The following very interesting letter has been kindly handed to us for publication About fortnight. after writing to you I started to: visit all my stations in the flooded districts. The flood was, a8 I had heard, both higher and wider than in 1889. The distress, however, cannot be so great, for the kaoliang everywhere stood well above the water. The poor and those whose houses have been washed down will suffer much in the coming but Ido not think foreigners will need to distribute money. Of course, many of my poor fri begged me to help them, xnd few petitions for relief were formally presented to me. But to all I gave the answer that we shall rebably make no appeal on their behalf.
thought it right dao to tell them that residents at the ports do not feel the same disposition to help sufferers from " Yellow River flood, ay people impoverished by unavoidable calamity, such as drought, ete. Lam comstanily asked if foreign engineers could control the Yellow River. Ido not care ty talk much with the common peo-Fate their ofiiale, quite enough, Tie on these subjects because I think they
general opinion of the people is that if half the money granted by the Emperor for Yellow River works were only honestly spent floods wou'd rarely occur. When we hear stories of the Taiping Rebellion we are all deeply impressed with the horrors of rebellion in China: and we all hope that the coming revolution may be accomplished without bloodshed. We all, therefore, ery tu check the universal hatred of the officials, I think Protestant. missionaries have a fair knowledge of the state of thought and feeling current among the common people. You know that a day's visit to a country station apart from the hours of divine worsh one long conversation from 9 a.m, until 10 p.m, T have become convinced of two things: first, that the people are everywhere discontented with the Government and seemly, that Eh peror's most' loyal subjects. digressing,
be roughly divided into two classes, those The villages surrounded by, water: may with a wall or bank which kept out the fond, and those which are flooded through the bursting of the village bank, The former class, though poor, have no ruined or saturated houses and undoubtedly mered x fair proportion of the kaoliang. jut dwellers in the second lass of villages are inn wretched plight, Only very rarely were houses swept away by a rush of water bat it gradually sonked the walls dow For several days the people in many places could of light fires to cook their food, the water round them was filthy, and only when they lind suffered grent thirst for a long time did they drink; the waters fell " little and a horrible: stench arose from the reeking ruins; soon uncooked food and dirty water made many people very ill, ague prevailed everywhere; while in the villages Kept clear of the* water grain was comfort ably threshed, in the flueded villages no dry threshing' floor could be found for the Factiang brought in on boats. Much might be suid of the sickness which will come next winter through living in damp houses, and of the fearful less of property. Repeatedly I asked tle people: " Why did not you build dyke like the people it many other places?" The answers I received various und characteristic, e.g.: This Heaven's will, we can-do nothing." "ends ang -will do nothing." 1! We een't head people in our village are all at loguerdo all this alone, the Emperor must help."
We thought the dyke was secure." We once had a good bank, but one mai. took earth away to mix with his manure and another to make bricks, ander it was full of holes when the flood came." I made careful enquiries and everybody admitted that the damage done by one flood inside the village would swallow up the price of very many years' work in making-and_pré"" servings dyke to keep out the water. Iwas deeply impressed by the difference between these two classes of villages; in one there was comparative comfort and cheerfulness, in the other horrible squalor and misery. You will remember the wall-posters we use to explain Christianity to the'people. I intend about the 4th moon of next year to paste up a wall-poster through all the districts liable to floods, reminding the country people of the value of village dykes exhorting them to unite in building them, The officials should, I think, compel the people to build a dyke to every village nnd then have it annually inspected just before the rainy season.
For some unexplained reason the officials have begun distributing money much earlier this year than before—at least eight weeks earlier, Is it thnt. they think the calamity heavier than usual? Is it that they think the people need to be pucified The people that the breach was made in the southern bank of the river to prevent the water breaking the northern bank and flooding the country up to the gates of Peking. Groat efforts are now being made to close the breach, I hear it is li closed but some 110 Chinese feet.
The calamity most to be dreaded was that the autumn wheat could not be sown. But the water is falling very rapidly and I hear a grent part of the wheat is sown T hope now Lmay not have to trouble you with another letter on this and subject, We must wait to aco what the officials will do to help the poor through the coming winter. You may be assured we will never lightly ask you to appeal for help.
Yours very sincerely, Ep. Nickatts,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.