This is the last prefecture in Hupeh province before passing into Shensi provine. Besides a prefect and magistrate there is a Chent'ai, one of two in this province, General Teng Cheng-fung, a man of wide experience and very friendly to foreigners. During the Boxer uprising he was acting Provincial Commander-in-chief at Hsiangyangfu, and helped to give protection to many missionaries coming down from the north, and also from the Honan province to the northeast. This northern part of Hupeh province is set apart almost entirely to the Scandinavian missionaries among the Protestants. At Hsiangyangiu there are several families of the American Swedish Mission. North of that, half way to Laohok'ou, is another jon with one family, now absent on furlough. At Laohok'on there: are some 20 missionaries of the Norwegian Lu-theron Mission. There is also a China Inland missionary there, but more ae a distributing station for missionaries passing up the Han from Hankow. At Kiunchon there is one family of the me Mission, and half way between Laohok'ou and Kiunchou there is another station with four simple ladies. At this place there is one family of the me Mission. Thus for over 120 lies along the Han the Scandinavian aries are at work. We might also mention that east of Hsingyangfu at Chaoyang another family is soon to locate.
In this same region, the two profectures of Hsiangyang and Yunyang, and the district of Kiunchou, there is a Roman Catholic Bishop with a dozen Europeans. The number of Catholic adherents is reckoned at over 10,000, while the Protestant converts are less than 1,000. There is no discord between the two branches of the Church, which is good for the general cause.
Pilgrimages.
Just at this time of the year there are hundreds of pilgrims going to one of the sacred mountains of China, situated to the south of this city and the south-west of Kiunchou, called the Peaked Mountain. At the summit is a temple where is worshipped one of the local divinities, a Taoist priest of the Ming Dynasty made a god by the Emperor Yuen Lo. Persons are known to have come from as far away as Hunan. Most of the pilgrims have boats at Kiunchou and then go by mountain road to the sacred place. From the temple there is spread out a magnificent view in all directions, so that lovers of nature have much with which to satisfy their tastes.
Yesterday we had the first rain of the New Year, which is good for the spring crops. With the rain then came thunder, which betokens to the Chinese some kind of calamity for the year.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.