and Valuables By Alfred A, Phillips, The old order changteh in Szechuan, but not always is it succeeded by anything better. Those who have travelled up and down the} rivers for many years past cannot but contras the present and the past conditions, and say that the former times were better. Then the rapids were the one topic of conversation after a journey. Now they scarcely come into calculation at all. Not that they have ceased to exist, or are Jess rapid or dangerous. But in the face of a greater danger the rapids appear insignificant. When their boat has been three times boarded by armed robbers, and fired upon another three times, the party on board dislike the crack of a rifle from the bank more than the roar of the worst rapid. Such has been the experience of a party of missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, travelling from Mienyang to Ichang.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.