One seance at the landscape prow vided evidence enough that during the night we had entered a new country and had left China behind Nanehuria up to Changehun had Seemed flat and bare, but here was the flatness of a calm sea with not: tree oF a house in sight, but what was most striking of all to one nce enistomed to the eternal brown of the winter landscape in north China was-the inky blackness of the furrowed soil. A little snow lying in the hollows accentuated this effect inthe half light of the early morning, but even when the first flush of sunrise in the sky turned the snow pink, the bare earth did not flush dark red ay it docs in China, but became "it anything blacker. The sun rose like a cold, blood-red ball out of this sea of ink. There was no haze, no irides sconce, no suggestion of warmth, Tt occurred to the writer at once how foreign this aspect of the country must have seemed to the first Chinese adventurers who kot this far north and must. still seem to the immigrants, and it suddenly became cleat why the dragon of this country was a sinister black dragon (the hei hug of Teilana" Kiang) and not the benevolent yellow dragon of old China within the Wall.
An exploration of the corridor just after sunrise revealed a new feature of travel a fa Ruste, which from that time forward wasa last ing comfort throughout the north. The burly porter in his little come partment was found re-stoking samovar, which he had kept soi all night, and was polishing and arranging a score of heavy glasses Tittle saucers on a pewter tray. Beside each empty glass were two lumps of sugar and a half slice of Jemon. Tt was no great linguistic feat to make the worthy porter understand that a glass of his brew would be welcome and the writer was soon back at his Tittle seat in the corridor with a steaming: glass of the dark Hankow tea before him,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.