Tt was 14 years ago to-day that I sat dangling my legs on a small bridge far down at the foot of a mighty mountain range where two great Empires met, where sleepy Burma with her wonderful roads philosophically looks at China, Which has neither roads nor much fifective philosophy.
T had come from the Pacife via the Yangtze, loitering so considerably by the way that T had taken 18 months to cover the 3,000 odd niles, During "the intervening years I have lived almost con-wu ously in this country, I have Hone much interior travelling, Uelighting to get into areas where others of my kind have never been. The nature of my business has also compelled me to study the people and their language, their "thought and customs and their history. At one tim about 14 years ago, or it might: have been ten—I really thought knew something about China. and the Chinese, and I wrote with facility about what I saw, what 1 thought and felt, and would make deductions on anything Chinese quite unafraid of criticism and. with impunity (as some still tow lay), Because I thought 1 understood—that was the reason. But, to-lay, whea T am asked my opinion en current Chinese affairs, seratc!; my other ear and look away, the Chinese do, when ey do rot want to hear; I rarely:
mevs," sometimes I say think," but at other times T admit t myself that "This is what T believe T think," for much contact \with the Chinese subjects you to s> many mental twists and turns) sat you are continually vetoing what you thought yesterday because "you have a fuller conception of some fact.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.