'Ati interesting lecture on "Life and Travel in Szechuan" was given by Mr. I, Mason Fras. in the Union Church Hall on Wednesday evening. under the auspicies of the Union Church Literary and Social Guild,' The lecture which was illustrated by a series of lantern slides deseribed many of the experiences of the lecturer during his long residence in that remote province. Mr. Mason spoke of the approach by way Ichang which is now matter of a few days. In former times one would spend as long as 30 days, and the only mode of transport was the Chinese house boat. The rough life of the trackers who tow these boats by means of platted bamboo ropes is of special interest. These men live a hard life and eat little but the roughest food, yet on the whole they seem happy and cheerful The downward trip takes rather less time and the boats at many places are able to shoot the rapids. Tt not an uncommon thing Mr. Mason aid for a boat to strike a hidden rock and disappear, submerging the whole crew. Shingtan, the famous rapid, at which point "a memorial has been erected to the Into Captain Plant, presents: perhaps. the finest. spectacle on this route and was the favourite spot of Captain Plant.
Chungking which was opened as a Treaty Port in 1890 was also described by the lecturer: It is a city of some 600,000 inhabitants and fat that point the river, when at high water, is a mile wide, though some 1,600 miles from the sea. One striking feature which meets the eye 'a5 one approaches this city is the vast tract of country covered with graves which are to be seen for miles _in the environs. This is of course typical of almost all Ching but seems to be excoptionallf the case round Chungking. There is truly more space occupied by the dead than the living.
The hills across the river a dotted with some 30 or 40 bungalows and have become a favourite! summer resort for foreigners. One associates with the early days of this resort the name of Mr. John Little. Dificulties of a legal nature worp experienced at one time with' the Chinese authorities in obtaining permission for foreigners to occupy these hills, but the matter eventually received an amicable settlement, The Chinfusan, a mountain a 100 miles from Chungking, is one of the sacred mountains of Szechuan and is 8,000 feet high. The lecturer gave some account of this mountain and the mode of transport which is employed in the region. Sedan chairs and ponies are the only conveyances available and throughout the whole province there are no wheeled vehicles save the wheelbarrow. The lecturer was the first foreigner to ascend the Chinfusan which is now also becoming a sum mer resort.
An interesting feature of Szochuan is the extreme narrowness of the road: even the "Great Roads" called, are never wider six feet and are stone Paved. At one small town there is an interesting stone Buddha which stands 60 fect high. There were also shown slides of some of the stone carved pillars in one of the temples of this locality. These date from ithe Tang dynasty and are 1,000 years old, 'The lecturer then went on to speak of the plight of foreigners in Szechuan during the Boxer trouble. Curiously enough he' himself experienced no actual disturbance until the real fighting was over. In 1902 the outbreak was carried westward and a number of Chinese Christians were killed and foreign—missions destroyed. The rebellion was finally put down by the local Magistrate and shortly afterwards at Tangchuan the heads, hands and feet of Boxers were to be seen hanging from trees.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.