and attendants to be in readiness
for his Majesty's appearance. Then the courts
became thronged like a busy hive of bees ; the
courtiers got out of their chairs at the entrance, and
were only allowed to bring in one or two attendants,
while the remainder of their retinue waited outside.
The court dress consists of a beautiful myrtle green
coat, a square breastplate (betokening the official
9 6
ch. x Seoul
rank) fastened on by a thick belt standing out several
inches from the body, black velvet top-boots with
white soles, and a peculiar tall black cap made of
horsehair, with ears of the same material standing
out on each side of it. This costume forms the
design on the cover of the book, and it was a Korean
gentleman who kindly gave me the opportunity of
sketching it. This costume was also worn by
eunuchs when on duty in the palace. As in China,
eunuchs have played a sorry part in the political game
in Korea.
The ordinary business of the court used to be trans-
acted during the afternoon. Sometimes one of the
ministers of the foreign legations would be received
in audience by his Majesty, and sometimes there
would be a special function with regard to ancestral
worship. once a year the Emperor would go to a
certain field outside Seoul (which was pointed out to
us near the east gate of the city) to plough the first
furrow of the year.
After sundown the gates of the palace were shut
and barred, and no one might go in or out without
special permission of the Emperor. During the night
state business was transacted, and not only was his
Majesty informed of matters of importance, but he
was also entertained with the small talk of the palace.
There were always one or two Ministers of State on
duty throughout the night, and they left the palace
at daybreak, when the Emperor retired to rest.
To the left of the Emperor's private apartments
97 g
The Face of Korea ch. x
there is a gateway leading out into a place of delight,
a large walled garden containing a spacious open
summer-house surrounded by water. It is on a stone
platform, and consists of two storeys, supported on
handsome pillars and devoid of walls. The roof was
of the usual Chinese type, with overhanging eaves
enriched with carvings painted blue, green, and gold,
contrasting finely with the Venetian red of the balcony
and ceilings. A flight of steps leads down from it
to the pond which is full of lotus blossoms, below
which gold fish may be discerned in peaceful security.
Here again the hand of time is heavy, walls are falling
down, steps dropping asunder, and the brickwork
beginning to crumble at the present time. It is only
used for Japanese garden parties, and one would fain
hope that the Japanese love of beauty will conquer pre-
judice sufficiently to save it from the ravages of time
and neglect before it is too late. Beautiful pine-trees
and hills form a worthy setting to this jewel.
The Dowager Empress Hong had her own residence
and separate establishment in the rear of this part of
the palace, where she was frequently visited by the
Emperor, usually accompanied by the Crown Prince.
In Korea it is considered the duty of every son, or
adopted son, to visit his mother daily. Every after-
noon the Dowager Empress sent two or three of her
ladies-in-waiting to present her compliments to his
Majesty, and to inquire after his health. The ladies
who were sent on this errand had to wear some
additional garment for the purpose, or to have their
98
ch. x Seoul
hair dressed over an immense frame. The residence
of the Dowager Empress was enclosed within high
walls, and the entrance gate was hung with dark blue
cloth, ornamented with balls of white cotton wool,
so that when the gates were open no one should be
able to see into the courtyard. Two of the palace
police, men of superior position to the city police,
were stationed as guards outside the gates. After
the death of the Empress Min, the Crown Prince
occupied the same residence as the Emperor, and they
were rarely separated from one another. During the
Russo-Japanese war it was reported by some of the
war correspondents that the Emperor had married the
daughter of an American missionary, and that she
was called the Empress Emily Brown. As this story
obtained a certain amount of credence in America I
am glad to be able to state publicly that there was
not a word of truth in the rumour. The Emperor
was devoted to the memory of the Empress Min, and
has not married again. For this and the other details
of palace life I am indebted to a friend who was at
that time closely connected with the court, and who
continued so for many years afterwards.
The Crown Princess had her own house and estab-
lishment like the Dowager Empress, but on a smaller
scale. Every afternoon she went to pay her respects
to the Emperor, attended by her ladies-in-waiting
and eunuchs, and they might not leave the royal
presence until dismissed. This custom was not con-
fined to royalty, but in the Korean nobility etiquette
99
The Face of Korea ch. x
demands that daughters should pay their respects to
fathers, and daughters-in-law to their fathers-in-law,
and that they should remain standing until dismissed
or asked to sit down. According to the usual custom
in the East the wives of the sons live in the same
compound as the father, frequently in the same build-
ing as his wife and daughters, so the carrying out of
this custom is a simple matter.
It may be of interest to know some details of the
life of the women in an eastern palace. They come
into the palace as children of nine or ten years old,
bright, good-looking (the Korean ideal of beauty is
very different from ours), and intelligent girls. They
are trained by other girls a year or two older than
themselves, each for her own department. As soon
as the children enter service the pigtail of childhood
is abandoned, and the hair is dressed in a knot, resting
on the nape of the neck. This signifies marriage in
the case of all other Korean maidens ; but marriage
is prohibited in the case of those who enter service
in the palace, although it is admittedly the duty of
every woman. The girls are dressed in white silk
jackets and long mazarine blue silk skirts. The little
ones are sometimes allowed to wear pink or yellow
silk jackets, but never the elder ones.
If the attendants commit any serious offence, it is
reported to the head of the department ; those, for
instance, who acl: as ladies' maids are reported to the
head lady in waiting, those in the kitchen to the
head housekeeper. one particular woman in this
ch. x Seoul
department had been responsible for over fifty years
for the dressing of the fish, yet she was only sixty-five
when she mentioned the fa<5t, so her responsibilities
had begun early.
There are, however, alleviations to the lot of the
palace attendants, for they have alternately ten days'
duty and ten days' holiday. The royal ladies have
not only women attendants, but also eunuchs, one of
the worst curses of life in an eastern palace. They
are required to carry messages from one department
to another, and also to perform other duties. one
of the eunuchs belonging to the household of the
Dowager Empress used to read aloud to her a small
daily Korean newspaper. While so doing he sat out-
side the window, where he could be heard, but whence
he could not see inside, because the window was or
paper. Korea is like China in respecl: of windows,
and is only now beginning to replace paper by glass.
All this old palace life which I have been describing
came to an end not long after the death of the Dowager
Empress in 1904. We wandered among the deso-
late ruins which marked the site of her residence.
Finally we reached a grove of pines where is a strange
memorial — more like a bandstand than anything else
— it marks the site where the remains of the late
Empress Min were burned, after she had been cruelly
done to death by the Japanese in 1895. In vain her
ladies had closed up round her and tried to save her ;
in vain had one of them declared herself to be the
Empress and paid the penalty — in vain, alas ! — with
The Face of Korea ch. x
her own life. She was hunted from the very presence
of the Emperor to her own apartments in the middle
of the night, and there put to the sword. In 1897
the court removed to the new palace in the western
seclion of the city, where the deposed Emperor still
lives.
Another day we visited the mausoleum erected to
her memory, in a beautiful spot some miles to the east
of the city. Passing through the east gate we took a
tram through the suburbs till we reached the terminus,
and there turning off into the woods we walked along
a beautiful shady road for nearly a mile. one or two
parties of Japanese were the only people we met, and
they were evidently bent on picnicking, a favourite
form of amusement among them. We had an Ameri-
can friend with us, and when we got to our destination
she feared we would not be allowed to climb the hill
on which the monument stood. I decided not to
wait for permission, and hastily ran up to a beautiful
spot commanding a fine view over the plain with the
tomb immediately below me, and set to work with the
utmost despatch. I had the pleasure of seeing the other
visitors arrive and get sent away, and then the guard
came up to dislodge me. I met him with a disarming
smile, and showed him the sketch, ignoring his obvious
intention. Our American friend was greatly con-
cerned as to the righteousness of feigning ignorance,
for she understood and translated all they were saying,
such as that no one was allowed there except people
of great importance, &c. &c. Further shouting from
ch. x Seoul
below to send us away was followed by the slow climb-
ing of the hill by other officials. I greeted them in
the same way as the first, and it had an equally dis-
arming effect ; they seemed quite nonplussed, and
before they could decide how to a6t the sketch was
finished, and I presented them with an acceptable
douceur^ and said good-bye. Their refusal to allow
people to approach the tomb, where only the little
finger of the Empress is buried, is quite reasonable,
for the dearest Korean feelings have been outraged
by the wanton disregard shown by visitors who have
amused themselves by pretending to ride the stone
animals and otherwise " fooling " about the spot.
Outside Seoul there are many graves of humbler
persons, but selected with equal care, and I have made
a sketch of one showing the kind of horseshoe mound
within which they are most frequently placed. It
was a beautiful spot, fragrant with wild azalea just
coming into bloom. It is well described in Dr. Gale's
" Korean Sketches " (p. 216). "A grave is chosen on a
mountain front if possible, having two arm-like ridges
on either hand, one called the dragon side and one
the tiger. There should be a mountain directly in
the foreground called the An-san, to stand as a support
to the family of the dead, otherwise the grave luck
would flow down the valley and be dissipated. There
must be free exit for streams or surface waters. This
is the grave site in outline. Then come the special
mountain peaks that are looked for on either side of
the An-san. one will mean long life to the family,
103
The Face of Korea ch. x
another a numerous posterity, another rank, another
wealth. Every mountain peak to right or left hand
has its special message, which the geomancer (the man
who has selected the site) holds in his professional
grasp."
There is not much to be seen in the town of Seoul,
though it boasts a museum and zoological gardens.
The present palace is beautifully situated near the east
gate amongst fine pine-trees, and the present Emperor
lives a secluded life there since the Japanese insisted
upon his ascending the throne. Naturally these
buildings are not open to the public.
There are various missionary bodies at work in the
capital, where they have their headquarters, but all
the leading people seemed to be away itinerating in
the country. The Roman Catholics and Anglican
Missions are active, but, as one of its members in-
formed me, the work of the latter has only been fully
developed during the last few years. The Young
Men's Christian Association have fine premises pre-
sented by an American, and the Salvation Army are
the newest comers in the field.
The Japanese have built fine banks, post-office,
railway station, and other public offices, but they prove
desperately slow in transacting business. I had already
experienced in Moukden that it required nearly an
hour to get a few pounds on a letter of credit at a
Japanese bank, and here they were equally slow. To
my joy I saw a nice slab of Indian ink and a brush
on the counter for signing names, for the Japanese, and
104
KOREAN GRAVES
ch. x Seoul
Chinese, and Koreans sti\\ paint instead of writing their
signatures. I thought I would utilise the time by
completing a sketch in my book while the clerk was
busy calculating how much the sum I wanted would
come to in Japanese money. I was soon disabused
of the idea, for the whole staff of the bank collected
round to watch the proceeding, including the clerk
who was doing my business. No doubt they found
it a pleasant distraclion, and time seemed to be of no
importance. Their calculations are all done with an
abacus, and when I asked them simply to double the
sum I had originally asked for, it took exaclly eighteen
minutes to calculate twice five ! It is obvious that
the interests charged on banking transa6tions must
be large to cover the cost of stately buildings and
numberless clerks, combined apparently with a mini-
mum of business. The Japanese have imposed a
Japanese currency on the country, and the bulk of the
money used does equally for both countries, but there
is a small quantity of coin bearing the Korean stamp
which is not current in Japan.
It seems absurd to the traveller to hear the Japanese
pretending that they have not annexed Korea, for they
have, practically speaking, taken possession of every-
thing in the most high-handed manner ; they have dis-
possessed the Koreans of all riparian rights, of fishing,
game shooting, of the coasting trade, of large quanti-
ties of land, for which a purely nominal price has been
given, and which the Koreans have been forced to sell
contrary to their wishes. The railways, post, and tele-
105
The Face of Korea ch. x
graph, the currency, taxation, and customs, are entirely
in their hands ; what is left for them to appropriate ?
The bitterness of the bondage is aggravated by the
fact that so few of the Japanese trouble to learn the
language, so that misunderstandings constantly arise.
They have given different names to the places, even
to the capital. The courtesy, which is such a universal
charadteristic of the Japanese at home, he has left
behind. However, it is to be remembered that this
is a transitional period, and it is ardently to be desired
that the Japanese Government will continue their good
attempts to withdraw those who have been creating
disturbances and to place a better class of officials in
power. Some progress has already been made in
this direction, especially with regard to the judges.
The Koreans are reaping the harvest of neglecled
opportunities and churlish exclusiveness, and it is a
bitter harvest.
one of the saddest losses Koreans have suffered of
late has been that of Prince Ito, their best friend
amongst their rulers, the irony of fate being shown in
the fact that it was a Korean who murdered the
Japanese prince. The murderer was taken for trial
to Japan, and faced his death sentence with great
equanimity. As he was engaged at the time in
writing a poem, the authorities postponed his execu-
tion for ten days in order that he might have time
to finish it !
106
CHAPTER XI
Fusan
THE journey from Seoul to Fusan is through
lovely cultivated land, everywhere varied by
hill scenery, of which it has been estimated
that three-fourths of Korea consists. The largest pro-
portion of grain cultivated is rice, but wheat, barley,
beans, millet, and other cereals grow equally well.
It is truly a land flowing with milk and honey, has
a beautiful climate, and if well governed ought to be
most happy and prosperous. It is not subject to
earthquakes, nor to any other great disasters, such as
floods and plagues. Last year, it is true, cholera
broke out in Seoul, but by the splendid exertions of
the Japanese it was quickly brought under control
with small loss of life.
As we travelled southward the land gradually be-
came greener and the fruit-trees showed their delicate
blossoms. Over the willows there was a delicate
film of green, and the pink azaleas on the hill-sides
glowed in the evening light. The journey of twenty
hours seemed long, however, for we were travelling in
an American car, and it taxed the ingenuity even of the
small and supple Japanese officers, who were our fellow-
107
The Face of Korea ch. xi
travellers, to make themselves comfortable in the first-
class carriage. The attendant brought slippers all
round, and when the officers had divested themselves
of their boots and unrolled their rugs and eider-
downs, it became an interesting study to see them try
to accommodate their forms to the small seats for two.
As they found a resting-place for their heads, their
feet crept up to the window-panes, or had to curl
up like a spring. Happy the man who can sleep
undisturbed in such quarters, with the constant
noise of slamming doors and traffic passing through
the car, which is the American ideal of railway
comfort !
The day wore away, and as we were nearing Fusan
the attendant came to brush us up and help us on with
our coats ; he also brought the surprising news that
our friends at the next station had telephoned up the
line to say they were coming to meet us, and that
we should be ready to get out at the next station.
Accordingly we did so, and our friends told us they
had learnt that the boat by which we were going to
Wonsan would not start till the following morning,
and that we should not even be allowed to go on
board till the next day. We were only too glad to
accept the kind hospitality which they offered us
instead of the cold comfort of a Japanese hotel at the
port. It was very interesting to hear of work being
carried on by the Australian Presbyterians in this
part of the peninsula, though they have not had as
rapid a success as their friends in the north. They
108
tffi
FUSAN
A KOREAN VILLAGE
ch. xi Fusan
follow the same policy, the result being a strong self-
supporting church.
I cannot omit a word about the experience of one
of their new workers, as it shows the extraordinary
results of Christianity in another mission field.
This Scotsman only went to the New Hebrides
some twelve years ago to work among the former
cannibals. In order to do this more effectually they
gave him, some time since, a motor boat to prosecute
work among the islands ; this boat he found invaluable,
being an experienced seaman and working it himself.
Unfortunately, owing to an attack of black- water fever,
he was obliged to give up work there by the doctor's
orders, consequently the boat was left for the use of
his successor. The natives were greatly distressed at
his leaving, and presented him with no less a sum than
£250 to commence work in his new sphere. He
has decided to start a similar work among the count-
less islands round the Southern coast of Korea as soon
as he has sufficiently mastered the language. The
generosity involved in such a gift is hard to over-
estimate.
It may interest people to know that the working
expenses of the motor boat comes to less than one
penny a mile, namely about half the cost of itiner-
ating on the mainland.
Fusan is a beautiful spot, in an ideal situation for
a harbour, but the town itself has all the ugly
characteristics of a busy seaport. The bay is sur-
rounded with high hills, showing a picturesque and
109
The Face of Korea ch. xi
varied outline, with fruit-trees and other vegetation,
giving a brighter note of colour to the sombre pine-
trees which cling to their rugged sides. The natural
excellence of the harbour, which is almost closed by an
island, leaving a channel for ships on both sides, has
been further improved by the removal of some of the
spurs of the hills so as to give larger space for wharf-
age. There is no doubt that Fusan will continue to
grow in size and importance, as it is the terminus of
the railway and the nearest point for reaching Japan.
The ferry to Shimonoseki only takes twenty hours,
and plies daily in both directions. In the centre of
the town is a beautifully wooded little hill which has
been laid out by the Japanese with great taste. Long
flights of handsome stone steps lead direclly upwards
under the shade of overhanging pine-trees, and wind-
ing paths lead more gently to the summit, offering
alluring seats from which to admire the bay. There
is a succession of Shinto shrines which seem to be
much frequented. The worshipper approaches, claps
his hands loudly, or rings the bell to call the attention
of the deity, and then kneels for a moment in prayer.
Some of the worshippers tossed up beans as they
knelt, or offered money, and there were not a few
more costly offerings hanging up — long tresses of
black hair. These temples are of recent date, and
war trophies were also placed in front of them.
Some of the passers-by paid no further attention to
the shrine than to bow and remove their hats, but on
the whole they elicited a considerable amount of
ch. xi Fusan
worship, and it is clear that the Japanese are more
attached to their religion than some people give them
credit for. In this case they have selected the most
beautiful and most conspicuous place in the town for
their temples ; have made a noble approach to them,
and planted the little terraces with lovely flowering
shrubs, which were just bursting into blossom. The
hill-sides were gay with wild azalea and fragrant with
the scent of the pines.
We made an early start, as they assured us that it
would be too late if we went into town by the morn-
ing train, so a primeval bus was chartered to convey
us over the rugged roads, and we arrived at the office
at 9.30, only to be told that the steamer would not
start till 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. We learnt
afterwards that a large fine steamer left the night
before, although they so confidently assured us there
was none. It is a hard trial of patience to travel
in Korea.
At the office of the Steamship Company we pro-
cured tickets, and were amused at having to give our
ages to be inscribed on the tickets, which cost yen
14.70 (about twenty-nine shillings) to Wonsan, first
class, a passage of between thirty to forty hours in
length. The boat was a fair size, and was heavily
laden with timber and petroleum. The staff was
entirely Japanese, and little English was understood,
but European requirements and wishes did not need
to be explained, so we had no difficulty. A more
lovely sight than the bay as we steamed out of it
The Face of Korea ch. xi
past the four sentinel rocks at the entrance in the
level rays of the setting sun would be hard to imagine,
and one could not but remember how securely hidden
the Japanese fleet lay there in wait for the Russian
before the great battle in which the Baltic fleet was
destroyed.
Our course followed the outline of the coast pretty
closely, and the mountains still had touches of snow
on them, like veins outlining their shapes. The
mountains come quite close down on to the shore,
and little cultivation is to be seen on this side of the
peninsula. on the eastern coast of Korea there is a
tide of only six or eight inches, whereas on the
western coast it is no less than twenty-seven feet
three inches, one of the highest tides in the world.
There were few birds visible — only an occasional sea-
gull or cormorant, and the white-sailed boats that we
had seen thronging the bay of Fusan were conspicuous
by their absence. Hour after hour passed without a
sign of life being visible. Fortunately the sea was
calm, and the next morning but one we reached
Wonsan at about 6 a.m. We had to land in small boats,
and were met by a party of missionaries, with whom
we walked through a good part of the modern town.
It is well laid out, and has wide roads leading to the
quarters where the American missionaries live on
the slopes of hills overlooking the sea and embowered
in trees. The Japanese name for Wonsan is Gensan.
CHAPTER XII
The Diamond Mountains
OUR friends had kindly begun before our arrival
at Wonsan to make arrangements for the
trip which we wished to take through the
Diamond Mountains, so that a few hours sufficed to
complete them. An attractive route was suggested by
a native who knew the passes ; the time at our disposal
was only eight days, so we were obliged to give up all
hope of doing the principal pass, which is lofty and
very arduous for travellers. The one selected took us
through a fine part of the chain of mountains which
runs down the eastern coast of Korea, and enabled us
to visit an important monastery. We started with
four ponies and three men to look after them, and
the price stipulated was 64 yen (a little over £6),
the distance to be covered being approximately
225 miles. It was probable that the men would get
some loads for the return journey, but that could not
be counted on. We had no saddles, so our bed bags
had to take their place, but they made precarious seats.
At first one thought it would be only possible to re-
tain one's seat by holding on all the time, and the
thought of the necessity of using a handkerchief owing
to a severe cold in the head was an anxious one, but
113 H
The Face of Korea ch. xii
time soon made us able to dispense with any grip.
Mr. Chiao found his bedding a much more satisfactory
seat than ours, for the usual Chinese bed bag seems to
have been specially devised for the purpose ; he looked
completely at his ease, though he had never ridden be-
fore, and he hopped on and offhis pony with astonish-
ing rapidity. The fourth beast carried our two modest
baskets of stores and clothing, and the cots which had
been kindly lent to us for the occasion. Having lost
our umbrellas we bought Korean paper waterproof
coats, at the cost of about one shilling each, and water-
proof paper for lining our other things, as there was
some fear of wet weather on the mountains.
We set off about 2 o'clock with the intention of
doing fifteen miles that evening, but it is always
difficult to make a good start, and various hindrances
delayed us, such as a ferry-boat with no ferryman,
and the boat on the wrong side of the river. After
a little time a woman came slowly down to the ferry
and got into the boat, so our men exhorted her to
pull herself across by means of the rope ; 'this, how-
ever, she declined to do, and sat patiently waiting
for some one else to come and take her across. It was
only when we saw her close at hand that we discovered
she was blind, so probably that had made her afraid
of crossing alone. We became very impatient as time
went on and no one appeared ; I urged our men to
ford the stream higher up, which was evidently a
frequented route. However, they were too timorous,
and were afraid of trying an unknown path, so we
114
ch. xii The Diamond Mountains
lost much valuable time. It was only at the close of
our journey that we learned that none of the men had
traversed any part of our route previously ; naturally
the result was that they constantly made mistakes and
took us out of the direcl: route. At last, just as we
were beginning to despair,some one arrived who towed
the ferry-boat over the river, and we set off across some
ploughed fields towards the foot of the hills. It was
dusk when we reached a village which our men said
was the halting-place, and only next day we discovered
that they had stopped three miles short of the right
stage. We were shown into a small room about
twelve feet square, from which the women of the house
were ejected though their clothing draped the walls,
and big chests further diminished our space. All
Korean houses have a small platform outside them,
either planking or made of dried mud, on which the
shoes are left before any one enters. The floors are
heated from below and covered with matting, so that
chairs are considered unnecessary, and the Koreans
enjoy the heat which penetrates through the bedding
on which they lie at nights. We found it decidedly
trying, despite having the door open and cots to sleep
on ; but we were delighted to find the houses so much
cleaner than we expecled. on the whole they look
unquestionably cleaner in the country villages than
in the corresponding ones at home. It was a little
difficult to sleep, what with the heat and the noise,
for the men require two hours to get up and breakfast,
and we were off" by 6 o'clock.
"5
The Face of Korea ch. xii
The second day we travelled mostly parallel with
the seashore, and got more accustomed to riding our
steeds. It was a perfect day with radiant sunshine,
and one received an impression of universal content
and comfort. The people looked for the most part
respectably dressed and housed, and " every prospedt
pleased." The villages seemed well supplied with
cattle, pigs, fowls, and firewood, and within the houses
were goodly array of bowls and brass utensils brilliantly
polished. When we stopped at midday the horses
were unloaded and given a hot sort of bran mash.
The Korean pony is a hardy creature, capable of great
labour and wonderfully sure-footed, but he requires
three hot meals per day, that is to say, a large quantity
of hot water with more or less of boiled beans and rice
chaff in it. He appears to be eating all night long
except when he is fighting his next-door neighbour.
His mapoo or groom brushes him assiduously with a
little round brush before loading, though it never has
any visible effect on the beast's coat — a more unkempt-
looking animal is not to be found anywhere. The
stable and kitchen of Korean inns seem to consist in
a single room, one wall having a long row of stoves
so that various big pans can be cooking at the same
time. The chimney of a house is generally quite
detached from the building, for it is connected with
flues which underlie the whole house, heating every
room (see illustration, p. 10). At meal-times the men
each had a little round table, about four inches in
diameter, on which were a large brass bowl of rice,
116
ch. xii The Diamond Mountains
another of water, and two or three small earthenware
dishes of vegetable, or fish, or other condiments.
These little tables are very neat, and the food attrac-
tively served. The Koreans required two hours always
at midday, for the men lie down and go to sleep
after they have eaten.
Our way led us up hill and down dale, and in the
course of the day we walked down five precipitous
hills, on two of which there were large gangs of
navvies making the road. They use a peculiar spade
with a long handle, partly shod at the spatula-shaped
end with iron, to which was attached a rope on each
side worked by separate individuals, so that it required
three men to wield it. Everywhere the country was
being prepared for the crops. The rice fields seemed
to occupy the main part of the land under cultivation,
and were being ploughed by cattle. None of the
ground was pasture land — we have not seen a single
sheep since we came to Korea ; there were some flocks
of goats to be seen from the railway, but no other
animals grazing. The cattle are singularly fine, but are
only used in agriculture and as beasts of burden ; the
loads of wood that they carry are so large that hardly
more of the beast is to be seen than the legs. The
same may be said of the loads carried by men and boys.
We were delighted by the wild flowers just coming
into blossom — hepaticas of shades varying from purest
white to deep blue; large round-faced yellow heartsease;
various colours of violets, and the sweetest large white
ones ; deep-red hairy anemones, and white crocus.
117
The Face of Korea ch. xii
As we had only come twelve instead of fifteen
miles the previous night we decided that we must
make it up, or the other stages arranged would be
impossible, but at such a suggestion our men looked
black and greatly demurred. They said thirty-seven
miles was too long a journey ; and when we came to
a village nestling under the slope of a hill covered
with fine pine-trees in which numbers of herons were
clamorously preparing to roost, we were obliged to
admit that it was no wonder the men were anxious
to stop there. The place was thoroughly picturesque
and snowed signs of activity ; there was even a police
officer standing near the invariable notice board
which adorns every village in Korea since the Japanese
occupation. We pushed on and only stopped a
moment to sketch a particularly good specimen of
devil posts, of which we had seen numbers on the
road. It is considered meritorious to add a stone to
one of these wayside heaps, which takes the place of
shrines. We spent the night at a small village, only
arriving at dusk after thirteen and a half hours'
travelling ; and we were not sorry to tumble into our
cots after a short meal, to put out our lights, and so
escape the curiosity of the natives, which we find a
great trial. It is well-nigh impossible to shut the
doors for more than a few minutes, or you feel
asphyxiated, and it is only when the light is out that
the eager villagers cease to gaze. one was reduced
to the necessity of washing in the dark or getting up
in the middle of the night to do it.
118
ch. xii The Diamond Mountains
The third day's journey began under a grey and
uncertain-looking sky, but the sun shone out at
intervals as we made our way along the seashore.
My guide insisted I should ride with a foot on each
side of my good beast's neck, but that brought
disaster, for it meant nothing to cling to, so a sudden
spring forward of the beast, resultant on an unseen
prod in the back, landed me promptly in the dust.
My mapoo tried to break the fall, but only succeeded
in getting a blow on his mouth. Seeing I was not
seriously damaged he made a pitiable appeal to my
sympathy, opening a wide mouth in which I ex-
pected to see several teeth lying about. There was
no sign of disaster except a few drops of blood, which
seemed to distress him acutely, but the other men all
roared with laughter and told him to wash in the
stream close by. He didn't cease being sorry for
himself for quite a long while, and the weird songs
with which he had previously beguiled the road
ceased for half a day. We passed many small fishing
hamlets, and were interested to see what a variety of
fish the women had in their baskets, of which many
were unknown to us. Flounders seem quite common,
and in Seoul we noticed much larger herrings than
any seen at home ; all fish is much more expensive
there than in London, owing to the Japanesemonopoly,
but happilyfor the little villages, they are so far beyond
the beat of the foreigner that they are left unmolested;
indeed we saw no Japanese after leaving Wonsan till
that afternoon, when we were astonished at the sound
119
The Face of Korea ch. xii
of a siren, and turning a corner came into an exquisite
little land-locked harbour, evidently a naval base,
and completely concealed from the sea. Numbers
of sea-gulls and oyster-catchers were disporting them-
selves in the shallow basin leading from it, but our
attention was riveted on the boats where gun practice
was going on, though it sounded muffled.
The village of Tschagu-Tschiendogu (accordingly
to the spelling in our German map) boasts of a Japan-
ese post-office, and a Japanese woman was trotting
along with a baby on her back. Passing through it
we plodded through deep silver sand for some distance
before turning inland, but we had a long way still to
go to reach the secluded monastery, which was our
resting-place for the night. We wound in among
the precipitous mountains of granite formation. The
rocks stood out like mammoth beasts in all sorts of
strange shapes, and they looked black and forbidding
in the gloom. A green serpent mottled with black
gave our men quite a fright, and they continually
asked the way, getting not much enlightenment. At
last we penetrated into an ideal valley with cliffs
towering steeply upwards to a considerable height,
and showing the jagged outlines which have given
the Diamond Mountains their name. The narrow
track changed into a broad well-kept road, leading
through a pine forest, and we had not gone more
than a mile or so when we met a party of monks
taking their evening stroll. The youthful looking
abbot wore a chain which distinguished him from
ch. xii The Diamond Mountains
the rest, and he stepped forward, bowing politely.
It was rather difficult to know how next to proceed,
as none of the party seemed to understand English
or Chinese ; however, Mr. Chiao at once began a
conversation by writing on the ground and asking if
we could receive accommodation for the night. The
request was readily granted, and the party of monks
escorted us back.
As we approached the monastery there was a small
open space by the roadside in which were stone vases
and tablets, but with the exception of that and the
avenue there was no sign to mark the neighbourhood
of the buildings. They were situated up a short path
at right angles to the road, and were by no means
impressive. The temple stood slightly to the rear,
and we were taken to a series of rooms opening on to
a raised terrace, and ushered into the central one,
where a Buddha occupied the post of honour. A screen
was produced to divide off a part of the room for us,
and the monks arranged themselves all round to watch
proceedings, namely, the cooking of our supper. one
of them wrote an inquiry whether we were "Jesus
missionaries," another brought us a Japanese-English
primer, and said a few sentences which he had learned
fairly accurately, but could not understand anything
we said.
While we had our supper in one part of the room
some monks had theirs in another, and it became
obvious that we should have no privacy, so we had
our things removed to a small room which had been
The Face of Korea ch. xii
allotted to Mr. Chiao, which was very hot but clean,
and which possessed some rings on the door that we
could padlock and yet get fresh air. Mr. Chiao was
kept busy writing for a long time, and we begged
him to find out what they considered the best route
to Seoul. However, they said that none of their
number had ever been there, and that the monastery
to which we proposed going next day was forty miles
distant over a lofty pass, so we had to give it up.
We were glad to have Mr. Chiao sleeping in the
verandah just outside our door to guard us. They
showed the rapacity which is said to characterise the
Buddhist monks in Korea, and we heard none too
good an account of them. The night stillness was
only disturbed by the croaking of frogs in quite a
different tongue from that of European ones, and the
periodic beating of the fish gong which betokens the
hour of prayer.
In the morning we were up betimes and off before
6 o'clock ; already the monks were busy outside
spreading great heaps of grain on matting, perhaps in
preparation for sowing. It was a perfect morning as
we wended our way down the valley for about three
miles of the same way we had come the night before,
and soon we left the lovely valley behind us. Our
pathway was full of funny little green frogs spotted
with black, and with their underside brilliant scarlet.
Heavy clouds hung over the precipitous ravine
through which lay our way, and we soon outdistanced
our ponies as we tramped over a rough path sur-
ch. xii The Diamond Mountains
rounded by most fascinating flowers. Besides those
mentioned above there were glades full of large
cyclamen, white crocus and wood anemones, purple
iris, saxifrage, &c.
Lilies of the valley and strawberry leaves showed
promise of future beauty, and many kinds of ferns
were beginning to unfold their fronds. Pheasants
and wood-pigeons were calling from the rocks, and
many birds trying their notes in a tentative way.
Chipmunks sat up eyeing us with great unconcern,
and the treasures of the woods seemed limitless. A
babbling brook kept us in constant temptation as our
path crossed and recrossed it, and before we reached
the top we passed through more than one drift of
snow. The views were wonderful, but we could
have seen them better by travelling in the opposite
direction, and one of the great charms in that case is
the way that the traveller suddenly gets a view of the
distant sea as he climbs over the summit of the pass.
We were three hours climbing up, for the ascent is
very stiff, but the descent is much more gradual, and
we were glad to be able to mount our beasts, for the
midday halt only came after a stage of seven hours.
Brilliant gleams of sunshine occasionally burst forth,
but the clouds blew up for rain, and we were thankful
to reach our resting-place at night before the storm
broke. We only managed 90 li (27 miles) in eleven
hours, and on our arrival we were surprised and pro-
voked to find in the little village a Japanese encamp-
ment, and officers occupying the best inn. After a
123
The Face of Korea ch. xii
slight demur we were taken in, and were soon after
discussing a light meal, when the door was thrust
rudely open, and a Japanese soldier prepared to watch
us have it. As he declined to take our hint to go, it
became necessary to shut the door in his face. The
rain fell heavily in the night, and the wind blew, but
a dark morning was a prelude to a fine day.
We started late next morning, and only got as far
as the end of the village when two Japanese officers,
who seemed to be superintending the building of a
house, stopped us and inquired our destination. They
went into long explanations in writing on the ground
with Mr. Chiao. They said there was a much better
road than the one we were on, and that by it the
distance was only 80 li. They spoke a few words of
English, and we hoped that they had no ulterior object
in sending us the other way, as it proved an execrable
road and at least 1 10 li as to distance. We soon found
ourselves going up another pass, but not nearly so
long and arduous as the last. The flowers were not
so numerous, and we found nothing much of fresh
interest. Swallow-tails and butterflies of various
colours flitted about the path, and the panoramic view
as we gained the summit was fine, showing what a
land of hills this is. As we descended into the valleys
we found them scantily populated and cultivated, but
the singular number of streams and brooks kept many
grinding-mills at work. The commonest kind of mill
is worked by a runnel of water discharging itself into
a wooden cradle ; when this is full it descends and
124
ch. xii The Diamond Mountains
empties itself, then rises again, bringing down its
other end, as a hammer on the grain beneath. The
hammer is inside a little round hut with a pointed
roof thatched with straw. Others of the mills are
worked by wheels, and there is a constant sound of
groaning and hammering in every valley. Ploughing
and sowing go on simultaneously, and this requires a
gang of from four to six men ; they work on a co-
operative system, and one man treads along the newly-
turned furrow, with bare feet, widening it out, and
dropping in the grain and fertiliser mixed, while
another follows to cover it with soil, and it is finally
stamped down by yet another man. The birds have
a poor chance of getting any grain. Some fresh
ground was being brought under cultivation by having
the brushwood on it burnt and then being ploughed,
but to judge from appearances there is no little ground
still left waste, which would be cultivated if, for
example, it were in Chinese hands. The Koreans take
life much more easily, and there is none of the elaborate
care and use of materials which are such a striking
feature of Chinese industry.
It was only after a somewhat prolonged midday
halt that we made the trying discovery that we still
had fifteen miles to travel to Tschang Do, where we
joined the main road, and meanwhile it became
darker and darker. Happily later on the moon shone
out brightly and illumined us across a barren moor.
Passengers were few and far between, but a couple of
men came along silently carrying a white swathed
125
The Face of Korea ch. xii
corpse on a stretcher. Our own party had fallen
silent, for we were tired and disappointed ; the gloom
prevented our seeing the steepness of some of the
descents, but we clung desperately to our steeds, for
we were too weary to walk. At last we came into
a high road, which proved to be the main road running
from Seoul to Wonsan, and on this it was easy travel-
ling. Few gleams of light were to be seen in the
village, but the inhabitants had not gone to rest, so
our men set about finding quarters — a not altogether
easy matter. While we were discussing it outside an
inn, the beasts began quarrelling, and a man was sent
flying headlong into the ditch by the heels of one
of them. He picked himself up without any ado,
and as if it were quite a matter of course. Perhaps
this settled the vexed question, for we were forth-
with admitted to the house, and the family turned out
of a room which they allotted to our use. This
sort of thing happened wherever we stayed, for
apparently there are no spare rooms for travellers, and
as there is no furniture in the living rooms it is not
so objectionable an arrangement as it sounds. The
best hats of the family are hung on the rafters, a shelf
runs round the wall about two feet from the ceiling ;
it is full of miscellaneous objecls, while the clothing of
the family appears to be stored in boxes piled on one
another. There is generally a door on each side of
the room consisting of papered lattice work, and in
the side a glass peep-hole varying in size from one to
four inches.
126
ch. xii The Diamond Mountains
The night passed all too soon, and we woke to
the consciousness of a sharp frosty morning. As we
wended our way down the valley it might easily
have been midwinter. The brown hill-sides, and
the brown earth and stubble thick with rime, showed
no suggestion of spring, though it was nearing the
end of April. on every side the pheasants were
calling, and the bold fellows were hardly to be put
up by a well-aimed stone from my man, but trotted
unconcernedly away, as though conscious that now
they are under Japanese protection. We met a man
with a falcon, but even the falconer's trade is eyed
with suspicion, lest he use it as a blind. There have
been several cases of poisoned pheasants noted lately
in Seoul, so that it is necessary to be careful in buying
them, to see that they have really been shot.
Our sixth day was again a thirteen hours' journey,
and as we sat resting by a rill of water at midday, a
young mother with a baby on her back came up,
beaming with eagerness to talk to us. No doubt she
expected we could understand and answer, and we
were doubly sorry not to be able to do so when she
carefully unfolded a handkerchief and showed us her
Testament and hymn book. The only possibly means
of sympathy was by dumb show, and by the headings
of the hymns, which were in English as well as
Korean.
That evening we found our innkeeper was a
Christian, by whom we were received with the utmost
warm-heartedness, and every request so willingly
127
The Face of Korea ch. xii
granted, that it was quite cheering after a tiring day.
one of the girls had thoroughly acquired the English
hand-shake, and when I stretched out a hand to shut
the door, to my great surprise I found it warmly
grasped instead. A little clucking on my friend's
part caused them to go out and fetch us lovely new-
laid eggs, a great contrast to most of those we had
been able to buy on the road, and they watched my
cooking operations with lively interest. We began
to feel it would be difficult to shut the door at all on
their friendly faces, when an interruption came and
rendered it unnecessary ; this was a summons to
them from the head of the house to come to family
worship. First they sang a hymn (would that our
good missionary friends could be content to let them
sing their own tunes !) — then came Scripture reading,
prayer, and the Lord's Prayer repeated by all ; I
imagine that what followed next must have been
exhortation and a suggestion of another hymn, but
they decided not to sing it. The utmost devoutness
characterised their worship, which was carried on in
the adjoining room, so that we felt we were sharers
in it, and it was good to be there.
We parted next morning with hearty hand-shakes,
and we wished we had met with more Christian inn-
keepers on our journey, if this were a typical one.
Just as we were starting a nice-looking young girl
showed us her Bible with great pride, and I found
that she could write quite well. Education seems to
be almost entirely neglected in the country districts,
ch. xii The Diamond Mountains
and we have only passed one school so far as we know
during our eight days' journey. The road continued
excellent, but always winds through narrow valleys
and over ridges into other valleys, showing how large
a part of the country is uninhabited. The hill-sides
are only used as cemeteries and for producing fire-
wood. Until we reached the high road at the end
of our fifth day's journey we met no ponies and only
few pedlars ; after that there were many people and
animals. The pedlars seem to carry mainly cotton
goods ("superior sheeting KKK" being much to
the fore), summer hats, umbrellas, haberdashery,
mirrors, matches, and cigarettes. The people have
little money, and the things they use are of the
cheapest.
Shortly after starting we met three mounted
soldiers, evidently the military escort of a weary-
looking Westerner seated in a ricksha, followed by
another ricksha in which was seated a Korean in pale
blue attire. This was the only Westerner we met
during our eight days' journey, and from this time
onward we occasionally met a ricksha, though on
some parts of the road it looks quite impossible for
them to travel. For a distance of perhaps twenty
miles the road has been planted on both sides with
twigs at a distance of about a foot from one another.
They look unpromising, but we were assured that
they are likely to grow all right, in which case they
will convert the dull road in the course of a few years
to a pleasant shady avenue. Towards dusk we came
129 1
The Face of Korea ch. xii
to Po Chan, a Japanese military outpost. It struck
us that this was probably the last opportunity of
sending a telegram to announce our return to Seoul,
so we at once dismounted at the telegraph office.
Almost everywhere the one notice up in English is
" Post — Telegraph," but here it was in Japanese.
When our wishes, however, had been explained by
Mr. Chiao in writing, a telegraph form entirely made
out in English was produced and the message written.
It seemed such a simple matter to send it, that we
were astonished at the amount of correspondence it
entailed. Our names, destinations, ages, &c. &c.
were demanded by the military authorities, and the
little job took at least twenty minutes. At last we
got away and it was quite dark before we reached
our destination.
We sighed for our friendly hosts of the night
before, for this time we encountered a horde of in-
quisitive people, who allowed us no peace ; in vain
we closed three doors out of the four which led from
one tiny room eighteen feet square, and the paper on
them was soon in shreds. At last we were driven
to distraction, and closed all the peep-holes by curtains,
preferring to be stifled than to endure the people any
longer.
The eighth and last morning of our journey
dawned grey and unpromising. How often have we
sighed for our comfortable Chinese travelling chairs,
never more than as the weary hours wore slowly
away under a drizzling rain. For the last few days
130
i i *
NORTH GATE, SEOUL
ch. xii The Diamond Mountains
we had seen scarcely a flower and heard few birds ;
the dear larks were silent, and the passengers hurried
along under umbrellas, waterproof- covered hats,
and an occasional grass coat. The villages were
more numerous, and wonderful groups of devil posts,
ten or twelve in a row, faced each other at each end
of them ; many of these looked comparatively new,
and were painted brick-red and green, with white
markings. A noticeable feature of Korea is the
absence of temples, and the disrepair of the shrines ;
we never saw any sign of worship by the people at
these wayside shrines. They are, many of them,
simply empty huts, or have a little writing on the
walls, and occasionally a picture. on sacred trees
strips of paper are hung, and the passer-by, if devout,
adds a stone to the heap round its roots.
We donned our shilling paper coats and found
them an admirable protection from the rain, but we
must have been a funny sight. As we rode along
we came to a Japanese regiment on the march, headed
by its officers in military capes. one of the officers,
despite the rain, threw his cape back in a neglige
way before he met us, so that a dazzling row of de-
corations should not pass unobserved. Certainly his
appearance was in striking contrast to ours.
We entered the city of Seoul from the north by a
fine old gateway, the whole scene being most pictur-
esque. I returned to sketch it the following day.
The impression of the country people gained by our
trip was that they were not particularly friendly, but
131
The Face of Korea ch. xii
thoroughly inquisitive ; it looked as if there were little
extreme poverty, but a general air of comfort seemed
to prevail everywhere. The village street is swept
daily, so that in the early morning there is a pleasant
look of tidiness about it. The cattle are sleek and well
cared for, and even the dogs have a prosperous air.
Any one thinking of visiting the Diamond Moun-
tains would do well to try and secure a competent
Korean to go with them, who would be able to secure
the daily fowl for dinner of which we heard, but which
we never met, and to procure any other requisite.
We saw no cultivation of vegetables, except small plots
of onions, so that we had to rely entirely on the stores
that we took with us for everything except eggs. We
were told (too late) that a guide may easily be heard
of at the Y.M.C. A. in Seoul. As to means of transit
— there are only three ; a pony, but let me add a warn-
ing on this score, namely, that one gets deadly tired
of its slow walk ; a native chair, consisting of a square
box like an Indian dhoolie, with carriers who groan
all the time ; and shanks f s pony, which in the moun-
tains is the only pleasant one. Residents in Korea
have their own carrying chairs, but these are not to
be hired. As regards the time of year most suitable
for travelling in Korea, May is the most beautiful, or
early autumn we were told, but in case of the former,
mosquito curtains are a necessity. We found winter
clothing requisite for April ; thick tweeds and fur
coat were none too warm.
We had been told that the country districts were
132
ch. xii The Diamo?id Mou?t tains
quite unsafe on account of Japanese vagrants, but
we saw nothing of them, and as far as we could judge
there is excellent order everywhere. Although Mr.
Chiao was unable to communicate direclly with the
Koreans, his presence was of undoubted value to us
in more ways than one. It lent prestige to our
small party, for the Koreans hold the Chinese in
great respect ; and for them to see such a man
as Mr. Chiao in a subordinate position to us, was
equivalent to raising us to high rank.
133
CHAPTER XIII
Seoul to Dalny
THE slowness and discomfort of the journey
from Manchuria by railway to Seoul de-
termined us to take another route on our
return, and as there was a boat going from Chemulpo
to Dalny about the time we wanted to start we de-
cided to take it. We booked our places in good time,
paid for tickets, and the agent promised to wire at
once to Yokohama to have the berths reserved for us.
on our return to Seoul, however, after our trip across
the country,we saw that another steamer was advertised
to sail the day following the one for which we had
booked. This was not only a larger steamer, but also
boasted European food, instead of Japanese, no small
matter when one is sea-sick. We at once decided to
change our tickets if possible, and went to the agent
from whom they had been obtained. He said it was
impossible to make any alteration as the berths had
been already secured on the other steamer ; however,
after some demur, he telephoned to the agent at
Chemulpo to ascertain what answer he had received
from Yokohama. The agent declared that he had
never been asked to secure any berths, and that none
134
ch. xiii Seoul to Dalny
had been reserved. This made the way plain for us,
and we were glad for once of the hopelessly unbusi-
nesslike habits prevailing in Korea. I have related
this incident to show how difficult it is to travel
comfortably ; for our friends said that ours was no
uncommom experience, and that various of their
friends, with places already engaged, had gone to take
their boat at Chemulpo, as we should have done,
and found that all the berths were full, so that they
were obliged to return to Seoul and wait for the
next. As boats only run to Dalny once in three or
four weeks this is a serious matter.
We started in the early afternoon and found a <
large crowd of passengers waiting to go by the train ;
it duly came into the station, and the luggage was
put in the van, but the passengers were kept cooped
up within railings for fifteen minutes, actually to
within five minutes of the starting of the train.
When they were at last allowed on the platform there
was a perfecl: stampede, and the discovery was made
that there were no first-class carriages, though we
and other passengers had first-class tickets. The
officials were applied to, but they said if we wanted
first-class accommodation we could wait a couple of
hours and take the next train. We were not sorry
when our short journey of one and three quarter
hours came to an end to think that it was our last
experience of Korean railways. on arrival at
Chemulpo we passed through a door labelled
" wicket," which was surely strangely unlike the
135
The Face of Korea ch. xiii
wicket gate with which we are all so familiar by-
name from the days of our childhood, though we
certainly felt like pilgrims.
Chemulpo is a cosmopolitan sort of place and has
an unenviable reputation, but it has certain charming
features. The first is that there is always a cool
breeze ; the second is that it extends up a hill-side,
and from the British Consulate, perched on the edge
of the cliff, there is a fine view over the harbour.
From there a group of thrilled spectators watched
the dramatic opening of the war between Russia
and Japan. They saw the two gallant Russian
warships steam out of the inner bay to meet the
Japanese fleet and certain destruction. Whatever
may be thought of the aclion, no one can fail to
admire the unflinching courage — so characteristic of
both armies — which dictated it.
As we climbed up the hill we saw towering above
us a fine red church belongingto the Roman Catholics,
and we reached the mission hospital of the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel. No one who is
unacquainted with Eastern seaports can understand
the arduous character of the work carried on by the
tiny handful of workers stationed at such places ;
but where could there be a greater need of that
Christian demonstration which a hospital affords ?
only once a month an ordained clergyman comes
down to take the services ; at other times the doclor
has to conduct them, as well as attend to all the
medical work. It is difficult for him to get an
136
ch. xiii Seoul to Dalny
occasional holiday of even a couple of days, for at
the present time the medical work among the
Koreans has not progressed far in the training of
assistants. The hospital is small and lacking many
of the things which our ordinary general practitioners
would consider essential to a hospital, but the results
are nevertheless satisfactory.
As we left the doctor's house we found that a
boatman had dogged our steps, and been waiting a
couple of hours to secure possible passengers on the
way to the S.S. Santo Maru, for he had no doubt seen
Mr. Chiao taking our luggage from the station to the
ship. We could not resist such pertinacity, and after
some half-hour's rowing in his sampan, we reached
the outer harbour where the Santo Maru lay.
Next morning at 5 a.m. punctually we started for
Dalny in heavy rain, which thickened into fog in
the course of the day. The Nippon Yusen Kaisha
is at present the best Japanese line of steamers, and
has ships plying all round the world. The accommo-
dation was quite comfortable, and the staff, from the
captain downwards, most kind and polite to the
passengers. There was an excellent Chinese chef on
board, and he prepared an elaborate Sunday dinner
for the thirteen passengers — composed of Americans,
Spaniards, Australians, and ourselves — such as would
have been more suitable for Christmas Day ; the
menu included roast beef, turkey, and plum-pudding.
Tiny birds kept haunting the ship all day long, so
tame that they alighted on people's shoulders, and
137
The Face of Korea ch. xiii
sea swallows came darting into the saloon during
dinner.
We were grateful for a smooth sea, even though
the fog delayed our passage somewhat, and we only
reached Dalny twenty-five hours after leaving Che-
mulpo. The rain was gone, and was followed by
" clear shining " as we drew up beside the wharf. The
agent of the pleasant Yamato hotel took charge of our
things, and put us into a comfortable little carriage
with india-rubber tyres in which we drove through
the town. How delightful it is after roughing it to
meet once again such simple home comforts (too
simple even to be noticed at home), and to drive over
well-made roads ! Dalny, or Dairen as it is called by
the Japanese, is pre-eminently a new town, full of
handsome buildings, from the Sailors' Rest to the
Yokohama Specie Bank, situated in wide, well-made
roads, and showing plain proof of the nascent pros-
perity of the place. The shops are not quite up to
what might be expecled, but that is only a matter of
time, and well-known firms such as Butterfield and
Swire, and Samuel Macgregor & Co. are already
established there. Dalny is an interesting and re-
markable place. Ten years ago it did not exist, but
was merely a dream in some Russian brain ; and how
that brain conceived it, it is hard to imagine. Dalny
lies at the base of the Liaotong Peninsula, a rocky,
barren spot without any shelter from the tempests ;
but having the great advantage over its nearest
neighbouring seaport, Newchwang, of being open all
138
ch. xiii Seoul to Dalny
the year round, whereas Newchwang is ice-bound
four months in the winter. This is the reason why
Russia was willing to pour out money like water to
convert the wilderness into a great commercial port
at the southern terminus of the railway line. The
harbour alone has been an enormous expense, for the
bank is very shelving, and there are now dry docks,
moles, breakwaters, and warehouses, with a vast
amount of space available for the requisites for that
commerce which Russia expected to obtain. But
it is not Russia, but Japan, who is now the owner of
Dalny ; it is Japanese ships that ply between China,
Korea, and Japan, not to mention the trade with more
distant countries, which is steadily growing. As it is
the only port north of Hong Kong where large
steamers can conveniently discharge their cargoes, it
ought to have good prospects, and the increasing
exports from Manchuria are certain to pass through it.
Not only did Russia expend its money upon making
Dalny a fine port, but also in making it a fine city
and pleasant to live in. The residential quarter has
been hewn out of the hill-side for about a couple of
miles, and handsomely laid out, while a beautiful shady
drive of seven or eight miles leads to the seashore
facing the ocean.
The town is full of little carriages and rickshas, and
a network of trams takes the passenger for an hour's
drive for the lordly sum of twopence, first class, and
a penny farthing second class. As we drove in a tram
to Chinatown in order to view the outskirts, we saw
139
The Face of Korea ch. xiii
the beginnings of a park, a golf course, a base-ball
ground, a chrysanthemum garden, and various other
things, but more amusing were the little bazaars and
shops with their English notices — " To sell Flesh,"
" Boots and Shoesmakea," " High Barber," " Royal
House Hair Cutting," &c. &c. English is the one
European language which makes its way into every
corner of the earth, and will with ever-increasing
rapidity tend to become the universal means of com-
munication. As an instance of this facl, the Chinese
Government has just issued an order that henceforth
English is to be the language in which science shall
be taught throughout the Chinese Empire. This
will, I fear, be a severe blow to our German friends,
who were confidently expecting China to follow the
example of Japan and take German as the scientific
medium of instruction.
We left Dalny by the evening train for Liao Yang,
en route for Ashiho, which forms the subject of the
next chapter.
140
CHAPTER XIV
Ashiho
A S we journeyed northward once more the cold
/% steadily increased, and a biting wind found
JL M its way even into the railway carriages. At
Kharbin a perfect blizzard had been blowing the
previous day, and as it happened to be the Russian
Easter, banks were closed and the tickets for the
Russian State express train were not to be purchased.
We discovered that the train service was all to be
changed the next day, May ist, and no time-tables
were obtainable. The British Consul kindly promised
to get our tickets on the Monday, and ascertained
that we could join the express at Ashiho, a few
stations down the Vladivostock line, where we were
going to spend the week end.
We reached Ashiho about 9 o'clock, and set out for
our destination in a droshky. It was a most perilous
drive in the dark, for the roads — or what pass muster
as roads — were in the worst possible condition ; the
spring thaw had set in, and the surface of the ground
was a hopeless quagmire destined to last until there
should be sufficient sunshine to dry it, for the wet
was unable to penetrate the still frozen earth. Our
141
The Face of Korea ch. xiv
friends at Hulan had set out that morning to meet us
at Kharbin. After a long weary walk in a snow-
storm they found the Kharbin steamer on the Sungari
River crowded with passengers. An hour's wait in a
piercing wind was followed by the information that
it was quite uncertain whether the boat would go at
all that day, so they gave it up in despair and returned
home. Practically speaking all traffic is stopped on
the country roads at this time of the year, and those
who walk must be prepared to wade knee deep in
black mud to reach their destination. We had no
catastrophe during our half-hour's drive, but it was
more by good luck than anything else.
Ashiho is rather a dull Chinese town with the
usual Russian settlement round the railway station,
which is about half a mile outside the gates. The
Russians have insisted on the town being lighted at
nights, but there is not more than enough light to
show the darkness. A red light on the top of a lofty
pole is the sign of public baths, which seemed to be
the scene of much activity. The Russian droshky,
with Chinese drivers, is apparently quite an institution
there, but one wonders how they can make a living
in such a locality. The town boasts a sugar factory,
but owing to a bad beetroot season it was closed.
A small community of Scotch missionaries is working
there, and when they have got a new hospital and
better premises, there is every prospect of greater
growth in the work. The lady doctor, though only
recently from home, and still in the first stages of
142
ch. xiv As hi ho
learning the language, had over sixty patients waiting
to see her, and the people seem more willing here
than elsewhere to send for her in midwifery cases.
As she is the only doclor, she has one day a week for
men patients. The missionary premises are deplor-
able ; if only some of the home committee could
have enjoyed our quarters and heard the walls which
enclose the compound falling down during the night,
they would see the need for haste in building new
ones. The girls' school was being carried on under
difficulties that would daunt any but the most resolute,
but the workers are Scotch, and have learnt to laugh
at difficulties. Less than two years ago one of the
ladies was itinerating in the country, accompanied by
a Biblewoman, when she was suddenly attacked by
a party of mounted brigands. They treated her with
considerable roughness, robbing not only her but also
the Biblewoman and the carter of all that they con-
sidered worth stealing — money, watches, clothes, and
food. Amongst other things they took her eider-
down — for this took place in the cold weather — but
the Biblewoman had the happy inspiration to tell
the robbers that it only contained feathers (which
they utterly scorned), so they threw it away. They
only left her one cent in money (evidently they had
a sense of humour), and decamped somewhat hurriedly
on seeing a party of horsemen appear in the distance,
whom they took for soldiers.
There is plenty of ground belonging to the mission,
but, as usual, funds for building are not forthcoming.
143
The Face of Korea ch. xiv
It seems a pity that the home churches should keep
on sending out workers without the requisite equip-
ment to carry on their work. At home one frequently
hears of the luxury in which missionaries live, but in
my fairly considerable experience of mission houses,
I have never met a single one where this is the case,
and rarely (except in the case of American missions)
have I been where the work has not been seriously
hindered for the lack of funds. Most missionaries
are driven by the necessities of their work to eke out
by contributions from their own meagre salaries the
insufficient funds provided from home. Many are
consequently unable to afford to have newspapers and
other literature sent out regularly, and the thoughtless
kindness of their supporters does not supply them
with anything beyond religious periodicals and books.
The postage of papers and books is only the same as
at home, and parcels weighing not more than 1 1 lb.
can now be sent to China by post for the small sum
of 2s. i id., so there is no reason why the missionary's
life should not be occasionally brightened by a judi-
cious present from the home country.
The one drawback to the position of the mission
premises at Ashiho is that they are so near the wall
beside the East gate, outside which is the public
execution ground, and the gruesome procession to it
passes alongside the mission houses. Shortly before
our visit there had been executions twice in one
week — the first time two men, and the second time
four men were killed by strangulation.
144
MOHAM M E D \ N
ch. xiv Ashiho
Near the mission also there is a pretty Moham-
medan mosque, built exactly like a Buddhist orTaoist
temple, which provides schools for boys and girls.
The girls' school is a recent institution, probably in
imitation of the mission one, and is evidently at all
events a numerical success, for a good number of girls
filed out on Sunday afternoon as we happened to be
passing. The type of face of many of the boys struck
us as particularly Semitic, and the Chinese here habitu-
ally call them Jews. There is a large proportion of
butchers among the Mohammedans, as is usually the
case in China, and this is a boon to Europeans, for it
is only the Mohammedans who kill beef, and they are
particular about the healthiness of the beasts. The
Moslems in China do not attempt to proselytise
openly, and they adhere less rigidly than elsewhere to
their religious observances. They conform outwardly
as much as possible to Chinese customs in order to
escape notice, but they are no negligible quantity
amongthe myriads of that land, for they number atleast
twenty millions. The Mohammedans entered China
in a.d. 755 by the regular trade route through Central
Asia, and even earlier (in 628) according to Chinese
Mohammedan tradition they are said to have sent the
prophet's uncle as envoy to the Chinese court. The
proselytising of the Chinese was as peaceful as that
of the Indians was the reverse. It was mainly
achieved by Moslem traders and artisans, following in
the wake of Genghiz Khan and Kubla Khan's con-
quests. They married Chinese women, and their
145 k
The Face of Korea ch. xiv
children all became Moslems ; they adopted large
numbers of other children in famine times in order to
bring them up in the Faith, and thus they have
steadily but unobtrusively grown in numbers.
In past times there have been terrible massacres of
the Mohammedans by the Chinese whenever they
have made any attempt to withstand Chinese customs,
which is probably the reason one hears so little of
them nowadays, but they show a quiet tenacity in
sticking to their religion, which is characteristic of
Mohammedanism in every land. It was in a vain
endeavour to reach them that the great Jesuit
missionary, Francis Xavier, died off the coast of
China. Up to the present time there has been no
special mission work amongst the Mohammedans in
China.
My sketch of the Mohammedan mosque at
Ashiho was done under considerable difficulties, for
the boys had just come out of school, and would jostle
up and down, and round about me on the mound of
earth where I was sitting, raising such a dust that
at last I was driven defeated from the field. Though
it was the first of May the scene was a winter one,
and we longed and longed for spring to arrive.
on sending to the station to inquire what time
our train left in the evening, they declared there was
no train at all, and that the date of the weekly
express from Vladivostock had been changed from
Monday to Sunday. We felt so convinced that this
was a mistake, having inquired about it at Kharbin
146
ch. xiv Ashiho
only two days previously, that we went down to the
station in good time for the usual 9 o'clock train, and
were rewarded by learning that the hour and not the
date of the train had been altered, and that it would
pass through Ashiho at 10 o'clock. After waiting
for an hour in the restaurant, where a party of the
attendants were playing cards, the ticket office was
opened, but they absolutely refused to sell tickets to
us, saying that the express only stopped for half a
minute, and that we could not get into it. We vainly
protested that having no registered luggage we would
take our chance of getting into the train, and that
we must go by it, as we had the long journey to
Irkutsk before us. The reiteration of this fact for
about five minutes without stopping at last began to
tell, and the official said he must see what small
luggage we had. After due inspection he agreed to
let us have tickets, but we had to pay for them
from a point about fifty miles up the line, which
meant twenty-one roubles instead of the four and a
half we had paid on coming. The next difficulty
was that the ticket office contained no change and
seemed unable to get any, so we had to borrow the
requisite amount from our friends. When the train
did arrive each of our friends stood ready holding an
article of luggage ready to hurl it into the corridor,
and of course there was no difficulty in getting both
our belongings and ourselves into it. We were soon
comfortably established in the coupe which we were
to occupy for the next two days, that is, until we
147
The Face of Korea ch. xiv
should reach Irkutsk, where all passengers have to
change.
At Kharbin there was a hopeless scrimmage for
places, as those booked in advance for passengers
from the south had all been appropriated by a large
party of Americans at Vladivostock, and the ladies
had discreetly retired to bed. It is always asserted
that there is plenty of room on the Russian State
Express in contradistinction to the International
Sleeping Car, and that it is unnecessary to book places
in advance. Evidently this was a fallacy, for every
berth was full, and it was only after long and acri-
monious arguing that the officials agreed to put on
an extra carriage, and a very dirty one it proved to be.
Great dissatisfaction was caused by this arrangement,
and we were over an hour late in starting. We had
been frequently assured that we should find the State
Express more comfortable than the International, but
such is by no means the case. The only point in which
it excels is in the smoothness of running, in every
other respe<5t it is inferior. The carriages are smaller,
there is no dressing-room in the first-class coupes,
there are no second-class coupes (only carriages for
four people), the washing basins would not hold
water, there was no soap or towel, the restaurant car
was far too small, and the meals were not to the taste
of any of the passengers. A piano in the restaurant
does not compensate for such deficiencies.
PART III
The Face of Russian Turkestan
THE FACE OF RUSSIAN
TURKESTAN
CHAPTER XV
Through Siberia
THE railway from Kharbin passes through
Manchuria in a north-westerly direction
till it comes to the town of that name,
where the customs examination takes place before
entering Russian territory. In a magazine article
recently written by a French lady, she complains of
having been examined at four different places on the
line, and in a very thorough manner, the sleeves of
coats being ripped open, and thebeddingof the sleeping
car being pulled to pieces, but we saw nothing of this
sort, and I think there must have been some suspicion
on the part of the police. Registered luggage is a
much more serious affair, and endless were the stories
we heard from fellow-passengers of the losses they had
sustained — one passenger had waited a whole week for
his at Moscow. For those who like ourselves take
all their luggage in the railway carriage, the examina-
tion was a mere farce, consisting of the verbal inquiry,
151
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xv
" Have you any spirits, tobacco, or playing cards ?" to
which is sometimes added a cursory examination of
the bedding to see if any dutiable article has been
concealed there.
It is a great convenience that passengers can take so
much luggage in the carriage without inconvenience.
In the Russian State Express there is not nearly so
much accommodation as in the International Sleeping
Cars, where there is a large recess over the door, ex-
tending above the corridor, in which there was ample
room for two suit cases and two bags of bedding.
Besides this there were racks for smaller objects in the
other part of the carriage. The space is so consider-
able in the first-class carriages that the upper berth is
at right angles to the lower, which is consequently
very much pleasanter than when it is immediately
below the other berth, leaving no space to sit upright.
There is a nice dressing-room between every two
coupes, where hot and cold water is laid on, and this
is really an inestimable boon on a long journey. The
hot water supply is somewhat variable, so we generally
supplemented it by buying extra. In some of the
trains no charge is made for it ; in others it costs 2^d.
If for no other reason than the dressing-room, I should
advise all first-class passengers to go by the Inter-
national rather than by the Russian State Express.
one is also less worried by the official trio coming to
inspedt tickets. It seems odd that on all Russian trains
it requires three men to fulfil so simple a duty, but no
doubt it is an example of the suspiciousness which
i5 2
ch. xv Through Sibe?~ia
seems to permeate all officialdom in this country.
There is a comfortable chair and table, so that pas-
sengers can sit facing one another. This is no small
convenience on so long a journey, especially when you
prefer having some meals in your own carriage.
It is not only pleasanter but wiser not to have more
than one solid meal a day on the journey, and we could
not help being amused at the general collapse of a large
number of passengers on the third day, evidently the
result of imprudence in this matter. In the restaurant
book of food (I can call it by no other name) there was
a page of "fasting dishes" which was, I fear, neglected.
We found that a judiciously stocked luncheon basket,
added to the facilities for securing scalded milk, bread,
excellent butter, and eggs, made it unnecessary to spend
much time in the restaurant car. This was not so
important in the International Sleeping Car as in the
Russian State Express, for although the dining-car
was atrociously hot and crowded, the meals were
served promptly, but in the latter we were an hour and
a half having a lunch of five courses, so we determined
after that experience to order our meal in advance and
a la carte. By so doing we saved a great deal of time,
but we were obliged to have it at an unseasonable hour.
That did not matter much, as we altered our hours in
accordance with the " Daylight Saving Bill," and so
profited in various ways. In order to have comfort-
able time for washing, without having other people
hammering on the door, it was most convenient to
rise at 5 o'clock, and it was equally convenient to go
J 53
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xv
to bed as soon as it was dark, because all Russian trains
economise in light. Even a first-class carriage has
only a single candle for all illumination, and that is
placed in a lantern above the door, so that it only-
serves to reveal the darkness.
Leaving Manchuria we passed into the Trans-
Baikal province, at the western side of which lies
Lake Baikal, and to our no small surprise and dis-
appointment, winter still reigned supreme. Beautiful
forests of birch and pine trees broke the monotony
of the plains, and drifts of snow still lingered in the
hollows, where sun or wind had failed to chase it.
It was, of course, very different from when we crossed
it in February, with the thermometer at thirty degrees
below zero, but we still found winter clothing neces-
sary, and were bitterly disappointed to see none of the
lovely flowers which transform the dreary plains into
flower gardens. We had been told that the del-
phiniums were a dream of beauty, but we saw none,
and I imagine the end of May or beginning of June
would be a much better time to travel across Siberia,
in spite of the facl: that the trains are then crowded,
and it is necessary to secure seats months beforehand,
or trust to getting one that accidentally falls vacant
nearer the time.
Lake Baikal was still completely frost-bound, and
looked beautiful glittering in the morning sunlight,
withsnow-capped mountains enclosing it on every side.
The only disappointment about Lake Baikal is that
the mountains are too distant to look really grand and
154
ch. xv Through Siberia
awe-inspiring. The steamer which plies on the lake
during the summer from Baikal station was still lying
close alongside it. Turning westward almost imme-
diately after leaving it, the railway line follows the
course of the river Angara for about one and a half
hours, till it reaches Irkutsk, the present seat of
government.
Irkutsk was a trading town founded in 1652, but
was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1879. It
is striking in appearance as one approaches it by the
long railway bridge across the river, and is finely
situated, with an imposing railway station. As we
crossed the bridge we saw the fine bridge of boats
used in summer still lying alongside the bank in its
winter quarters, for large masses of loose ice floated
past, blocking the river. But although Irkutsk has
a certain comeliness of appearance, and is the centre
of intellectual activity in Siberia, it is not altogether
a desirable place to live in, for not only is the climate
trying, but report says that it is imprudent for any
one to go about unarmed. The great prisons in the
neighbourhood of Irkutsk have for generations been
the place where the worst criminals of the Empire,
as well as political exiles have been sent, and when
their term of service has expired they are let loose
on the community, the only regulation being that
they shall remain there. The result is that the present
population contains not only the present released
convicls, but also a considerable number of the de-
scendents of former convi6ts of the worst type.
iS5
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xv
Irkutsk, is in the centre of the gold district, which
attracts also a somewhat undesirable class of people.
It is not, I think, generally known what a large
quantity of gold is found in Siberia, but about five
millions worth is annually sent into Russia. This by
no means represents all that is found, although the
Government requires that it should all pass through
Irkutsk, and thence be forwarded to Russia.
Smuggling is reported to be extensively carried on,
and a considerable Chinese population are credited
with the bulk of it. The working of the gold
diggings is said by experts to be amazingly primitive.
Large fortunes are both made and squandered in
Irkutsk. Not only gold but tea is a great source
of wealth, although the trade in the latter is by no
means so great as it used to be in the old caravan
days. At the present time by far the largest quantity
of it is sent round by sea ; but there are still many
Russians who believe that the flavour of the tea is
spoilt by sea air, so that the demand for caravan tea
continues. It is said that wealth in Irkutsk is esti-
mated by a man's furs and by a woman's furs and
jewels. Curiously enough Sunday labour is entirely
prohibited in this town, and fine and imprisonment
may follow the breaking of the law with regard to
buying and selling. Trade is greatly hampered
throughout the Russian Empire by the corruption of
officials, of whom there are an incalculable number ;
and it is the Jews who form the most successful part
of the trading community. There is always a long
156
ch. xv Through Siberia
halt at Irkutsk station, varying from one and a half
to two and a half hours, for passengers have to change
trains on account of the difference of the line in
gauge, and when travelling by the Russian State
Express it is necessary to have tickets vise-ed and
fresh places allotted. on the International you are
saved this because the places are numbered and
passengers are required to keep the same number in
both trains, so there is no confusion in having the
luggage transferred from one to the other. Having
to get fresh ones was decidedly tiresome, as there
seemed to be no method in the madness of the officials,
their knowledge of other languages than their own
was almost nil, and their slowness phenomenal. one
of our English fellow-passengers seemed to have a
great deal to say, and knew no Russian, so he had
secured the services of a Chinese waiter from the
restaurant car who acled as interpreter with complete
success. I do not think I am wrong in saying that
the issuing of fresh tickets took more than three-
quarters of an hour, and confusion reigned in the
train for more than double the time.
During the first two days of our return journey
we had suffered from continual snow-storms and a
leaden sky, but after leaving Irkutsk the weather
improved, and the sun shone most of the time. The
land is sparsely inhabited ; at the close of the last
century the density of population was given in the
official census as two to the square mile in the
province of Irkutsk. If Siberia be taken as an
157
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xv
example of the effects of land nationalisation, few
people, I think, will be attracted by it ; out of an
area of 3,240,000,000 square miles no less than
3,104,000,000 belong to the State. There is only
one province, the Amur region, in which land can
be purchased. It is the Russian village communities
who hold the land when it has been allotted for
industrial enterprises. All along the line we were
interested in seeing the colonists travelling to their
various destinations ; they were taken in slow trains
densely packed, and when they came to the stations
where they had to change they and their belongings
were dumped down for an apparently indefinite
number of hours on the station, and there they
remained, eating and sleeping in the midst of their
baggage till it was time to start afresh. There
are sheds for them to be housed in when the weather
prevents their being out of doors. They seemed to
have practically no furniture with them, and some of
them were remarkably well dressed in comparison
with what one would have expected. They are all
obliged to have passports just like foreigners.
Up to the year 1901 there was an average of
nearly 20,000 exiles sent yearly to Siberia ; many of
these exiles settled down and helped to civilise the
land. They founded twelve Natural History and
Ethnological Museums, besides starting scientific
societies. Now the Government has altered the
system, and great efforts are being made to send
another class of colonists, the political exiles being
158
ch. xv Through Siberia
driven to more uninhabitable regions. It seems a
pity that the Russian Empire, which extends over
an area of no less than one-sixth of the territorial
globe, should leave this fertile land of Siberia, much
of it the finest grazing ground in the world, and
other parts excellent wheat-growing land, so sparsely
inhabited, while it stretches envious hands into
Manchuria, the land which China imperatively
requires as the natural outlet for her surplus popula-
tion.
At the railway stations all sorts of queer people are
to be seen, the men mostly wearing bright-coloured
shirts, and tall red leather, or felt boots ; but the
nomadic tribes of Buriats, who cultivate parts of the
country with great industry and success, are not often
to be seen near the railway. The Buriats on the
eastern side of Lake Baikal are Buddhists, but those on
the west still cling to their original religion — Shaman-
ism. This mainly consists in the worship of gods,
called " ongons," supposed to protect both house
and property. The former are hung up in a box
inside the house ; the latter, along with the skins of
squirrels and other small animals are in a box
fastened to the top of a pole, with a little roof over
it in the fields. Every man has his own ongon as
soon as he marries, and when he dies it is taken down
from the pole and hung up in the woods, where it
eventually rots to pieces.
In a most interesting volume the American linguist
and ethnologist, Jeremiah Curtin, describes these
159
The Face of Russia?! Turkestan ch. xv
strange tribes. He tells how he witnessed the Horse
Sacrifice, one of the most ancient of Mongol cere-
monials, and which is still perpetuated among Buriat
clans. He saw it performed in 1900 on a hill called
Uher, about seven miles from Usturdi, which is some
forty miles from Irkutsk. There are fifteen large
altars on the hill, on which the sacrifices are offered to
the Burkans (namely the gods) of the hill. These gods
include " The Lofty Clear Heaven," " The Revered
Pure Earth," " Bull Prince Father," " Blessed Mother
Mist," "The Creating Great one" (the hedgehog,
who is considered by the Buriats to be the wisest
of all deities), " Grandfather Bald Head," " Creator
of Cattle," "Crooked Back," &c. The different
families of the first and second divisions of the clan
Ashekhabat have each their own place near one
or other of the altars. The leaders of the ceremony
invoke all the different deities by name and in turn,
while the people pray either aloud or in silence for
what they want. Then the horses are killed, and
after that they are rapidly skinned and dismembered,
the bones being burnt in roaring fires on the fifteen
altars. The flesh is boiled in iron kettles, and when
it is cooked all the people stand in groups by the
altars, receding and advancing towards them at
intervals, and reciting the following invocation to the
deities, together with any special petitions of their
own.
" We pray that we may receive from you a blessing.
From among fat cattle we have chosen out meat for
160
ch. xv Through Siberia
you. We have made strong tarasun (a liquor dis-
tilled from milk) for you. Let our ulus (villages) be
one verst longer. Create cattle in our enclosures ;
under our blankets create a son ; send down rain
from high heaven to us ; cause much grass to grow ;
create so much grain that sickle cannot rase it, and
so much grass that scythe cannot cut it. Let no
wolves out unless wolves that are toothless ; and no
stones unless stones without sharp corners or edges.
Hover above our foreheads. Hover behind our
heads. Look on us without anger. Help those of
us who forget what we know. Rouse those of us
who are sleeping (in spirit). In a harsh year (a year
of trouble) be compassion. In a difficult year (a year
of want) be kindness (in sense of help). Black spirits
lead farther away from us ; bright spirits lead hither,
nearer ; grey spirits lead farther away from us.
Burkans lead hither to us. Green grass give in the
mouths (of cattle). Let me walk over the first snow.
If I am timid be my courage. If I am ashamed, be
a proper face to me. Above be as a coverlid, below
be as a felt bed to me." — (" A Journey in Southern
Siberia," page 47.) After this prayer the worshippers
all sat down in groups to eat the horse-flesh and
drink tarasun, while many vultures hovered round to
share the flesh. After this strange sacrifice is ended
the Buriats indulge in wrestling.
At Usturdi there is a Russian Orthodox Mission
Church, and the Bible Society has undertaken to
publish the Gospel of St. Matthew in the Buriat
161 L
The Face of Russian Turkesta?i ch. xv
language. It seems strange that such uncivilised
beings as those who would take part in the ceremonial
described above, should be sufficiently literate to have
a use for the Gospel ; but it is estimated that all the
Buriats in the north, and nearly all those in the south,
will be able to read it. The population is about
290,000. The translation has been made by the
Irkutsk Translation Committee, and is to be printed in
Russ characters, as most of the Buriats are able to
understand them. Mr. Curtin mentions a young
Buriat whom he met as having studied six years at
the Irkutsk gymnasium, and possessing a knowledge
of history and science, besides being a considerable
reader, so that evidently they are not uninfluenced
by education.
The next province through which the railway
passes is the Yenisei, which stretches right away up
to the Arctic Ocean, and which at once conjures up
in one's mind visions of Merriman's novels : it is one
of the largest provinces in the empire, consisting of
987,186 square miles, but has only an average of one
person to the square mile. The city of Krasnojarsk is
the largest and most interesting on the railway ; there
are about 30,000 foreigners living in this district,
most of them Tartars ; it is the principal seat of
Government, and lies just half-way between Moscow
and Vladivostock on this wonderful railway. The
whole length of the railway is 5449 miles, and with
the exception of the 193 miles round Lake Baikal,
it was completed in an extraordinarily short space
162
ch. xv Through Siberia
of time, between eight and nine years, at a cost of,
roughly speaking, £85,000,000. It is fairly correct
to say that it was built at the rate of about a mile
a day. At the distance of one verst (namely, two-
thirds of a mile) apart, there are guard houses all along
the line, each under the care of an ex-convict, who
comes out of his house to wave a green flag when the
train passes, or more frequently it is a barefooted wife
or daughter who does it for him. There is a fine
view of Krasnoyarsk from the train as you approach it,
for the line makes a wide circular sweep before cross-
ing the River Yenisei, on which it is situated. Of all
the noble rivers which flow through Siberia, the
Yenisei is the greatest ; it rises in the mountains of
the distant Chinese province of Kobdo in Mongolia,
over 3000 miles from the Arctic Sea, and makes its
impetuous way through the mountains of Sagansk,
then through the strange, tundra region, with its
countless islands and trackless wastes — the great nesting
place of myriads of migratory birds, who come there
led by some marvellous instinct at the exact time of
year when the snow melts, uncovering the berries
which form the requisite food for the nestlings. The
Yenisei is only navigable for a little over six months
of the year, and the ceremony of cutting the ice,
which closes its mouth on the Arctic Sea, takes place
always on June 10th.
The next province on the route is that of Tomsk,
but the principal town, which has the same name,
lies to the north of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and is
163
The Face of Russian Turkesta7i ch. xv
only connected with it by a branch line from Taiga,
thenearest point to it on the main line, which is eighty-
two versts or, roughly speaking, 54 miles distant. The
reason why Tomsk is not on the main line is that the
city refused to bribe the surveyors and engineers who
planned the route. This accounts for the fact that
so many places, which might quite easily have been
on the line, are more or less distant from the railway,
according to their willingness to pay. It takes four
hours by rail from Taiga to Tomsk. It must be most
injurious to trade to have such difficulties as these,
and such unnecessary ones. Tomsk boasts the only
university in Siberia, but this is still incomplete,
and has only about 500 students. Education has
been discouraged in this as in every part of the
Russian Empire, and although the money required
for a university at Irkutsk was offered, the Government
refused to grant permission for it to be established.
The number of schools in 1901 was only 3909 for
the whole of Siberia, and the scholars attending them
115,407, while the population was estimated at
5,727,090 ; these figures need no comment, and my
authority for them is Prince Krapotkin.
The only important town in the province on the
railway line is Omsk, where we learnt (by telegram)
the death of the King. The news came like a thunder-
clap, and cast a gloom over every English person on
the train. What made it doubly trying was the
impossibility for weeks to come of getting any further
news. The town of Omsk is on the River Irtish.
164
ch. xv Through Siberia
The number of rivers in the country adds greatly to
the charm of the journey, and they have been the
chief highways of the empire in the past ; the bridges
over them are remarkably fine. We began to re-
joice in the sight of wild flowers once more, and
children brought bunches of marigolds and anemones
to the stations for sale, but generally they were tied
up into tight little bunches without any leaves, and
were quite wilted. The main occupation of some of
the passengers seemed to be that of putting on fresh
clothes, and showing them off at the stations where
we had an opportunity at least half-a-dozen times
every day of getting a brief constitutional. We learnt
that passengers were allowed to visit the luggage
van, as on board ship, and get out fresh supplies of
dresses, but it did seem rather unnecessary, consider-
ing the amount of luggage taken in the carriages.
The next province through which the railway
passes is that of Tobolsk, but it only skirts its southern
border, which adjoins the steppes inhabited by Cossacks
and nomadic tribes, whose caravans may be seen in
the busy markets of Petropavlosk, which was founded
in 1752 as a protection against the Kirghiz Cossacks.
About one-third of its population is Mohammedan,
and the Greek Orthodox Church has a mission in the
province for them : the present staff of the mission
consists of thirteen priests, twelve assistants, two
deacons, and one Psalm reader. Last year they
baptized eight Mohammedans. They have a very
small educational work. The Greek Orthodox Church
165
The Face of Russian Tu?~kestan ch. xv
has various missions scattered through Siberia, and the
Russian Government does not allow any foreign ones,
which seems the greater pity when it is considered
how inadequate in every respect are those of the Greek
Church — they only number nine. Everywhere
in the cities we saw the beautiful green domes and
spires of the churches, but very little is done for the
religious welfare of the people in the country districts,
and for the most part they are in a state of profound
ignorance ; religion is summed up in (a) the worship
paid to the ikon, (a little coloured print of our Lord,
or of the Virgin, or of a saint), which is to be found,
not only in all private houses, but in every waiting-
room or restaurant on the railway, and in (/3) certain
religious ceremonies at special times of the year, and
on special occasions.
After leaving Tobolsk, the next important station
passed on the line is Cheliabinsk, in the province of
Orenbourg, the first town over the border into Europe.
The frontier between Asiatic and European Russia is
crossed about 104 miles to the east of it, and is
marked by an obelisk on the left hand side of the
line at its highest point, which may be seen soon
after leaving Kurgan. Cheliabinsk is a cosmopolitan
centre ; it is the real starting-point of the Trans-
Siberian line, and is the jun6tion where the line
divides, the one going north to St. Petersburg, and
the other west to Moscow. The Russian State
Express runs once a week from each of these cities to
Vladivostock, and also in the opposite direction.
166
ch. xv Through Siberia
We were much pleased with the way our carriages
and corridors were cleaned out daily while we were
stopping at stations. A little army of women
swarmed into the train directly it stopped, provided
with buckets of hot water, and they washed out the
whole place quite efficaciously and with great rapidity.
It is really much better to have oilcloth on the floors
rather than carpet, for the sake of cleanliness. The
dusting of the carriages was done every morning by
the attendant after he had made the beds, and he
kept them quite nice and tidy. The one thing that
provoked me through all our travelling in Russia,
however, was the fact that the attendants had keys
which opened all the bolts, so that they could come
in whenever they choose, and the art of knocking
before entering was unknown to most of them. They
generally seemed to select the most inappropriate
moment for coming in, when one was either dressing
or undressing ; but fortunately all travelling tends to
blunt one's susceptibilities on such points.
The ninth day after leaving Kharbin we reached
Kinel, the next station before reaching Samara, the
real junction for the Turkestan line. There was only
a small margin of time allowed for changing train
there, so we decided it was better to have to wait
unduly long at Kinel, rather than run the risk of
missing our train and waiting twenty-four hours for
the next one. We got out at a most dreary hour,
which seems to be rather frequently the case on
Russian railways, considering how few are the trains ;
167
The Face of Russian Turkesta?i ch. xv
it was between one and two o'clock in the morning,
and our baggage was deposited in the ladies' waiting-
room, where we found the only sofa filled with babies.
A considerable number of passengers had their lug-
gage in the adjoining restaurant, where they slept or
smoked. The atmosphere was decidedly trying, so I
spent most of the time pacing up and down the plat-
form, watching the dawn grow, for even at that
early hour there was a broad belt of orange light lying
along the horizon. At fitful intervals one and another
of the passengers would come out for a breath of fresh
air, or order drinks from the somnolent attendants.
It appeared to be the natural thing for people to be
spending the night at the station, though no train
disturbed the peace of the place for several hours.
Not one of the officials seemed able to speak or under-
stand any language but Russian, so I addressed a
young German tourist to ask for information. He
told me that there were no sleeping berths on the
summer trains for Tashkent, the " wagon lits " service
being suspended on the first of May, but that we
should find the ordinary carriages thoroughly comfort-
able, the second class quite as good as the first (in
which we proved him to be correct), for all the trains
are arranged with a view to night travelling. He
also told us that instead of the journey taking five
days (as we had been informed when we made inquiries
at Peking), it would only take three. Later on we
discovered there was a wagon lits carriage at the
rear of the train (without a single passenger in it),
1 68
ch. xv Through Siberia
but no restaurant car. Encouraged, I suppose, by
the pleasure which he saw depicled on my face at
such pleasant news, he went on to give us particulars
of our route, by which he said he had just come from
Turkestan. He advised us to go by the Black Sea
instead of through the Caucasus, saying that the
journey from Tashkent to Vienna by that route took
not more than yfw days ; the minimum time in reality
is seven. He had a Russian time-table, quite a thick
volume, which he advised us to purchase ; we suc-
ceeded in buying one later in the day when the book-
stall opened, and although the names were quite a
puzzle in Russian characters, it provided us with
constant occupation, both in deciphering them, and
in fitting together the bits of the route, scattered on
at least a dozen different pages. In the station at
Kinel they had rather a good sort of map in a large
frame on the wall opposite the ticket-office, arranged
as under. As there are so few trains it is easier than
MOSCOW
I ' f 50(1.
2 J
— ( KAZAN \-
169
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xv
it would be on our lines, but such a map would be
much more intelligible for cheap-trippers than our
time-tables. These maps we saw in various places
later on.
Four hours wore slowly away, and at last the ticket-
office opened, and I presented a paper with " Tash-
kent — 2 klacce," and held up two fingers. Travel-
ing is very cheap here ; from Tashkent to Kinel, a
distance of 13 14 miles, the tickets are approximately
first class, £4, 5s. od., second class, £2, 10s. 3d., third
class, jTi 9 9s. od., fourth class, 14s., but then the train
goes like a snail, and stops perpetually. The third and
fourth class carriages always seemed to be packed with
humanity, and the passengers lie all day, as well as all
night long, on shelves one above the other. The fuel
used both on this line and on the Trans-Siberian is
entirely wood, so they have to be continually taking
in a fresh stock, and each carriage has a little room
for its own special heating apparatus. The funnels
of the engines have large bulbs at the top to prevent
the escape of sparks.
170
CHAPTER XVI
Into Turkestan
THE first day we travelled through a vast culti-
vated plain, and the landscape was dotted
over with a sprinkling of houses and many
trees. The children brought forget-me-nots and ane-
mones to sell at the wayside stations ; but on this
line the towns and hamlets are fewer than on the one
we had just left. Though the land seemed so
uninhabited the train always seemed full, and the
passengers made themselves thoroughly at home.
The second-class travellers, who were going any dis-
tance, put on fresh clothes, the ladies dressed in
neglige costumes like tea-gowns. one amazingly
stout lady put on a muslin gown over a pink slip, and
looked just like an animated pin-cushion. These
people seem to wear all their jewels too, when travel-
ling, Often it was difficult to imagine where the few
peoplevisible at the stations had sprung from, especially
to the south of Orenburg. This is one of the only
two important places between Kinel and Tashkent,
and is the principal town of the province of the same
name. There are four mission stations in the Oren-
burg diocese, and twenty-seven Mohammedans were
171
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xvi
baptized last year. To the south of Orenburg the
land becomes more and more desolate-looking, and
the vegetation is so sparse that one can hardly believe
it is possible for anything to subsist upon it. Perhaps
that is the reason why the Kirghiz nomadic tribes,
who inhabit this territory, known as the Kirghiz
Steppes, cultivate a peculiar kind of sheep called
" steatopyge " by the French traveller Capus. This
sheep has a singularly fat tail, sometimes so long and
heavy that it has to go on a little wheeled cart, and
it is this tail which suffices to nourish the sheep in
time of scarcity of herbage, in the same way that the
camel is said to live on his hump ; at the end of the
winter the tail has dwindled to quite ordinary propor-
tions. Unfortunately we did not see any of these
interesting animals (though I once met one at Dehli),
but during the following days we saw hardly any
living things but camels, much used also by the
Kirghiz. The earth seemed utterly barren, and exuded
nothing but salt ; hour by hour elapsed, only varied
by the interest of stopping at some wayside station,
standing alone in the desert, where samovars full of
boiling water were eagerly sought by the passengers
with their various pots and kettles ; the ordinary
charge for a potful is three farthings, and one wonders
how the poor creatures who supply it are able to
make any living out of so poor a harvest. Their
only other wares are eggs (generally hard boiled),
bottles of milk, and baskets of oranges and lemons.
The latter are always in request for Russian tea, and
172
ch. xvi Into Turkestan
fetch a better price than most things. The peasants
look most amiable, good-natured creatures, and are
eminently picturesque in their embroidered blouses
of blue, green, scarlet, or white, fastened in at the
waist with a leathern belt. For the last half century
the Russians have been gradually colonising the
steppes. Some people labour under the impression
that the agricultural classes are not only happier
but also more successful when they are ignorant, but
this has certainly not proved the case in the Russian
Empire. The colonists have considerable advantages
offered to them by the Government in the way of
cheap grain and agricultural implements, but their
ignorance of the rotation of crops and the necessity
of feeding the land cause them to exhaust it in a few
years' time. The contrast between the Russian
peasant and his German neighbour when you cross
the frontier is extraordinary, and it is deplorable to
consider the latent wealth of Siberia in conjunction
with the present condition of its peasant popula-
tion.
Both on the Turkestan and on the Trans-Siberian
Railway we met agents of the British and Foreign
Bible Society selling Gospels, Bibles, and Testaments
in various languages, of which they had a good assort-
ment in attractive bindings and extremely cheap.
These agents are allowed free passes on all the lines in
Russia. Ten of these passes are granted annually, and
the colporteurs are able to carry on what may well
be called a mission work among the immigrants and
173
The Face of Russian Turkesta?i ch. xvi
others. The number of immigrants into Siberia in
1908 reached the astonishing figure of 760,000
persons. A Russian red cross nurse told me that she
had travelled in charge of a train full of such immi-
grants, and the description of the horrors of the journey
are only to be equalled by Zola's tale of the pilgrims
to Lourdes. To these immigrants many free copies
of the Gospels are given, and the value of such a gift
in that land must be very great. Books must be
scarce in the greater part of the country, though,
thanks to the generosity of a Russian there is a village
libraries' organisation in the province of Tomsk, by
means of which fifty villages have been supplied
with libraries. The generosity of the state railways
department is not confined to the gifts of free passes
for the colporteurs, but also the free carriage of all their
books from the moment they enter Russian territory,
and the remitting of all duty upon them. All the
employes, too, of the Bible Society are exempt from
the Trade and Industrial Tax.
The excellent example of the railway companies
has been followed by many of the shipping companies
on the Black Sea, the White Sea, and the Dnieper,
Don, and Volga rivers. The companies, where there
is a foreign element present, are much less willing to
grant these facilities. Even the tramway companies
in many towns give free tickets to colporteurs.
The second day we reached the little town of
Aral at the head of the Aral Sea, after passing
through the most desolate country : it could not have
174
ch. xvi Into Turkestci7i
been more accurately described than in the words of
Browning :
" I think I never saw
Such starved ignoble nature ; nothing throve :
For flowers — as well expe<ft a cedar grove !
But cockle, spurge, according to their law
Might propagate their kind, with none to awe,
You'd think : a burr had been a treasure-trove.
No ! penury, inertness, and grimace,
In some strange sort, were the land's portion. ' See
Or shut your eyes ' — said Nature peevishly —
' It nothing skills : I cannot help my case :
The Judgment's fire alone can cure this place,
Calcine its clods and set my prisoners free.' "
Lake Aral, like the Caspian Sea, is salt : at present it
covers more than 26,000 square miles, but it is always
shrinking. There is a considerable fishing industry
on it, and freshwater fish are found, but its shores
are so barren that they are practically uninhabited.
The Steppes which bound it on the north are inhabited
by a nomad population of Kirghiz and Uzbegs living
in felt tents (called kibitkas), whose main occupation
is breeding cattle, horses, camels, and sheep. In the
winter time they go to the more sheltered regions of
Syr Daria, the province through which the line next
passes.
We crossed the Syr Daria River, better known as
the classic Jaxartes, and the only town of any size
that lay on the route was Turkestan or Hazret. It
still possesses one superb monument of the past, the
mosque of Hazreti-Timur, built in 1404 by order of
Tamerlane, which is said to be one of the finest
175
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xvi
monuments of that epoch, and is visited by many-
pilgrims.
As we neared Tashkent we felt a certain amount
of anxiety lest we should only have reached the goal
to be ignominiously turned back by the police, despite
our special permit ; but apparently our appearance
was disarming, and at Tashkent they did not even
inquire for any thing beyond our passports. At
Samarkand we handed them over as usual on arrival
to the proprietor of the hotel, and the next day he
said the police wished to know if we had the proper
authorisation to visit Turkestan. We produced our
note verbale, which evidently they were unable to
read, as it was in French ; they looked us up and down,
from head to toe, asked if we had nothing more to
show, and on being assured that we had not, and that
the note verbale gave full permission for travel, they
somewhat reluctantly took their departure. At Kazan
(Bokhara) they got a Russian lady to look at our
permit, who was able to assure them it was quite en
regie, for they admitted they could not read it them-
selves. We heard that had we wished to go anywhere
off the railway line we should not have been allowed
to do so.
The district round Tashkent was a wonderful
contrast to the dreary desert through which we had
come, and prepared us in some measure for the wealth
of foliage in which that town is embowered. Along
the line were trees all decked in the vivid colouring
of early spring ; the air was filled with the fragrance
176
ch. xvi Into Turkesta7i
of their blossoms, and the sound of running water
and rustling leaves whenever we halted, made a
happy change from the monotonous harshness of
railway noises. The afforestation work of the Russian
authorities has already produced a marked difference
in the rainfall, and they are keeping a much needed
check on the cutting down of trees for firewood
throughout the province.
177 M
CHAPTER XVII
Tashkent
JUST ten days after leaving Kharbin we got out
of the train at the handsome station of Tashkent,
which seemed ablaze with light in comparison
with the dimness to which we had been recently-
accustomed. We inquired for the porter of the
Hotel de France to which we had been recommended
by an acquaintance at Moscow, but there was none
at the station. A friendly official said that other
hotels were better, and their porters eagerly urged us
to go with them. We thought it best, however, to
stick to what we had been advised, especially as our
letters had been directed to the Hotel de France ; so we
got into a droshky and drove away into the darkness.
What a heavenly drive it seemed after the long days
in the train. Our horses were all too nimble as we
drove on and on through the warm and scented air,
under apparently never ending avenues of tall poplars
and bushy elms. A crescent moon shone amongst
myriads of stars, and we wondered how long this
mysterious drive would last, as after a time the driver
appeared to have lost his bearings and turned to us
for instructions. Naturally we were utterly unable
178
ch. xvii Tashkent
to direct him, but after half-an-hour, by the aid of
local advice, we drew up beside the open doorway of
a house surrounded by trees. There was not even
" hotel " written up, and instead of a Frenchman
coming at our summons, a person appeared who
seemed unable even to recognise the name " Hotel
de France," though he gave a voluble but quite un-
intelligible answer in Russian. However, we crossed
the murmuring rivulet which characterises most of
the roads here, and entered the house. We found
that it certainly was an hotel, though there was no
one who spoke any language but Russian, and in the
letter case there were no letters for us.
We were shown into a nice large bedroom, and then
began the pantomime. We were extremely hungry,
but disinclined to try the fancy dishes which we feared
would be served to us if we failed to be explicit in
our orders. We had not yet learnt the names of many
things in Russian, and we totally disagreed with the
one universal sentiment, expressed in the word
" nitchevo = it doesn't matter," which met us at every
turn, so I betook myself to my pencil and drew — or
tried to draw — a chicken au plat. Not having
sufficiently studied the works of art which adorn
cookery books, I failed ignominiously to convey
any meaning to mine host. I next attempted to
draw the creature au naturel^ and the attempt was
crowned with success ; but alas, mine host soon
returned with graphic gestures to acquaint us that
chicken was not to be had. I then drew chicken in
179
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xvii
embryo, which was instantly recognised with an em-
phatic nod which heralded success.
The next matter to be dealt with was bed and
bedding, but that was more easily accomplished, and
we found the people thoroughly pleasant and obliging,
anxious to get all we wanted and make us comfort-
able ; they brought an extra bedstead, sheets, and
pillows, all thoroughly clean. In facl: our quarters
were so comfortable that we rather regretted that we
were only going to spend twenty-four hours there.
Next morning we were awakened by the familiar
sound of growling camels and screeching peacocks in
a neighbouring garden. We were soon abroad and
found the pleasant impression gained by our drive of
the night before fully justified, for every road is
bordered with trees, and the poplars are the most
beautiful and lofty I have ever seen ; their silver
stems stretch up erecl: as darts into the clear blue sky.
There are shady public gardens where the ash tree
and the acacia were in full blossom, filling the air with
their fragrance ; on the roofs of the smaller houses
poppies and grass made a brave show of colour against
the sky. All the houses were well shaded by trees
except in the centre of the town, where fashionable
shops displayed the latest novelties in hats and other
things dear to the fashionable world of Tashkent.
We made our way to the post-office, where most
of the officials were women, and found quite a large
budget of letters. Evidently there is no regular
delivery, as they were all addressed to the hotel, and
ch. xvii Tashkent
some of them had been lying there at least a week.
Later in the day we returned to inquire for a book,
which from my letters I learnt had been forwarded
there, and after some searching it was duly produced,
but I afterwards found that difficulty had attended its
despatch as well as its delivery ; the London post-
office at first declined to send it on the score of not
knowing where Turkestan was.
Tashkent was conquered by the Russians in 1863,
and it is only since then that the Russian town has
grown up at a short distance from the old city ; it
boasts over 50,000 inhabitants, and has a considerable
trade. At this time of year the climate is delicious,
but in the summer it is said to be intensely hot, and
in the rainy season the mud is so deep that the streets
become almost impassable, and the men have to go
about in what we should call wading boots. It is on
this account that the natives have such peculiar carts,
with spidery wheels about eight or ten feet in diameter.
The driver sits on a saddle on the horse, with a foot
resting on each shaft. Many of the tall, lean beasts,
have handsomely embroidered horse cloths of blue
and scarlet ; they also wear broad scarlet or orange
neck cloths, and beaded trappings hang from their
manes and over their hind quarters ; altogether they
are most attractive.
We were delighted with the beautiful oriental
colours of the clothing of the natives, as they rode
about on handsome Arab steeds, looking the embodi-
ment of pride amongst their prosaic conquerors.
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xvii
Turbaned servants might be seen holding the horses
outside houses while their masters were within, or
the horses might be attached to rings in beams fastened
in the roadway outside shops and offices for the
purpose. Ladies, fashionably dressed, were driving
about in troikas, with three horses harnessed abreast.
The centre horse has to trot, and the side ones canter
with their heads turned away, so that they look all
the time as if they were trying to pull away from
the horse in the middle. It my opinion it has a
most unnatural and unpleasant appearance to have one
horse trotting while the others canter, and I cannot
understand how they manage to drive so swiftly
under such adverse circumstances. The Siberian
horses are capable of doing twenty versts (about
thirteen miles) an hour, says Capus. Travellers going
any distance by carriage continue day and night
without stopping longer than for meals and to change
horses, but it must require an iron constitution to do
this. Nearly every one at Tashkent seemed to ride or
drive ; in fact we learnt that it was considered quite
infra dig to go on foot anywhere in Turkestan.
The town boasts two good new hotels ; a fine
public library, especially rich in works on Central
Asia ; an observatory ; a museum ; two large public
schools ; an experimental agricultural station and
school ; a seminary ; a bank, and various public
buildings. There is also a park containing a bicycle
track, where they have races ; at the entrance we saw
a large monument commemorating the conquests of
ch. xvii Tashkent
the Russians in different parts of Turkestan. They
first invaded it in 1863, and took this city and also
Chemkend ; in 1 866 they took Khojend and Kokand,
and completely destroyed the power of the latter,
this proving the beginning of Turkestan as a Russian
province. In the next two years they pushed their
conquests further westward, and defeated the troops
of the Emir of Bokhara and entered Samarkand. In
1873 Khiva was invaded and navigation rights ob-
tained over the whole of the Oxus River, now known
as the Amu Daria. Russia decided to leave Bokhara
under the rule of the Emir, merely maintaining a
protectorate, but the remainder of Turkestan has
since that time been under Russian rule.
We called at the office of the Wagons Lits Company
for information about our journey to Samarkand, and
the manager obligingly got a young Russian, attached
to the newspaper staff, to act as our guide for the
afternoon. He spoke English with a strong American
accent, and was extremely garrulous, having attained
a thoroughly journalistic style of conversation. We
took a carriage and drove to the old city, of which
the walls, alas, have completely disappeared. It is
buried in the midst of trees and gardens, for there is
a fine system of irrigation there. All through both
the Russian and also the native town we saw streams
flowing ; the watering is done by a simple process ;
a man goes down each side of the road simultaneously,
armed with a long wooden scoop, with which he
sweeps the water out of the little canals as far as the
The Face of Russia?! Turkestan ch. xvii
centre, even on a wide road. This takes place at
intervals during the day. Here and there in the
native city is a good pond surrounded by trees. The
houses are low and made of sun-dried bricks, looking
more ruinous than the other cities we visited.
Tashkent, it seems, is subject to earthquakes, which
probably accounts for its dishevelled appearance, and
it is difficult to believe that the population in-
habiting it is both large and growing. According
to the latest census the inhabitants number over
100,000, so evidently its decadent look is entirely
misleading.
We first visited the old tombs of Sheikh Zenedjin-
baba and Zenghiata, saints who flourished some cen-
turies ago, and whose tombs are visited by thousands
of pilgrims every year. The graveyard was pictur-
esque ; a dead tree was still standing among the tombs,
which a stork had selected to crown with her nest.
A little alley led us to the tomb, in which a
devout worshipper was rocking himself to and fro,
while he recited his prayers. I ventured to sketch
him, as he was evidently oblivious (or pretended to
be so) of observers.
It was somewhat difficult for our carriage to make
its way through the narrow, tortuous lanes, but we
were in no hurry to go fast for the people were so
pidturesque. They are mostly Sarts, " a name," says
Prince Krapotkin, "which has reference more to
manner of life than to anthropological classification,
although a much stronger admixture of Iranian blood
184
;,i w /J.
PRAYER AT A SAINT'S TOMB
ch. xvii "Tashkent
is evident in the Sarts, who also speak Persian at
Khojend and Samarkand." They are noted for their
honesty and independence. There are also Persians
and Uzbegs, the latter speaking a pure Jagatai dialecl:,
and various other tribes are found among the bazaars
of Tashkent. These bazaars are most fascinating,
but as it was Friday there were but few merchants
willing to do business, and the whole place had a
deserted air. The bazaars are roofed in at the top,
which makes them dark and stuffy, but they are suf-
ficiently wide for carriages as well as foot-passengers
to go through them. Our guide bargained for some
silk scarves, which we thought rather attractive, but
as the merchants refused to come down to what he
thought a reasonable price, we did not buy more than
a couple. The different trades occupy different parts
of the bazaar, and one of the most important was the
grain and another the tobacco market. Tashkent is
also noted for its boots and harness.
In one way it was fortunate that our visit happened
to be on a Friday, for we saw the people at prayer.
We visited several of the mosques, but they have
little artistic merit, and the oldest one has been so
hideously redecorated with metal work and the
crudest painting, that its 700 years of existence have
been entirely obliterated, both within and without.
The chief mosque was crowded with men herded
within a rather small sort of verandah, where they
stood while service was conducted in a loud discordant
series of shrieks. A crowd of veiled women and
185
The Face of Russici7i Turkestan ch. xvii
children pressed against the bars of the enclosure, but
Mohammedanism has no place for women within her
gates. once for all Mohammed made the position
of the women in the Moslem world unspeakably low
and degraded : he said, " Woman was made from a
crooked rib, and if you try to bend it straight it will
break." A woman, according to the universal
Mohammedan belief, has no soul. Years ago I saw
the Sultan going to the weekly worship one Friday at
Constantinople, and it was part of the programme for
his principal wife to see him go there from a certain
spot ; that she should ever have accompanied him
was unthinkable. Another large party of women
and children we saw gathered on a neighbouring roof
like Peris outside Paradise. But we were not allowed
to remain long ; we were almost thrust out of the
precincts of the mosque, for they have the greatest
aversion, we were told, to Russians looking on at
their worship. As our guide was Russian, I suppose
they imagined us to be the same ; elsewhere they
treated us with great civility.
The children amused us much by their quaint
costumes, and some of them were extremely pretty.
The caps, ornaments, and embroideries they wear are
charming, and a bizarre effect is produced by a bunch
of feathers stuck upright in their caps and attached to
their shoulders from the back like incipient wings.
The houses usually have verandahs outside them,
where groups of men were reclining. They were
highly picturesque, red being the predominating
186
ch. xvii Tashkent
colour of their clothes, heightened by the contrast of
their white turbans. They were mostly smoking,
gossiping, and drinking, and for all these pursuits they
seem to have an untiring capacity.
There is only one Madressah (Mohammedan school)
now left at Tashkent, which used to be a seat of learn-
ing, and it has few students, and is in a state of decay.
After dinner we regretfully set out for the station
to pursue our way to the still more attractive city of
Samarkand. The train was crowded, but as we arrived
in good time we secured a coupe to ourselves, a
most important matter with a journey of some four-
teen hours before us. During the night we heard a
crash of glass in the adjoining carriage ; evidently it
was merely accidental, for we heard nothing further;
but it accounted for the rigid scrutiny to which the
railway carriages are continually submitted in the
course of every journey by the conductors, who keep
the compartments always locked when unoccupied.
one is never allowed to forget the hateful system
of espionage, that has been brought to a rare per-
fection throughout the Russian Empire.
187
CHAPTER XVIII
The Home of Tamerlane
WE awoke next morning to find ourselves in
a grey desolate wilderness, known as the
Hunger Desert. The lovely gardens full
of fruit-trees characterising Tashkent extend for
some distance round the city, and then comes a dull
expanse of desert which, when seen through sheets
of rain, is the acme of dreariness. When we reached
the end of our railway journey we found, as usual,
that the station was some miles away from our
destination, Samarkand, and we drove through oceans
of mud under a pelting rain to the Grand Hotel,
a nice new house where the rooms looked out on to
a little garden. To our relief our host and hostess
had a limited acquaintance with the German language,
so that we were able to make our wishes known, the
main one being for thorough washing accommo-
dation. We were taken to see a fine bath-room, and
arranged to have the stove at once lighted, for it is
something of a function to have a bath in Russia,
and cannot be achieved under a couple of hours ; our
host was evidently very proud of possessing a bath-
room, and we spent a happy afternoon getting rid
of all traces of our eleven days and nights of travel.
on p. 188, line 2 of text,/or known as, read as bare as.
1
of
sonic uiocc —
expanse of desert which, when seen lh^^--
of rain, is the acme of dreariness. When we reached
the end of our railway journey we found, as usual,
that the station was some miles away from our
destination, Samarkand, and we drove through oceans
of mud under a pelting rain to the Grand Hotel,
a nice new house where the rooms looked out on to
a little garden. To our relief our host and hostess
had a limited acquaintance with the German language,
so that we were able to make our wishes known, the
main one being for thorough washing accommo-
dation. We were taken to see a fine bath-room, and
arranged to have the stove at once lighted, for it is
something of a function to have a bath in Russia,
and cannot be achieved under a couple of hours ; our
host was evidently very proud of possessing a bath-
room, and we spent a happy afternoon getting rid
of all traces of our eleven days and nights of travel.
ch. xviii The Home of Tamerlane
Next morning a radiant sun following the rain
showed us Samarkand in its most attractive guise.
We drove through shady avenues, past fashionable
shops towards the real city, and suddenly there burst
upon our view a wonderful dome and lofty archway,
jewelled with tiles of dazzling blue. It is the Gur
Amir, the tomb of Tamerlane, the great Conqueror,
the forerunner of the Mogul Emperors. In the midst
of a thick cluster of trees the tomb rises erect, so that
only the cupola is visible until you come close to it.
It is enclosed by the care of the Russian authorities
with an inconspicuous little wall, finished off with a
metal coping along the top. Formerly the tomb was
entered (according to regulation) from the south side,
but most of the outer buildings have already fallen
to pieces. The present entrance is on the north, and
the facade is completely covered with tiles ; it is a
marvellous blaze of colour, composed of various
shades of blue, varied with white and a little yellow,
the whole effect being that of a blue mosaic. The
decorations are varied ; there are a large number of
inscriptions, many of them from the Koran, in Persian
characters of the fifteenth century. They certainly
add rather than detract from the decorative character
of the design. Passing through the entrance gate
one comes into a grassy courtyard paved with black
marble, in which are ancient mulberry trees, and the
central building rises beyond them. The whole of
this inner facade is also tiled. Among the inscrip-
tions one was deciphered by Vambery, which proved
189
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xviii
to be the architect's signature : " This is the work
of poor Abdullah, son of Mohammed, native of
Ispahan."
In the days of his glory Tamerlane determined to
have erecled for himself a mausoleum excelling in
magnificence all the other buildings at Samarkand.
For this purpose he selected the Persian architect,
Abdullah, charging him to build a tomb worthy to
enshrine his remains. The two original towers
which flanked the cupola are both gone, one of them
quite recently, and the great western archway is
falling to pieces, but the immense Kufic l characters
(white on a blue ground) which form the frieze
immediately below the cupola are still almost perfecl.
The style is not entirely Persian, but was probably
modified by the influence of the architecture which
the Persians found in Samarkand. on each side of
the main building is a small chapel containing tombs
of minor importance. Entering the tomb by a beauti-
fully carved and inlaid door, we found ourselves in a
little sanctuary, where the faithful come to pray,
laying their foreheads against the walls. The height
of the dome (measured from within) is about 74 feet.
Despite a small window at each end containing
alabaster tracery, the light is dim, and a religious
hush seems to pervade the building. Not only
Tamerlane but others also are buried here. Shortly
after the building of the mausoleum, his teacher,
1 Kufic is the name given to the characters in which the Koran was
originally written ; it ceased to be used after the tenth century.
190
' * * " — watamaiij" « * « «
TAMERLANE'S fOMB (INTERIOR)
ch. xviii The Home of Tamerlane
Said Mir Berke, a venerable mullah (holy man), died,
so Tamerlane showed his supreme reverence for him
by having him buried in the Gur Amir, ordering
that his own body should be placed (when he died)
at the mullah's feet. There are in addition several
small tombstones surrounding the special slab (said to
be of green jade) which marks Tamerlane's resting-
place. This precious monolith was sent for this
purpose by a Mongolian princess ten years after his
death to his successor, Nadir Shah, but was unfortu-
nately broken in the transport. The two pieces have
been fastened together, and it has been elaborately
carved with Tamerlane's name, titles, and ancestry,
interspersed with passages from the Koran. Copies
of these are for sale at the tomb. Monsieur Edouard
Blanc, in an interesting article in the '^{eviie des Deux
Mondes (Feb. 15, 1893), says he examined this stone
very carefully from the mineralogist's point of view,
and has no hesitation in declaring that it is not jade.
Certainly there is no other known specimen of this
stone anything like the size, for jade is only found in
small pieces ; but there are other stones frequently
mistaken for jade, such as jadeite (hence its name),
which is not nearly so valuable. Tamerlane's known
desire to have a tomb of jade is probably the reason
why it is so called. The jade mines of Turkestan
have been celebrated in China for at least 2000 years.
Above the mullah's tomb are two crossed bamboo
poles bearing the Prophet's green flag,and the standard,
which consists of a horse's mane and a gold button.
191
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xviii
The tombs are enclosed by a low alabaster-work
balustrade, as seen on the left hand in the sketch.
But Tamerlane was so afraid lest cupidity should
cause his tomb to be rifled that he ordered his body to
be buried in a crypt below the other tomb, theexistence
of which was until quite recently unknown, except
to a few initiated persons. The entrance, which was
concealed by a paving stone, is now open to the gaze
of all. We went down into it by a flight of steep
stone steps and found a number of tombs, one of which
was the hero's, made of specially finely carved marble.
We were invited to pay a small sum in order to place
candles on it, so I presume our respectful attitude
had won us the reputation of being good Moslems.
The vaulted roof of this crypt was admirably designed
brickwork, of which the rough sketch opposite may
give an idea. It was a twelve-sided figure, and the
whole of the interior was in excellent repair. It
was dimly lighted by a torch, which our guide pro-
duced, and we were glad to escape promptly back to
the upper air, where I sat down to sketch. Various
worshippers came in and out to say their prayers, for
the worship of saints is a marked characteristic of
Mohammedanism, and there are many shrines in
Samarkand. Every one seemed friendly and devout,
except an obvious tourist with his guide, who certainly
disturbed the serenity of the atmosphere.
Another day I sketched the outside of that wonder-
ful mausoleum, and day by day as we studied the
monuments which time has defaced, but which even
192
ch. xviii The Home of Tamerlane
in decay surpass all others in their potent effecl upon
the imagination, I dreamed of the genius which had
left such an imperishable memory. Surely none of
the other conquerors of the world was ever so strange
a mixture as the great Mogul, compounded of am-
bition, lust of power, love of beauty, relentless cruelty,
domestic affection, and zeal for " the Faith."
Timur i Leng, the lame Timur, or Tamerlane (to
use the vulgarised form of his name), was born at
Shahr-i-Sabz, " the green city," about fifty miles south
of Samarkand, in 1336. His father, Teragai, had been
193 N
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xviii
the first ruler in the country converted to Islamism,
and he brought up his son Tamerlane in the studious
retirement which he himself loved. The young man
was well versed in the knowledge of the Koran, but
he was noted also for his good horsemanship and other
manly pursuits. Tamerlane soon abandoned his
father's way of life and reverted to the earlier type of
Genghiz Khan and Kubla Khan. The accounts of
the Mongol raids sound like visions of the lowest hell,
beside which Dante's descriptions are colourless ; these
raids are inconceivable to the modern mind, and yet
history shows that they were not the work of mad-
men, but that they are due to a strain of ferocious
brutality in the Mongol blood. Where this happens
to be combined with great power or genius, as in the
case of Ivan the Terrible, or Tamerlane, the result is
appalling.
At the age of twenty-two Tamerlane was sent at
the head of a thousand horse to invade Khorasan, but
it was not the first time he had been in the field, and
he was subsequently employed in fighting for his own
throne after his father's death. In 1369 he had
conquered his opponents, and he mounted the throne
at Samarkand. It would be monotonous and vain to
recapitulate the history of the incessant wars which
Tamerlane waged during the next thirty years in
order to extend his dominions in Central Asia, but it
was when he was over sixty years of age that he
undertook the greatest of his expeditions, the con-
quest of India (as it has been erroneously called).
194
ch. xviii The Home of Tamerlane
He ravaged the north and sacked its principal city,
Delhi, returning to Samarkand with great spoil.
Clavigo, the historian, says that he brought back
ninety captured elephants to carry stone for the build-
ing of a new mosque at Samarkand. It was Baber,
his descendant of the fifth generation, who founded
the Mongol Empire in India in 1525, more than a
century and a quarter later than Tamerlane.
During this campaign Tamerlane became embar-
rassed by the number of his Hindu prisoners, no less
than 100,000 at a single time, so his counsellors urged
him to have them slain. The historian remarks :
" He listened to this considerate and wise advice, and
gave orders to that effect "; so that they were all slain
" with the sword of holy war." In order to accom-
plish the frightful task the soldiery was not sufficient,
and " one of the chief ecclesiastics, who in all his life
had never even slaughtered a sheep, put fifteen Hindus
to the sword." (Holden's " Mogul Emperors of
Hindustan," p. 27.) on another occasion he slew
no less than 70,000, and had the heads piled into a
pyramid and plastered over with mud. In this grue-
some conception he was following the example of his
ancestor Genghiz Khan, who had devised the idea of
having the thousands of corpses which were slain on
various occasions built into architectural designs.
At the taking of Bagdad the number of slaughtered
enemies was 80,000.
Tamerlane was in the habit of taking his wives
with him on his campaigns, as well as learned men,
195
The Face of Russia?i Turkestan ch. xviii
and it is related that when in India he had the latter
placed behind the women, and the women behind the
army during the battles. The fear of him was so
great that even after he had left Delhi prayers were
said in his name in the mosque there until his death ;
afterwards in the name of his son. Tamerlane's
religiosity (for it can really be called by no other
name) is shown in the account which he caused to
be written in his Memoirs giving his reasons for the
invasion of India. " My principal objecl in coming
to Hindostan and in undergoing all this toil and
hardship was to accomplish two things. The first
was to war with infidels, the enemies of the Moham-
medan religion ; and by this religious warfare to
acquire some claim to reward in the life to come.
The other was a worldly objecl, that the army of
Islam might gain something by plundering the wealth
of the infidels ; plunder in war is as lawful as their
mother's milk to Mussulmans who fight for their
faith, and the consuming of that which is lawful is a
means of grace." The necessity for keeping his
troops in good humour can be readily understood,
but that the awful atrocities and unmentionable crimes
committed by them, which are veiled in that last
sentence, should be characterised as " a means of
grace," sounds like an unholy jest. It is impossible
to ascertain with any accuracy the numbers of
Tamerlane's troops, but not only were there picked
troops of some 200,000 men, but also vast numbers
of irregulars, who flocked to his standard in the hope
196
ch. xviii The Home of Tamerlane
of plunder. But besides Tamerlane's hosts of soldiers,
who are said by his biographer to have idolised him,
he had also hosts of artificers and workmen, for he
built many palaces, mosques, and houses, of which
only a comparatively small number survive the ravages
of time. Clavijo describes the building of a street
full of shops, which was to extend from one end of
Samarkand to the other. No heed was taken of the
claims of those who already were in possession ; their
houses were torn down, while the inmates fled with
such things as they were able to snatch up and take
with them. As fast as the houses were demolished
others rose upon the ruins, as by enchantment, and
at the end of twenty days and nights of uninterrupted
labour the street was complete, and Tamerlane had it
occupied forthwith by shopkeepers.
The various trades were formed into guilds as in
western lands apparently, and at one of the feasts
given during the visit of the Spanish embassy we are
told that " an amphitheatre was covered with carpets,
where there were masquerades. The women were
dressed like goats, others like sheep and fairies, and
they ran after each other. The skinners and butchers
appeared like lions and foxes, and all other tradesmen
contributed specimens of their skill."
The Conte de Rubruquis, who was sent by St. Louis
of France from the Holy Land to visit the Court of
Tamerlane, gives a similar impression of the way in
which building operations were carried on by that
autocratic monarch, all of whose operations seem to
197
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xviii
have been executed in desperate haste. He says of
the building of one of the great mosques : " The archi-
tects chose a happy moment to begin it, namely, on
the fourth of Ramadam, 801 (May 28, 1399), which
answers to the year of the Hare, the Moon being then
in Leo, going out of the sextile aspect, of Venus.
The masons, brought from foreign countries, as men-
tioned before, gave the greatest proofs of their art and
skill, as well in the solidity and beauty of the angles,
as in the strength of the foundations of this noble
edifice. In the inside of the mosque were employed
two hundred masons from Azerbijana, Persia, and
India ; five hundred men likewise worked in the
mountains in the cutting and hewing of stones, which
were sent into the city. Several other artisans of
different trades performed their parts with the utmost
application. Ninety-five chains of elephants were
made use of in drawing large stones with wheels
and machines according to the laws of mechanics.
The princes of the blood and Emirs were appointed
to oversee the workmen, that not one moment might
be lost in finishing this stupendous building." The
event was celebrated with sumptuous banquets, ac-
companied by all sorts of plays and diversions. " The
Empress Rokia Canica on this occasion gave a noble
entertainment, accompanied with concerts of music
and fine dancing." 1 The descriptions of Clavijo, the
Spanish envoy, are equally vivid and interesting, giving
1 Hakluyt Society's Publications, " The Voyage of Friar William de
Rubruquis," p. 166.
198
ch. xviii The Home of Tamerlane
a thoroughly complete picture of life at the Court of
the great Khan. Referring to the Empress Cano (as
Clavijo calls her), he says that after she had approached
the Emperor, attended by her 300 ladies and eunuchs,
and had taken her seat, the second wife or "little Cano"
came out and took up her position, followed in turns
by his seven other wives. The tents and pavilions
on such occasions were of the utmost magnificence,
scarlet cloth embroidered with gold and silks, white
satin and different coloured silks, with silken cords
and tassels. The tables were of gold, and the orna-
ments of gold and precious stones. Drinking formed
an important part of the ceremony, and the Empress
was greatly displeased when the monk de Rubruquis
refused to drink at her invitation ; he narrates that
many of the guests became quite drunk and even fell
down before her, which added to the amusement.
There was also a popular and less harmful beverage
of cream and sugar. The meats consisted of sheep
and oxen, roasted whole, and served on dishes of thick
stamped leather. No less than three hundred men
were requisite to bring them in, and camels were used
to bring them to the place. This part of the feast
sounds quite unrefined, for the food is said to have
been placed in heaps on the ground, and there is no
mention of any utensils.
At another great festival to which the Spanish
envoys were summoned, they were forced to pay
elaborate homage to one of the Khan's grandsons
newly come from India, kneeling time after time
199
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xviii
before him. Doubtless they felt there was no choice
as to obeying any such order of Tamerlane, for had
they not seen plenty of instances of his summary
methods of so-called "justice." At the marriage
festival of two of his grandsons Tamerlane said he
" knew how to be merciful and kind to some, and how
to be severe to others," so a number of gallows were
set up at the place of entertainment. When the
games were over he meted out "justice" to various
people who had incurred his displeasure, and they
were instantly put to death ; hanging was the more
aristocratic punishment, and execution was the fate of
the poorer classes.
Tamerlane's most pleasing characteristic is the deep
affedtion he entertained for his Chinese wife and for
his sons, whose death caused him deep and passionate
grief. There is a legend that he caused his daughters
to be taught magic in order to help him in his
'conquests, but that sounds wholly at variance with
his character. He was extremely energetic and am-
bitious, and brooked no interference. The portraits
of his personal appearance are far from pleasing ; he
was not only lame, but also blind in one eye. Tamer-
lane's last campaign was against the Turks, and he
pushed as far as to Damascus, taking prisoner the
Sultan Bajazet. on his return he projected another
distant campaign against China, but he fell ill of ague
and fever, and died in Syr Daria in 1405. His body
was embalmed and carried for burial to Samarkand.
CHAPTER XIX
Samarkand
TAMERLANE'S tomb is on the threshold of
Samarkand, and is but the prelude which
introduces the travellers to wonder upon
wonder. The whole of the first day we devoted to
it, so as to come with a prepared mind and yet quite
fresh to the wealth of beauty that lies within the
city. A fine avenue of poplars leads from the tomb
to the imposing citadel, dipping into a deep ravine
(where a wood market is always going on) ; as one
mounts the hill the citadel seems to tower above the
city. Its one relic of interest is the Keuk-Tash, a
grey stone, ten feet long and four feet broad, said to
have been originally brought from Broussa. This
formed the seat from which Tamerlane dispensed
judgment — one cannot say "justice" — and which in
later days was used by the Amirs of Bokhara for
the same purpose. A number of bazaars line the
road, giving the impression of a busy, flourishing
town, and the road is thronged with carriages, men
on horseback, and carts. What a fascinating crowd it
was. I must briefly describe its chief elements. The
population is principally Sart, but there are Persians,
The Face of Russia?i Turkestan ch. xix
Afghans, Kirghiz, and others. Some of their horses
are splendid proudly-stepping creatures, and it is a
marvel to see their trappings, handsomely embroidered
cloths on which the equally handsomely decorated
antique saddles rest. These are either painted or
inlaid wood, and have a high peak in front ; the stirrups
are equally decorative, but fastened so short that the
knees are always bent. The Sarts invariably ride
unless extremely poor, and it is astonishing to see how
fine some of them are, who yet have to carry home
their purchases from the market, a somewhat incon-
gruous effect being produced by these gorgeous
creatures having an armful of vegetables. If too
poor to ride a horse, the Sart may at least be able to
afford a donkey. Some of them have a closely veiled
woman riding pillion ; others will have their young
sons riding before and behind them on the same
horse. The Sarts wear long flowing cotton or silk
robes of brilliant colours, especially affecling stripes,
and high leather boots. on their heads they wear
little gaily-embroidered caps, surrounded by a turban
of dazzling whiteness, with ends coquettishly hanging
down by the left ear on to the shoulder. A poor
man may be only able to afford two or three yards of
coarse white cotton for the purpose, but the rich
man will have twenty or thirty yards of the finest
muslin. Round the waist the men wear ornate belts,
into which are stuck the knife with gold or silver
jewelled handle in its sheath of leather, and in
another case a comb, toothpick, and other et ceteras.
ch. xix Samarkand
Among the foot-passengers are a certain number of
women dressed in long, grey-blue cloaks from head
to foot, only just showing the wide trousers fastened
in at the ankle ; there is but the smallest peephole
through a horse-hair veil like a meat sieve. They
are mere chattels, and are kept striclly secluded. The
children in their gay clothes form a delicious contrast,
and are as bright and merry as birds, full of mischief
and fun ; we had a good opportunity of watching
them while sketching, and they were delightful
neighbours for the most part, despite being rather
distracling.
The first building that arrests the attention at the
entrance to the town is the citadel, but it has been
transformed into Russian barracks, so that the exterior
is the main thing of interest. It boasts in modern
times of having been the scene of a stirring episode
when the Russians first took possession in 1868. A
small garrison having been left there while the main
army went in pursuit of the Amir of Bokhara, found
itself surrounded by 20,000 men, and for five days
succeeded in holding the position until relieved by
the timely arrival of a corps from Tashkent. Then a
terrible vengeance fell upon the doomed city, which
was given over for three days to pillage as in the
days of Tamerlane. What grim irony to call Samar-
kand la bien gardee, when through all the centuries
it has been desolated, beginning from the conquest of
Alexander the Great, more than twenty-two centuries
ago, down to the present time. Under the Arab
203
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xix
Samanids in the eighth century it became a great
centre of learning, and was renowned throughout the
world ; then Genghiz Khan fell upon it in 1219, and
although it is said to have been defended by 1 10,000
men, he took the city and let loose his ferocious
hordes upon it. When they left the city the popula-
lation had been reduced to one-fourth of the size
it had been, but even then it was said to boast
25,000 families. In the days of Tamerlane it rose
again to 150,000, and at the present day the native
city covers a great area, being enclosed within a low
wall of nine miles in extent.
The next group of ancient buildings which meets
the eye is the great market square, the Righistan,
three sides of which are surrounded by madressahs or
colleges, the fourth side being bounded by a row of
small native shops. The four sides are quite separate
from one another, a street passing along the north
side of the square in front of the Tilla-Kari Madressah.
It would be impossible to describe the magnificent
effecl: of these buildings due to their great height,
simplicity of design, brilliancy of colour, and the
noble space which they enclose. The square is more
than two centuries later in date than the days of
Tamerlane, but it is the harmonious continuation
and completion of his work. The eastern building
is the oldest of the madressahs, called after its builder,
Uleg Beg (a.d. 1420 approximately) ; he was the
grandson of Timur, a great patron of art and science.
He made a table of the fixed stars, agreeing pretty
204
ch. xix Samarkand
closely with that made by the celebrated Danish
astronomer, Tycho-Brahe, more than a century later.
It is the smallest of the three madressahs, contain-
ing accommodation for only fifty students, but attached
to it was the world-renowned observatory and school
of mathematics. Uleg Beg used the quadrant, the
radius of which, says d'Herbelot, equalled the height
of St. Sophia. A description of one madressah will
suffice for the three, as they are all built on the
same plan. The front of the quadrilateral building
is about ioo to 150 feet in height, with an immense
porch nearly extending to the top of it ; the porch is
mostly filled in with beautiful tiles, but contains a
small window in the upper part and a wide door
below, with smaller ones on either side. The broad
spaces of masonry flanking the porch are subdivided
into three sections, which are all differently and
richly decorated with tiles, in which blue is the pre-
dominating colour. The two small doorways lead
into a paved court surrounded by buildings, in the
centre of each of which is a pointed porch called
" pichtack," similar to that of the facade, but on a
much smaller scale, and generally of finer workman-
ship. This is surrounded by arcades, the central one
being a hall for prayer, decorated with suitable in-
scriptions cut in hard stone or marble slabs in the
walls. The courtyard corresponds to our cloister of
the West, and trees cast a pleasant shade in it where
the studious Mohammedans spend so many weary
hours, for the university training lasts from twenty
205
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xix
to twenty-seven years. one of the students showed
us his tiny cell with its store of books — a very limited
one. As we entered another student or Mullah stood
praying just within the porch at the top of his voice,
and in shrill and dolorous accents : the Sunnites
adopt this tone in order that there may be no suspicion
of tune or melody. The studies are by no means
confined to religion, however, for they embrace all
the faculties, and men are here trained to fill every
office of Church and State. The Koran and its com-
mentaries are considered fundamentals, and when one
reflects that Mohammedanism owes its widespread
success no less to the proselytising spirit of its mer-
chants and soldiers than of its religious teachers, one
is forced to admire the wisdom which requires that
such thorough teaching be given to the educated
classes. We were told that the students have to
observe striclly certain rules throughout the whole
course of their university career ; married men are
allowed to spend two nights a week in their own
homes, but the remaining five must be spent in the
madressah. The length of the course is a heavy
strain on the resources of a family, but many of these
people, living in mean surroundings and with no
outward pomp, are possessors of considerable wealth.
In Tashkent the Government is offering free education
for boys in the Russian schools, in order to attract
the Sarts to send their sons to them, and the lessons
are given both in Russian and in Sart, half and half.
This is done for political purposes, and with a view
206
ch. xix Samarkand
to getting more into touch with the native population :
at present there is a great gulf fixed between them.
To return to our subject — the architecture of the
schools. on the right and left of the central facade
there are side wings, originally covered with tiles,
but now somewhat injured by time, and at their outer
end rise lofty cylindrical towers of great height and
entirely covered with tiles ; they are now quite out
of the perpendicular, and it is impossible to do any-
thing to preserve them from the effects of the violent
earthquakes which are continually destroying the
priceless monuments of Samarkand.
The madressah of Shir Dar (" the lion bearing "),
built in 1 60 1, faces that of Uleg Beg, and the only
difference of importance between the two is that the
former has two domes rising from the side wings of
the facade, namely, between the porch and the towers.
It is the largest of the three madressahs, and contains
rooms for one hundred and twenty students. Its
name is due to the heraldic figures of lions (only
they are more like tigers) on the facade. Most of
the designs on all the architecture at Samarkand are
arabesques, inscriptions, or geometrical figures, but
there are occasionally animals introduced, such as
lions, griffons, and dragons. As regards colour, in
the later architecture, black, green, and gold are added
to the blues and yellow characterising the earlier
tiles, but there is comparatively so little other colouring
than blue, that it passes unnoticed without close
inspection.
207
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xix
From the summit of the northernmost tower
criminals used to be hurled, we were informed, in
the " good old days," into the square below called
" the Gluttonous Place " ; this was the case at
Bokhara only last century : they were trussed up like
fowls. Visitors are usually taken by the professional
guide up this madressah to look over the city, from
the platform upon which the cupolas rest. It is
perhaps desirable to warn ladies visiting Samarkand
to beware of this guide, as he bears an unsatisfactory
character. Our unofficial guide took us to the top
of the Tilla Kari (" dressed in gold ") facade, which
is much loftier, and from which a fine view of the
mountains is to be obtained. The ascent was steep,
rough, and perilous, but well worth not only the
effort, but also the resultant stiffness of many days.
The vision that burst upon our view as we emerged
from the dark staircase was that of a city gleaming
among a wealth of trees, stretching far across the
plain to the distant, snow-capped mountains. Far
below the motley crowd looked like ants ; the vivid
colouring of their robes was almost indistinguishable,
and only a hushed murmur rose to our ears from the
busy throng.
In the Tilla-Kari Madressah (built in 1 6 1 8) there
is room for fifty-six students. It has an important
mosque, of which the inside walls were not only
decorated with blue tiles, but also with fine marble
slabs handsomely cut and bearing gilded inscriptions,
but the gilding was somewhat dimmed by time.
208
ch. xix Samarkand
Evidently there was a large and costly carpet on the
floor, for our feet sank noiselessly into the soft pile,
but it was covered with a drugget, and we were only
allowed to see a small corner. This madressah has
no flanking towers, and a less ornate facade, which
probably gave rise to the idea that it was the oldest,
whereas it is the most recent of the three.
Our evident delight in the beauty of the place was
obviously a source of no little gratification to the
people ; our only regret was that we were unable to
talk to them. Few people know the Sart language,
or even know of its existence, but in the mosques and
bazaars Persian as well as Arabic is current. The
people to whom the glories of the place are like a
twice-told tale, watched our ｅxpression with some
wonder, but keen appreciation ; when they had
further inquired as to our nationality, it seemed as if
we were admitted into a sort of friendly intimacy.
We started one day from our hotel with a pleasant
old man as droshky driver ; to him our host gave
elaborate instructions as to where we should go and
what we should see ; but in the old city he picked
up a picturesque native in white turban and wine-
coloured robe, who forthwith constituted himself our
guide. Our inability to talk or even to understand
his language was a slight bar to our enjoyment, yet
in the course of the morning we gathered a certain
amount of information about the city, and felt that
we had missed seeing nothing of real importance.
one of the finest ruins is the madressah of Bibi
209 o
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xix
Khanum, the daughter of the Chinese Emperor, and
favourite wife of Tamerlane. She is said to have
built this not only as a school, but also as a mausoleum
for her remains ; its greatness and beauty, however,
were such that she offered it instead to her lord and
master (no doubt a wise policy on her part), and built
instead for her tomb what is known as the little Bibi
Khanum, an unimposing structure overlooking the
grain market.
The Spanish historian, Clavijo, gives a vivid piclure
of the lady taking part at a great feast in honour of
the wedding of Tamerlane's grandsons. He says :
" When the people were all arranged in order round
the wall which encircled the pavilion, Cano, the chief
wife of this lord, came forth to be present at the feast.
She had on a robe of red silk, trimmed with gold
lace, long and flowing. It had no waist, and fifteen
ladies held up the skirt of it to enable her to walk.
She wore a crested head-dress of red cloth, very high,
covered with large pearls, rubies, emeralds, and other
precious stones, and embroidered with gold lace. on
the top of all there was a little castle, on which were
three large and brilliant rubies, surmounted by a tall
plume of feathers. . . . Her hair, which was very
black, hung down over her shoulders, and they value
black hair much more than any other colour. She
was accompanied by 300 ladies, of whom three held
her head-dress when she sat down, lest it should tilt
over. She had so much white lead on her face
that it looked like paper, and this is put on to protecf
210
ch. xix Samarkand
it from the sun, for when they travel (evidently Clavijo
suffered in the same way as modern travellers when
seeking information) in winter or in summer all great
ladies put this on." The palace one may very well
believe, from what we can see of its remains, was a
fitting background to such a gorgeous company. Its
vast height and the brilliancy of the tiles make it one
of the most impressive sights in Samarkand. The
magnificent cupola is sadly broken, but the remains
show that it is different from other cupolas in Samar-
kand, which were fluted and ovoid in shape, with blue
tiles decorating them in fine contrast to the pearly
whiteness of the remainder of the structure. The
Bibi Khanum cupola is dome-shaped and entirely
covered with the turquoise blue tiles so characteristic
of Chinese architecture (in Shansi especially), and one
likes to fancy it as a reminiscence of the princess's
native land. It is the most glorious note of colour,
and at a distance, where the other tiles lose all their
effect, it glows with undimmed beauty. It added value
and charm to the various shades of blue in the great
archway below it. In my sketch of the city I have
tried to give this effect. The walls of the palace are
sadly ruined, and it is to be feared that soon little will
remain ; the majestic archways can still be traced, and
some fluted twisted columns of vivid blue are almost
perfect, terminating below in an elegant design some
feet above the ground. Hard by, but outside the
precincts of the palace, another lofty tower stands
erect, entirely covered with blue arabesques. Surely
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xix
such a wealth of beauty can be found nowhere else
in the world.
In the centre of the main courtyard, under the
shade of the trees, is a great marble lectern, richly
carved, on which the gigantic Koran of Othman was
placed, which, it was alleged, the Chinese princess
used to read from a neighbouring window. It is
certainly difficult to see how it could be read other-
wise than from some elevation, except by a giant.
The natives believe in its miraculous efficacy in cases
of spinal diseases, if the patient can bend sufficiently
to creep underneath it.
There is still one oclagonal tower covered with
tiles which is fairly complete, and also a portion of
one of the immense round towers similar to those in
the Rigistan. In the interesting volume of Messrs.
Durrieux and Fauvelle, called Samarkande la bien
gardee, there is a true and suggestive comparison of
these buildings, the Rigistan still comparatively com-
plete and perfect, but degraded from its former great-
ness by its present inhabitants, the Bibi Khanum an
absolute ruin, but glorious with the imperishable
beauty of the past. The Chinese lady founded the
largest of any of the schools of Samarkand.
As I was trying somewhat hurriedly to sketch a
few architectural details, the whole being far too
vast to attempt, except from a considerable distance,
a lamentable whining arose almost at my feet, and
a litter of puppies crawled out from some brushwood.
Our guide began looking about, and soon discovered
ch. xix Samarkand
an empty old tin, which he got a lad to fill with
water. He next hailed a man in the bazaar and
bought bread ; when he had crumbled it up the
puppies fell upon it like starvelings. The buying of
the bread brought to light the fadt that a different
coinage is current here from that used in the Russian
city, and explained why our tips were looked on with
evident suspicion.
From the palace we went to the grain market
close by, and found a scene, the picluresqueness of
which beggars description. Indeed an apology is
due to the reader for the number of adjectives and
superlatives used in this chapter (I believe these are
quite antiquated grammatical terms, but I am ignorant
of the new names which are later than my day) ; the
fa6t is that this is the most wonderful city I have
yet come across in my wanderings, and no words seem
adequate, so I trust to be forgiven. Here one could
escape from European anachronisms, and the place
was filled with a gay, bustling throng of men and
beasts. The water-carrier was busy quenching man's
thirst from an unappetising-looking skin slung over
his shoulder, which still retained the shape of the
animal to whom it originally belonged. Another
man provides the smoker with a whiff of tobacco
from a general pipe. We pushed our way gently
through the throng, treated with utmost courtesy by
young and old. We climbed up to Bibi Khanum's
tomb, an excellent point of vantage from which to
look down on the busy scene. Immediately below
213
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xix
us was the grain market, to the right a busy traffic
in green grass used for fodder ; beyond that was a
space specially devoted to camels, where the beasts
knelt in long rows, tranquilly surveying the scene.
Further away was a large enclosure full of horses, and
another space devoted to the sale of fuel. All round
the market were low buildings, or booths, for all sorts
of things, and a row of busy blacksmiths and harness
makers. Blocks of rock-salt from Hissar, sweetmeats,
tobacco, and green snuff found plenty of purchasers,
while itinerant vendors plied a busy trade in all
directions. Every day that we were there seemed
equally busy, and in the bazaars they sell not only
native goods, but large quantities of Russian silks,
especially those made in Moscow. Cotton goods
from Manchester were not lacking, and it is to be
feared that competition is killing to a large extent the
native industries. They no longer make the wonder-
ful carpets of ancient times, and we were warned
that it is risky to buy old ones on account of infection.
Some of the silks are attractive, but majenta is a
favourite colour, and the curious designs would not
look well transplanted from their local setting.
Leaving the market we passed through a little
valley on the eastern side, and to our surprise a pic-
turesque native suddenly stepped into the carriage
and sat down opposite to us. Our self-constituted
guide was seated on the box, so he turned round to
explain that it was quite right, for we should require
the man's services directly. In point of fact we stopped
214
HAZRKTI SHAH ZINDEH
ch. xix Samarkand
in less than two minutes in front of a gateway, the
entrance to which was blocked by a pole placed
across it. We passed through a side gate on foot
into a shady park, where numbers of people were
seated in parties under the trees, and sweetmeat sellers
were plying a brisk trade. There are many different
trees at Samarkand, but the chief of them are the white
poplars and the black Turkestan elms ; the latter are
the national sacred tree — the karagatch. The people
are great gardeners, and the water-supply is excellent ;
indeed it is being drawn increasingly from the river
which supplies Bokhara, to the detriment of that city.
As we strolled along the shady paths veiled women
eyed us furtively. A few minutes' walk brought us
to a short flight of steps leading down to a fine blue-
tiled gateway. As we entered it a vista of great
beauty, a masterpiece of art, was revealed, which had
previously been completely hidden from view. Forty
gleaming marble steps lead upward to a fine gateway,
surmounted by domes. A flowering shrub hung
over the wall on the right, and a cluster of scarlet
poppies had forced their way between the slabs of
marble. In the porch sat a typical group of natives,
and our guide presented us with some ceremony to
the Mullah, who was apparently in charge of the
buildings — the Hazreti Shah Zindeh, or summer
palace of Tamerlane. The palace is called after a
saint, Shah Zindeh, whose tomb is one of the buildings ;
in fact it would never occur to any one that this was
a palace, but rather a collection of shrines and tombs.
215
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xix
The saint is expected to rise again some day. on
reaching the top of the steps we came into a little
flagged lane, with the most brilliant archway standing
up against the sky (the one in the sketch), such a
blaze of scintillating colour that the blue heaven
looked dull and opaque in comparison. Here the
tiles are finer than any of the others ; they are modelled
in relief and in open work, unlike any that we saw
elsewhere. The designs were of an infinite variety,
and it seemed a grievous pity that the little hall
within was dirty and befouled by birds nesting there ;
all the walls within, as well as without, were covered
with various kindsiof tiles. Opposite this was another
hall, quite different in its decoration. A little further
down the winding lane were another pair of halls,
also surmounted by domes, and with yet other designs
on the walls ; there are altogether seven of them,
the remaining three being grouped together at the
extreme end of the lane, and forming the termination
of it. The innermost shrine is a little mosque, con-
sisting of two rooms, a sort of holy of holies. on
the wall I noticed a rough colour print of the Kaaba,
and named it to our guide. He was greatly interested,
and asked if I had ever been to Mecca, and I fancy
reckoned me at once one of the faithful.
We were shown the great Koran, a gigantic volume
to suit the size of the lectern in Bibi Khanum's
madressah. The famous original was carried to St.
Petersburg after the taking of Samarkand by the
Russians, but this is said to be a fine sixteenth-century
216
ch. xix Samarkand
copy of it. There were relics of the saint pointed
out to us behind a screen, but we could not make out
what they were, and we were shown the beautiful
carpet, a fine specimen of those made in Turkestan.
Banners of red, blue, and green hang over these
treasures, and under them the guardian of the shrine
sat down, intimating that he was now prepared to
receive a gift. To judge by his attitude he thought
it would be a lordly one, but there is always a strange
discrepancy in the East between the magnitude of
the gift and the air with which it is received. In
various nooks and corners people lay curled up asleep,
or were drowsily repeating their prayers. While I
sketched our two guides were evidently discussing
our merits, and at last one inquired if we were Russians,
and on hearing that we were not they wanted to
know whether we liked the Russians, making it
abundantly plain that they did not. Nevertheless they
acquiesce without much apparent feeling to the yoke
of the foreigner, no doubt accepting it as " Fate."
one of the interesting points to visit outside Samar-
kand is the tomb of the prophet Daniel, whom the
people insist on considering to be the hero of Scrip-
ture history. We drove to it through the town,
passing out of the market up a steep dusty road. A
mosque dominates the city from the brow of the hill,
and around it is a large cemetery of dreary, neglecled
graves. It was from this point that I sketched the
city, and while doing so was somewhat startled by
finding a large tortoise at my side, which had crawled
217
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xix
out of the grass. The road is primitive, but no one
experts anything else, and constant carriage exercise
no doubt is good for the inhabitants in lieu of any-
other kind. The way leads through sandy, hillocky
ground (suggestive of dunes by the seashore) for
about a couple of miles, and then the road abruptly
ends. We got out of the carriage and the driver led
us on foot down a ravine to the tomb. It is the
longest tomb one would suppose that could be found
anywhere, being about 25 yards in length (Edouard
Blanc says), and is finely situated on a rock terrace,
with crags rising above it and plenty of trees below
it down to the edge of a river. The legend which
accounts for the extraordinary length of the tomb is
that, owing to some miraculous quality, it grows a
few inches every year, and that by the time it has
stretched round the earth Islamism will dominate the
whole world. 1 However, the Russian governor
decided the miracle should cease, and ordered a
building to be placed over it, an inconspicuous
erection with five little cupolas along the top and
surmounted by the usual standard, tuft of hair
and rams' horns ; this last is the usual offering made
by Sarts at a saint's shrine, and which we saw again
on the tombs outside Bokhara.
Strolling down the steep hill-side into a grove of
trees below, we came to a busy scene. The trees rise
out of a large terrace, where handsome carpets were
spread on the ground, on which were seated parties
1 Samarkande la bien gardee, by Durrieux and Fauvelle, p. 183.
218
ch. xix Samarkand
of devotees engaged in conversation or in prayer,
while their horses were tethered hard by in the shade.
Close at hand servants were busily preparing food at
various fires under a shed, and it looked as if it were
some picnic instead of a religious exercise. Evidently
the worshippers were going to make a day of it, and
they looked highly picturesque with their many-
coloured robes and white turbans.
The valley was a charming one, full of lofty poplars
and elms. A mill was built over the river lower down,
and there were many houses nestling among the trees.
The yellow soil, called toprach, is extremely fertile
when sufficiently watered, and the Sarts have a saying,
" Plant a stick in the toprach, give it a trickle of
water, and next year you will have a tree."
There are other excursions worth making in the
neighbourhood, and we greatly regretted that lack of
time prevented our doing them. one in particular
we thought would have been attractive, namely, a ride
to the snow-covered mountains, whence there is a
fine view over the plain to the city. There are ruins
called Aphrosiab all round the city, and interesting
coins of the Graeco-Bactrian period have been found
there. Till within the last few years the madressah
of Timur Malik, ten kilometres distant, was still
standing, but it has been laid in ruins by an earth-
quake. There are other mosques in the city worth
visiting, especially that of Zemreh Khodja, the
mausoleum of Khodja ben Khaddra, and the mad-
ressahs of Ishrak Khaneh and Khodja Akhrar.
219
CHAPTER XX
Bokhara
THEjourney from Samarkand to Bokhara only
takes about six and a half hours by rail,across a
dull monotonous plain as far as Kazan (pro-
nounced Kaghan), thence on alittle branch line through
green fields for the last half-hour. We stopped at
the Russian settlement of Kazan, an absolutely un-
interesting place. We were informed that the Hotel
d'Europe was comfortable, and we drove to it from
the station, only to find every room engaged. The
German proprietress told us they were always busy,
but recommended us to the only other hotel, the
Commercial. Here we found a thoroughly clean
room, and the pleasantest of Russian hostesses. As
usual, we were expected to have brought our bed
clothes,butnot having done so the hostess fetched some
out of her private store, and she was quite gratified
by our admiration of her handiwork on the sheets :
"Made when I was unmarried," she said, with a weary
smile.
Next morning we intended taking an early train
on the little branch line to Bokhara, but the heat
was oppressive, so we delayed till the afternoon when
ch. xx Bokhara
the air was somewhat cooled by thunder rain.
Bokhara is said to be intolerably hot, quite different
from Kazan, though only eight miles distant. The
fields of grain looked green and fresh, and already the
crops were beginning to be cut, the deep blue of the
cornflowers glinting among them. The train runs
between Kazan and Bokhara half-a-dozen times per
day.
on our arrival there we saw the truth of what we
had been told, that Bokhara was not a place where
Europeans could stay, for there are only small
caravanserais and no hotel, but there are some Russian
buildings outside the city walls, including a fine
bank. The old walls enclose a large city, but as we
made our way through its narrow streets we were
struck with the absence of population, such a striking
contrast from Samarkand. At the gate were Sart
guards and a row of fixed bayonets hung on the wall
of the guard house. Here we were no longer in
Russian territory, for the province of Bokhara, 100,000
square miles in extent, cuts like a wedge through
Turkestan, and is a vassal state of the Russian Empire.
It only boasts two cities of importance, Bokhara
and Khiva, and is ruled by the Amir. The Govern-
ment is a hereditary despotism, with absolute power
of life and death. Russia, however, keeps a jealous
eye upon its affairs, and when two native missionaries
(under the auspices of the Swedish Mission) had been
working there some time ago, the Russian authori-
ties insisted upon their being sent out of the country.
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xx
Since then no mission work is allowed to exist, for it
is hardly possible to call by such a name what is
being done by the Orthodox Church, its work aiming
rather at political than spiritual results ; at least so
we were told by a Russian lady. It has no definite
mission as in Siberia for the Mohammedans. I met
this lady in the street, and she stopped me to inquire
if I happened to be Miss C. ; she had been asked to
look out for her, the only address furnished being
" Central Asia." She proved to be a Red Cross
nurse, travelling in Central Asia with the objecl: of
doing work for the Bible Society, and ascertaining
what opening there was for mission work. Her
nationality and right of entrance into all Government
hospitals gave her special facility for doing this, and
she found the people quite friendly and inclined to
talk on religious topics, but the officials stood in the
way. The Russian Consul told her frankly he didn't
like missionaries, but he admitted that he knew none
and could give no grounds for his objection.
Bokhara " the Noble " has always been the centre
of religious influence since Islam first conquered it
about a.d. 709 (Arabian invasion), and to-day it
boasts a rigid adherence to the letter of the Koran,
surpassing that of any other place. Before the
Arabian invasion Central Asia was Christian. The
Nestorian Church had established episcopal sees in
Merv and Samarkand as early as the fifth century, and
the whole country had practically adopted Christi-
anity. After it had become Moslem the Mongols
ch. xx Bokhara
swept down upon it in the thirteenth century. " In
Bokhara, so famed for its men of piety and learning,
the Mongols stabled their horses in the sacred pre-
cincts of the mosques, and tore up the Korans to
serve as litter ; those of the inhabitants who were
not butchered were carried away into captivity, and
their city reduced to ashes. Such, too, was the fate of
Samarkand, Balkh, and many another city of Central
Asia." x The Moslem faith, however, survived the
storm. When the Arabian Mohammedan leadership
had becomeweakened about the middle of the eleventh
century it passed into the hands of the Turanians, and
they now showed their power by winning their con-
querors over to Islamism in a singularly short space
of time.
As one strolls through the streets of Bokhara to-
day, one sees and hears nothing but Mohammedanism.
The civil administration is entirely in the hands of
the religious orders, and the madressahs, with the
exception of El Azhar at Cairo, are the most import-
ant in the world. There are said to be 365
madressahs, but in reality there is not a third of that
number. The dates of some of these are 1372
(Abdullah's), 1426, 1529, 1582; and the Empress
Catherine of Russia founded one in the eighteenth
century. Vambery says that nowhere in the East
had he found the Moslems so punctilious about the
externals of religion, even to repeating their prayers
stark-naked for fear their clothes should have been
1 Arnold's " Preaching of Islam," p. 185.
223
The Face of Russian Turkesta?i ch. xx
defiled in any way without their being aware of it.
Their ruling principle is " man must make a figure ;
no one cares for what he thinks!" We saw the
shockingly dirty tanks where so much religious
washing goes on, and they were revolting beyond
words. The text of Islam says that where there are
more than 120 pints of water it is "blind," that is
to say the dirt gets lost in it. Consequently you see
people washing out their ears, noses, and mouths in
the filthiest tanks adjoining mosques before reciting
their prayers, which they do at least five times a day.
The consequence of this is that the inhabitants con-
stantly suffer from tapeworn, which the French call
by the more pleasing name " solitare."
A large part of the population of Bokhara belongs
to the religious orders, and are known as Ishans,
Mullahs, and Reis. They belong to the Sunnite
faction, and have an utter abhorrence of Persian
Moslems, who do not belong to that seel: ; they
maintain the same standard of religious asceticism as
that of the Middle Ages, and are prepared to fight
just as in those days. It is hard to realise that they
are utterly untouched by modernism, and the barbar-
ism of Bokhara is unspeakable. Needless to say, we
did not visit the prison — descriptions of it can be
read in every book dealing with the place, but it does
not bear thinking of when we remember that English-
men were literally rotting away there, " masses of
their flesh having been gnawn off their bones by
vermin in 1843" (Wolff). The citadel has no less
224
ch. xx Bokhara
hideous tales to tell : indeed Bokhara is one of the
most degraded places on the face of the earth accord-
ing to all accounts.
" Thou wilt to Bokhara ? O fool for thy pains,
Thither thou goest to be put into chains."
Mesnevi.
Vambery's description of what he saw only half a
century ago leaves no room for doubt on this subject.
He heard the robes which were to be awarded to
successful soldiers described as " four-head," " ten-
head," or " twenty-head " robes, and seeing no
such design on them inquired the meaning of the
term. For all answer he was taken to see the arrival
of the conquerors ; they had women captives tied to
their saddle bows as well as great sacks. These were
filled with human heads, and each man in turn had
these hideous trophies counted, and the number placed
upon the official list to be the measure of the reward
he should receive. The lot of the slaves is a terrible
one, and slavery still exists, being a thing wholly
approved and sanctioned by the Koran. The law of
Harem is observed with the utmost stringency, and
women of the upper class are kept closely secluded.
If a girl is allowed to go out at all, she must not only
be veiled, but must put on the appearance of age and
decrepitude, walking with a stick on tottering foot-
steps. Although not compelled to do so as in the
case of women, the men also cultivate assiduously
the art of a special step, which is known as the
" Reftari khiraman " : their poets describe it as the
225 P
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xx
swaying of a cypress in the wind, but to us it appears
as an ungainly waddle. David Cox was clever
enough to make the dogs bark in his sketches, but
I, alas, cannot make my man waddle !
The law of Islam prohibits drunkenness, but "the
number of beng eaters (beng is a drug made from
cannabis Indica) is greatest in Bokhara and Khokand,
and it is no exaggeration to say that three-fourths of
the learned and official world, or in other words the
whole intelligent class, are victims to this vice. The
Government looks on with perfect indifference while
hundreds, nay thousands,commit suicide. . . . Thefew
hints we have thrown out are sufficient to show the
abyss of crime to which an exaggerated fanaticism
degrades mankind " (Vambery's " Travels in Central
Asia"). Bokhara is still the same to-day, the most
fanatical and the most corrupt city in Asia, though
outwardly to the eye of the casual stranger clothed
with the respectability that its European masters
exact.
We penetrated into the bazaars, but they offered
no special features of interest, Bokhara having like
the other cities of Central Asia to a large extent lost
its ancient skill in art. The silks sold in it are made in
Moscow mainly, and the cottons are also European.
The railway and the protective tariff have combined
to kill the old trade that used to exist between Bokhara
and India, passing over the trade route through
Afghanistan. The fine architecture all belongs to
the past. one of the mosques was ornamented with
226
MOSQUE AT BOKHARA
ch. xx Bokhara
beautiful designs in brickwork, enhanced by a fine
note of colour near the top of the minarets in green
tiles. The colour ornamentation of the mosques is
for the most part much more restrained than that of
Samarkand, but seen in the midst of the uniform dust
colour of its sun-dried bricks it is the more effective.
There are not nearly so many trees as at Samarkand,
though outside one of the city gates we found a
shady road, and there are twelve large canals in the
neighbourhood to supply the gardens as well as the
ordinary drinking supply. A crowd of camels was
waiting hard by ; presumably they remain outside the
city because the streets are too narrow and tortuous
to be blocked by such unwieldly beasts. There was
an elevated booth on the other side of the gate where
the gay throng seemed to be engaged in the acl: of
worship and pleasure simultaneously ; but the fore-
ground of the picture was filled up with a compact
mass of graves, looking as if they were centuries old.
The largest building in the city is the mosque of
Kelan, built by Tamerlane, and there are many other
mosques varying in size and interest. We climbed
up to the roof of one for the sake of the view, but it
was not much, and we were told that we should have
gone up a tower for the purpose. Almost every
minaret is surmounted by a stork's nest, for Bokhara
is noted for its storks.
As we came away we saw a string of covered carts
with gay carpets over them making their way to the
station. They were backed up to a siding, where
227
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xx
the veiled beauties within them were rapidly trans-
ferred to second-class carriages away from the public
gaze. Then the gay coverings were folded up and
put in the luggage van, and the carriages were brought
round and attached to our train ; evidently they con-
tained people of importance, for there was a large
crowd of natives to see them off, and on reaching
Kazan their carriages were again detached prepara-
tory to being joined to the express as soon as it
arrived. Many Persians are to be found throughout
Turkestan ; the railway stations are crowded with
them, and our Russian Red Cross nurse told us a
charming idyllic story which I cannot forbear repeat-
ing, of one of their veiled beauties with whom she
had talked on her journey. The Persian lady was a
princess travelling with her husband on their honey-
moon. The husband said they had seen one another
seven years ago in a garden, and had fallen deeply in
love. Owing to his inferior rank the princess's
father would not hear of their marriage, and it was
only after seven years that his consent was at last
obtained. " She is not beautiful as she was then," he
continued, but there was a look of great tenderness on
both their faces, showing that the love at all events
had not diminished, and they further explained that
they had determined to have a European honeymoon,
and were now on their travels. Another happy
couple whom our friend met was guarded by the
wife's stalwart brothers. The husband and wife had
been married nine years and were still deeply in love,
228
ch. xx Bokhara
but they were very sad because the wife (aged twenty-
one) had as yet no son. They were now on a pilgrim-
age to pray for one, as the husband said he had not
taken a second wife, nor did he wish to do so, " but,
of course, if Providence did not send a son ." He
repudiated the idea that as a Mohammedan he might
be expecled to have four wives if he chose, and said
he was very fond of his present wife. Certainly the
position of women is the worst evil of Mohammed-
anism, taken in connection with Mohammed's own
history, and in the light of the teaching of the
Koran.
It might have been hoped that Russian influence
would have had some effect in ameliorating things ;
but even the Russophile Skrine * admits that it has had
no civilizing influence on the Khanate of Bokhara.
Slavery, tyranny, and barbarism are still allowed free
scope, in order that theirdisintegrating effect may the
more readily place it under Russian dominion.
1 See "The Heart of Asia : a History of Russian Turkestan and the
Central Asian Khanates from the Earliest Times," by;F. H. Skrine and
E. D. Ross.
229
CHAPTER XXI
Through the Caucasus
WE left Kazan for the homeward journey,
intending only to stop at Vienna on the
way, but fate decreed otherwise. The
train started in the evening, and we travelled two
nights and a day through flat country to the Caspian
Sea. The railway through Turkestan runs parallel
first with the Afghan frontier — across which no
Russian dare step on pain of his life — and then parallel
with the Persian border. The mountains of Persia
formed a beautiful outline against the stormy sky as
we passed through Askabad, the southernmost point
of the line, and when the rain came down in blinding
torrents we watched the patient camels and their
drivers on the plain, behaving as if completely ob-
livious of the storm. Not so the Cossack on his
fiery steed ; he looked as if possessed by the storm
demon, tearing across the plain as if the furies were
behind him. A land of strange contrasts — the im-
movable calm of the East, and, vainly beating against
it, the restless West. The question forces itself
irresistibly upon the mind — which will conquer ?
The sun shone brightly next morning as we woke
230
-VL. t gi !
/Iff
f-; ■!?,=!
WML
1 i - -■!■ 1 - \\
■ - r-^i
ch. xxi Through the Caucasus
on the shores of the Caspian Sea, and it looked calm
and inviting, so different from the description of his
stormy journey given by Anthony Jenkinson in the
sixteenth century. He says : " This sea is freshwater
in many places, and in other places as salt as our great
Ocean. It hath many goodly Rivers falling into it,
and it avoideth not itselfe except it be underground.
During the time of our Navigation wee set up the
redde crosse of S. George in our flagges, for honour of
the Christians, which I suppose was never seen in the
Caspian Sea before." The terminus of the railway line
is a miserable little sun-baked village called Krasno-
vodsk, with only one imposing edifice, the railway
station. We took our things at once to the boat,
through a maze of railway trucks and carriages, and
were delighted to find it a comfortable little steamer,
with a Finnish captain who had served long on English
ships and looked like a Scotchman. There was a
gigantic sturgeon lying on the landing-stage, and he
told us some have been caught in the Caspian Sea
weighing two tons. Our voyage only lasted about
thirteen hours, but none of the passengers save myself
faced dinner, and I was surprised to see next morning
that there had been some eight or nine on board.
During the night a little child died, so there was a
delay while the health officer made his inquiry, and
we were all duly inspected.
The view of Baku, although seen through driving
rain, was eminently picturesque, and the old ruined
maiden's tower (in the centre of my sketch) which
231
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xxi
is close to the wharf stands up boldly from amongst
the modern buildings. Forty years ago Baku was a
small town with its picturesque eastern quarter, but
now it is a city boasting more than a quarter of a
million inhabitants, as cosmopolitan as a seaport on
the Mediterranean. The extraordinary change is of
course due to the discovery of oil, which has brought
wealth, ugliness, and other undesirable things to the
surrounding country.
The country round Baku is hideous, a sort of
eruption of oil derricks covers miles of it. These are
pyramidal buildings like square mill chimneys, only
considerably thicker at the base, and there are no
less than 2000 at Balakhani closely packed together.
There is such an abundance of oil that in many parts
it is only necessary to make a hole in the ground
with a stick and a jet of flame will rise in the air.
on still nights it is possible to set light to the oil
which gathers on the surface of the sea. No wonder
that the Parsees worshipped the strange fire, and
there still exists a curious temple at a place called
Surakhany, about half a day's journey from Baku,
where the so-called "eternal fires" burn, though the
last worshippers left it some quarter of a century
ago. The modern spirit has changed it into a profit-
able petroleum factory.
The town is evidently well worth seeing, but the
pitiless rain drove us to the Hotel d'Europe, and we
were glad to resume our journey, deciding to go
round by Tiflis instead of direct from Baku to Vienna.
232
•
\
ch. xxi Through the Caucasus
There is a through train to the frontier, Volochisk,
which takes four nights and three days, and from
thence it is another day and night journey to Vienna.
We were told that it would be only a difference of
hours if we took the other route, and that by so
doing we could see the magnificent pass through the
Caucasus, travelling from Tirlis to Vladi-Kavkaz by
public automobile. It was impossible in Baku to
ascertain anything definite as to the hours of starting
or arriving of the automobile, but as our train was
due at 6.30 a.m. we fondly imagined we should be
in time to catch it. Nothing of the sort. With
Russian perversity it started in connection with no
train, but at 6 a.m. We could hardly regret the
delay, however, for we found ourselves in such com-
fortable quarters at the quiet Hotel de Londres, which
had been recommended to us, and we should have
appreciated it the more had we known then that
they were the last beds we should occupy till we
reached London a week later.
Tirlis is well worth a visit : it is situated on the lofty
banks of a tumultuous river, and its green and red roofs,
varied by the gleaming domes of the churches, are most
picturesque. There is a large number of these, and
Tirlis has become the home of many religious refugees,
for in order to stamp out heresy, orthodox Russia exiles
her Baptists, Stundists, &c, to the outlying parts of the
empire, such as Siberia and the Caucasus. It boasts
a fine German church, also a Swedish mission, and
a depot of the Bible Society. The Swedish mission-
233
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xxi
aries have been working there for twenty-two years,
but are not allowed by the Government to have any
medical or educational work, which greatly limits their
usefulness. It is hard work, but bravely done.
Tirlis is noted for its sulphur baths, and attracts many
visitors from different parts of Russia on that account.
After a drive round the town we went up the funicular
railway, and from the summit a magnificent panoramic
view is to be had, for Tirlis is in the heart of the moun-
tains. The ruins of the old walls can be traced on the
north side of the river, and the old Georgian fortress,
now included in the botanical garden. Tirlis was
founded in the fifth century, and became the capital of
the Georgian kingdom in the beginning of the sixth
century. It fell into the hands of Russia in I 80 1 , and
the feelings of the Georgians are still intensely bitter
after a century of foreign rule. It is a cosmopolitan
city, and Professor Brugsch estimates that seventy lan-
guages may be heard in it. one unusual feature of
the population is that the men are double the number
of the women.
At 5.30 next morning we set out for the automobile
and secured our seats ; it was a covered car to seat nine
passengers, but we were only six, which certainly seemed
a sufficient load for the road we had to cover. The
earlier part of the way we sped through pretty wooded
country, with picturesque villages and ruined fortresses
dotted among the crags on either side of the road.
They were not so numerous as to punctuate the scenery
in the way they do on the Rhine, but just to remind
234
ch. xxi "Through the Caucasus
one that this was the Georgian military road in the old
days. Our chauffeur was a good one, but unfortu-
nately his hooter was as hoarse as a raven and not even
as loud, so that there was no means of warning the
vehicles ahead, which caused constant delay on the
narrow road. Before we had proceeded far we saw a
comical accident owing to the soft condition of the
road ; a private motor car on one side and a cart on the
other had each sunk deep into the soil in trying to
avoid one another. Fortunately there was plenty of
assistance at hand, for the cart belonged to a party of
emigrants, and soon both vehicles were dug out and
pushed on to solid ground.
The day was beautiful, and the scent of hawthorn,
wild roses and thyme, yellow azalea and lime-trees
filled the air, and the scenery became increasingly wild
and beautiful. After three hours' drive we halted for
half-an-hour near a town on the outskirts of which
musketry practice was going on, then we began
the main ascent of the pass. The road became very
steep, and the air cold and damp as we zigzagged up
the mountain. There were brilliant patches of king-
cups, and amongst them beautiful tall snowdrops in
great profusion. Instead of cultivated land there were
pastures full of flocks of sheep and goats, shepherded
by bright-looking boys. Of all the passes I have seen
in Europe this is certainly the finest. one seems to
be right amongst the snow fields, and the road some-
times passes between high walls of snow or through
sheds built with great solidity. We stopped one hour
2 35
The Face of Russian Turkestan ch. xxi
for lunch at the village where we met the automobile
going the reverse way, and again later at the foot of
Mt. Kasbec for another half-hour. Kasbec is 16,546
feet in height, namely, 100 feet higher than Mont
Blanc. on its slope there is a typical Caucasian
village, as seen in the sketch. From the time when
we started on the down-hill road, however, we lost all
pleasure in the scenery. Our driver suddenly became
utterly reckless under the influence (as we learnt later
on) of pressure brought to bear on him by one of the
passengers, who wanted to arrive early at Vladikavkaz.
We simply dashed down the road and round corners,
at the imminent peril of our necks, scattering horses
and carts in wild confusion into the ditch or up banks
to what seemed to be certain destruction. only once
did the chauffeur stop, on the demand of a man with a
rifle ; he admitted that he was frightened, for not
long ago the auto had been held up by brigands. It
was a momentary pause, however, and we dashed on
as recklessly as before. Finally on entering the town
a horse took fright and dragged its cart into the ditch,
overturning it completely, but the chauffeur merely
smiled and drove on. How thankful we were to draw
up safely at last at the Grand Hotel at Vladikavkaz at
6 p.m. We had some hours to spare before our train
started, so we made our way to the telegraph office in
order to wire home. The polite clerk, in answer to our
inquiry, said that it took much less time to telegraph
to England than to any place in Russia, and that it
would probably be delivered in London in an hour's
236
ttfihpm
■<' : ' :
fj
MOUNT KASBEC
ch. xxi Through the Caucasus
time ; in point of facl, the telegram was never delivered
at all. German we found the foreign language best
understood in Russia, and for the benefit of inexperi-
enced travellers I will conclude my volume with a
brief account of our crossing the frontier.
At Tiflis we gave up our passports (according to
regulation) to the hotel-keeper, stating where we had
come from and our next halting place, namely Vienna.
The police have to put their official signatures on the
passport wherever you stop on Russian soil, but also in
addition something further when you wish to leave the
country, and every time the passport is vise-ed the
traveller has to pay. We presumed that this had been
properly done at Tiflis, having paid for it, but when
we reached Volochisk and the officials came for all the
passengers' passports, they looked at ours and returned
them to us in a rough, surly way, saying something that
we could not understand, instead of carrying them off
with the others. Every one was locked up in the train,
and in due course of time the officials returned with
the passports and gave them back to their owners.
They pointed us to the door, and proceeded to put our
luggage out. A lady from an adjoining carriage came
and explained the situation ; the passports had not been
properly signed for leaving the country, and we should
have to telegraph to the police at Tiflis before we
should be allowed to leave. " How long will it take ? "
we asked in dismay. " Oh ! not more than three or
four days ! " We inquired if there was no method of
tipping by which we could escape such a dismal pros-
237
The Face of Russian Turkesta7i ch. xxi
peel, but she was emphatic in denying it. She sug-
gested, however, that by treble payment we could send
a quick telegram instead of a slow one, and she got her
husband to go and explain our sad condition to the
officer in charge of the station. He was fortunately
able to speak a little German, and he ordered an un-
derling to go and write the necessary telegram to the
police at Tiflis. The little colonel was in full regi-
mentals, and wore spurs, and the station had a military
guard ; he had to be there on arrival of every train
apparently, and acted as stationmaster. He reassured
us by saying that we might hope for an answer in the
course of the afternoon (it was now about ten in the
morning), in which case we could take the evening
train to Vienna. We had the melancholy satisfaction
of finding that we were not the only people whose
passports were unsatisfactory ; in fact no one seemed
surprised about it except ourselves. We tried to
beguile the weary hours by watching the custom-house
officials enjoying themselves over the parcel post ; a
number of muslin dress lengths were unpacked and
inspected, as well as sundry other things. The
restaurant was a source of amusement as well as com-
fort to us, and was far superior to an English one at
a similar station. At long intervals trains arrived, and
we visited the telegraph office from time to time.
We studied the " toilette " that went on in the
ladies' waiting-room, and when night came and still
no answer, we debated what to do next. At 9.30
we saw our hopes of a comfortable bed next night
238
ch. xxi Through the Caucasus
disappear, but we still felt it would be well to leave
at 2.30 a.m. if fate permitted. The " hotel," a small
cottage within sight of the station, we did not fancy,
so we resigned ourselves to the small rest obtainable
on a wooden bench and the window ledge. Every
time a train arrived the colonel appeared also, and I
fear he got rather tired of our polite request for in-
formation ; the importunate widow would have had
no chance with him. What an extraordinary occu-
pation for an officer ; but he sought to beguile the
time by hob-nobbing with the large staff of employees
who, doubtless for an absurdly small wage, spend
most of the twenty-four hours loafing about the
railway.
At last the night ended, and we saw with pity a
group of emigrants trying to breakfast under a dull
drizzling sky opposite the station. A friendly porter
gave us the news we were longing for — a telegram had
arrived. No words can express our delight, for we
seemed to know every stone of that railway platform,
and we rushed to the office to demand our passports,
of which the officials had taken possession. Our de-
tention had lasted twenty-four hours, and as we shook
the dust from our feet we failed not to be thankful for
the Providence which caused us to be citizens of
a land of liberty instead of tyranny. It is only in
Russia that one thoroughly realises it ; and the irk-
someness of it becomes intolerable. " Implicit obedi-
ence, silent subjection, and the irresistible power of
despotism are here brought home effectively to the
239
The Face of Russian Turkestati ch. xxi
stranger. But this impression remains with the
traveller throughout the entire journey —
1 Be silent ; keep yourselves in curb —
We are watched in look and word.'
An Empire of one hundred and thirty millions of
prisoners and of one million gaolers — such is Russia."
240
INDEX
^BDULLAH, 190
Afforestation, 177
Afghanistan, 226, 230
Agriculture in Korea, 125
in Siberia, 173
Alexander the Great, 203
American Missions, 68, 80
Amir of Bokhara, 201, 203, 221
Amu Daria, 183
Amur region, 158
Ancestor worship, 70, 86
Angara River, 155
An-san, 103
Antung, 58, 61, 73
Aphrosiab, 219
Arabian Invasion, Turkestan, 223
Mohammedanism, 223
Aral Sea, 174, 175
Arctic Ocean, 162, 163
Arithmetic, 38
Arnold, 223
Asceticism, Mohammedan, 224
Ashekhabat, 160
Ashiho, Ch. xiii.
Askabad, 230
Astor House, Moukden, 3 1
Australasia, 38
Australian Presbyterians, 79, 108
Azerbijana, 198
gABER, 195
Baghdad, 195
Baikal, Lake, 154, 159, 162
Bajazet, Sultan, 200
24
Baku, 231-233
Balak Nani, 223
Balkh, 223
Baltic fleet, 1 12
Baptists, 233
Baths, Chinese, 142
Sulphur, 234
Bazaars, 185, 214, 226
Behren, 22
Beng, 226
Bibi Khanum, 209-213
Little, 210, 213
Bible Society, B. and F., 161,
173, 174,222,233
Study, 38, 75, 77, 82
Women, 77, 143
Black Sea, 169, 174
Blanc, Edouard, 191, 218
Blanc, Mont, 236
Blind, 49, 81
Bokhara, Ch. xx., 176, 183,
201, 208, 215, 218
Boxers, 22, 23
Braille, 81
Bronzes, 21, 22
Broussa, 201
Browning, 175
Brugniere, Monseigneur, 89, 90
Brugsch, 234
Buddhism, 45, 70
Buddhists, 48, 49, 57, 159
Buriats, 159-162
Burkans, 160
Bushnell, 21
1 Q
Indt
QAMELS, 214, 227
Cano, Empress, 198,
209-213
Capus, 172, 182
Carpets, 209, 217
Carts in Turkestan, 18 1
Caspian Sea, 175, 231
Catherine of Russia, 223
Caucasus, Ch. xxi.
Chang Chun, 8
Chang Shan, 47, 51
Cheliabinsk, 166
Chemkend, 183
Chemulpo, 134-137
Chiao, Mr., 67, 114, 122,
. J 33, /77
Child burial, 42, 43
"Chinese Art," 21
generosity, 25, 27
industry, 125
windows, 10 1
writing, 63, 68, 121, 124
Ching dynasty, 18
Christie, Dr., 23, 26
Church, Chemulpo, 136
Liao Yang, 40, Ch.
56
Moukden, 22
Pyong Yang, 74-77
Tiflis, 233
Citadel of Samarkand, 201,
Clavijo, 195, 197, 199, 210
College, Union, 78, 79
Colonisation, Manchuria, 6,
Siberia, 158
Colporteurs, 173, 174
Commercial college, 55
Concessions, timber, 73
mining, 61
Confucianism, 70, 77
'99.
13c,
203
34
ex
Conference, Edinburgh World
Missionary, 50, 80
Constantinople, 186
Consul, English, 17, 20, 141
Convicts, 155, 158
Cossacks, 165, 230
Court life, Korea, 96-101
Crops in Manchuria, 7, 45
Korea, 107
Crown Prince, Korea, 98-99
Princess, 99
Crypt, Tamerlane's Tomb, 192
Currency, 33, 40, 213
Custom-house, 151, 152, 238
Curtin, Jeremiah, 1 59-162
£)ALLET, Pere, 92
Dalny, 1 3 8- 1 40
Steamer to, 134, 135
Damascus, 200
Danish Lutheran Mission, 27
Daveluy, 91
" Deer's horns," 22, 29
Delhi, 195, 196
Diamond Mountains, Ch. xii.
Dnieper River, 174
Don River, 174
Doolittle, 31
Durrieux, 212
J? ARMUFFS, 5, 26
Education, Korea, 53, 61,
79, 81, 128, 129
Manchuria, 28, 37, 38
Medical, 27
Moslem, 145, 204-208, 223,
224
Russian, 164, 165, 182, 206
Siberia, 162, 164
Theological, Korea, 79
242
Index
Elephants, 198
Elms, 178, 215
Emperor, late Chinese, 23
Korean, 73, 96-100, 102
Empress Cano, 1 98-200, 209-2 1 3
late Dowager, China, 23
Min, Korea, 98-102
Emigrants, Chinese, 34
English language, 140
Eunuchs, 97, 99, 101
Execution, 144, 208
Exiles, 233
" pACE of Korea," 65-148
Fauvelle, 212
Flowers, Caucasus, 235
Korea, 107, 117, 123
Manchuria, 52
Foo Ling tombs, 12, 16-19
Fox temples, 31, 32, 45
Fusan, Ch. xi.
QALE, Dr., 103
Genghiz Khan, 145, 194,
195, 204
Geography, 38
Georgians, 234, 235
German Church, 233
language, 140, 188, 237
Giggies, 67
" Gluttonous Place," 208
Gold mining, 63, 156
Grain market, 213
Gur Amir, 189-192
J-JAZRET, 175
Hazreti Shah Zindch, 215-
217
Hazreti Timur mosque, 175
" Heart of Asia," 229
Hell, Temple of, 32, 48
Herbelot, 205
Hingking, 12
Hissar, 214
Histoire de T ' Eglise de Koree^ 84
Holden, 195
"Home of Tamerlane," Ch.xviii.
Horse sacrifice, 160
Hospitals : Hsin Muntun, 34, 35
Chemulpo, 136, 137
Liao Yang, 48
Moukden, 23-28
Hotels : Astor House, Moukden,
3 1
Commercial, Kazan, 220
d'Europe, Kazan, 220
Baku, 232
de France, Tashkent, 178
Grand, Samarkand, 188
Vladikavkaz, 236
Londres, Tiflis, 233
Russian, Kharbin, 3
Yamato, Kwan-cheng-tze, 8
Hsin Muntun, 25, Ch. hi.
Hulan, Ch. i., 142
"Hunger Desert," 188
JMMIGRANTS, 174
India, 194-196, 198, 226
International Sleeping Car, 148,
152
Invocation, Buriat, 160, 161
Iranian, 184
Irish Presbyterian, 27
Irkutsk, 155-157, 164
Irtish River, 164
Ishan, 224
Islam, 194, 196,218,222,224,226
Ito, Prince, 106
Ivan the Terrible, 194
2 43
Indi
JADE, 21, 191
Jagatai, 185
Japanese banks, 104, 105, 138
inns, 60, 61
occupation of Korea, 105
of Dalny, 138, 139
officers, 59, 107, 131
steamers, in, 134, 137
trade, 139
traveller, 59, 60
war, Korea, 85
Russia, 42, 43, 73
Jaxartes, 175
Jenkinson, 231
Jesuits, 85, 146
Jews, 145, I5 6
"Journey in Southern Siberia,"
161
J^AABA, 216
Karagatch, 215
Kasbec, Mount, 236
Katholische Missions Statistik^ 92
Kazan, 176, 220, 221, 228
Kelan, 227
Keuk Tash, 201
Kharbin, 3,4,57, 141, 148, 167,
178
Khiva, 122, 183
Khojend, 183, 185
Khokand, 183, 226
Khorasan, 194
Ki Cha, 68, 71, 72
Kil Moksa, 77, 78
Kim, Andre, 91
Kinel, 167-169
Kirghiz, 165, 172, 175
Steppes, 172
Kitchener, 45
Kite-flying, 46
ex
Kobdo, 163
Koran, 189, 206, 212, 216, 225,
229
Korea, history, 72, 73
population, 62, 63
size, 62
war with China, 73
Japan, 85
Korean education, 63, 79, 81,
128, 129
dress, 71, 76, 94, 96, IOO
gate, Liao Yang, 42, 43
generosity, 80, 83
hats, 69
official life, 96, 97
products, 63, 107
script, 63
shops, 68
"Sketches," 103
water-carriers, 69
Krasnojarsk, 162
Krasnovodsk, 231
Kropatkin, 164, 184
Krose, 92
Kufic, 190
Kurgan, 166
" Kuropatkin's Eye," 44
Kwan-cheng-tze, 6, 40
[" AND nationalisation, 157,158
Li Dsuchung, 13
Liao Tong, 42, 138
Liao Yang, 12, 40, Ch. iv.
Lobanoff, 73
Long White Mountains, 23
Louis, Saint, 197
JyfADRESSAH, 187, 223
Bibi Khanum, 209-213,
216
244
Index
El Azhar, 223
Ishrak Khaneh, 219
Khodja Akhrar, 219
Shir Dar, 207
Tilla Kari, 204, 208, 209
Timur Malik, 219
Uleg Beg, 204-207
Manchester, 214
Manchus, The, 1 1 — 1 5, 42
Manchu dress, 14, 36
dynasty, 11, 12, 14, 43
history, 1 1— 1 5
inns, 52
marriage, 15
policy, 1 3
Manchuria town, 3
" Manchuria's Strategic Rail-
way," 59
Medical Missions, 23-28, 48,
142, 143
assistants, 26, 48, 137
training college, 26, 27
Medicines, Chinese, 46, 47
Merv, 222
Mesnevi, 245
Methodist Episcopal, 80
Ming dynasty, 13, 20
tombs, 19, 20
Mining concessions, 63
Mission, American Methodist
Episcopal, 80, 81
American Presbyterian, 79
Australian Presbyterian, 7 9, 1 08
Canadian Presbyterian, 79
Danish Lutheran, 27
Greek Orthodox Church, 161,
165, 222
Irish Presbyterian, 29, 36-39
Scotch Presbyterian 7, 27, 48,
50
Roman Catholic, 64, Ch. x.,
104, 136
Salvation Army, 104
Swedish Mission, 221, 233
Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel, 89, 136,
l V
" Missions Etrangeres," 89
Mistletoe, 18, 19
Moffett, Dr., 79
"MogulEmperors of Hindustan,"
195
Mohammedan mosques, 145,
185, 186, 219, 226, 227
schools, 145, 187, 204-208
Mohammedanism, China, 145,
146
Bokhara, 223, 224, 229
Siberia, 165, 166, 171
Turkestan, 185, 186, 206,
225, 226, 229
Monasteries, 52, 53, 57, 121
Mongol customs, 160
empire, 195
raids, 194, 223
Monks, 53, 56, 57, 120-122
Moscow, 214, 226
Moukden, Ch. ii., 58
Mullah, 191, 206, 215, 224
Museums, 22, 60
JsJADIR Shah, 191
Naval commission, 26
battle, 112, 136
Nestorian Church, 222
Newchwang, 25, 55
New Hebrides, 109
Nippon Yusen Kaisha, 137
Noorhachu, 11, 12, 18
'■AS
Indt
QFFICERS, Japanese, 59, 107,
123, 124, 131
Russian, 238, 239
Oil fields, 232
Omsk, 164
ongons, 159
Orenburg 166, 171
Orthodox Church, 161, 165, 222
Othman, 212
Oxus River, 183
Oyama, General, 25
OAILOW, 19
Palace, Moukden, 20-22
Samarkand, 211-213,215, 216
Seoul, 93-102
Parsees, 232
Passports, 237, 239
Peasants, Russian, 172, 173
Pedlars, Korean, 129
Peking, 13-15, 19, 43> l68
Permits, 176
Persians, 185, 201, 209, 228
architecture, 189, 1 90, 198
Petropavlosk, 165
Pichtack, 205
Piek-i, 85, 86
Pioneer Point, 71
Police, Russian, 176, 237-239
Poplars, 178, 215
Population, Korea, 62, 63
Siberia, 157, 158
Tashkent, 181
Tiflis, 234
Porcelain, 21, 22
Port Nicolas, 73
"Preaching of Islam," 223
Presbyterians, 7, 27, 34-37, 79,
108
Prisons, 88, 155, 224
ex
Protestant Missions, 64, 73
Psalm reader, 165
Pyong Yang, 62, Ch. vii., viii.
RALEIGH, Sir Walter, 21
Railway, Japanese, 8, 40, 51,
Ch. vi., 105, 107, 108,
135
Russian, 8, 167, 173, 174, 220
South Manchurian, 34, 35
Trans-Siberian, Ch. xv.
International Sleeping Car
Co., 152, 153, 157
Russian State Express, 152,
153. T 57> l66
Red Cross, 25, 174, 222
Reftari khiraman, 225
Refugees, Moukden, 24
Reis, 224
Remedios, Jean dos, 87
Righistan, 204, 212
Ritual worship, 21
Roman Catholics, 64, Ch. ix.,
104
Ross, Dr., 13
Rubruquis, de, 1 97-199
Russians, 203, 217, 221, 229,
230
occupation (Moukden), 23
police, 176, 237-239
Russo-Japanese war, 42, 73, 136
CACRF.E Congregation de la
Propagande, 89
Said, Mir Berke, 191
Samanids, 204
Samara, 167
Samarkand, 183, 187, Ch. xix.,
222
la blen gar die, 212, 2l8
246
Index
Sarts, 184, 202, 203, 206, 218
Schools, 37, 38, 81, 129, 145,
164, 187, 204-208
Seminary, Paris, 92
Senghouni, 85, 86
Seoul, Ch. x., 131, 132, 134, 135
"Seven Hates," 11,12
Shahr-i-Sabz, 193
Shamanism, 70, 159
Sheep, Kirghiz Steppes, 172
Shimonoseki, no
Shinto, no
Shops, 16, 68, 69, 180, 214
Siberia, 154-170
climate, 154
crops, 159
land tenure, 158
missions, 165
native inhabitants, 159, 165
population, 157, 158, 162
size, 158
trade, 156
Silks, 210, 214
Skrine, 229
Slavery, 225, 229
Smith, Dr. Arthur, 43 note
" Social Life of the Chinese,"
. 3 1
Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel, 104, 136, 137
Songdo, 81
South Kensington Museum, 22
Storks, 184, 227
Stundists, 233
Sulphur baths, 234
Sungari River, 3, 5
Sunnites, 224
Surakhany, 232
Swedish Mission, 221, 233
Syr Daria, 175, 200
"pAIDSOO, 12
Taiga, 164
Tamerlane, 175, Ch. xviii., 201,
204
Tang Shan, 25
Taoist temple, 54
Tartars, 162
Tashkent, 168, 170, 176, Ch.
xvii., 203, 206
Ta-tsing, 13
" Ten Parts Imperfect one," 48
Teragai, 193
Tide, Korea, 1 12
Tientsin, 91
Tiflis, 232-234
Time-table, 169
Tobolsk, 165
Tombs, Daniel's, 217, 218
Korean, 71, 102-104
Ming, 13, 19, 20
Moukden, 12, 16-19, 28-30
Shah Zindeh's, 215, 216
Tamerlane's, 189-193
Tomsk, 163, 164, 174
Tonghak, 73
Toprach, 219
Tortoise, 19
Trans-Baikal, 154
Translation Society, 162
Trans-Siberian Railway, Ch. xv.
Travel hints, 132, 133, 152, 153,
2 37 .
'• Travels in Central Asia," 226
Tschagu Tschiendogu, 120
Tschang Do, 125
Tsiou, 87, 88
Turanians, 223
"Turkestan, Into," Ch. xvi.
history, 183
town, 175
247
Index
Turks, 200
Tycho Brahe, 205
Tyenaga, 57
•[JHER, 160
Uleg Beg, 204, 205
Union Medical College, Mouk-
den, 27
Union Theological Seminary,
. 7 8 > 79
United Free Church of Scotland,
27
Un Mun, 61
Usturdi, 160, 161
Uzbegs, 175, 185
yAMBERY, 190, 223, 225
Vienna, 169, 232, 233
Vladivostock, 146, 162, 166
Volga, 174
Volochisk, 233, 237-239
" Voyage of Friar William de
Rubruq uis," 198
^yAGONSLits, 183
War god, 70
Water carriers, 70
Watering roads, 183, 184
Waterproofs, 131
Waterworks, Japanese, 70
Westwater, Dr., 46
White Sea, 174
Wiju, 59
Wolff, 224
Woman, 186
Women's Mission Work, 27, 28,
77, H2-I44, 222
Wonsan, 108, 1 11
X-RAYS, 25
Xavier, Francis, 146
yALU River, 59
Yamaga, 73
Yamato Hotel, Dalny, 138
Kwan-cheng-tze, 6
Yenisei River, 162, 163
Young, Dr., 17
Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion, 104, 132
Yun, Hon. T. H., 61
^ENEDJIN'S Tomb, 184
Zenghiata's Tomb, 184
Zoological Gardens, 104
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