To the Editor of the Miers for the en itself may Bly fad some aclers to that Her alajes contributed to Ue Boer war chest. ithe Peking Government. When Peking wants Hunan opened, it will be opened, but not till then. We, the smaller officials, At the close of this inter= we were given to understand that we mist leave the place at once, as the officials [could not guarantee our protection in th event of our prolonging our stay." We, id the captain of the guard, have done duty by you to the offic {Now you must do your duty, and Jot." We knew exactly what that speech implied, so we bowel our thanks, and left plice without further discussion.
ther Missionaries have visited Yochou since 1880, and all have had but one tale Ite tell. One brother was stoned by the mob to the river brink and he managed!to escape by rushing into the stream, and swimming to his box. In the past Yochou been looked upon as one of the most antiforeign and anti-Christian cities Honan, {All that is now changed; and so great is the change that I found it almost impossible on this visit to realise that the Yochou to-day could he the same place as the thou of former days. Often did I stand hand ask myself: mn this be Yochou?"
found it difficult to believe my eyes and ears, It seemed too good to he true Our object in visiting Yochou this time was ts purchase land and houses with the
connection with the London Missionary cies of establishing a mission there in Society. Mr. Peng Lan-song, our native evangelist in the Sixng valley, was sent ahead to find out how the Jand lay, and to prepare the way for our coming. We soon received a letter from him, telling us that he had called on the officials, that they had given him a very hearty reception, and that they had expressed themselves not only as willing but anxious that we should come and establish a mission at the place. He told us also that several houses were offering, and that the owners would be only too glad to sell to foreigners. He gave a glowing description of the wonderful change that had taken place in the attitude of both officials and people, and begged us to come up with as little delay as possible and take possession, In response to this call, Mr. Greig and myself left Hankow on the 26th ultimo., at about half-past 5 p.m., by the Tentsing, one of the Viceroy's little steamboats, and arrived at Yochou on the following afternoon, at about: half-past four. On our arrival we found the landing covered with hunting in honour of the occasion. An official boat came off to take us on shore, and we were carried to our ino in two sedan-chairs—both chairs and chair-bearers having been provided by the district magistrate himself. In course of the evening all the officials sent their cards, with kind enquiries after our health and comfort, and not a fow of the most respect able people of the place called on us, The magistrate's grandson, a young man of twenty-six or twenty-seven, was one of the first to call on us. He gave us 4 very hearty welcome, and told us that he would do all in his power to make our visit o success. During our stay at the place he called on us several times, and made himself very useful to usin more ways than one.
The next day we called on all the officials. The district magistrate is the same man who treated Mr. Sparham and myself so rudely in 1897, but was now completely transformed. He seemed delighted to see us and treated us with the utmost courtesy and friendliness. On the following day he returned our call, and partook freely of our tea and biscuits. When leaving he expressed himself as delighted with the pro-Spect of seeing our mission established at 'The Taotaigave us aright royal teer He and I had met in 1880 at Eh' he being at that time the district magistrate of Shauhua. He recognised me ut once, shook me by the hand, and said We are old friends." He then took us into a private room, where we found a table covered with cloth' of faultless whiteness, and spread with refreshments in the shape of foreign biscuits and sweetmeats. We had tea served in the foreign style, with milk and sugar. His champagne we did not drink, and his cigars we declined with thanks. LIH. is most affable man, and a great talker, We discussed all manner of subjects for about half an hour, and parted the best of friends. We called also on the prefect and the Grain Intendant from each of whom we received a cordial reception. The Grain Intendant had just come down from Ch'angsha to arrange about the opening of the new port. He seems to be a man of weight, so we were very glad to have an opportunity of making his acquaintance. Such was our inter course with the officials, and nothing could have been more satisfactory.
The people could not have behaved themselves better than they did. No stones were thrown after us, 00 opprobrians epithets were hurled at us, and no black looks were to be seen anywhere. We walked about in every direction both inside and outside the city, and found the people perfectly quiet and friendly. On the first day after our arrival we had an escort of two or three soldiers to lead the way and to protect us. But finding that they were not at all needed, their services were dispensed with during the rest of our stay at the place, Mr. David
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.